Nica Sensations (credit to Elyse Raby for this wonderful idea)
Nica looks like...
La tierra de lagos y volacnes (Lakes, Volanoes), children on the street, black & red fsln flags w/ pink signs, mortars, rotondas blocked by protests, iodine beaches, la pasarela-Miami & Gothic City, people strolling to class, stray dogs, malnourished horses/animals in general, sunsets (setting the world aflame!), geckos, clothes drying on the line, men sitting on the side of the road, green nature beautifulness everywhere, garbage,
Nica smells like...
burning garbage, city, exhaust, food on the street (fritanga), dirty bathrooms @ UCA, red pepper/onions/garlic (only because we load up on when given the chance due to the surprising lack of flavor in food),
Nica sounds like...
SPANISH/SPANGLISH, yet way more English that I ever imagined, car alarms, reggaeton, salsa, hip hop, "dame un pesito, necesito zapatos" (children saying "give me 1 cordoba (aka 5 cents) i need sneakers), "Ya chavalas" (as Alba calls us for dinner), "Granada, Granada, Granada" at the bus stations, honking, water running while chila scrubs clothes near our room at 6am, music from the political rallies, loud speakers/mega phones, fireworks, mortars, *muah* bye/adios, intense political debates, music at mass i've yet to learn, bells from the eskimo cart, whistles, geckos chirping
Nica feels like...
perpetually dirty & stiff clothes, freezing cold streamline showers and room temperature drinking water, bugs biting, crowded buses, excessive HEAT, sweat, Nica kisses, riding in a bumpy pick up truck @ walking speed through rock piles and rivers, parasites that never leave, perpetual stomach ache/nausea/weakness, fans, being locked in my room for 3 weeks during political violence
Nica tastes like...
rice & beans (gallo pinto), delicious fruits & juices (faves - pitahaya y arroz con pina), eskimo ice cream, hormigas (ants, yes under tastes like...), splurging for pizza, room temp. water, apples=delicacy, refried beans & french fries @ UCA
...probably add more before i leave :)
Corn Island Thursday (630am flight!) til Sunday afternoon
"If your idea of an perfect vacation is swaying in a hammock,
reading books, walking white sand beaches, enjoying
spectacular sunsets and snorkeling in clear turquoise waters,
this is a destination for you."
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Who do you carry that torch for my young man? Do you believe in anything? Or do you carry it around just to burn things down?
Don't know where to begin.
Yes, Alba returned a few days later, apparently she never changed her voting address so she had to go vote in a different city and then just stayed there because it was physically impossible to get back. Alba is hardcore Sandinista, no matter what, including this radical Danielista crap. Her son, not so much, but she doesn't know that. Interesting story how I came to find this out, but he earned a lot more respect in my book.
The blog about politics is coming, it's just very long and complicated and is probably going to include more corruption and / or violence than any of you care to read about while i'm still here.
Classes have been happening inconsistently at best.
Lots of rallies, mortars, fireworks, rocks. And road closings, that's the best, when you finally think it's okay to go to the mall and then it takes 40 minutes to get home because all the roads are closed. Or when you can't get out in the first place because the PLC is having a peace march but the Sandinistas find out and surround them at their starting place and hold them there by pointing mortars at the crowd and blocking off all the streets.
Regardless, I go home in 2.5 weeks, my friends live with this :( The other day, the lady here that coordinates int'l students, Kathe, cried in front of us. It was the saddest thing ever. They don't know what to do about their country anymore :(
Last week I went on a field trip to Granada...not too exciting. Thursday I went on one to Ticuantepe with Sustainable Development. We broke into groups and interviewed families about their lives / jobs / etc. It was reallllly cool.
On Thanksgiving I have a flight out to an island off the Caribbean coast for 4 days in the sun :) However, what I DON'T have is a bathing suit because apparently mine and my cover up got stolen off the clothesline AND they only sell bathing suits in Nicaragua around semana santa?
questions about anything - pregúntame because this is like the opposite of all my other blogs.
Yes, Alba returned a few days later, apparently she never changed her voting address so she had to go vote in a different city and then just stayed there because it was physically impossible to get back. Alba is hardcore Sandinista, no matter what, including this radical Danielista crap. Her son, not so much, but she doesn't know that. Interesting story how I came to find this out, but he earned a lot more respect in my book.
The blog about politics is coming, it's just very long and complicated and is probably going to include more corruption and / or violence than any of you care to read about while i'm still here.
Classes have been happening inconsistently at best.
Lots of rallies, mortars, fireworks, rocks. And road closings, that's the best, when you finally think it's okay to go to the mall and then it takes 40 minutes to get home because all the roads are closed. Or when you can't get out in the first place because the PLC is having a peace march but the Sandinistas find out and surround them at their starting place and hold them there by pointing mortars at the crowd and blocking off all the streets.
Regardless, I go home in 2.5 weeks, my friends live with this :( The other day, the lady here that coordinates int'l students, Kathe, cried in front of us. It was the saddest thing ever. They don't know what to do about their country anymore :(
Last week I went on a field trip to Granada...not too exciting. Thursday I went on one to Ticuantepe with Sustainable Development. We broke into groups and interviewed families about their lives / jobs / etc. It was reallllly cool.
On Thanksgiving I have a flight out to an island off the Caribbean coast for 4 days in the sun :) However, what I DON'T have is a bathing suit because apparently mine and my cover up got stolen off the clothesline AND they only sell bathing suits in Nicaragua around semana santa?
questions about anything - pregúntame because this is like the opposite of all my other blogs.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Let there be peace on earth...
apparently i never posted this from nov. 13...
Today, I woke up. I walked to Greisy's house by myself to do some homework. This took about 15 minutes through Managua, with nothing more than the usual disrespectful men and persistent taxi drivers yelling and honking horns. Good day so far. We walked back to UCA together and went to mass. It was packed live I've never seen. Everyone is really worried. Nicas contra Nicas. We ate lunch, we hung out, we went to class...for a little bit. Then UCA closed at 4pm...again. The fighting is in all the rotondas now, not just MetroCentro. Alba's work is already canceled for tomorrow. She told us to either stay in the house or get up really early and leave Managua. Esta muy feo en las calles. We can't leave because we tentatively have a field trip on Saturday, so looks like tomorrow is going to be another nice day in my room. I'm interested to know if anyone has heard anything about this over there because I'm starting to hear about the possibility of international observers and some possible conflict with the U.S. reminiscent of the 1990 elections and the whole 80s revolution when they backed the contras...
I just want to live. I want to get up in the morning and go to the gym. Then I want to go out to lunch with my friends and hang out at the mall or see a movie. But I can't. Everyone is on edge and no one goes out because they are afraid. I hate living like this, in fear, because I don't really feel like its living. But the thing is, that no matter what in 29 days, I will no longer have to worry about this. But that isn't always the case here in Nicaragua. Our government is anything but perfect, but everything kind of got put in perspective today when the priest during mass said, "They just had peaceful Presidential elections in the U.S. and here we have elections for mayor and we're practically at war."
At dinner, Lucia just asked me if I wanted to go back to my country. I surprised myself at how fast I answered no. Yes, I miss certain freedoms, but it's a really unique opportunity to be able to experience even if I have to forget about fun and be a little more cautious for a little bit. So sorry for all the jumbled thoughts, just wanted to check in and give you a small snapshot about my daily life post-election. Please keep the Nica people in your prayers this week as they try to come to a just solution to this violence and corruption.
Today, I woke up. I walked to Greisy's house by myself to do some homework. This took about 15 minutes through Managua, with nothing more than the usual disrespectful men and persistent taxi drivers yelling and honking horns. Good day so far. We walked back to UCA together and went to mass. It was packed live I've never seen. Everyone is really worried. Nicas contra Nicas. We ate lunch, we hung out, we went to class...for a little bit. Then UCA closed at 4pm...again. The fighting is in all the rotondas now, not just MetroCentro. Alba's work is already canceled for tomorrow. She told us to either stay in the house or get up really early and leave Managua. Esta muy feo en las calles. We can't leave because we tentatively have a field trip on Saturday, so looks like tomorrow is going to be another nice day in my room. I'm interested to know if anyone has heard anything about this over there because I'm starting to hear about the possibility of international observers and some possible conflict with the U.S. reminiscent of the 1990 elections and the whole 80s revolution when they backed the contras...
I just want to live. I want to get up in the morning and go to the gym. Then I want to go out to lunch with my friends and hang out at the mall or see a movie. But I can't. Everyone is on edge and no one goes out because they are afraid. I hate living like this, in fear, because I don't really feel like its living. But the thing is, that no matter what in 29 days, I will no longer have to worry about this. But that isn't always the case here in Nicaragua. Our government is anything but perfect, but everything kind of got put in perspective today when the priest during mass said, "They just had peaceful Presidential elections in the U.S. and here we have elections for mayor and we're practically at war."
At dinner, Lucia just asked me if I wanted to go back to my country. I surprised myself at how fast I answered no. Yes, I miss certain freedoms, but it's a really unique opportunity to be able to experience even if I have to forget about fun and be a little more cautious for a little bit. So sorry for all the jumbled thoughts, just wanted to check in and give you a small snapshot about my daily life post-election. Please keep the Nica people in your prayers this week as they try to come to a just solution to this violence and corruption.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Don't tell me it's not worth fighting for...
OBAMA/BIDEN!
our election party was a great success and filled with lots of American junk food...just the way we like it. The rest of the week consisted of well..nothing. Wednesday classes were canceled so that UCA could have some meeting regarding elections. Thursday Kristen's fam was already here so we left for Ome Tepe because we only have one class anyway. Friday and Monday (today) classes were canceled too because of elections, but we had to come home Saturday night in case it got too violent for traveling so the extra days off didn't do much good other than give me some more quality time in my sauna of a room. Another fun fact, from Saturday evening to Monday evening no alcohol was allowed to be served at all in Managua (maybe all of Nica, not sure), also due to elections. I could go on and on about elections but I'll save that for when there are more offical results...if there ever are any. Lots of manipulation, fraud and violence going on right now. Hopefully it calms down by tomorrow so classes can start again, I might actually go crazy if I spend one more day in this room.
So now for Ome Tepe...definitely beautiful, but after all the hype - not quite what we expected. We kept hearing "oh it should be one of the 7 wonders of the world" and "what you're only going for 2 nights? you need at least 5" and now granted we didn't climb any volcanoes which take a day in themselves but I don't really feel like we missed anything and we were kind of ready to go when it was time. Kristen's family was a blast - it was her Dad, Uncle Kathy, Uncle Scott, and her cousin Van. On the ferry from San Jorge to Moyagalpa, Ome Tepe, they showed a vianica video about different places to visit in Nica. Not only did we recognize just about every place from having visited, but our very own friend Don Yaro was in the Rio San Juan section...coooool! After our long journey to Ome Tepe (successfully avoiding the chicken buses!) we were greeted at the port by many cab drivers/tour agencies anxious to gain business from the gringos. We soon settled on Rodolfo who attacked Kristen's dad and won us over by speaking English. He's one of my favorite people I've met in Nica. He totally hooked us up all weekend with rides everywhere and we totally hooked him up by probably paying for him to take a week off. He was so sweet and modest. He drove to go kayaking and just waited while we did that and ate and wouldn't even get anything to eat when we offered it to him. Then he recommeded this cute swimming hole / natural spring with cold-ish water and it was greattt. He also took us back in 2 different waves when we wanted to go home on Saturday since her fam had to leave earlier than us. The hotel was excellent by Nica standards, but not quite what KVV's fam was looking for. The food was great though and they had (almost) enough booze to last her fam the whole weekend so I think they dealt with it just fine. I was randomly pretty sick again most of the weekend so I was kind of a bum at night and just sat in my room, but I still had a good time during the day.
Saturday morning after KVV and her family left, the other FU people went kayaking. I had already gone the day before with her fam so I just decided to watch. I ended up writing a ton in my journal and doing some of my best reflection (not related to being unhappy) yet on this trip. I'm not gonna get that into it here, but basically it was very calming and humbling experience to be sitting on the edge of Lake Nicaragua and feeling completely peaceful, relaxed and satisfied. I didn't want anything, I didn't need anything, I didn't have 1000 things racing through my head that I knew I should be doing. I was just being. And then I was thinking about what one really needs, and our discussion in Sustainable Development where things like a cell phone were included on our list of basic needs...in Nicaragua, a developing country when I always though that list only included food, water, shelter and arguably clothing. I recently added something else to my list and this all connects I promise, but it's just way too much for this blog, especially because every day I find out more people are reading my blog that I had no idea about..hint hint..say hi?
I picked the lyrics for this title because that song randomly played everytime we were in Rodolfo's car/van...also because there's a lot worth fighting for recently, and a lot of people who are fighting recently, and I'm just trying to make sense of it all.
I'd love to hear from people...even though I'll be home before you know it!
(side note: my "host mom" hasn't been home in over 48 hours...she never told us she was leaving and the slave/her aunt says she "doesn't know when alba will be home"...alba also works for the government...coincidence??)
our election party was a great success and filled with lots of American junk food...just the way we like it. The rest of the week consisted of well..nothing. Wednesday classes were canceled so that UCA could have some meeting regarding elections. Thursday Kristen's fam was already here so we left for Ome Tepe because we only have one class anyway. Friday and Monday (today) classes were canceled too because of elections, but we had to come home Saturday night in case it got too violent for traveling so the extra days off didn't do much good other than give me some more quality time in my sauna of a room. Another fun fact, from Saturday evening to Monday evening no alcohol was allowed to be served at all in Managua (maybe all of Nica, not sure), also due to elections. I could go on and on about elections but I'll save that for when there are more offical results...if there ever are any. Lots of manipulation, fraud and violence going on right now. Hopefully it calms down by tomorrow so classes can start again, I might actually go crazy if I spend one more day in this room.
So now for Ome Tepe...definitely beautiful, but after all the hype - not quite what we expected. We kept hearing "oh it should be one of the 7 wonders of the world" and "what you're only going for 2 nights? you need at least 5" and now granted we didn't climb any volcanoes which take a day in themselves but I don't really feel like we missed anything and we were kind of ready to go when it was time. Kristen's family was a blast - it was her Dad, Uncle Kathy, Uncle Scott, and her cousin Van. On the ferry from San Jorge to Moyagalpa, Ome Tepe, they showed a vianica video about different places to visit in Nica. Not only did we recognize just about every place from having visited, but our very own friend Don Yaro was in the Rio San Juan section...coooool! After our long journey to Ome Tepe (successfully avoiding the chicken buses!) we were greeted at the port by many cab drivers/tour agencies anxious to gain business from the gringos. We soon settled on Rodolfo who attacked Kristen's dad and won us over by speaking English. He's one of my favorite people I've met in Nica. He totally hooked us up all weekend with rides everywhere and we totally hooked him up by probably paying for him to take a week off. He was so sweet and modest. He drove to go kayaking and just waited while we did that and ate and wouldn't even get anything to eat when we offered it to him. Then he recommeded this cute swimming hole / natural spring with cold-ish water and it was greattt. He also took us back in 2 different waves when we wanted to go home on Saturday since her fam had to leave earlier than us. The hotel was excellent by Nica standards, but not quite what KVV's fam was looking for. The food was great though and they had (almost) enough booze to last her fam the whole weekend so I think they dealt with it just fine. I was randomly pretty sick again most of the weekend so I was kind of a bum at night and just sat in my room, but I still had a good time during the day.
Saturday morning after KVV and her family left, the other FU people went kayaking. I had already gone the day before with her fam so I just decided to watch. I ended up writing a ton in my journal and doing some of my best reflection (not related to being unhappy) yet on this trip. I'm not gonna get that into it here, but basically it was very calming and humbling experience to be sitting on the edge of Lake Nicaragua and feeling completely peaceful, relaxed and satisfied. I didn't want anything, I didn't need anything, I didn't have 1000 things racing through my head that I knew I should be doing. I was just being. And then I was thinking about what one really needs, and our discussion in Sustainable Development where things like a cell phone were included on our list of basic needs...in Nicaragua, a developing country when I always though that list only included food, water, shelter and arguably clothing. I recently added something else to my list and this all connects I promise, but it's just way too much for this blog, especially because every day I find out more people are reading my blog that I had no idea about..hint hint..say hi?
I picked the lyrics for this title because that song randomly played everytime we were in Rodolfo's car/van...also because there's a lot worth fighting for recently, and a lot of people who are fighting recently, and I'm just trying to make sense of it all.
I'd love to hear from people...even though I'll be home before you know it!
(side note: my "host mom" hasn't been home in over 48 hours...she never told us she was leaving and the slave/her aunt says she "doesn't know when alba will be home"...alba also works for the government...coincidence??)
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
I won't worry my life away...
So I promised a bunch of people I'd keep this short, let's see how I do...
Halloween night was Carlos' bday party so we went over around 930 in costume. Kristen was a flight attendent, Greisy a maid, Lora catwoman, and I did 80s...I was worried no one would get 80s cuz 80s here was revoultion, but they did / people thought I was supposed to be the girl from 13 going on 30...pix to follow. the party was fun, but there was a lot of people that we didn't know so we mostly just kept to ourselves...suprisingly practicing a lot of Spanish though...it was more fun when Isabel, Andrea and Luciana showed up. Max showed up too, but we're not entirely sure how he knew about the party...oooo Max
Saturday wasn't much of anything until about 530pm. I was online and Kristen was doing laundry when we get a call from Carlos (after approximately 7 missed calls). "Hi Jenn, what are you doing, I'm going to the beach, do you want to come? We're leaving in 20 minutes" me: *hysterical laughing* Carlos "that's not funny" me: "umm okay"
so we leave for the beach at like 6pm. I died laughing explaining to Albs why we were packing up and leaving at 6pm on a Saturday night. Lora and Greisy didn't feel like coming, but Kristen and I drove with Carlos and his friend Javier to their friend Caryl's house for the night where we hung out on the beach for the night and then the following day. 11 Nicas + kristen + me...SO MUCH FUN! the other girls didn't know what they were missing. Carlos knew a few from UCA and the rest from his political activisim so they all ranged in age from like 17 to 28. It was great, we've already seen a few of them walking around UCA...and any political conversation had to be had in English because Caryl's housekeepers are pro-Ortega so we got to learn a few more things about politics...
Got my historia test back yesterday...95%...better than most of the Nicas who apparently don't study? So as of now my grade in Historia is actually slightly better than my grade in Ethics (my one class in English...) Needless to say, I'm still not very worried about grades. Also, with the approaching Nicaraguan election, we haven't really been having all that much of classes...there is some sort of a protest scheduled for tomorrow afternoon so UCA has already suspended all classes and activities for the day. Yesterday they decided to make Fri-Mon a national holiday for everyone due to Sunday's elections. (We've been advised to mostly stay in our houses Sun & Mon due to election related violence) Kristen's dad is coming tomorrow and since Greisy, KVV and I only have 1 class each, we're just leaving for Ome Tepe on Thursday so we can be back and safe by Thursday...aka I had a 2 day week, followed by a 6 day "weekend"...going back to FU is going to be sooooo hard especially because I think I'm taking 6 this semester...
After lunch at Ola Verde with the girls and Daniel, Constantino and Irwing...Lora, Kristen and I picked up some snacks for our "election party"...We planned to be up all night (which wouldn't have been so bad once we found out classes were canceled) but we basically already don't have to.....lots of people already baracked the vote...omg i'm so corny. CNN says 199-78 right now and that's like not even including some sure blue states....
OBAMA / BIDEN '08!!!!!
(still gotta work on keeping it short i guess...)
p.s. Lora and I joined a gym for the last month :)
Halloween night was Carlos' bday party so we went over around 930 in costume. Kristen was a flight attendent, Greisy a maid, Lora catwoman, and I did 80s...I was worried no one would get 80s cuz 80s here was revoultion, but they did / people thought I was supposed to be the girl from 13 going on 30...pix to follow. the party was fun, but there was a lot of people that we didn't know so we mostly just kept to ourselves...suprisingly practicing a lot of Spanish though...it was more fun when Isabel, Andrea and Luciana showed up. Max showed up too, but we're not entirely sure how he knew about the party...oooo Max
Saturday wasn't much of anything until about 530pm. I was online and Kristen was doing laundry when we get a call from Carlos (after approximately 7 missed calls). "Hi Jenn, what are you doing, I'm going to the beach, do you want to come? We're leaving in 20 minutes" me: *hysterical laughing* Carlos "that's not funny" me: "umm okay"
so we leave for the beach at like 6pm. I died laughing explaining to Albs why we were packing up and leaving at 6pm on a Saturday night. Lora and Greisy didn't feel like coming, but Kristen and I drove with Carlos and his friend Javier to their friend Caryl's house for the night where we hung out on the beach for the night and then the following day. 11 Nicas + kristen + me...SO MUCH FUN! the other girls didn't know what they were missing. Carlos knew a few from UCA and the rest from his political activisim so they all ranged in age from like 17 to 28. It was great, we've already seen a few of them walking around UCA...and any political conversation had to be had in English because Caryl's housekeepers are pro-Ortega so we got to learn a few more things about politics...
Got my historia test back yesterday...95%...better than most of the Nicas who apparently don't study? So as of now my grade in Historia is actually slightly better than my grade in Ethics (my one class in English...) Needless to say, I'm still not very worried about grades. Also, with the approaching Nicaraguan election, we haven't really been having all that much of classes...there is some sort of a protest scheduled for tomorrow afternoon so UCA has already suspended all classes and activities for the day. Yesterday they decided to make Fri-Mon a national holiday for everyone due to Sunday's elections. (We've been advised to mostly stay in our houses Sun & Mon due to election related violence) Kristen's dad is coming tomorrow and since Greisy, KVV and I only have 1 class each, we're just leaving for Ome Tepe on Thursday so we can be back and safe by Thursday...aka I had a 2 day week, followed by a 6 day "weekend"...going back to FU is going to be sooooo hard especially because I think I'm taking 6 this semester...
After lunch at Ola Verde with the girls and Daniel, Constantino and Irwing...Lora, Kristen and I picked up some snacks for our "election party"...We planned to be up all night (which wouldn't have been so bad once we found out classes were canceled) but we basically already don't have to.....lots of people already baracked the vote...omg i'm so corny. CNN says 199-78 right now and that's like not even including some sure blue states....
OBAMA / BIDEN '08!!!!!
(still gotta work on keeping it short i guess...)
p.s. Lora and I joined a gym for the last month :)
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