On elections and electricity

As you probably know the United States presidential elections are coming up, what you may not know is that Managua’s mayoral elections are next month as well.  

I don’t claim to very politically minded but I’ve really been trying this election.   I might not have watched any of the debates but I did see SNL Weekend Thursday update last week.  I wonder what candidate they support. I also have spent some time looking at the propositions that are up in California.  Good thing, because now I know that my vote could count towards farmers putting their animals in larger cages before the slaughter them.  I still don’t know if I will actually be able to vote because my absentee ballot has yet to arrive, but at least I’ll know how I’m supposed to feel when the results start coming in.

Nicaraguan politics, on the other hand, are a completely different ball game.  Technically there are two candidates running, Alexis Arguello and Eduardo Montealegre.  Both of them have a star studded past, Montealegre was the runner up for Nicaraguan presidency in 2006 and Alexis is three-time boxing world champion.  Alexis is running on the Sandinista ticket and thus is backed by the current president, Ortega, and Socialist leaders worldwide.  Montealegre is running the opposition so his slogan, used on billboards, is Todos contra Ortega (All against Ortega). 

Last week I asked two Nicaraguan friends who would win and they both said Alexis.  They also clarified that his win wouldn’t be because he had more votes but just because of the corrupt power of his political party.  So it will be interesting to see how that plays out, I suspect it will involve lots of firecrackers and red and black flags.

Enough of politics, the weather has been loco lately.  Thursday and Friday it rained constantly and with constant rain comes power outages, nationally and more specifically in our house.  On Friday I think everyone lost power for at least a little bit but then ours never came back on.  Finally Saturday morning it did, and then Sunday an electrician spent the day at our house trying to make that not happen again.  I guess with a lot of rain our wires would get wet and stop working and then they needed sun to dry out.  Is that a normal problem?

A new maid, Claudia, started working last week at our house and she is amazing.  Chilo, who worked for Jeremy and Cristina when they lived here, recommended her to us.   She has only been here three days and already our house is cleaner than it ever was before. She only works for us part time and for her other job she is a cook, so we are reaping the benefits of that as well.  We now get hot lunches the days she is here, usually some form of beans and rice and fresh juice.

I could write about the library but that will be next time.

Love, Joy

PS I’m moving home in two months (or so the calendar says, things could change)

Happy Finnish Literature Day

Last weekend I participated in a 11km “fun run” in the mountainous region of Matagalpa. The gringo group from Mangua pre-race
I tied my friend Amira for last place. We obviously had a different opinion of what a “fun run” was than the other participants. Regardless of us losing it was still an enjoyable time. Matagalpa is a higher altitude than Managua which made the running temperature nice, and the trail led us through coffee plantations so it was gorgeous. Since we were going at a slower pace than everyone else I really got to take in the beauty of the surroundings and we got to know red-cross van well.

Amira and me post-race

Group post-race

Post robbery life has still continued to be an inconvenience. We had to establish what I call “the house arrest schedule,” not just for security but because workers are in and out of the house all day fixing things. Yesterday, this morning, and Monday are my assigned days. It basically means I have to stay at home in case someone comes over to do something. This morning welders are here putting in a new, more secure back door. They are very nice but their work is extremely noisy.

During my house arrest time this week I’ve been trying to do my own laundry. The washing part has been pretty basic but drying is quite annoying. Nicaragua is extremely humid and it is the rainy season and we don’t have a dryer and our dogs like to attack the laundry line. So this is the chain of frustration, first you find moldy clothes in your closet that you decide you should wash. Then you realize you need to dry it somewhere (hopefully thoroughly so that it doesn’t just mold right away again). Then you can’t hang it outside because it is rainy, so you hang it in the garage for 15 hours, then the next morning you have to lock the dogs in the garage so people can go in the yard but it is still raining so you drape it over all the furniture in the house for another 15 hours. Then you see a little sun so you hang it outside to kill that last bit of mold and you get ready to move it inside as soon as you see the dark clouds moving closer. I am writing this at 11:30 am and it has been sunny all morning so I think the clothes from yesterday’s wash are going to be genuinely dry (and they’ve only been moved 3 times).

I’ve been trying to just schedule my house arrests for the morning so that I can still open the library in the afternoon and that has been working out well but I haven’t been able to do follow-up cleaning from when my mom was here. And also I had to take the week off from Matthew’s school. This morning we had a house meeting to set up a schedule for next week so that we can be more prepared for the inconveniences that may come our way.

And on a more upbeat final note, thank you so much for your prayers, encouragement, and generosity this past week (and 2 years). I am blown away, once again by God’s grace and provision in all ways. So thank you for being available to be used by Him to show and pour His (and your) love to me. Really I don’t deserve it but do appreciate it.

good bye mom and some other things

As I start this blog there is so much that I have to say, some of which I don't want to say because I know, in part, what your response will be. But I can't keep secrets (as you probably have figured out) so here it comes.

On Monday of this week my mom left after coming down with my aunt and our neighbor for ten days. I can't even begin to express how wonderful it was to have them here but it was a busy ten days. Besides one day trip we spent most of the time working in Managua especially in the library. It is now organized and all of the books are in a database. Not only did they help out physically it was encouraging to have tangible moral support that I haven't been feeling with this job. I know by admitting that I appreciate moral support may totally alter your perspective of me but that's a risk I'm willing to take. Also since they came prepared to survive in the jungle for about a year I am now well stocked with snack foods, toothpaste, oil of olay face wipes, DVD's and all sorts of other things that I didn't know I was missing. Side note on the snacks, Trader Joe's makes some amazing gorgonzola flavored oven crisp crackers, you should check them out. If you want to know more about this trip I'm sure all of the participants would be willing to give you a very detailed account of the happenings from three very different perspectives.

Yesterday morning I went to the dentist, I was extremely nervous because dental problems freak me out and I haven't had a cleaning since December of 06. But have no fear, I am cavity free and the lady was really nice and it only cost $10. She made me chew a red pill for first graders to highlight my problematic plaque areas and she thinks it is very cute that I still have baby teeth (dientes de leche). She also answered her cell phone twice during the cleaning, but that's Nicaragua for you.

Now the part I don't want to write. When we got home from our appointments we couldn't find our little dog then when we went into our house we saw that our back door had been opened and our house robbed. So finally came the advantage of me living in the maid's room, they didn't even glance in my room where they would have seen my laptop and iPod. Unfortunately the rest of the house, especially Lori's room, was picked clean of all things electronic and cash. Needless to say, Wednesday was a rough day with concerned friends and neighbors and unconcerned police. Now we can ask the Lord to give back what was taken, not only the tangible things that were lost but also the peace of mind and sense of security. The timing of it is all so overwhelming, I hear of so much falling apart finically in the states and am very removed, but this hit close to home and made me realize how real this global economic crisis is. And how futile our security measures are and how important it is to invest in the things that rust and moths can't destroy and thieves can't steal.

Really the whole robbery thing is just a huge inconvenience so now I'm at my old apartment using their interntet (ours was stolen) and talking with the maid that I trust like my mother. And on top of all that I missed another training day for the run this weekend so I'm off to do that now.