Thursday, June 21, 2007

Muchos Cuentos

Ometepe
Last weekend Katharine, one of the other teachers at my school, Denia, and I went to the island of Ometepe in Lake Nicaragua. Overall it was very nice to get out of Managua, walk through banana fields, swim in the lake, eat of the fruit of the land, etc. The island it totally beautiful and tranqillo and the three of us had a lot of fun. But there was, as always, a fly in the ointment. Or in our case millions of flies in our $18 hotel room the second night. Maybe we should have splurged and got the $20 room. Plus that night we had been swimming in the lake and our shower was too dirty to get sufficient sand off of us which meant sand in the sheets. Maybe one week I'll send a quiz about me but one thing everyone should know is that I HATE sand outside of it's natural habitat. So in the morning when we got up from a fitful night of sleep the floor was covered with a mix of the dead fly/moth things and sand. Overall quite the island experience.

Amigas
I have a new friend, and even better she's Nicaraguan and she has a car. She just started going to church where I usually go and the past few weekends we've hung out. On Sunday we saw "El Buen Pastor" aka "The Good Shepherd," it was fine except we missed the beginning so were a little confused.

Sin Luz
The electricity has been out a lot lately. The new schedule is noon to 7:00 everyday. So far Monday noon to 7:30, Tuesday 9:30-4:30, Wednesday ?-8:30AM and 5:30PM to Midnight. This morning Leo came extra early to do laundry because it's been a while since she's been able to use the washing machine. I am obviously incapable of doing my laundry when there is any chance someone else will do it for me. On a grander scale Matthew was telling me that some of the garment factories are thinking about closing down because they can't run without consistent electricity. If they shut down over 20,000 people won't have jobs.

Visitando Mas del Pais
Since Tuesday was Katharine's last day in Nicaragua Julio took us to see more places. So we saw the Oriental Market and Matthew's feeding program, Volcan Masaya, a little pottery town called Catarina, and one of the first cities in Nicaragua, Granada. Then on the way home he drove around the outskirts of Managua so we could see some areas of former glory. During lunch two dogs got in a fight right next to our table. I guess Rocky doesn't like to share.

Esposa
Tuesday morning, before we painted the countryside red, we went to my school. It was during recess so Katharine played games with my students and I talked to Matthew. When we were walking back to the car one of my students asked if Matthew was my husband. I told Matthew that he obviously isn't at the school enough if the students have no clue who he is. Then yesterday I went to the market again and one of the guys asked the same thing. I guess we can attribute that to the life of drug use.

Problemas Sentimientas
This week in the car somehow we got into the topic of problems in Nicaragua like rape, and drugs, and child prostitution, and diseases that banana farmers get. I swear every day I end up hearing worse and worse things that happen in this country, so sometimes I'm not constantly peppy. Or sometimes I just don't have any Spanish conversations I feel like striking up. Yesterday was one such quiet day for me I mean there was some little things on my mind but nothing out of the ordinary. Julio thought I was depressed I guess so I was trying to explain myself. Evidently I wasn't doing a very good job and he was asking me if my problems were sentimientas and I asked him what that meant and he was like “you know, when you're so sad you kill yourself.” No I am not suicidal.

Saliendo
Tomorrow I am leaving for the States until July 24th. I hear there is electricity there all the time. I don't know if my mom knows how to make jugo de pina y melon like Leo but there is really good yogurt. I think it is a good trade off and I hope to see a fair amount of you.

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Pobrecito Nicaragua

This morning my roommates painted one of our upstairs walls blue. It looks like the ocean.

There is a new restaurant (or something) in town called Hotter. If you change which letters are doubled you can guess what it is a knock-off of. If you can't figure it out wait until Cristina and I publish our book and you can see the picture.

The electricity has been off a lot lately. Today, eight hours. But in Bible Study we just finished reading the book How to Respond When You Feel Mistreated and we learned that the suffering the government makes us endure is an opportunity in itself to serve God.

Yesterday I went running and took the "Back Off" dog repellent that Kristen left me. I didn't have to use it. But it never ceases to amaze me how loudly the men here can make the kissing noises. Like it is easily heard over the sound of their motorcycles.

Katharine has been here visiting for a week now. When people come visit me Matthew gets super attentive. He's taken me to lunch twice this week and one day brought us bottled water to school. Plus he thinks Katharine and I should go see things so tomorrow he is sending us to Ometepe for the weekend with one of the Nicaraguan teachers. Ometepe is the highest lake island in the world and is formed by two volcanoes, I just looked on Wikipedia to get that info so I really don't have much to share. I told Matthew now that Jeremy and Cristina are gone he is responsible for me. He said I can't ride the bus anymore.

Katharine brought stuff to do crafts in my school. Last week we took pictures and made popsicle stick frames. We just got the pictures back this morning and they are so funny I don't know how I could ever be mad at my classes.

Speaking of school, I'm always a little about what is going on. But I think Monday is my last day and I have to turn in grades and then I'm on break (self imposed) until July 24th.

I wrote most of this out last night while lying on my bed watching mini-ants attack some other insect on my bedroom floor. Pretty intriguing.

It just started raining. Well "raining" is an understatement.

Te amo, Joy

Wednesday, June 6, 2007

17 days til I'm back in the states

To whom it may concern:

Kid's Day was a success last Friday. My group played musical chairs but we didn't have music so I brought a pot and a spoon. Thanks to their lives of deprivation no one thought it was a terrible idea or anything and the kids were eager to be the ones making the noise. It didn't rain so that made things nice. However, the combination of the sudden sunshine and my polo shirt left me with a red V on my neck.

Friday night Kristen and I wanted to go out to dinner but didn't have private transportation so opted for public. First we took the bus and then got a taxi, on the way home we stuck with all taxi. The buses here are really cool, ours had one of those flashing orange traffic lights hanging up inside so we had quite the disco atmosphere. We were no worse for the wear except we did both smell pretty bad by the time we got home.

Last week they sprayed our apartment complex for bugs. When we heard the truck coming we had run to shut all the windows since they spray a mix of ddt and diesel. I've still been ending up with bites and right now I have a fat left hand.

Tonight my roommate from college, Katharine, is coming to visit for two weeks. I am very excited especially since my roommate here, Kristen, is leaving me on Thursday to marry my brother.

Sincerely, Joy Christina Eklund

Thursday, May 31, 2007

rabbit (say if first thing tomorrow morning)

It is rainy season. The streets are now rivers and water is plentiful. The air is fresh and I get to wear pants. The only problem (because there must be one) is that now those cold showers are back to being miserable. Oh and I'm supposed to be tutoring right now but can't because it is raining too hard to walk and I am, as always, out of minutes on my phone. Has having flaky friends finally rubbed off on me?

Yesterday was Nicaraguan Mother's day. It is a way bigger deal here than in the States. On Tuesday my school was only half day because there was some sort of Mother's day presentation. And then Wednesday there was no school at all. Hallelujah, I love moms. Another thing here is that Mother's day colors are red and white and pretty much every where is decorated to look like tacky Valentine's day.

Tomorrow is Kid's day or something so we have another half day and I was informed this afternoon that I am supposed to have some sort of game and prizes prepared. What games are appreciated by kids ranging in ages from 4 to 16?

I often mention that my kids are out of control but maybe I don't go into enough detail. I have to admit that sometimes I question myself about whether or not it is really as bad as I think, but things happen and I am comforted that I do teach at a crazy school. Now for one of the primest examples (yes, even beyond eating toothpaste for lunch): On Monday I walked into my 1st grade class and one of my students asked if he could go to the bathroom and I said no because he asks every single day as soon as I walk in. I ushered him back to his seat, along with the rest of the class, and then started to talk about the book we were going to read. Then I look up to the back of the classroom and there he is peeing on the wall. I was like “oh my, please don't be doing what I think you're doing,” but the other students made sure I knew exactly what was going on. So I told them not to worry about it and go back to their seats but one of them when out side and told their regular teacher who then came in and yelled at him in front of the class. At this point all of the students started chanting something and banging on their desks and Sacarias started crying. Yeah and just if you were wondering no emergency cleaning team came.

OK and maybe I've talked about my student's home lives being messed up too and now have a great example of that. I was talking to the pre-school teacher today, she's a good one to explain every one's history in the school. So I was commenting on what an attentive grandpa Lucy has and the teacher told me that it isn't Lucy's grandfather but dad. Which is crazy because he is old (no offense to my elderly readers, but you don't have a 4 year-old). Then the teacher started telling me about her own family. Her parents divorced when she was twelve because her father wanted a new woman. Through some process, that I would know more about if my Spanish had less issues, her father ended up marrying her brother's girlfriend. That is strange and I'm sure Deuteronomy has something to say about it.

Yesterday Cristina and I went around town taking pictures. We are hoping to eventually put them into a book along with some fabulous commentary that may be available for purchase one day. So be excited for that day.

I hope your life is going splendidly...let me know.

love, joy

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

i love lamp, and some other things

i love lamp
i went to the states for the weekend. i love usa. i love target. i love vanilla lattes. i love changes in temperature. i love hot water heaters. i love friends. i love english. i love weddings. i love unlimited cell phone use. i love 2nd birthday parties. i love cereal. i love english muffins. i love crepes-a-go-go. i love frozen yogurt. i love cherries. i love family. i love dry heat. i love poetry. i love shoes. i love coffee shops. i love walking in peace. i love garbage cans (as opposed to trash on the side of the road). i love you.
So I had a good time this weekend and this morning at 12:30 I got back to Nicaragua. The rainy season has officially started. That means it the humidity has kicked in. Today was pretty good, I actually woke up on time to get to school which surprised everyone (myself included).

back in time to may 15th, 2007
Last week I didn't update because things were a little crazy getting ready to come back. So here is a little on that. Last Tuesday my students grade 6 and up got to go on a field trip. I think it was the first one they had been on because they were really excited and parents came to wave us off, I felt like I was being sent of to war. Fist we crammed three to a seat on a yellow rented school bus then we made a few stops and were on our way to Volcan Masaya. I'd been there a few times already but none of the students had. We saw the volcano and bat caves and had lunch and went to a museum and the students filled out a worksheet on what they learned, it was like a real field trip. Matthew had gone to the States and raised support for everything so it was a very cool opportunity, and we are hoping to be able to go on more. The whole idea of raising support for this trip is odd because besides the cost of the bus it cost 10 cordobas ($.55) a student. It is strange to think that this wouldn't be in everyone's budget. Now for some pictures I'll try to not pick too many.




Some students in front of the volcano


mi colegio walking down to the caves

mi colegio walking up from the caves

the lunch provided for the teachers

our trusty bus "Christ's Blood"

Friday, May 11, 2007

99 degrees and counting

It seems as if I have less and less to say recently but I end up writing the same amount. So I fully do not blame you if you can't put up with reading my ramblings.

  • I am starting to write this at 12:30 on Friday afternoon. In the past 30 hours the electricity has been out for 15 hours, including right now.
  • I took a taxi home today. Last time I took one Matthew gave me money and made one of the other teachers not only help me get it but also had her ride home with me. Today two guys from my work walked me to the street. While one of them told the taxi driver where to take me and paid him the other wrote down the license number.
  • My school is in a canyon and to get to the main road you have to go up a hill, so me and my buddies (one of whom Cristina is pretty sure is the ring leader of all the people that sniff glue in one of the most dangerous areas in the country) were walking up to the road through the neighborhood where most of my students live and I still got this group of men yelling at me informing me of my white beauty and professing their undying love. I thought this only happens when you are by yourself or with a group a girls but no I guess it happens when you are walking with Nica men too. I then took the opportunity to reinforce to Julio that I don't go to clubs. The walk was much more eventful than the taxi ride.
  • Another topic I considered addressing that someone somewhere might find interesting is the lack of good cereals here. The other day I had a dream in which I was at Costco and bought a box of Frosted Mini Wheats and it came with a free box of Grape Nuts “Now easier than ever to eat!” It was a pretty detailed dream.
  • Last Saturday night I went to the movies and saw the new Spiderman. We went to the VIP theater which costs $6 instead of the regular $3. I'm a fairly cheap person and wasn't going to go but I got a sponsor. In the VIP theater you can order food to be brought to your leather recliner. I brought my own apple and trail mix instead of ordering Sushi but fully enjoyed the comfort of the chairs.
  • On Sunday we went to fancy lunch. It was a expensive but I skipped my next to meals so it averaged out not too bad, plus my mom paid. It was definitely worth it because now I can tell people I ate lunch at The Club.
  • Between when I started writing this and now I went to the mall and bought new shoes for $12.
  • The electricity turned back on at 2:30, seven hours after it went out today.
    Love, Joy
    PS. I guess if you are expecting a surprise it is that I am coming home on Thursday for the weekend. This isn't a super surprise because chances are if I am going to see you, you already know that I'm coming. But I am very excited and if you live near by I would love to see you but I think I'll be on house arrest of sorts so traveling will be cut to a minimum.

Thursday, May 3, 2007

Re: I love you

If you're bored I have a suggestion. You should write me an e-mail. You don't even have to respond to anything you have (or haven't) read in my posts it can be completely one sided about your life. Because maybe sometimes you think about it and then don't, this time you should. I'll even make it more exciting, for every 100 responses I'll do something really cool (I don't know what, I'm open for suggestions).

Last weekend I went to a woman's retreat for Christians in Nicaragua that speak English. It was at at a swanky hotel on the beach with the biggest swimming pool in Central America. It was a little pricey but we had high-pressured hot showers . I think it got rid of all the grime that had been building on me for the past three months. Maybe that was too much information. I'm really glad I went for other more spiritual reasons too.

My mom is here for a week.

A few weeks ago at this teacher meeting 100% attendance awards were given. I didn't get one. I didn't go to school on Thursday last week, Monday,Tuesday or Thursday this week. But now I'm not planning on missing any at least until the middle of May. Matthew just sent me an e-mail thanking me for my commitment.

There is a shirt being sold at a department store here. It is very cute but $25. They only have one left and it has been in the store by itself for at least a month but they still haven't put it on sale. Injustices like that don't happen in the states.

I don't like it when my knees are exposed and I am sitting in the back seat of a car and they rub against the seat in front of me. I thought that was a fairly standard annoyance but I said it the other day and nobody understood. Things/people touching me in general I just don't know how to deal with.

On Tuesday we went to this town Granada and to it's famous "Kathy's Waffle House," it was super good. I had the pecan waffle, oh man.

I got a new job tutoring, already. I could start today but since la mama esta aqui I decided to wait until next Tuesday. I'll be tutoring in math again. Good thing I retook Calculus, oh maybe that was to get off of academic probation.

Yesterday at school I was working with my second graders on the phrase "How are you?" and the various responses. So we had gone over them and I had drawn some really high quality pictures on the board and was going around the room asking my students what the words meant in Spanish. I asked this kid Dominic what Hungry was in Spanish and he answered "comida(food)," so I said, "what about food?" and he said, "pescado(fish)?...um...arroz con pollo(chicken and rice)?..." and he kept going and I was just standing in front of the class laughing because he was so confused.

Another interesting thing happened yesterday at my school. At 1:30 in the afternoon, about 2 hours after i left, 20 armed gunmen came to rob us. The went into the office and took our 2 laptop computers, $600 cash, and the cell phones of the people that were working. But today attendance wasn't down at all and everyone seemed fine, I wouldn't have been fine if I was there. Nicaraguans aren't considered a violent people, they didn't hurt anyone and and everyone knows who did it because the school is in such a small barrio. It is sad that people think they should go rob the poor school that most likely one of their relatives goes to. And it is lame that the police don't actively work at stopping things like this when last week I got pulled over for turning left.

My mom took us grocery shopping today and I got pickles and Gatorade and lots of other exciting treats.

I learned at school that May 13th is Saint Fatima Day or something like that so the rainy season is supposed to start, but on the other hand my roommate said her leg was hurting and she thought that was a sign of rain. I think I'll place my bets with Rachel's leg.

OK brief recap, fill me in on your life or just tell me something and if I get enough responses there will be a big surprise.