I’ve been back a week and am going to attempt to not bore you with my stories from the land of lakes, volcanoes, flooding and this season’s Survivor.
I think I’ll go day by day and just pretend you know who I’m talking about.
Saturday day-1. I landed in a lot of rain, enough rain to ensure my bags were wet before I got them from baggage. My old roommate Aimee picked me up but Matthew was there too picking up some Koreans. He tipped my bag boy for me. I think that it should be noted that in the morning when I needed to tip someone at SFO my own dad made me pay for myself.
Sunday day-2. I went to American church, lunch, coffee, and dominated at Ticket-to-Ride.
Monday day-3. I went out to lunch with Lori and then we stopped by the mechanic. They recently took dents out of her door and now the door was filling up with water. They decided they would keep the car and found us a reputable taxi driver to take us home. They ended up finding us someone with a car, but he got bored waiting for us and decided we weren’t worth his time so he drove away – down the block and parked his car there.
Tuesday day-4. I ran errands with Jessica, something very reminiscent of my time living in Nicaragua. She is pregnant so we went to McDonalds for breakfast. The power went off in the afternoon. A now rare occurrence.
Wednesday day-5. I went to the Ferrrer’s for lunch, I think that was the only time I got fresh Gallo Pinto. After lunch I rode Aimee’s bike to the library. I don’t know why I didn’t do that before. Bike riding takes a lot less time than walking. The library was great – here is an in-depth look at it.
The library has been going strong since May of 2008. Rosmery became the librarian when I was leaving and it was wonderful to get caught up with her. She works Monday to Friday from 1-6 (and sometimes on Saturdays) and gets paid $95/month (if anyone wants to pay her salary let me know). She is an amazing Christian girl who loves the kids and knows them well. She has a schedule on the wall with designated craft times, reading out-loud times, times for people over 15 and everything is very orderly. A few afternoons I helped with crafts, one day I played a Shoots and Ladders, and one day I pulled kids aside and had them one-on-one pick a story to read to me. I was very encouraged that two brothers who could barely read when I left now are reading with confidence. It was great to see tangible results in response to the long-term work being done. Earlier this year a second room was added on to the library. The goal is for the current library to be kept for younger kids and the additional room to be set up for teens, adults, classes and study groups. Right now the space is empty but as money comes in they will be getting more books, shelves, and furniture. This summer a group came and painted both parts of the library. And guess where that group came from…Maranatha High School. They did an excellent job. Small world, yes?
Thursday day-6. Matthew sent a driver, Harold, to pick me up. Matthew has opened a clinic since I left and I got to see that. It is nice, and people come to it (not like his old clinic). Most patients pay to go to it, except for those that don’t. After the clinic we went to the feeding program, not much has changed there. Still over 200 people come everyday. In the past Matthew has had AA type groups come to do meetings but they never lasted long. Now someone comes daily to preach from the Bible and amazing enough people (around 30 each day) sit and listen.
After the feeding program we went out to lunch – Korean food. It was me, Matthew, 2 Korean men (one that didn’t speak English), Harold, and this other Nicaraguan that works for Matthew. Odd group, we split between Korean speakers and Spanish speakers. I was with the Spanish. In the afternoon I went back to the library. At night we went to the movies, it was 2 for 1 night. And since 1 is only $4 regularly, it was very affordable.
Friday day-7. Nicaragua Christian Academy had their Independence Day celebrations. Since 2005 last year was the only one of these celebrations I’ve missed. I also got to go to Sampson’s in the morning to get their version of the frappachino and some churros de queso (a very amazing combination). I started to get a sore throat, I thought it was just bad air but it turned into a cold. A note o air quality - normally in the States I drive with my ac on recycled air, not since I’ve been back. After 2 weeks in Nicaragua I could drive past the slaughterhouses on I-5 behind a smoker, driving diesel with my windows down and not have any problems.
Wow this is getting long.
Saturday day-8. In the morning I went to the market then in the afternoon I was feeling a cold coming on and it was raining so I laid on the couch and watched TV. Later on I went to coffee with Chema. Now in California going to coffee means Starbucks, or Peets or some hip local place. In Nicaragua there is El Coche but the El Coche on our side of town closed so what is left is Café Latino. How to describe Café Latino…their sign is neon orange and yellow. I tried to order an iced latte, they were out of ice. I switched my order to the brown liquid that is dispensed from the icee machines. They got a cup, took the lid off the machine, and scooped me out a cup. This would be gross except for it is really experiences like that that make Nicaragua.
Sunday day-9. I went to church with the Ferrrer’s it was great seeing the people from there, then we went to El Eskimo for lunch. In the 2-years of going to church with the Ferrrer’s I think we went to El Eskimo 95% of the time, the food is American but I don’t think you can find any restaurant in the US that is broken up into 4-distict sections like that place. In the front you can sit at the counter and order ice cream and then by the time you get to the back it is linen tablecloths and crystal. Sunday afternoon I left with 4 other girls for a pineapple farm. That night we were supposed to go on a hike to see some of the 56 mammals that live in the national forest – Chocoyero. It was pouring down rain, we saw one mouse. Most mammals are smart enough to find shelter in the rain, humans are not most mammals.
Monday day-10. I was sick but people were going on a hike and you know me, never one to pass on a good hike. Oh wait that isn’t me at all but it was hike or sit by myself for up to five hours and I still wanted to see an armadillo. I didn’t have proper hiking gear so I used Kate’s beach bag and crossed the straps to make a bag to carry my water bottle, very classy. I don’t know if I have the mastery of the English language required to adequately describe the events that took place on this hike. The incline was an hour of huffing and puffing but there was a good view at the top. But that only took one hour then we had to decide how to get back to bottom, either on a normal path or the more adventurous path of La Ventana. La Ventana just had one little part where a rope was required and we’d need to hop down some rocks. So we went the way of the La Ventana. After not too much time we got to the part requiring a rope and hopping, it was very easy but we were quite proud of our adventurousness. After this obstacle the path pretty much ended. The guide was clearing a path for us with a machete. I was getting eaten by some non-mammals. We went along still with our adventurous spirits then the path really ended. And by ended I mean it narrowed down to mountains going up on both sides of us and a 20 foot drop down. So here the options were turning around or going down the cliff, by a minority vote the cliff was chosen. The rope was tied to a tree again and we were asked questions like “can support your weight with just your arms?” No. Fortunately the part of my brain that recognizes dangerous situations stopped working a while ago so I wasn’t nervous at all. I’m ready to meet my Maker. So about half way down this wall there was a tree to rest at, bad news is that is as far as the rope would go. Now I’ve never been rock climbing but I’m pretty sure only Tarzan thinks that vine is just as good as rope. But the rope ended and I was instructed to complete the climb holding onto a vine instead. Did you know vines don’t have knots like rope? I ended up sliding down the rest of the way. I have the road rash on my stomach to prove it. But actually the most painful was the chunk of my palm that stayed on that vine. On a more upbeat note I was the quickest one down that mountain and it has been fascinating watching the different layers of my skin heal. The adventure mellowed out after that, when I got back to our camp I slept for the rest of the day. Then we got S’mores.
Tuesday day-11. After reading in a hammock and drinking a variety of coconut milks the Pineapple farm was over and we were back to bustling Managua life. But not too bustling because it was a national holiday. My cell phone was out of minutes.
Wednesday day-12. Maybe the most typical of Nicaragua days. It was day two of the national holiday. We tried to get bakery breakfast – it was closed. I was going to go to the beach with the Ferrers and the church – their car broke down. I decided to ride my bike to the library – it was closed and started pouring down rain. (highlight, I got to talk to this girl Dariana for a while, she’s around my age and in a very typical position for girls in that community, not in school, not working, boy crazy). That night Survivor Nicaragua started – we laughed. I mean did you read my adventure from day 10?
Thursday day-13. Matthew again. Sort of. He had Harold pick me up and drop me off at the feeding program. I think I am getting faster at serving slop. One of the men asked for my eyes. I said no. He asked why. I told him they were mine. He offered to trade me. I declined.
Friday day-14. I was going to go to the school I used to teach at but when I called they were closed for the holiday week. I went shopping instead and bought bags of refried beans to give to people at work as a souvenir. Nicaragua has amazing refried red beans. Then I went to Michelle’s work (the center for kids with disabilities and their families). None of the kids were there, or their families but Michelle and I got to catch up. Then I went to the library. Some of the kids wrote me very sweet cards. Then I went to a baby shower. Somehow I volunteered to organize that candy bar/memory game. It was a bilingual party and I think all of my cleverness (and I am clever) was lost in translation. My cell phone ran out of minutes.
Saturday day-15. Matthew also has been doing some community development stuff since I’ve been gone. I got to go with him to a tent-town El Paraiso that he has been working in. When he first went and asked the local leaders what they wanted, they chose electricity and water. He was able to put in 4 wells and then more people came so the government recognized it as a place to put electricity. There are 1200 homes there, probably 50 are made with brick the rest are made from whatever scraps people came up with. He has started a church, feeding program, and plant nursery there. Can you imagine wanting water? Even seeing it I can’t fathom how people live. So why do people start a new town in a place without a water source? Because the government promoted it as a place you could get land for cheap. So people sold what they had in the city and bought land and then couldn’t afford to develop the land so essentially have nothing now. After I was home and was telling my parents this, my dad asked me how much land I was talking about. I looked up from my chair, looked around the room and said, “Oh, I guess about the size of our living room.” That realization is still haunting me.
Saturday night we went to quesillos. To make a quesillo you wrap a tortilla around some cheese (like string cheese) and pickled onions and put it in a bag then you pour in some creamy substance. Somehow it ends up being wonderful. My cell phone ran out of minutes.
Sunday day-16. I was supposed to go to church with the Ferrrers but their car was still broken so this guy from church was going to pick them and then me up. His clock was off by about 10 minutes so he stopped waiting when I was 5 minutes late (AKA 5 minutes early). Lori loaned me her car so I got to see people again. After the service one of the ladies was selling pupusas for 50 cents as a fundraiser. A few weekends ago I bought 2 pupusas from a street cart in Oakland for $5. What a steal. On the way home it started storming again. I like the flash floods but Aimee reminded me that while we are dry inside other people are losing everything they own. After the storm the side of the road to Lori’s house was totally washed away and a bunch of people were standing around looking at something. At first we thought someone was hurt but no one seemed upset. We drove past an hour later and people were still there so we got out to find out what happened. Evidentially they found some bones so kept digging around. Then upon further investigation they found some big pottery that had bones in it. I guess her street was some ancient burial ground or something.
Monday day-17. I had an early flight with two layovers but things went really smoothly. I got through customs in record time even with the 50 lbs of beans I was bringing. Constantly in Nicaragua I was running out of minutes on my Nica phone. One afternoon I put in $2.50, sent 3 text messages, and made 2 phone calls totaling 6 minutes and it was gone. So what happens when I land in Texas and try to turn on my phone? The battery is dead. I didn’t have any quarters and pay phones are hard to come by anyways so I was just as lacking as in Nicaragua. And just like in Nicaragua everything turned out ok. My mom guestimated the time it would take me to get from SFO to Concord BART and was waiting when I got there. That night I counted 40 mosquito bites on my legs.
That is all from that trip. I am now back at work and this weekend injured myself at the beach way worse than I did falling down that cliff. Matthew offered me a job, I turned him down but am starting to rethink things.
