Viva Nicaragua!

Journal Entry - Lucas

     Today´s morning was much like most others.  I woke up, showered, and ate breakfast.  I had Fruitloops.  It may sound boring to most in the United States, but it was different and nice when eating them in Nicaragua.  The group met at 9am and loaded the bus for our overnight in El Chile.  When we got to El Chile, we stopped at Vernon´s house to unload the materials needed for the rebuilding of his roof.  Those who were working on this project stayed here as well as the people working on painting the weaving co-op.  They helped bring the materials from the road down to Vernon´s house.  My group went up to the school to install the water system.  We ate lunch on the way to the school since we were a little behind schedule.  We then started installing the water system with some of the parents whos kids attend the school.  Once our business was finished here, my group went to the weaving co-op to help paint.  This project went well and the building looked very nice.  The process went quickly and smoothly.  During the painting process I got a chance to call home, it was the first time since I´ve been in the country that I talked to my family.  Although we have had internet access, phone calls are always nice because they are more personal.  Once we were done painting for the day I played baseball with one of the kids who lived nearby.  It was a lot of fun, even though the group was saying he played better than I did. 

   Soon after this, the rest of the group met us at the weaving co-op for dinner.  We had a delicious soup made by one of the families who lived near the building.  After dinner, our new host families came to meet us and brought us to their home.  I knew that it wasn´t going to be like the homes in San Ramon because of the rural location we were in.  The home I stayed in had four rooms; a room with three beds for the three of us staying there, a small kitchen, a small living room, and a bedroom with beds to sleep the mother, father, and three kids.  I imagine the kids sleep in the room we were staying in when they aren´t hosting anyone.  They did have electricity, but no running water, and they had dirt floors.  I couldn´t imagine living in a place like this.  I´m glad I was there though so I could get a small example of what it is like for these people and their way of life.  To me, it seems like it would be so hard to live like this, but I´m sure they are used to it.  After staying only one night, all I want to do is donate all of my money so they can live a better life because I know they could use it more than I could at this time in my life.  Also, it would be much easier for me to earn that amount than it would be for them.  Talking to Beth, I learned that $20 per month is a normal income for the people in El Chile.  This fact leaves a sad feeling in me knowing that in some places in the U.S. people could earn as much in one day as these hard-working people earn in many months.
   It is 8pm now and I think we´re going to speak with the family a little more, then all go to bed.  They don´t use bug nets which I find surprising with the amount of bugs in the house.  Matt, Mario, and I already set our bug nets up which must have looked wierd to them since they sleep without them.  The family was nice though and helped us.  I hope I sleep well tonight, it´s raining and they have a tin roof so the noise might be a bit much.  It´s only one night though and a night of this trip I will remember forever.  It´s a great experience for me to be here, so no matter how I sleep, I´ll be satisfied in the morning. 

Journal Entry - Matt

     Today was one of our most intersting days yet.  We met at 9am and went to a coffee plantation.  The owner/guide and his co-worker took us into the plantation´s coffee fields.  The coffee plants grow abundantly here.  The plants or small trees are about six feet tall, with dark, shiny green leaves.  This is not the growing season for coffee; however, we learned about the entire operation.     
     We also had a chance to leave the main trail and explore the forest.  Our guides pointed out various trees and plants and warned us about the danger present in this jungle-like forest.  The place teems with life.  It was steep climbing at times and very hot and humid.  The colonies of ants are fascinating, and the guide says they are a sign of life and favorable for coffee growing.  Several of us were bitten by ants - they sting!
     In many spots on the plantation, or finca, there are truly magnificent views of the countryside and nearby mountains.  This area is very lush, very green.  We got some excellent BBQ chicken for lunch and continued our tour.  We could hear many birds such as the toucans, but they are difficult to see.  The morning was hot, humid and sunny, but the weather changed.  Our afternoon walk was overcast and breezy, finishing with a light rain.  We traveled back to San Ramon in two small trucks, with the majority of us riding in the back.  It was a rough and wet ride back over very bumpy roads, not the safest way to travel.
     By the time we arrived home the rains were fast approaching, and it began to thunder.  The thunder is even louder here than our Vermont summer storms. 

Journal Entry - Aimee

Today is the first day of our second week. The group spent this morning doing our projects at La Chìspa, and then had lunch at an Italian restaurant. We spent the afternoon being tourists, with a little shopping in Matagalpa and a visit to the most amazing artisanal chocolate factory. I'm sure some of you might get to benefit from our visit, hint hint.

As a group, we've come through a couple of the phases of cultural shock. Dealing with the changed diet has been particularly challenging for some of our members, but they have all been real troopers and haven't missed a beat, even when under the weather. I think we are now all enjoying the experience, and have realized that our time here is actually short. Jay left us last night, and we were sad to see him go. He was invaluable to the team.

We have been extremely lucky and managed to be involved in some unexpected cultural events, including a concert tonight which I will head off to when I am done typing this entry. We got a private dance lesson with Doña Sonia on Tuesday, and then got to go to a dance show with live music (and some dancing of our own) on Wednesday.

From my perspective as a sociologist, I find myself critical of much of what I see. San Ramón is a town that is heavily dependent economically on foreign NGO's, which I view as tremendously distorting. While the work these organizations do is important and beneficial, they don't necessarily create the sort of durable wealth creating industries that this place desparately needs. Furthermore, it's highly idiosyncratic in terms of which individuals benefit from which organizations. We've also heard that these NGO's often have competing aims and intentions, which inhibits them in trying to combine efforts to realize shared goals. I'm working with several of my students to design a research project exploring the network effects of NGO's in San Ramón, and I think we might uncover a fascinating dynamic that highlights the way these organizations perpetuate a type of dependency in spite of their best efforts not to do so.

Well, I'm off for more music, and regretting already that I too will depart sooner than the rest of the team. Today was a peak for me and I've really settled in and gotten comfortable. Wednesday will get here too fast.

Aimee

Journal Entry - Mariel

May 21st 2009

Today, my day began at 645 with a light jog around San Ramon with the girls. I ate some bananas and yogurt with my older sister, Yaritza, as we watched music videos and the news like every other morning. Around 8, the group gets on the bus to Pueblo Viejo for our hour long bus ride. Our first stop is one of the elementary schools where we filled up the bus with food donated by the UK. We worked pretty hard carrying the 50 kg bags flour, corn and oil to other schools in the area. It was like Christmas for these schools, especially one of the pre-schools whose kids attend class in 2 wooden shacks. The day continued with 15 minute walk to Santans house once we arrived at the high school in El Pueblo Viejo. Santana spoke about his experience in VT and how he wasn´t able to contact his father while in VT because they didn´t have a phone. He also spoke about how he began a small business with 100 dollars given to him by  Planting Hope for his trip to the U.S. His father then spoke to us and played the guitar as we relaxed. Around 1 we went to Dona Mercedes house for a lunch of beans, delicious rice, and pico de gallo. This was followed by Bunuelos, fried yuka with honey. We also learned how to make cuajada, a type of cheese, which we were able to take home with us. Today wasn´t as long as others have been, but we are getting used to the work, weather and are all getting along great.

Journal Entry - Morgan

May 19th
Me llamo Morgan

Today began like all other of my days so far here. My 3yr old sister yelling about something, giggling and laughing, with her two brothers in the backround hushing her. She´s a peach and I am fully planning on stealing her and bringing her back to the states with me. So, I woke up in my bed, clean and well maintained like everything in the house from the kitchen to the boys (I have two brothers, aged 13 and then took one of the coldest and quicked showers I have ever taken. I don´t know if I ever will get used to geckos running up and down the shower. I scarfed down some type of meat, salty but tasty, rice (of course), and some french fries, just not quite the ones were used to in the states. All my food is made by my grandmother, who is a great cook and deals very well with my struggling spanish.

So at 8, were off, not too early considering we go to bed at 830 and wake up to the many neighboring chickens at 5. Our plan for the day was to went to visit our potential job sites for the next two weeks. Our first stop is El Chile, only 45 minutes away, but on a road that I am quite positive was never intended as a bus route and soon became the bounciest ride I´ve ever been on.

Our first stop is the house of a scholarship student sponsered by Planning Hope. He has a large number of brothers and sisters and his house is currently covered by a plastic tarp filled with holes. His walls were made of clay, sogging cardboard and wire. Experiencing that as much as we have lately is extremely sad and makes one truly appreciate what they have and have taken advantage of in the past.

The second stop of the day was the children´s school. Last year´s team painted the entire school and this year we will be installing a water storage facility for them. Its a great project and badly needed.
Throughout our trip there the kids were great photo subjects. Extremely sober at first but opened up when Jay and I started taking photos. They were so thrilled by the site of a camera and their own picture. It was extremely refreshing to have such honest enthusiam.

Our next stop was the women´s weaving co-op. We ate lunch packed by our families and watched one of the women weave. There are 8 women that work at the co-op. A rarity in a place where very few women work outside of the house. They do great work and I picked up one of their bags as proof.

On thing I noticed was that the view from everywhere in El Chile was breathtaking and sad. There is a lot of deforestation and all of the livestock seem to be starving. Pretty sad.

Our last stop for the day was Susuli highschool. Santana brought us in and we had the opportunity to play soccer and frisbee with the kids in front of the entire school. Kind of daunting. The kids were great, but I was extremely suprised that our team won. The girls were great at frisbee and got really into it. We had an English class with some of them, and then a couple of the kids sang songs in English for us. Can´t lie but I kinda felt like an animal in the zoo,we were the object of much . We went back to the very long bumpy ride and sang alot of songs in Spanglish... It was hilarious.
But, bed early after that, we have to get up really early tomorrow morning. Hasta mañana.

Journal Entry- Nico

May 17th, 2009

Hola! My name is Nicolas Choy and I am one of the team leaders for this 2009 NU Visions Abroad Team in Nicaragua.

Yesterday, May 17^th, was our second day here in Nicaragua in the little town of San Ramón.

First we got together in front of Doña Edita’s house and then we went to have breakfast in Doña Nelly’s house. The backyard of the house was an amazing garden. There were flowers and trees that several members of the team had never seen before. There were also a few turkeys and chickens running around the house. Mercedes and Beth came with us as well.

We had some fruits with pancakes. I had not had mango in a long while and here in Nicaragua they are everywhere! There was also coffee and some orange juice. The coffee was unreal, it was very tasty. So far one of the best parts of this trip has been the food. It is real food; everything comes from the ground which is great.

After we ate and hung out for a little while, we started the official meeting. First, we had Mercedes welcoming us again and hoping that we can take advantage of this trip and learn a little more about ourselves and our lives. Beth then explained in detail what we are going to be doing during this week. She also spoke about the different projects she had in mind and things to have in our head so we can at least know what is going on.

After the meeting we had a tour in town by two “chavalas” or girls who work with the tourist development of San Ramon. First, they took us to a cultural center owned by Spanish people. They have cultural presentations and dances in there and some other things.

Then we visited every single house of the team members and we had pictures with our families. On our way to the Catholic Church, I bought a “raspado” and I had some members try some. It is kind of ice with some flavor syrup in it. It is really sweet.

We went to a church which was built in the early 1800’s and was made of clay, eggs, and some other cheap materials. It is a very old but very pleasant and pretty church. The last place we visited was the office of tourism of San Ramón. There, some of us bought some hand made Nicaraguan jewelry.

After that, we went to have lunch with our families. Once again, the food was unbelievable.

I got to see a “futbol” or soccer game with my family before we went to Don Carlos’ house to use the pool. I went to the pool with my little brother Johander, and I had a good and relaxing time with my teammates and the guys from San Ramón. We were offered watermelon and ice cream in Don Carlos’ as well.

Around five in the evening, Johander, my brother, and I came back from the pool and went to play “futbol” for like an hour. It was a lot of fun and he plays very well. We came back to the house and went to the church with my mom, Maria. The mass was very nice and very entertaining. Then we just headed back home and watched TV for a little while before we went to bed.

It was a very relaxing day; however, I already feel that I have been here for way more than just two days. I am definitely looking forward to see what is next.

Nico

Journal Entry- Mario

May 16th 2009

I woke up this morning feeling recharged and ready to take on the day. I did not expect to walk so much in the beginning but we ended up walking a lot more than I expected. As I walked and walked I realized how poor this country really is. It makes me wonder how these people have survived so long, but they have and are managing very well.

In one day I learned enough to least me a lifetime. Today when I went shopping. I didn't spend a dollar, it just didn't feel right to buy anything, so I ended up not spending any money. We walked around Matagalpa for about two hours and then we stopped for lunch at a semi buffet. The food was amazing. I haven't had food like that since my Grandma cooked.

After stopping we broke into groups again and roamed around Matagalpa for another couple of hours. After that we met again in a park, then we took taxis to the library called La Chispa. After arriving we discovered that we were going to be part of the student activities.

Ben and I ended up playing jump rope with the kids for a while at a basketball court up the road from La Chispa. After jumping we went back La Chispa for a presentation being help by the students and teachers from La Chispa.

They put on a really pretty show today, they danced and had a little fishy show with the kids who are learning English. An awesome show overall. Then we came back to San Ramon (my home) and we had a short meeting before we split up and went home to eat. I had a good dinner, getting to sit down and talk with my family. I talked to them for a while and for some reason in one night I seem to have fallen in love with this place.

Journal Entry- Ben

May 15th

We are in Nicaragua and already I am a little confused. Very excited, but confused. We flew in late but the view of Managua from the airplane was incredible. Seeing the city lit up at night was a fantastic way to start our three weeks here. My feelings about the trip changed a lot all day today, but now that I´m here I am nothing but excited to meet my homestay family.

The welcoming group at the airport was awesome and the fact that they are willing to take the 2½-to-3-hour trip from Managua to San Ramon, on which I am currently writing this blog entry, is a true testament to the kind and appreciative nature that our friends here possess.

I´m going to end this entry and enjoy the breeze of the ride. It´s hot.

Ben