En Leon

El Catedral de Leon

I have been in Leon for 3 nights now. My Spanish has improved dramatically. I am about where I was two years ago plus finally getting used to using two forms of the past tense. There are more than 2, but I will be a lot easier to understand if I even master these two.

My first night here I stayed in the hostel called Lazybones.

The Lazybones Hostel

It is a sanctuary.

Everyone staying there speaks english, there is a lovely pool, they sell cold beer, there are beautiful plants all around, it is clean, you cannot hear the honking outside, there are computers to use for free, there is coffee available around the clock, and you can wear clothing which in my opinion is more appropriate for the sweltering heat (ie. virtually none),

Outside everyone stares and the men make all manor of noises if you are not wearing blue jeans. Actually, I don´t get the impression the men care much about what you look like or wear, just that you exist and are a woman.

In essence, the hostel is not Nicaragua, but yesterday I paid for another night in the dorm ($8) and just used the pool, drank a beer, and sent a couple emails. It was wonderful, but the Nica working at the front surely thought I was an extravagent fool. The cost of the towel ($1, more proportionate if staying and using for a week), beer ($1.25), and the room was equivalent to a very nice meal in a pretty nice restaurant. To me, it was equivalent to a vacation from my vacation and worth every centivo!

I am not complaining, only exposing that I willingly succumbed to my own weakness for the comforts of privilege. Actually, the home which I was placed in for the duration of my language class is more than I had anticipated. The woman is a vegetarian and a yoga teacher! This seems to me to be very different from the norm here. I went to her yoga class in the home of Belgian couple on Monday and will go again tonight. The meals are good with fresh fruit and hot dog buns (!) for breakfast, beans and rice and something else for lunch and dinner. All meals are served with fresh juice.

The living room and courtyard of my home-stay home

Leon was considered the center of the revolution in the 80´s. Many houses were bombed by the Nicaraguan dictatorship. I went to the museum of the revolution and the attendant took me up to the roof of the building and told me that all of the corrugated metal roofs were new. If they had the clay tiles, they were original and thus had not been bombed. My view from that particular building indicated almost half the buildings had suffered.

A house that was never rebuilt

There are many political murals around town as well. One very large one tracks the story of Nicaragua from pre-Columbian times, through the conquest and revolution to today which is symbolized rather optimistically with 2 children running off into a green pasture. Many have told me that despite the idealistic hopes of the revolucionistas, the people are worse off today tha before the revolution. Thus all of the other murals are darker...

Mural politico

I believe you can double click any photo to enlarge it. The mural is pretty interesting.

One other interesting thing about Leon is that is has the largest art museum in Central America. It is a private collection housed throughout a very old building which has been beautifully restored. There were even a several Picassos amongst some truly great Central and South American works. I am normally not that attracted to a lot of contemporary art, but I really liked a lot of the newer pieces in the collection. It is quite a gem, and with an entry fee of only a dollar it is moderately accessible for the local people.

One very long day

Nicaragua from the air.

I didn´t sleep much on the red-eye which probably only surprises me. I read for too long and then slept a little and then we were in Houston where they insist on arm rests between all of the chairs in the airport (it´s the George W. Bush airport so I am sure he has something to do with it).

The weather is perfecto. Hot but a great breeze. The first business I found that was open Saturday in this ghost town on Easter weekend was a frozen coffee place. Cafe Latino has whole rows of slurpee-like machines with icey frozen coffee drinks. I signed right up for one since it was just about my afternoon latte time anyway and I was sweating my gringo butt off wandering around aimlessly getting honked at by underworked taxi drivers. Got most of the way through it before it suddenly dawned on me that I should be avoiding drinks with ice in it that may melt a little and release tiny amounts of water into my beverage. Let alone just drinking crushed ice! Oh well, tasted great so I am glad I didn´t remember sooner! So far so good.

Later in the evening I visited the Plaza de Revolucion, one of the few areas with touristic interest in Managua, unfortunately. The famous statue of Sandino is on the square. The profile of this statue is used as an icon everywhere. There is also a beautiful cathedral that was built in the early 1900´s that suffered too much in the earthquake in 1972 (I think) to continue to be used.

Sandino y yo

After that, I headed across the street to the coast of Lake Managua and walked around a mini festival, or maybe it was a permanent thing, hard to know. I had dinner under an easy-up that was weighted down from the breeze by coconuts hanging around the canopy. This made me happy. From my table I could watch all sorts of things. Here are the highlights... two kid`s rides, one powered by a guy on a bicycle, another (the teacup sort) just pushed around by three guys.

Pedal powered ride. Possible even a retrofitted ice cream bike.

A pickup with 11 people in the bed and 3 in the cab. A great clown. A teeny tiny baby squeezed (more so than held) in between two people on a motorcycle. A ferris wheel you could never pay me enough to ride. And a plate which indicates that in Nicaragua, pollo fajitas means chicken fingers.

On my walk home I came across a huge circus tent (nowhere near the other festival) and decided to see the Russian Circus rather than brave a nightclub as una gringa sola. I definitely didn´t want to return to the hotel at 7:30 even though it was dark and felt like midnight to me. One thing red eyes are good for is resetting your clock quickly.

5 dirt bikes. 1 Cage. FANTASTICO!!!!

Contortionist Grand finale- foot archery?

Now it is Sunday and I am off to catch the bus to Leon and one last night of relaxation before I try to stuff a bunch of Spanish into mi cabeza.

new do

I finally have a moment to share with you all the silliness that overcame me on my birthday weekend. I can almost blame it on Brandi, but I went willingly to the barber's chair at Rudy's- and we didn't even opt for the tasty bloody mary's in the bar next door!

So here we have the bangs. First time since age 8 maybe?


And here we are highlighting the fact that at least half my hair is gone!

My favorite part was when the (almost certainly gay male) hairdresser said drastically cutting long hair like mine used to make him as nervous as the people in the chair but he would reassure them "it's what's left on your head that matters". In my case that wasn't that much. Well, comparatively.

Unfortunately, this is not a very Nicaragua-friendly do as my bangs like to do very strange and unflattering things by morning. I have resorted to product at home, but hats might needto be pressed into service next week. Luckily I will be needing one for the sun anyway. Bustin out the straw cowboy hat! Yeehaw- sunshine and HEAT!!!

Watch that first step...

It's a doozy!

We are officially in over our heads on this one. Although surely we would do better than the previous remuddler did. At some point they changed the slope of the stairs going from the main floor up to the attic-turned-bedrooms. Or maybe there never were stairs - which would not help explain the shredded nature of what we foundSomething is definitely not right here.Something is definitely not right here.
This is a view of the middle of the support for our stairs that go upstairs, as viewed from the stairwell heading to the basement. The plaster along the latter is now filling 4 very heavy trash bags in the basement. What we seem to be looking at is the culmination of 2 problems, neither seeming to have a very good reason. The stringer (dark wood, supports stairs) is too shallow (why? I don't have any idea) so they just added a 2x4. Simple fix, surely just as strong! The cutout that you see, that sort of looks like an upside down stair is where two stringers meet because neither were long enough (why? I don't have any idea). And it didn't even seem necessary to bridge this gap with the scabbed on 2x4!

We had to take a time out after this one. It all started with replacing the door to the basement and realizing that the door jamb seemed to be supporting the stairs. It will now end with a complete rebuild of the stairs. And this can't even happen until we can move into the main floor bedroom which is after the drywaller comes which was supposed to be after replacing the basement door which will now have to wait.

Oh boy. The take home message here? Buy new or GUT IT ALL right off the bat.

I think my next tattoo should say "Remodeling is NOT fun". It could go right on my index finger so every time I point to another cute little fixer upper the entirety of the conversation would go like this: "That would be fun. Oh wait."

Taboo food

We have been finalizing the health assessment that will be done in El Eden in the last couple weeks.  Many of the questions are in the recommended list of questions provided by EWB-USA, the national organization that oversees the local chapters.  One of those questions was whether there are any foods which are taboo in that community.  Admittedly, I couldn’t even think of an example of such a thing in any culture and in typical fashion blurted that out.  Can you think of one?

 

Someone quickly jogged my memory with cows in India (or more specifically with Hindus).  Of course.  That should have been an easy one.

 

I followed that stellar performance with a statement along the lines of “Well, we don’t have any food taboos here.”  Which quickly fell into the interesting discussion of what things are actually taboo here:

Dog

Cat

Horse

Deer hovers on the threshold

 

But to me, all but the last aren’t “food” so why would I consider them “taboo foods”!? 

 

If you lived in a community with limited means for travel outside your immediate area, assuming the population was fairly homogeneous, it seems that ‘none’ would be the most likely answer to this question.  We will see what happens in the survey, and then see if we can pick any up while we’re down there.  My guess is that they are pretty similar to our taboos.  Which is to say, they only eat food. 

 

It just made me think that even a seemingly straightforward question can carry a lot of extra baggage when placed in various contexts. 

 

Wikipedia, of course, covers all of this in detail (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taboo_food_and_drink).

 

what I should be doing

and

I guess I'll go step over all this and brush my teeth before I burn myself out on this blogging bit in one manic day!

Bright Spots

I've been complaining a lot about the winter these last couple weeks, but just now when I went outside to take shots of how dreary the garden looked now compared to the summer shots I posted a while ago and this is what I really found:

Double hellebores in full glory.

Hellebores and heather--my favorite this time of year.

Irises and crocuses from the little packages that "we" (Tony was so excited about them!) gave out at our Michigan wedding celebration.

And a Fairy Door!!!!

And this one I like to call "juxtaposition".

If you ever wondered why the hell it is taking us so long to finish our house, look back at that picture and this one
or this one, depending on the season and you'll get the idea.

I can hardly breath when I look at this. This should also answer any questions anyone has on why I don't ski anymore - This is a Tony ski trip! Seriously, I feel like I'm falling when I look at that.

I prefer fairy doors, frankly.

Actually I don't, but the chicken inside me does.

Ticket Purchased

It's a done deal!
I purchased my flight to Managua, Nicaragua yesterday.

Last week we got word that Engineers Without Borders (EWB) approved our project in a small community in the mountains of Nicaragua. I will be traveling there in mid April with 2 other women (look out machismos!) to do a site assessment. We will all work on performing a rudimentary health assessment and getting to know the community. Kari will be looking at the resources available for installing irrigation to a part of the community that goes to dry to farm in the dry season. And I will be looking at the potential for installing a micro-hydro system to generate electricity.

The EWB site assessment will be about 1 week. The week before, I am hoping to enroll in a Spanish language school in the nearest big town of Matagalpa (in the Matagalpa departamento). They offer 4, 5, or 6 hours of instruction daily combined with a homestay. I have emailed an inquiry, we will see what they have available at that time. I have not really used my Spanish since our wedding in Costa Rica 2+ years ago. I would like to get back to where I was then, at least, and further if possible. It is time to move beyond the present tense!


Some Background on the Community

The community we will be visiting, and eventually doing a project in, is called El Eden. It is in the mountans of Nicargua, about 3 or 4 hours north of Managua. The nearest large town is Matagalpa, with a hospital and access to most resources. It is about 45 minutes away. There are two other nearby communities of San Ramon, and Yucul. The nearest clinic, shops, and school (to 3rd grade) are in Yucul. There is supposedly another school that is closer and not up an apparently incredibly steep hill, but it is across the stream we are going to investigate as the source for either possible project. During the rainy season the kids are hesitant to cross the deeper, faster moving water. I think a log bridge is the most that is ever there. Some of the community also farms the small amount of land they own on the other side of the stream too, so we are thinking a bridge might be a good project to consider later as well.

El Eden was created by a non-profit called Agros. Their goal is basically private land reform. They buy large chunks of land, usually from a single landowner, a rancher. Then, amazingly, they just create a farming community. I wonder what the neighbors think! This particular community has 30 families. Which, in this fertile area, translates to more than 300 people. (You'd have to make a lot of brownies to welcome these new neighbors.) I joke, but this is a concern, obviously. I do wonder what the impact is on the water resources, schools, clinics, etc. Curious to look at this. Agros does actually do a lot to get the schools ready for all these new students.

Note: Agros is a faith-based organization. That does come through in their literature, but we have been told time and time again that they do not prosthelytize or reject community members based on religion. I feel slightly better knowing that the vast majority of Central America is already very Christian- that "work" was already done. I am trying to keep an open mind about this because I do think Agros is doing great work and are not at all concerned that we are not the least bit interested in the faith aspect of this.

Agros screens families, preferably already coalesced into some sort of organized group for whatever reason (yes, most often this is church related), for their readiness to enter into this sort of arrangement. They will buy their plots of land and communal areas back from Agros over the next 10 years. They have been there for three years now.

Here is some information about El Eden. The photo to the below is of the neighboring village of San Ramon- taken from the internet. I will post my own photos as soon as I have them.


When everything is agreed to and the community members are fully counseled and sure they are ready, Agros moves them and their belongings onto the land and provides temporary housing kits. They provide them with very little other than opportunity. Their saying is "All Agros gives you is work, work, work." The housing kit is wooden poles, tin for roofing and maybe some plastic sheeting. We were told they would move onto the land even without this. This is an amazing opportunity, but the idea of owing what amounts to a huge sum of money to them, is a daunting proposition that not anyone would be ready for. But it sounds like those who are willing, are eager to get started with their new lives.

What Agros mostly provides is farming instruction and counseling. They help the community move beyond subsistence farming to crops they can take to market. Agros also works as the liason between other partnering organizations, like EWB, to connect the community to other groups that are interested in assisting with infrastructure and other projects. The community itself must create almost everything themselves.

I love this photo from the Agros web site:

test picture posting

Testing email posting with photo attachment. Ooh, looks like it works! Submitted this post as an email with a photo attachment. Fancy!

Photo is of the raised beds (composts bins I built in the background) in the space between our sidewalk and the street on the west side of the house. In the summer of course.

[2/15/09 This is probably cheating, but going back in time to add this comparison shot taken today to this older post. This is the same view, but drearier]

Check out the dinosaur kale living up to it's Jurassic name after being eaten faster than it can grow in our sunlight deprived (but mild, yes, I should be grateful) winters:

Growing food in your parking strip is a great way to meet your neighbors- the ones who think its cool AND those who think you are insane. They'll tell you either way.

Here is another shot of the parking strip, but farther to the south on our corner lot. Haven't built the raised beds here yet. This one also taken 2/15/09.

I plant lavender in the "dog pee zone". Too small to see in this newer area of the garden. Neighbor suggested hydrant-like fixtures at the corners that encourage bladder emptying at designated places. It seems to work, but I still like the lavender buffer.

Testing. Testing

I don't intend for this to be a house remodel blog AT ALL. Even though I'm sure that will figure more prominently than I like- probably in the same unfortunate ratio it does in our lives in general.

Anyway, I was looking for photos I had at work to test out this feature. Things look so much better in the summer. All the way around. Looking back at this now I can't believe how lush it looks. It's a big soggy mess now.
We also have windows and a door now. No steps to the door, but it's ready whenever the weather gets back around to letting us work outside.

[Cheating again- this picture taken and posted 2/15/09 for comparison with the summer shot. Note not just the lack of lush, but the windows and door are in. And you can see the ledger where the porch will be one day.]