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.]