Wednesday, January 18, 2012

The Last Part of our Exciting Journey to Nicaragua

I personally didn't take this picture of a La Chureca house but it is truly what most of the houses in La Chureca look like.  The credit goes to The Americas Association for the Care of Children http://www.aaccchildren.org/projects/3minutosconlachureca/

I remembered one thing I had forgotten to tell you about zip-lining. When the man (who was later to become my son, Humberto) was explaining zip-lining, he said, "If you fall..." and he pointed to a sign on a tree that said "Hakuna Matata." The girls started laughing and thought I didn't understand. "Mom, don't you get it - that's from the Lion King?" By then I was so stressed out I said, "I get it but I still want the man to go with me."

Home Stay Family
One of the best things that happened in Nicaragua was that we were able to meet the family Anna stayed with for her "home stay." This occurred in December and the home stay was with a family in the Cedro Galan community. When Anna came home for Xmas she brought a thank you card and a gift for me from the family where she had stayed. The mother Lorena had written a long note. The first few lines from the card were: Mama' De Ana gracias por permitirle a su hija de quedarse cu Nicaragua porque para nosotros los Nicaraguen se es de gran bendiciones que ella este con nostros nos ayuda con su solima y la ma's Importante so a more y amistad que nos da ella es ...  Anna translated it the best she could. The main message thanked me for allowing Anna to come to Nicaragua and told how much they appreciated her as a teacher to teach them English and it said she was a good exercise instructor.

In Nicaragua we went to visit this family. The first time we went only thirteen year old Diana was home. Diana is in 7th grade and speaks perfect English. When I asked her how she learned English she said from the teachers at the Manna project. She has been going to classes for as long as the Manna project has been in Nicaragua which seven years. She was very appreciative and thankful for the help she has gotten from the Manna Project. Diana goes to a school where many missionaries' children attend. It is very much like an American school. She attends school all day long. Diana is an incredible young lady. She has wonderful social skills. She has wisdom beyond her years. Her older sister had been talking about meeting a handicapped girl who sounded like she had cerebral palsy maybe. Her sister said it was so sad and she kept crying when she met the girl. Diana said she tried to be happy and smile and laugh when she was by the handicapped person because she wanted her to have happy feelings. I have no doubt that she will accomplish great things in her life. She is hoping to go to college in the United States. Most children in Nicaragua only attend school half a day. Some students go in the morning and some go in the afternoon. This is true for older children also.Their school year runs from February to November. It sounds like they have 9-10 years of schooling.

Olga is one of Diana's older sisters. Lorena (their mother) is 45 years old and has seven children and four grandchildren. Anna became friends with Olga when Olga started attending the adult English classes. Olga has also helped Anna learn Spanish. (Remember Anna did not speak Spanish when she went to Nicaragua. Anna took French at Horace Mann and East because when she was in 7th grade everyone said the French parties they had in class were the best.) I met Olga several times. She is very serious and it is very important for her to learn and understand English. Anna said she works really hard outside of class to practice the lessons and improve her English. We were able to communicate pretty well. She expressed (many times) how thankful she was for Anna helping her. One night we were at their house with Olga, Lorena, and Diana and several of the grandchildren. Olga had run to a nearby venta to get some soda even though we had said we didn't need any. We stayed for quite awhile chatting (even though I sometimes didn't understand). Lorena (the mother) had said that everyone in the United States is very intelligent. We laughed and said, "Not everyone!" It is obvious that education is very important to her. Towards the end of our visit, Olga again expressed her sincere appreciation for Anna helping her. Lorena was also thanking us. And then I looked and noticed that Olga crying and then Lorena was crying. They both continued crying and telling us how much they appreciate Anna and the Manna Project's help. And Anna was telling Olga much she appreciated her help. Katie and I both got teary-eyed. It was truly very heartfelt and moving. They invited us to come back for Diana's Quinceanera. This is her fifteenth birthday celebration. This will be in two years. I really want to go back for it!

On our last night some of the PD's Nicaraguan friends visited and they played the guitar and sang together. The PD's have developed friendships with many Nicaraguans. We woke early in the morning to leave for the airport. It was 5:00 and dark as we drove. I was amazed at how many people were awake and standing at the side of the road at 5:00 a.m. There were people everywhere. As we drove into town we passed seven small horse drawn wagons with bundles of wood stacked on the wagons. In Nicaragua you can choose to live in which ever decade you choose. There is the modern (e.g., a few new cars, cell phones, Subway) and then the not so modern (e.g., chickens, horse drawn wagons, oxen pulling wagons, kids playing with sticks instead of video games). As we drove through Managua I had one last treat. I saw La Prensa. Stephen Kinzer has written about La Prensa. La Prensa has been the opposition newspaper in Managua. The editor of the paper was killed and his wife later became the president of Nicaragua. There have been times when the newspaper had to have their articles reviewed by government officials and there have been times when they were shut down. But they have endured. It was exciting to see it.

They say that it takes 21 days to develop a habit but I don't think it's true. I was almost up to 95% on the toilet paper thing in just one week. I was actually somewhat distraught in the Houston and Minneapolis airports when they did not have waste baskets in the bathrooms. I didn't know what to do! I was happy to have hot water at the hotel in Minneapolis.

After getting Katie settled back at Augsburg College in Minneapolis the next morning I drove home. The ride on I-94 and Highway 29 was rather boring. There were no people standing along the side of the road and there were no horse drawn wagons or carts. Sadly, there were no chickens. There was no yelling!

I had three hours to reflect so I thought about the great dedication of the Manna Project Program Directors (obviously I'm biased). We have always been proud of Anna and her accomplishments and are very proud her now. The Manna Project Program Directors are a very dedicated and flexible group of people. They have long days and go into places no one else would go. Of course, as a parent it is scary to have a child in Central America as the Peace Corps pulled 153 volunteers out of Honduras on Monday.

The people that we met in Nicaragua were like people everywhere. We met mothers who wanted the best for their children. We met Nicas who value education. We saw people on the bus who were exhausted from working long hard hours like hard working people everywhere. We saw people creatively developing products to be sold to others. There were children who want to learn and to play and have fun. The big difference between the United States and Nicaragua is that in the United States it is easier to have hope about the future. Have I mentioned how truly beautiful Nicaragua is? Did I mention how much I liked the chickens?










Friday, January 13, 2012

Katie and Nancy Visit Anna and the Manna Project

The picture you see is of students being taken to Children's English class. They are riding in the "micro" (pronounced meekro) meaning microbus which is owned by the Manna Project. It is a large white van. They often haul MANY children in it.  It was broken down for several weeks so the Program Directors had to walk everywhere.

The Manna Project has 9-10 "program directors" every year who run the programs. Anna is a PD or Program Director. They each fund raise $8,500 to be a volunteer with the Manna Project which covers their costs.

They have many programs - One program is working in La Chureca (I WAS NOT PREPARED FOR LA CHURECA) which is the City on the Dump which is about 25 minutes away.  They also run many programs in the nearby community named Cedro Galan that is by the Manna Project House.

On Wednesday morning we went to La Chureca. Anna had told me about it and I had watched videos online of it but I WAS NOT PREPARED. I knew that people come as tourists and take pictures of La Chureca which the Manna Project frowns upon. (There have been many things in Managua that I have wanted to take pictures of but have resisted because it seemed rude - like wow, you are really poor - let me take your picture to show my friends.) I have included a few links. I have tried to find a few more but everything down here (Google) is in Spanish and I don't see where to switch to English.
Videos about La Chureca
Vanderbilt and Manna La Chureca


I don't know a lot of about La Chureca but here is what I have picked up. After the earthquake in 1972 which devastated Managua, they started dumping their garbage at La Chureca.

Wikipedia  states La Chureca (Spanish slang word for “city dump”) is the municipal domestic and industrial waste-disposal site of Managua, Nicaragua.  It is the largest open-air landfill in Central America covering 7 km2 in the north-western corner of Managua. It is located on the south shore of Lake Managua. Out of the approximately 1,000 persons who reside at the dump, 50% are children under age 18. These children and families work at La Chureca sorting through the waste. Approximately 115 to 180 families live in La Chureca.

I'm not sure when people actually moved onto the landfill and built their homes there but now there are 125 families living in La Chureca - they estimate 2000 people (Source: Manna Project Country Director). Currently the Spanish government has been providing assistance and much of the landfill is being covered up with dirt. They are building small homes nearby  for some? all? of the people. The homes have electricity.  I am unclear as to whether or not they have moved some people over there yet or not.  The husbands (and I think children) dig through the garbage and find recyclables. Many children do not have shoes. Anyway, Tuesday night Anna said we would be going to La Chureca in the morning. She said wear closed toed shoes and bring nothing - no money and no camera.  On Wednesday we drove in and then started to get deep into into La Chureca which means driving on alley size dirt roads with many ruts and going further and further in. The big white "Manna Micro" was doing fine until another car was blocking the way. The plan was to drop us off at the clinic and then to take one of the people visiting the Manna project to the airport. Since a car was blocking the way we had to turn the van around. One of the PD's said, I think you guys should be okay walking in the rest of the way. You have three girls and three guys. (They were supposed to have met the Nicaraguan nurse at the entrance but she was late so she was not with us). I am not usually frightened but I was actually afraid after hearing that. Anyway, we walked to the clinic that the Manna Project helps to sponsor in La Chureca. It is a small building.

The picture of the La Chureca home on the other site actually seems like a better one of the La Chureca homes. They are made of cardboard, tires, metal corrugated roofing. There is mostly a smell of garbage being burned and animal manure.

The Manna Project has a child sponsorship program. Everything that the Manna Project does is based on sustainability and needs of the community. They do not give handouts as research has shown the ineffectiveness of doing that. They currently have 45 children in the program. The mothers of the children are required to attend health classes once a week and the children are required to wear the shoes given to them by the Manna Project. Once a month the children get weighed and measured and then are given a large bag of oatmeal and powered milk and vitamins. If a mother is nursing then she gets vitamins and a large bag of beans for protein. The Manna PD's go to La Chureca three days a week. There are also two doctors at the clinic (picture the clinic like something you might see in a movie about a clinic in Africa.) The mothers (there were a few fathers) wait out on the porch area and then are called into have their children weighed. Sometimes there is one child who is sponsored in the program, sometimes two from the same family. The children range from infants up to the age of five years old. Some kids knew the routine, take their shoes off, step on the scale to be weighed and have their height measured. Others did not think it was great fun and would cry and or try to hold onto their mothers so then they would have to use a different scale and also actually lay the child on the table and hold them so they could measure them. A few kids had quite the personality and ran in before it was their turn and say "hi" to the program directors, act silly and then run around the room. After they were weighed and measured they went to talk to other PD's about how they are doing with the feeding of the child. As with any program, things don't go perfectly in terms of validity/reliability. Parents with one child in the program will give some of the food to other siblings (Who wouldn't do that?) and some of them make their oatmeal as a drink and drink the water which tastes like oatmeal and they don't eat the oatmeal. The PD's had talked about showing them again how to use the oatmeal. It is obvious that the kids really like PD's and the PD's are so nice to them.

My daughter Katie really liked a young girl named Cecilia who has Downs Syndrome. She was very energetic and definitely a handful for her mother. She looked to be about 2-3 years old but it is is hard to judge because the kids look younger than they are because of the malnutrition. She did not walk much although she could stand by herself and I do not think she had any language that I could tell. I contrasted her with a young girl in first grade in the Minnesota with Down Syndrome who knows her sight words better than any of the other kids in her regular class. I have tried to ask about schooling for special needs students. There appears to be one school they can go to that doesn't cost the parents money but they said the other school for children with special needs is expensive.

Many of the women who brought their children in were pregnant. The kids and everyone in Nicaragua wear clothing that is "in style.". Sometimes the clothing is very clean and sometimes very dirty. While they have stylish clothing, it appears to be that they only have a few outfits. Many of the children in La Chureca were barefooted - Crocs seem to be a favorite of the ones who wear shoes. Two of the mothers gave their children some Coca Cola to drink while they waited to have their children weighed.

I am obviously doing this blog to provide a picture of what life is like in Managua but if you are interested in helping out a worthy cause you could make a donation to either Anna (she has raised $2,500 thus far) or you may want to sponsor a child or donate to the Manna Project. This is the Manna Project blog which is interesting to read and includes some pictures.

La Chureca - Day Two
On Thursday we went to La Chureca again. We had to pick up the Manna Project Country Director - Katie who lives a few miles from the Manna Project House. She was previously in the Peace Corps for a few years. She had been working on a grant that she is hoping to get from Walmart-Central America. We also had to stop to pick up the Economics Director from the American Embassy. The Program Directors joked that the embassy people were probably going to be alarmed when they saw this old dilapidated white van pull up. They were right - the guards were fairly quick to come over to the van to see what we were doing.

On the second day we walked around more in La Chureca. Last year one of the PD's was robbed and she never went back to La Chureca again.  For a two week period the Manna people didn't go to La Chureca because it had been rainy and the men weren't able to go out and look for recyclables and that apparently makes it more dangerous to go there. We walked around as a group in La Chureca today. I connected you to the Google images page for La Chureca. (I was not afraid today!) The nurse and the country director were talking with the woman from the Embassy as we went around. I tried to listen in but my Spanish is limited to "hola" "adios" and a few other words so I couldn't understand. (On the first day when we had walked in one small boy said "gracias" and on the way out someone threw a rock at the van.) As we got back to the clinic area 8-10 boys were playing "baseball" with a tennis ball and no bat. Like all young baseball players, they would sometimes argue about whether someone was "safe" or not. The ball was overthrown once and it accidentally hit a member of our group ( I think the Embassy lady). The nurse really gave them "heck."  Baseball is the preferred sport in Nicaragua. I saw soccer and lacrosse being played also but baseball is their national sport.

I was sitting outside on the fenced porch at the clinic with the parents who were still waiting to have their child weighed and measured when two small buses suddenly pulled up. About fifty people got off the buses and walked up to the small porch area. They were each carrying a plastic grocery bag that was filled with oranges, granola bars, Oreo cookie packets, etc. I'm not sure if one of the bags accidentally ripped as the person stepped off the bus or if one of the older children had yanked on it. Children were immediately scrambling on the ground for the food that had dropped. Then the children quickly began to multiply. It didn't take more than five minutes before there were about forty kids gathered just outside the fence of the clinic. The people had planned to actually walk around with their bags of food in La Chureca. As they were standing there and the crowd was gathering some of them were getting scared. Finally a few people went outside and had the kids try to make a line but many kids just keep getting back in line. One of the leaders of the group made some comment about having a mass riot. And the parents who were at the clinic couldn't get out because of the crowd. These people were from Rhode Island and obviously had great intentions bringing food but I can see why the Manna Project does not promote handouts. We left on the microbus while there was still a big crowd of kids trying to get food. One the way out several children climbed on the back of the van and tried to ride along so the Program Directors had to yell to tell them to get down.

Cedro Galan
The Manna Project also serves the community that is by their home called Cedro Galan. On Wednesday afternoon, we all piled into the van and had started off to Literacy and Math classes when they got a call that one of the college students who had been visiting the Manna Project had left her coat in the Manna Project House. So they turned the van around and Anna volunteered to wait at the house and then walk to the place where the literacy sessions are held.  I said I would walk with her. The coat was quickly retrieved and we set off to the community center at Cedro Galan. Anna had previously told me that there was a back way to go. Well, I didn't picture that the backway meant small dirt roads/trails. There are not many paved roads in the community of Cedro Galan. The houses are situated along these dirt roads. I hesitate to call them roads. I only saw one motor cycle drive on them. It would be difficult to drive a car on them. All along the dirt trails are chickens. Chickens are everywhere. I like chickens. They don't bother anyone. At one point the "road" turned into a small two foot trail going up a steep, rocky hill. I had to stop a few times (because I started to slip) and remember thinking this is a hill for a mountain goal and "I am glad Anna knows CPR." When we got to the top we had the most amazing view of the countryside. It was so breathtaking and astounding. The country is truly beautiful. We continued and got back on a wider dirt path and went by more houses and many more chickens. One of the neatest things that happened was that along the trail a young girl or boy would occasionally shout "Hola Anna" or "Adios Anna" from their yards. Some of them would ask her a question or want to tell her something. We finally arrived at a community building (cement on the bottom half and wire fencing for the top half) that is used for classes. This is one of the buildings that was built by an American couple named Kathy and Halle August. I do not know much about them. They also built a sports center in another area that the Manna Project uses.

When we arrived they were working on Spanish literacy and math. Two young girls (ages 7 and 8) who were cousins were working on learning to write the alphabet. Another set of boys were reading Clifford the Big Red Dog in Spanish. Others were using some math manipulative pieces to learn about equivalent fractions. They do not have many materials to use with the students. Some of the materials they have are British materials. Almost all of the books they had were American stories translated into Spanish. Later that day Anna and another program director taught an Intermediate Adult English class. I sat at a table with three people: Sylvia, Augusto, a fifteen year old boy, and Olga. Each of these people were intently focused on learning English. Augusto was a very quiet boy with a good sense of humor. His father had told Anna to make him speak louder. He hopes to go to college in the United States some day. They had just finished reading a story about a girl who had won a million dollars but gave it away to an orphanage. They did not understand a few of the words in the story such as  "wealth" and "debt." I asked them what they would do if they won the money. Each of them said they would save the money and hopefully put it towards building a home. The next  night Sylvia and Olga also attended the Advanced Adult English class. I made a mistake that night. I wanted to show my daughter Katie Sylvia's neat earrings. I took Katie over by her and they started talking and I started talking to someone else. A few minutes later Katie came walking over to me looking upset.Sylvia had given Katie her earrings because it is the custom that when you compliment someone, they are supposed to give you the item you have complimented them on. Anna had told me this a few months earlier - oops - I had forgoten all about it. Anyway I told Anna and she made Sylvia take the earrings back. Anna said that Sylvia wears those earrings all of the time. Sylvia is a beautiful woman with a gigantic smile. She had wanted Anna to bring her back some gossip magazines from the United States while Anna was home for Xmas. Anna couldn't bring herself to buy any of those magazines so she took Sylvia a health magazine instead.

Just want to remind you to consider reading Steven Kinzer's book 

We were also able to watch an exercise class for women that Anna runs. It was truly crazy that after walking on the "back trail" and back I thought I could do the exercise class. I did okay for the first half. (My exercise buddy Patty H. knows I usually zone out halfway through Zumba at home.) I was glad when Anna said there wouldn't be enough weights for me to have a set so I was able to quit early. Anna did a great job with the exercise class. I went and sat outside and talked with two young boys who were using sticks to play in the dirt. In Nicaragua there is malnutrition but there is also obesity. The Manna Project Directors state that the food is always either too salty, too sweet, or fried in oil. The Nicas often make juice out of the fruit instead of eating it and thus do not get the benefit of the fruit fiber. (Quite truthfully I thought the food that Elena, the cook made was excellent but unfortunately, I'm not as health conscious as my children.) Anna and another PD are starting a nutrition class for the women to help them understand how to eat healthier meals. Anna was able to get some health and nutrition materials written in Spanish when she was back in St. Paul over the break to take back with her. Additionally, two PD just started a sex education class for women. They were using the book Our Bodies, Ourselves written in Spanish. The ages of women ranged from thirteen to thirty. At their first class they had a question box for the women to put questions in. The PDs were surprised at what half of the questions were about. Of course this is a PG rated blog (PG instead of G because of the toilet paper) so you'll have to see me if you want to know what half of the questions were about.

There was a bat in our house but it was not a big deal - I just ate my food in the bathroom until they got it out. The electricity went out for short periods of time while we were there. Anna seemed especially worried that her small head lamp was not working anymore. She said she uses it often.

We were also able to watch Anna and Jesse coach soccer. They picked up the girls with the micro. They would pull over to the side of the road, honk the horn and several girls would come out and pile in. Then we'd go to the next stop and pick up a few more girls. They played at the sports center that was built by Halle and Kathy August. There was also a group of boys who had gathered to play. The ball they were using was so small - size 3 maybe and very old. Of course it didn't matter to them. We had brought a few Augsburg soccer t-shirts from Katie's college so they held a competition and the top three girls won the shirts. Katie showed them a few goalie moves. While the game was going on Anna was holding the younger sister of one of the girls. Anna and the little girl were discussing cafe and negro. I realized they were talking about the color of their hair (brown and black). The little girl looked strangely at my hair (part gray, part red from the henna Anna put on, part light brown and part dark brown) and then for some reason she said my hair was yellow.

Earlier one of the children had asked Anna if she was Nicaraguan. Anna said that she was from the United States. They insisted that she couldn't be from there because she had dark hair. If she wasn't from Nicaragua then she must be from Canada they thought.

The day after the Ortega Inauguration we saw two different instances where the police had stopped a bus and were patting someone down. The Program Directors said that it was really unusual to see police doing that. What was really amazing to them was that the two different policemen they saw had cars. I guess in Nicaragua the police don't have cars. They stand on the side of the road and flag people over. Sometimes the police hitchhike. I think it would be a great experiment to hide the keys on our police liaison officer Dave for a week or two and see how he'd get along standing along the side of the road. I only heard police sirens twice in Nicaragua. The first time was in Granada. I looked to see what the siren was and there were about twenty motorcycles (not police) passing by with a siren blaring. The second time was also in Granada when the motorcycles passed us again going the other way.

Have I mentioned that there are chickens and dogs everywhere? I really liked the chickens! There are also people riding in the back of pickups or on flatbed trucks. Always something new to see!

The home that the Manna Project rents used to be a nice villa home once upon a time. It is in need of much repair. They need a bigger home because there are 9-10 program directors and many other people that stay with them. The house has a banana, coconut, papaya and avocado tree next to it. They thought the home was built in the sixties and most likely occupied by someone from the upper ranks of Somoza's National Guard and then possibly someone from the upper ranks of the Sandinistas. Then the Sandinistas moved to another area of the town and the homes started being bought by private owners.

There are small stores ("ventas") everywhere - mostly they are small shacks everywhere you go. People even sell things out of their homes. One of the neat people we visited was Guadeloupe, a woman who had received a business start-up grant from the Manna Project to start a business. She makes beautiful jewelry. She lives in the Cedro Galan community so we took the back trail to her home. Kristin, one of the other Program Directors was already there hanging out. She had told her we were coming to look at her jewelry. She had the jewelry sitting on a wooden table in the front of her home. It is truly beautiful jewelry. She's very talented and creative. We purchased several items from her beautiful jewelry. They are trying to figure out a way to market her jewelry and more importantly, how to handle postage costs. Her daughter showed us two small kittens they had rescued. Her two small sons were playing with what looked like pieces of floor tiling. They were stacking it in different ways.















Saturday, January 7, 2012

Nicaragua



January 7, 2012 10:30pm

We made it through the airport okay - luckily my daughter Anna had called and told us which forms we would need to have going through customs. We exchanged some money for cordobas which is Nicaraguan money. I didn't understand what the rate was or really anything the man was saying.

The temperature at 10:00 was 75 degrees. We were picked up by my daughter and her friend. He has picked up the fast style of driving where you beep a lot. It was scary and the van only had one seat belt. It took us half an hour to drive (fast) from the airport to the MPI House. It was so interesting to look at the buildings. There are many run down places but then right next to one will be a new car dealership or a nicer restaurant. There are signs and graffiti all over. Across the road (like a banner) I saw a Sherwin Williams Paint sign and there was a lot of graffiti like you see on the trains in Wausau. There were homemade signs all over and then some really cool murals. Signs everywhere. As we were driving fast there was also a golf cart like vehicle driving (capos) along and an open wagon with two horses on it. There were many people outside at night sitting along the road or sitting on wooden crates or at little tables. We went by the American Embassy which was a nice building with the flag flying outside. Then I saw this huge bronze statue like the Paul Bunyon one in Minocqua. It looked like the statue was holding up a machine gun so I looked it up when I got home.

They live in an area about 10 miles outside of Managua. I guess there are not addresses for buildings in Managua. Everything is just measured by where you are at on the road like km 14.5. They have two Rottweiller dogs that are guard dogs. The problem is they don't like new people so they have to make sure they are locked up when new people are around. New people like us. One of them almost died earlier this year from eating a poisonous frog. The good news is that they had a rat massacre over the holiday break so the rats (actually large mice) are mostly gone. I did hear a really loud chipping like chipmunk noise outside my window.

The house is interesting. In the center there is an area of cement and dirt surrounded by a small white fence. The kids have their clothes hanging on a clothes line but I guess there used to be chickens in that part of the center of the house.

January 8th

I started reading the book Blood of Brothers about the Nicaraguan Revolution and I cannot put it down. Sorry - you will have to put up with some of the typos because of the keyboard which is different than ours. It is by a New York Times reporter who was the first one to find the Contra camps. It is an excellent book. It really provides great examples of how economics work or don't work in a country.

Last night the kids went out last night "clubbing" so I was nervous but I fell asleep. In the middle of the night I heard like 50 dogs all barking at the same time. The girls and other people were home early and had a fun time. Then while it was still dark I heard MANY, not just one rooster, crowing for a long time. In the morning there were birds that sounded like owls. The windows all of screens with iron designer bars on them so you hear everything outside.

In the morning at breakfast I said a lot of people must have guard dogs and they said that alot of people actually have guards with guns. This house is in a gated community which in Nicaragua means at the bottom of the hill there is a man with a bar across the road that he opens up.

You would save on your water bill down here as there is no hot water so quick showers are the norm. Actually the shower was missing a shower head so it was a tube with water coming out. If you are reading this you need to challenge yourself and take only cold showers for the next two days.


You are not supposed to flush toilet paper in the toilet down here because it clogs up the sewers. In one restaurant bathroom where we went I did not realize it until it was too late but there was only one toilet paper roll for the whole bathroom that was outside the stalls.

We walked to catch the bus this morning to go to Granada. My daughter had asked if I wanted to take a taxi or the bus. She had previously told me about the bus. People whistle along side the road for busses and things and when they are on the bus they whistle to get off. When the bus pulled up it was a small old yellow school bus (I guess from the 1970s from the United States). They really cram people on. Besides all of the people sitting, they cram people into the aisle three deep. I was thinking how people who don´t like to be touched would go crazy. and then they just kept putting more people on so I had to cram further on the bus. Did I mention that the buses also go very fast. I asked my daughter and her friends how many people they thought were on the bus and they thought about 100. It is good to not think about how fast the bus is going and watch outside. Every time the bus would stop it was so hot on there. We went about 10 miles and caught another bus for another five miles. Once when the bus stopped a guy had a big plastic bag and was selling water through the bus windows. The water was in little plastic bags. Later I asked how they know which water is safe to drink. They have filtered water at Anna´s place. She told us that everyone except her drinks the tap water so we could drink the tap water. I guess the tap water is safe but there is always water shortages so people save water in tanks at their homes and that water is not good to drink. Then we got out in Managua to catch a van to Granada which is the oldest European city and sort of a tourist place.

As we drove (speedily) through Managua, it is easy to see why many travelers on Trip Adviser say they didn´t like Managua. It is a very dirty and poverty ridden city. There is garbage along the side of the road everywhere and there are dogs all over eating the garbage. When we got out to catch the van, people everywhere were selling things and they are very assertive about selling things. They are mostly selling food items. When we were looking for a van ride to Managua many people wanted us to buy food. They had to teach me not to look the people in the eye to shake my finger to mean no. I really want to just give the people some money. A man offered to take us to Granada for 40 dollars. Anna´s friend Jesse told him no. I thought it sounded like a good price. After 20 minutes a van came and all of the people waiting rushed over to it. We got on it but I was the only person who had a seat. The others had to stand the entire time. Later at lunch I asked how much the van ride to Granada had cost and they told me it was a dollar for each of us. The first buses had cost 15 cents.

Even in the dirtiness of the city - it is very exciting there is so much to see and everything is different.

We are in Granada now and we are staying at the Hostel Oasis (wonderful place) for 10 dollars each a night. There are a fair number of people at the hostel that remind me of Mr. Greil but truly there are all age ranges. Some great things about the Oasis are that they have Coke in the old glass bottles and people are always cooking food in this open kitchen so it smells great.

Anna and Katie are making fun of me because I keep saying Thank you instead of Gracias. Anna who knew no Spanish when she came down here can converse pretty well at restaurants when it is just the three of us.

January 9th

Yesterday we walked around in Granada. It reminds me a lot of the French Quarter in New Orleans. The French buildings burned and then the Spanish built most of the buildings in the French Quarter so it would make sense that Granada which was founded by the Spanish would look similar to the French Quarter. You have to be careful when you are walking on the side walks because like the French Quarter the side was are in much need of repair. So you have to watch where you are walking all of the time. The difference is that in Granada you might drop in a whole a foot deep compared to a few inches.

The architecture involves buildings with courtyards in the middle of the building. So the outside of the house just looks like a door. You have no idea what it is like inside. In the Oasis there are several places where the building has an open ceiling. Most of the buildings have open courtyards so I am continually surprised when I am in a building and look up and there is no ceiling.

Last night we went to a neat restaurant called the Third Eye. I found a picture someone else had on the internet. (This person has an awesome gallery of Nicaraguan pictures so you can click through them.) It was really neat inside and I had shrimp curry. About halfway through the meal there was a mouse running across the railing.He sat at the end of the railing for the rest of the meal. (I think our daughter Jenny was glad she didn't come after she heard the mouse story.)

Today we had breakfast and I was able to taste Nicaraguan cheese. It is white and dry and salty, sort of like if you took ricotta cheese and made it really dry and put a lot of salt on it. (Christian you would like it!) There are often people walking with things on top of their heads like fruit, cheese or cashews. The bathroom at the restaurant had no light and had an upside down bug that was still alive. I tried to convince myself that it was a cricket but now I see it was not a cricket but a roach.
Do not forget to read Blood of Brothers. I am on page 177.

Anna and Katie had talked about going zip-lining at Xmas. At the time I had thought to myself, I will just let them go but then I talked to Kris Peterson who is just a few years younger than me and she talked about being excited to go zip-lining in Mexico. So I told myself - if Kris can go so can I!!! Well, today I was cursing Kris Peterson but more about that in a minute.

The ride to zip-lining was totally intriguing. The countryside is truly beautiful. After a while you don't see the garbage or bugs and you really start to see how interesting it is. The road system is pretty much a free for all. On the ride to and back from zip-lining I saw on the road or along side of the road two pigs, five to six cows walking along the side of the road, eight to ten cows tied up alongside the road eating grass, a few horses, a newer tractor, a man pushing a hand wagon, a cart being pulled by horses, a cart being pulled by oxen, several bikes with either single riders or double riders, some weird golf cart like vehicles that only have one wheel in the front, several dogs, several people walking in the road, several children sitting down playing in the road, and several dogs. In case you were wondering - it is okay to pass cars on curvy hilly roads.

Our driver showed us a coffee plantation as we were driving. These beautiful flowers are all over alongside the road. It was a beautiful drive. Every once in a while one smells burning garbage as that is how they get rid of their garbage.

The cost for going zip lining was 27.00 per person. This included being driven 10-12 miles outside of the town by a tour guide driver. He was talkative and Anna talked Spanish with him almost the entire way. Katie and I feel pretty helpless when it comes to the language. I have to double check with Anna but at one point I heard her respond with "Wisconsin" and I think she said "by Canada." Probably not best to mention that whole U.S thing.

Zip-lining was fine while we were getting our equipment on. Then we got into the back of a truck and started up a rugged trail. Yikes. Then when the truck stopped we had to walk up a trail. Then we had to climb up this platform by a tree. There were three men who were there to help us with zip-lining. The young man was trying to explain the directions for zip-lining (he was speaking in English) but I still did not get it. You were supposed to put your writing hand behind your head and use that for your brakes and on and on so I kept asking questions. Finally one fine young man said, if you want a man to go with you we can do that so I said I WANT THE MAN TO GO WITH ME. Actually he was a nice young man in his early twenties. We had to walk up to the starting platform and it was really scary. Maybe I am afraid of heights - I do not know but it was really scary. So I got hooked to the young man who called me "mama." He was quite funny and would say things like "keep going mama" "mama I am with you for the rest of this trip" "mama I am your son" and so on. I think he thought he would only have to go with me the first time - oh no I was so scared I made him go with me every time. He would put his arm on my back and pat it as we went down and say "its okay mama your son is with you." Did I mention that we also had to walk across three bridges made of wires that were totally wobbly. When I put up our pictures I might look happy in them but I was very scared. As we went from platform to platform and had to wait for everyone, I literally hugged and hung onto the tree and wouldn't look over the edges. My daughter tried to talk him into tricking me and letting me go by myself. It was confusing because there were a lot of clips and I thought he had been clipping me to himself. When I noticed he wasn't clipped to me I just grabbed onto his harness so he wouldn't be able to let me go by myself. After four zip-lines I asked how many more and they said six...oh dear. Well, I made it. I gave "my son" a 25.00 tip "(keep in mind that we paid 27.00 for the whole trip) but I was so thankful he had helped me. Later at lunch when people were making fun of me for giving such a big tip I tried to relate it to being in combat and how you get so emotionally connected to someone who saves your life. Of course the fact that I had tried to relate zip-lining to combat made everyone crack up. I tried to explain to my daughters that when I was younger it probably wouldn´t have bothered me, but I said I was fifty-one. Anna argued with me and said you are not fifty-one. I was a little bit flattered until she said she thought I was fifty five.

Today the small streets of Granada filled with their street vendors and yelling and beeping cars reminded me of a market place in Bangkok. It is really a neat city and there is always something new to see. While we ate at a restaurant today inside the menu was a sheet explaining why it is important not to give money to the beggar children - it reinforces the begging culture and keeps them out of school.

My good friend Jeff Bergstrom shared the good news that the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will be visiting Managua on Tuesday for Daniel Ortega's inauguration.


January 10th

I didn't have time to tell about the best part of yesterday. We got massages, facials and pedicures. Back home this would cost $130.00. They had a New Year's Special so the cost was $38.00. Usually they have music playing in the background but we were fortunate to have a rooster crowing every 5-10 minutes.

Today we went to Laguna de Apoya which is a lake in the crater of a volcano. It was truly beautiful.

Not much time to write today. Leaving for the clinic by La Chureca soon. The lights in the house just went out so now I am really appreciating the light from the section where I said they used to keep chickens because it just has a light covering which lets in a lot of light.

We rode to the lake in a shuttle with other people. There are many German people here. As we were riding I was reading my book Blood of Brothers (did I mention that it is wonderful? - I think I'm secretly pretending I'm Stephen Kinzer, the New York Times reporter who wrote it.) I had just read something about peasants being killed along the side of the road when our shuttle pulled over to the side of the road in the middle of now where. Yikes! Then I saw that there was a gate on the side of the road that let us into the entrance of the Paradise area we were going to. There was a big thatched roofed area which reminded me of the houses on Gilligan's Island. The crater lake was a beautiful greenish color. There were kayaks and a raft. All around it looked very secluded. I went out on a two person kayak with Katie but the water was not calm like a normal lake but very choppy so I was a little nervous so we didn't stay out too long. Mostly I just read the book and then had something to eat. A huge plate of Nachos were 90 cords and interestingly a Snickers bar (which I also had) was 40 cords. One hundred Cordobas is approximately $5.00. There are so many Coke signs - most of them are really old, some are painted on wooden shacks and they are everywhere. The really nice thing is that I have not had anyone at a restaurant ask, Is Pepsi okay? (I'm a Coke fan!) Of course I did ask for coca at the first restaurant we went to (every once in awhile I try to order for myself) and the waiter and the others laughed because I had ordered cocaine. 

On the way back we took the shuttle to Granada. Nicaraguan time means people usually show up a half hour late so we left at 3:30 instead of 3:00

We took a bus again from Granada to Nicaragua. We were lucky to get a seat. An elderly man sat next to me but then gave up his seat to a lady with a child. Young and old people always do that.  Sometimes I am fearful for a woman with a baby because when they first get on the bus really jerks around. Any way if you are picturing a peaceful one hour ride well it was not peaceful. The whole way a guy kept yelling loudly what sounded like "maneena manooa." He was the guy standing at the back stairs of the bus letting people on the road know where we were going to in case they wanted to get on the bus. Picture rush hour traffic in the Twin Cities but with continual horn blowing that sounds like a train horn and throw in a few horse carts and pickups with people in the back and you've got it the ride home. At one point at a stop light on a four lane road I looked out and saw two small children standing on the road between our bus and the car next to us talking to people in the car. Then the light turned green. This was at dusk. When I looked to the left there was an amazing sunset with mountains. There is so much physical beauty in the country. We then caught one of the regular city buses. When we got on it looked so crowded and it was. I mean that this was the most jam-packed bus I've been on. It's really neat to see the people on the bus. Two different ladies offered me the spot next to them when the person sitting by them got up. Katie sat on her backpack because the seat was missing. There are often missing seats. You might find this strange but I like riding the buses. I am worried that I'll come home and things will be really boring

Someone asked me me how the "Nicas" (prounced neeca) feel about the United States. I asked Anna and her friend Jesse and they said they didn't think the Nicas loved the U.S. because of our country's history with theirs which goes well beyond the contra thing (e.g., William Walker filibuster 1856, the Marine landing on the mosquito reserve, the Knox note in1909).  They said the Nicas look down on people from the U.S. because the people feel we are ignorant about their culture and country. However, they said there is not any great animosity toward people from the U.S. They might talk negatively about the U.S. but they embrace much of our culture. Anyway I always smile and and say Hola but now I learned to say adios if you are walking past someone and not stopping. Its hello and goodbye all in one. I am picking up things quickly. Well, not really but at least now I say "thank you gracias" and I'm up to remembering about fifty percent of the time on that toilet paper thing

Back to last night as we rode on the bus I try to look at everything. I don't remember if I told you about Granada and the store with the new televisions and motor cycles in it and the women with the baskets of fruit or cashews on their heads. Old and new. That's what it was like as we drove. I saw a brand new building with a parking lot but couldn't tell what it was. There are many run down businesses. There are sidewalk vendors cooking food and selling food. Their favorite fast food place is called Tip Top and they sell fried chicken which Nicas love. While on the bus we went past a roundabout area (we went flying around it) but there was a beautiful huge fountain with colored lights and there were Xmas tree lights everywhere. It was beautiful. A little further we saw another lighted area where people were watching a big screen television and watching the Ortega inauguration.

We got off of that bus and had to walk in a busy area . It was dark and there were people all over. Have I mentioned that several times a day men will yell things in Spanish or maybe " wow" and their glances will watch us walk by. I may be wrong but I think they are mainly talking about my daughters and the other lovely young ladies with us and not me. At first it was a little strange but now I'm just so used to it. Just like that weird chipmunk noise that I learned is a gecko. I am under shortened computer time as Anna needs her computer to do her work and the Internet goes down frequently.

January 13th
I am finding it hard to find computer time. On Tuesday after our bus returned to Managua and we had taken the city bus. We then got out and walked several blocks on busy streets to where taxis were. We found a taxi and were negotiating the price for the taxis to take us to our house fifteen miles outside of town. It seemed like we weren't getting a good price but then Jesse, our price negotiator, said not very happily that the cab driver wants a dollar per person. I said I'd pay five dollars per person for ride. I got to sit in the front of the cab. I noticed a black and red flag on the dashboard with the letters FSLN. It sounded familiar. I had my Blood of Brothers book with me so I looked it up. It stands for Sandinista National Liberation Front. Also on the dashboard of the car were several stickers of the crucifixion of Christ and of Jesus preaching. When we got to the road that led out of town there was a traffic jam. There is usually not much traffic on this road. We soon discovered a car had broken down. The neat thing about Nicaragua is that they don't let an accident slow them down. They just quickly find some way to drive around the accident. The traffic was still stalled even after the accident so our taxi driver kept beeping his horn a lot. Then he pulled into the left lane of a two lane road and went speeding past at least ten cars. He somehow squeezed back into the right lane of cars. A few minutes later he did it again. I closed my eyes and was happy for the stickers on the dashboard. I guess the line of cars was a Eucharistic procession. I am starting a separate post about La Chureca and following Anna around to see what she does with the Manna Project. I have posted a picture of a La Chureca home Anna had on her computer. Actually that is one of the nicer ones and many homes around Nicaragua look like the one above.