Another week

Well, this week was pretty laid back compared to the previous couple. There are no more delegations until January so we don't have to worry about that aspect. We began the week by working on a new shop for the resident mechanic here at the foundation and then spent the rest of the week working on office type work, such as stuffing envelopes and folding letters. The life of a volunteer is hardly glamorous.

My friend Austin and I were fortunate enough to be able to attend an informational meeting about the maquiladoras, or sweatshops, here in Nicaragua. A woman from an agency that advocates for the rights of workers gave a talk about the issues and abuses of workers rights in sweatshops in nicaragua. Every week there are these meetings that happen for primarily volunteers and ex-patriots who are living in Nicaragua. (Really, it is a meeting for Gringos here in Nicaragua.) But the topics are mostly social justice related and each week they have a different speaker. The meetings are held at a house called, Casa Ben Linder. Ben Linder was a young man who came to volunteer his time in Nicaragua during the time of the Contra war. (The Contras were a US backed para-military force that conducted guerilla warfare against the ruling, and democratically elected, Sandanista party in the 1980's. Mostly the Contras were trying to thwart the efforts of the liberal Sandanistas, and were supported by the US because the US did not agree with the policies of the Sandanista government.) Ben Linder was trying to help bring electricity to communities who did not have access at that time, and was shot at point blank range by the Contras and was killed. The Ben Linder house exists today in order to preserve the memory of Ben Linder and to support and organize speakers on topics of social justice. I am hoping that we will continue to be able to attend these meetings in the future.

The other volunteers and I also went into Managua last night to hear a group called, Guitarra de Madera Azul. The group is made up of a husband and wife team, he plays the guitar and sings a little, and she mostly sings. They also have a percussion player who acompanies them. Much of their music has a social justice theme, including one song in which they sing about "Uncle Crocodile," who is really meant to be Uncle Sam. The gringos who know what it is about generally find it pretty funny, especially because the chorus talks about this crocodile that shakes his butt like a seniorita. We know the band because they have come to play here a few times before and are good friends of Mike and Kathleen, our bosses. It was fun to be able to go out and see them in Managua. It was a crowded bar, populated both with Nicaraguans and more than just a few gringos.

After I leave the foundation today to go back home I will be going to a birthday party for a girl who is turning 6 and lives accross from my house. This morning I was asked to accompany her and a relative to go buy the pinatas for the party today. They have told me that I am supposed to be the first one to hit the pinata, we'll see if they are succesful in actually getting me to do that. The big birthday in Latinamerican culture is when a girl turns 15. There are huge celebrations for a girl's fifteenth birthday. We actually walked by a celebration last night, where people were very dressed up, there was a DJ, and possibly a live band. I have heard that even when people have very little money they will go into debt in order to throw a lavish party for a girl's fifteenth birthday. I will write about what birthday party for a six year old looks like next week.

Nicaraguans clearly don't celebrate Thanksgiving, but we will be having our own celebration here at the foundation. I think we have half a day of work and certainly all the usual food for the Thanksgiving dinner. That's one of the nice things about having a community of Americans, we have people to celebrate our holidays with.

I think that's all the information I have from this week. I'm happy to report that my Spanish is coming along and I seem to be able to communicate better everyday. That is a huge relief, it makes me happy when I feel like I can understand what people are asking me. I have also found a Spanish teacher, a woman who helps out in the kitchen and around the house at the foundation is teaching myself and a friend two days a week. We started on Saturday, I think it will be good to have some direct instruction in addition to the practice I get with my family and friends.

I wish everyone a great Thanksgiving.

Pictures

So there are pictures available online that indeed indicate that I am in Nicaragua, and that I still exist. Go to the following address, www.flickr.com/photos/egruen, and click on the top book of photos that is dated November 14th. I will put a warning on this, there are photos in this set that have pictures of the doctors that were here and the procedures that they were performing, so if you are squeamish you might want to pick and choose what you look at. I am in the pictures with kids who are running outside. You can see a couple action shots where my friend Austin and I are teaching them how to play freeze tag. So check them out!

Buses, tortillas and of course, water

I have now officially been here one month. The last week helped me feel much more settled and comfortable. I knew it was going to happen eventually, and it finally has. I feel fairly comfortable with my host family and the routine of walking back and forth to work is established. It is a relief to feel like I know a bit now about where I am and what to expect.

This week was quite busy because we had a delegation of doctors, nurses and translators. We worked four days over at the clinic in Nueva Vida. It went well, although having so many doctors provided lots of work for most of us. We were very busy in the pharmacy filling and giving out prescriptions, and it seemed like as soon as one was finished there were three more waiting to be filled. Overall I think it was a positive experience both for the group and for the community. Normally there is one doctor at a time at the clinic, so having so many was an asset. The group saw patients at the clinic Monday through Thursday and then Friday we all went up to the mountains to a town called El Porvenir. There are only about 40 families who live in this remote village way up in the mountains. They have no electricity and the nearest doctor is normally at least an hour and a half away. We were able to get our vehicles, (a small school bus and an ancient Land Rover affectionately known as the Ambulancia), partway up the mountain. This was no small feat. The road is a mountain road that has never been tended to because there is not usually very much traffic on it. People who live in El Porvenir have horses and there is a tractor that goes up and down the road to transport folks. Once we hit the base of the steep part of the mountain some of us switched and rode in the bed of our white pick-up while others were able to go up in the Ambulancia. I had heard about the road before, but it was much much much worse than I had imagined. Most people felt that the ride belonged in an amusement park where people pay to be frightened and a bit banged up. We finally made it up and were welcomed with a breathtaking view over the countryside. The community is home to a coffee growers cooperative that the CDCA supports, so we got to tour the facilties and see the coffee bushes where the coffee is harvested. For the few hours we were up there the doctors saw patients and those of us who were a bit idle entertained the kids. It was a productive but long day as we didn't arrive home until after 9pm.

This week also provided me with a few truly Nicaraguan experiences. Today I got to ride a city bus for the first time. I was telling my friend that it reminded me a bit of a chairlift when you are downhill skiing. In order to successfully navigate the chairlift you have to be ready at the exact moment to jump on and go, and the same for exiting. If you make one misstep you will be flat on your ass. (As I found out four times last winter.) Well, Managua buses are about the same. If you are not ready to jump on then you will either find yourself left in the dust or clinging on for your life as the bus drives away. The buses barely stop, they only slow down long enough for passengers to get on or get off. There is even a man who has this as his sole job on the bus, to facilitate the changing of passengers. It was certainly an experience and one I look forward to repeating again in the future.

I also have also begun to learn about the role of the gringo in this particular Latin American country. I have now been asked at least five times wether I am married, if I have children, when I want to get married, and if I would like to marry a Nicaraguan. The first time I was asked this series of questions I was taken aback. I have since realized two things. One, people in Nicaragua tend to get married much earlier than gringos and they assume that most of us are married, or if we aren't, then we should be. Secondly, many people are looking for a way out of life here, and marrying a gringo is an automatic ticket. I try to answer these questions truthfully, without trying to encourage any unwanted affection.

This week I also got to learn how to make tortillas. There is a Tortillarilla accross the street and last weekend I went over and was shown how to take the dough and make it into perfectly round flat tortillas. The owner, Jasmina, proudly told everyone who came to buy them that they were eating tortillas made by a gringa. She also told me how the last male volunteer who had lived where I do had a difficult time learning to make the tortillas, she said he looked a bit like a gorilla trying to smash the daylights out of the dough.

And my last comment on my past week has to do with water. Much of our work is in an area called Nueva Vida. Many people in Nueva Vida do not have water that comes directly into their home, but there is water available fairly close to them. However, frequently the water to the community is cut off by accident, or on purpose, by the water company. This last week Nueva Vida did not have water all week, and then on Thursday they were told that they would not have water until after the new year. This is a devestating fact to face because this means that people have to walk quite a bit to haul their water. We are also entering the dry season, so it is raining less and less, probably only once a week if we are lucky.

It was a busy week, I think we are all pretty tired, so I'm looking forward to getting back into the regular rountine tommorow.

Week Three

So writing once a week seems to work the best for me. This week has been full of many changes and new opportunities. I have now moved from the community dorm I was living in and am now living in a house in Cuidad Sandino. My house is about a 15 minute walk from the community, so it's not a long commute. Another volunteer also moved in right next door to me on the same day, so I at least have a bit of my own community right next door. I am living with a woman and her grown son. The room is small, but it is really nice to have my own space. I also get to pretty much have the use of my own bathroom and shower. While they are a bit rustic, everything is functional and clean, which is saying a lot in this country. The first night I was sleeping there I saw a HUGE spider, and if you know me well you know I don't do well with such animal life. Although, I have come to
accept that this spider lives in the house, and I have even named her
Gertrude. I eat breakfast and dinner at the house, and I eat lunch at the foundation. It's been a nice transition. Accross the street from my house live lots of relatives of my family and so we are always going back and forth. They have repeatedly told me that their house is my house, so I am always welcome. They also own a Pulperia, which is a very small convenience store out of the front of their house, so there are always many folks hanging out. In this large group there are at least four children. I have found them easiest to talk to because they are willing to slow down and talk to me with my limited spanish. Unfortunately, many of the adults where I live speak with an accent that I find challenging to understand. I find it a bit frustrating and flustering, but I am slowly being able to understand more words everyday.

Work this week was also a welcome change. Tonight there is a delegation of doctor's arriving from Alaska, so we have been frantically working all week to not only finish one of the rooms in the new clinic, but I was working to make the old clinic more presentable, or 'gringo-fied' as it has been put. I helped to organize patient files and my favorite job of the week was learning about the pharmacy in the clinic. The pharmacy gives out free medication to people who come to see the doctors at the clinic. I
believe that a doctors visit itself is cheap, less than two dollars, and they medicine is free. (Although two dollars is not considered cheap here.) There are two pharmacists, although at times they get backed up and need assistance. I began working with them this week to fill prescriptions and to get trained for next week when there will be many doctors and many more medications that will need to be filled. I enjoyed learning this new part of life here and I am looking forward to next week when we will surely be busy!

I also got to co-teach an English class this week at a school that is
nearby the community. A Nicaraguan friend of mine teaches an English class and he had to be out for the day so my friend Emily and I took over. I enjoy teaching, so it was a great opportunity, we had a lot of fun doing it.

I also had the opportunity to go out and experience Nicaragua in the
evening this week. On Sunday Emily and I went with a friend for coffee in Managua and then we went to a concert at a library in the nearby town of Linda Vista. It was a neat experience. I am glad to be interacting more with the larger community and feeling like I am experiencing what Nicaragua has to offer. Today was a busy day because one of the staff here is pregnant and her due date is a month from now. We spent the morning getting things ready and around lunch people came over to have a baby shower for her. The upcoming week is going to be busy, but exciting. There will be four doctors, one of whom is a surgeon, another a general practioner, another a gynocologist and the last specializes in....something I can't remember. But I think it will be a great service to the community to have all these talents for the week. I will write next week to let everyone know how it went.