Festivities!

The last week or so in Somoto has been a good time. Last weekend was the annual Somoto Carnival. About six blocks were stationed off and in the center there were four stages with different bands playing music. There was food and beer and lots of people.

Apparently nobody enters the carnival before 10 or so, even though the gates are open at about 6. So, Matt and I had a bunch of local volunteers and their friends over to the house to eat and have a few drinks before we headed off to the festivities. We made tacos for 14 and had a great time. The only bad point of the evening was that a few of us were pick-pocketed. I lost about 100 cordobas (5 bucks) but that’s it, and it was my own fault. I had had a few drinks and I put the money in my back pocket, so it was easy for someone to grab. Not too smart.

Yesterday, for Thanksgiving, we also had a few volunteers over to the house and had a wonderful Nicaraguan take on the traditional Thanksgiving meal. We had chicken (turkey is hard to come by) with rice (rice was just easier than stuffing), beets, carrots, challote (a Nicaraguan vegetable), apple salad, a dish with eggs and cheese, mashed potatoes, apple crisp, and (thanks to a package from my mom!) pumpkin pie! I think that I felt more full yesterday than I have in all of my time in Nicaragua…

Thanksgiving crew
Discussing the finer points of tacos before making our way to the carnival.
A couple of volunteers preparing for the long night ahead.

First Project Done!

So, finally one of the big projects that I have been working on is done! For the first 5-6 months of my service, I had been working with a colleague, writing a sexual and reproductive health manual for adolescents. The organization with which I have been working, Horizonte3000, has been educating adolescents in Madriz for the last 3 years, on topics from Self Esteem and Gender Awareness to Pregnancy Prevention, Sexually Transmitted Diseases and HIV/AIDS. The projects funding runs out as of December 31, and so in an effort to make their work more sustainable, the organization has trained some adolescents to continue as health promoters in their communities once the funds are gone and work is done.

As part of this, Horizonte wanted a health manual, with information and ideas for educational activities that could be left behind with the kids throughout the department So, we decided to write a manual that was packed full of information, but also a little bit fun. What we came up with was a manual that is full of colors and pictures and takes some of its feel from a few Latin American Teen magazines.

In the end, it was far from what I envisioned in the beginning. The ideas that I had were a bit radical for a Nicaraguan project, and so the manual isn’t nearly as much of a Teen Magazine as I had originally wanted, and there were two of us working on the content and design, so the style had to be a combination of our ideas. And after making sure that everything was perfect, the printer messed up a lot of what I had spent endless hours designing. But, given that the project started and ended in a time period when my Spanish wasn’t great, when I wasn’t yet comfortable enough with my colleagues to negotiate well and I wasn’t yet familiar with Nicargua or Madriz, I consider it a success.

Now, its time to spend some time in transition. With the coming holidays and the leaving of my primary project partners, I am pretty sure that December and January will be slow months as I again try to get some projects off the ground, working with new counterparts and new organizations. Ive just started communicating with MINED (the department of education) about a possible project with teachers and health classes in secondary school, but we are a ways from that actually happening yet. But who knows.. we will see what the new year brings in terms of work!

Fall comes to Nicaragua

Yes, you read that right. We seem to have entered Fall here in Nicaragua, and only a few months behind New Jersey and New York. Jess and I are bundled up every night with long pants and sweatshirts. There’s a chilly wind every morning that doesn’t go away until 11am. Our backyard is covered in beanpods, leaves and branches. Really, it’s probably only 60 degrees or so, but that is virtually pneumonia temperatures after living a year in the heat.

You won’t find us complaining, though. It’s great to actually have to sleep under blankets at night, and the smells of the season remind us of home. It seems like everybody up there has already passed that stage, however. We hear about a new snow storm moving in on different volunteers’ homes every week. A bunch of volunteers heading home for Christmas are starting to second-guess their decision.

The sad piece of the season is that this weather marks the end of the rains in Nicaragua. The beautiful grasses and flowers are all starting to dry out, and the mountains around our house are a little less green every day. It’s sad to think the countryside is going to return to the way we first saw it when we arrived in Somoto last March. At least we won’t have to worry about a muddy dog running through the house.

Jess and I went to Managua last weekend for a Peace Corps meeting. Unfortunately, the political turmoil that came after the elections isn’t over yet. One party has rejected the results, claiming various instances of fraud around the country. The other party says they should just stop being sore losers and give up. There’s been some marching in rioting around the country, but it’s been at its worse in Managua. We get news on TV, radio, and in newspapers of confrontations all over the city. Thankfully, there was a lull in the violence during the weekend Jess and I were in Managua. We were able to go to a mall near the Peace Corps office and see the new James Bond movie. Earlier in the day, however, people had been launching morters (big loud fireworks that really don’t do much damage) at the mall parking lots. They said they were doing it to protect the building from attacks from the other party. We’re still trying to figure that one out…

Last night on the news we saw a group of teenagers trash a news truck that was parked near a demonstration meeting point. It’s sad to see for a lot of reasons, but mostly because the violence is so needless and really won’t accomplish anything. So far, there haven’t been any attacks against foreigners or Americans, so we just sit tight and hope it all gets resolved soon. We are very safe in Somoto. All of our friends, neighbors, and co-workers are as saddened by the violence in Managua as we are. We also know that Peace Corps and the U.S. Embassy are monitoring the situation and keep us up to date with important information. If anyone out there is interested in updates, you can take a look at La Prensa Newspaper (www.laprensa.com.ni) or the U.S. embassy site (http://nicaragua.usembassy.gov).


So, enough sad stuff. This weekend is Somoto’s big yearly event: the Carnival. They will close off a good 10 blocks of city streets and will fill the area with 8 stages of music, a bunch of food, and all sorts of other interesting things. We’re looking forward to participating and seeing a bunch of friends who will be making the trek to Somoto. We’ll let you know how it goes!

Traditional Nicaraguan folk dancers.

A Nicaraguan bull on his way to the Rodeo. This is as close as they let us get. Good choice...

A recent visitor to our house. It´s tough to see size here, but this guy was about 3 inches long. Astro battled him to the death, and kept us safe.

Speaking of fall themes, here´s Jess discussing the finer points of indigenous corn production with another Peace Corps volunteer.

Here´s the old cathedral in Managua. It´s right on the lake and one of the few buildings to survive the 1972 earthquake. It isn´t used anymore, but sure is pretty. The sign on the front is political propaganda from the elections. It says, ¨The Nicaraguan race know about fighting and honor.¨ It´s a Sandinista sign.

We thought we were leaving leaf raking behind, but alas, our backyard is covered.

Astro chewing on a branch near a pile of bean pods and leaves in our backyard.

Election Day

A picture Jess took of a girl who attended a recent event of ours. Jess has some incredible photos of Nicaraguan kids. One day we'll have to do a blog post of them...


Jess and I were able to go to a large city near Somoto, Estelí, to watch the presidential elections. Here in Somoto we have friends with CNN in Spanish at home, but we really wanted to watch the elections in English. It turned out several other volunteers in the area had the same thought. So, we ended up spending the night at Luna International Hostel, where we got a private room for $16 a night. About 25 Peace Corps volunteers and a few foreign travelers all huddled around a tiny TV, flipping back and forth between CNN, Fox News, and BBC News. To be honest, most Peace Corps volunteers in Nicaragua are Democrats, so it turned out to be a pretty good time. The Hostel is owned by a British woman who cooks excellent food at a café across the street from the rooms. Jess and I enjoyed meat lasagna, a hamburger and French fries, a side salad, and a bottle of Nicaragua’s newest beer, Victoria Frost, while waiting to hear the results.

It was great watching the elections with (a) people who have the same politics as us, (b) people from all over the country who could tell us what it’s like to vote in Indiana, Virginia, and Tennessee, and (c) people who are experiencing the same sense of disconnect that we are. I try and check the headlines on news websites every time I have a chance to get on the internet, but we all missed the kind of energy that you can feel in the States during an election. Some people had been back home recently and talked about seeing all of the campaign signs on people’s front lawns, or the bumper stickers on the highway. Most of our news and information from the outside world comes second hand from other volunteers or from Nicaraguan newspapers, where we are reading speeches in Spanish that were given in English and then translated to Spanish. You can imagine that a little bit of the luster is lost in the process.

Overall, it was a fun night for everyone, and, thankfully, it actually ended fairly early. We were all in bed by 11:30 (remember, we’re an hour earlier that EST down here).

When we got home on Wednesday, we were reminded that Nicaraguan elections are also taking place this week. While the president isn’t being elected this term, all of the mayors around the country are up. They serve for a 5 year term and cannot run for reelection, so the system is a little different than ours in the States. While Nicaragua has several major political parties, a law was recently passed prohibiting most of the smaller parties from participating, so this year it’s going to be a showdown between the long-time and very bitter rivals, the Liberals and the Sandinistas.

The Liberals, despite their name, could probably most easily be aligned with the US Republican party. They are pro-business, pro-trade with countries like the US, and tend to be against social programs. They really don’t talk about “moral issues”, as they do in the States. Things like abortion and gay rights are prohibited by the Catholic Church, and therefore not even up for discussion. Things like stem cell research won’t be taking place in Nicaragua for a good long while, so there’s no need to discuss it.

The Sandinistas are the remnants of the party that famously overthrew a (Liberal) dictatorship in 1979. They ran the country for 10 years, and then were ousted in 1990 by an alliance of opposition parties. The Sandinistas, and their leader, Daniel Ortega, have been fighting ever since to gain back political power. They’ve always been in control of Nicaragua’s agriculture and transportation sectors, as well as the army, but they haven’t held the presidency since Ortega lost in 1990. Well, in 2006 Ortega won again, but chose not to live in Nicaragua’s Presidential Palace because he felt that it was “El Pueblo, Presidente” (the people are the president), and therefore he didn’t deserve the luxurious mansion that more than twice the size of the US White House. Most people say he didn’t want to move because his house is nicer.

Anyway, the Sandinistas are big into social programs and used to embrace Communism to the utmost extent. Their heroes are Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez, Sandino ( a local boy and the origin of the name), and the ever-present Che Guevara. While they toned it down a bit for the last election, the Sandinistas of the 80’s promoted Cooperative living and farming and managed to build in army that could field 250,000 soldiers if needed. Today’s Sandinistas have strong ties to Venezuela and Bolivia, but still are on good terms with the US as well as the European Union, both of which give millions of dollars in aid every year. They tend to promote social programs that work towards equality of socio-economic classes and poorer rural communities.

They’ll be voting this week all over the country, and while the Liberals seem to have a good chance in the Southern cities of Managua, Granada, and Leon, they really don’t have a snowball’s chance in a microwave of winning in the north, where we live. Just to give you an idea, in the last mayoral elections (2003) 9,000 Sandinistas voted in Somoto. What to guess how many Liberals? 3,000. You can imagine who won.

Elections are run much differently here than in the States. There are rallies and posters and t-shirts, but they also love to drive up and down the streets in caravans to show support for their candidates. We had a Liberal caravan go by on Sunday and the car horns, music, shouts and fireworks all coming from the backs of pick up trucks was pretty unbearable. Jess and I sat in our patio, where most of the noise couldn’t reach us. Poor Astro had to hide under the futon for most of the day. He doesn’t like fireworks.

Sandinista rally participants.

The Sandinistas rode by today, and the pictures below were taking right outside our door. The Sandinista caravan probably had about 200 motorcycles, 50 bicycles, 75 cars, and 40 busses and trucks. Each one seemed ready to topple over with all of the weight. It was an experience for sure. We’ll be sure to fill you in on who wins in Somoto once the results have been counted next week.

OK, ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONS FROM MRS. LYTTLE’S CLASS

How is Astro? Can we see more pictures of him?

Astro is great. He has fully healed from his car accident, although the toenail hasn’t grown in completely yet. He amazes people in the streets with his ability to “speak” both English and Spanish. We’ll try and get some more pictures up of Astro and his antics. He has a lot of dog friends here because he is a very friendly dog. Unfortunately, most of the dogs here are abused and malnourished, so they aren’t into playing as much as Astro is.

Astro was going to run for mayor, but he didn't meet the height requirments. Here he is with a few local supporters.

One of Astro's newest friends.

This is one of Astro's best friends, Hubert. Hubert and his mom, Humphrey, like to eat the weeds that grow next to our house.

Pondering life's mysteries...

What do you do all day long?

Matt spends his mornings in the local health center working on new bulletin boards for the different health posts. The themes are things like diabetes, breast feeding, and HIV. In the afternoons he goes to a rural community around Somoto and has meetings with groups of kids from 10 to 20 years old.

Jess recently finished writing and illustrating a health guide for youth living on the Nicaraguan border with Honduras. The guide covers a lot of things from communication between peers to teen pregnancy, which is a big issue here. She is starting a new project that will hopefully re-work the health class curriculum in the schools in Madriz.

What sports to people play in Nicaragua?

People here love soccer and baseball. They are the long standing traditional sports of Nicaragua. There are even a few Nicaraguans in Major League Baseball in the US. Sports like volleyball and basketball are growing. Older men love billiards. People ride bikes all the time around here, but it’s really just to get around.

What’s up?

Things are normal around here. Jess and I are going about our lives and looking forward to Christmas. We’re going to try and get to a beach for a few days sometime in November. Astro is going to come, too. He’s never been to the beach. It’s tough to believe we have been here almost a year. We pass a lot of time reading, watching movies on our laptop, and walking in the countryside. We also cook a lot of breads and special recipes that we share with our Nicaraguan neighbors.

Are there lizards in Nicaragua?

Yes, a lot. Some are very big (2 feet long), and others are about the size of a mouse. They mousey sized ones actually live in all the houses. On any given night Jess and I see about 5 on our walls. They eat bugs like mosquitoes and make a very loud “CHIRP CHIRP” kind of noise. There are also fun birds like the guardabarranca, the national bird, and even roadrunners!

Lizards that climb all over your walls and eat mosquitos!

Bigger lizards are all over, too. This one lives by a pool at a hotel in Managua.

What do you eat?

Jess and I eat a lot of the stuff you eat in the States, but we have to create a lot of it from scratch. We have started eating a lot more of the Nicaraguan staple meals, like beans and rice, because it is a lot cheaper. In an upcoming post we’ll outline food in more detail.

OK, that’s all we’ve got for now. I hope this posts aren’t too long, but we’ve got a lot to say!

Matt at a recent event.

Jess and a few other Peace Corps volunteers with a local counterpart at a recent event.