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.