times they are a changin' (and aren't they always)

Hello friends and family! Happy family, winter, and good smelling times (you know...cinnamon, apples, pumpkin...yummy things)
So, I am back from Nicaragua, and chilling (literally) in Lexington Kentucky until the 25th (Christmas day!), and then I head down to South Carolina to spend Christmas with my family. I am really enjoying friends and family so far and I am reminded that I like this time of year so much.
So, a little bit of business. I have had some changes in plans. I came to Lexington on the 16th of December and about two weeks before that, I quit my job at JHC in Nicaragua. Here's the long and short of it. So, basically, I butted heads with the organization almost immediately after arriving. At first, the issues were small, mostly my perceptions of awkward and unhealthy power dynamics among white American staff and the local people that they worked with. As the months went on, I struggled with my role there, and went back and forth between thinking I could really learn from them and have a "good experience," and thinking that I was compromising my values by staying there.
In the weeks before I came home, I had some very serious conversations with the JHC people about my issues with them and perceptions of unhealthy power-dynamics and what kinds of things I was not willing to compromise on. In those meetings, the incredibly dillusional, ethnocentric, unprofessional, and emotionally unbalanced nature of the JHC crew really became clear and I decided packing my bags might actually be the only option. Let me also mention, that there were 6 other amazing volunteers who were also struggling just as I was with what we were experiencing at JHC. In the end, we all left JHC and cut our volunteering time short. We all left because of individual reasons, but we all left feeling confident of our decision and very disappointed that there are organizations like JHC allover the world pushing their agendas on people.
So it's back to square one for me, I'm looking around for the next step which may include some variation of getting a real job, getting a fake job, travelling, vagabonding, reading, or any combination of the previous options. I'll keep you updated....maybe on this very blog.

So, for those of you that will see me or talk to me soon, I will very likely talk to you a lot about Nicaragua. I have a lot to share about a wonderful country and the incredible people I met there. JHC was such a small part of my overall time there. I learned so much in my 4 months in Nicaragua and I cant think of another place that has quite such a special place in my heart. I have thought about going back in January, but I'm not sure that is the best option for me. Something I came to peace with in my time there is that the world is full of beautiful cultures, but I can't be in all of them.

If you would like, someday I will tell you about the time that I ate the neck of the rooster during my going away party, or how I killed several scorpions, or how I got a pedicure of a snow-man on my toe, or how I celebrated the holiday of "Purisima" by carolling at the alters to Mary set up by people living in my neighborhood. I hope you will ask to hear these stories and more, and that you will then tell me all the stories that have taken place with you since we last talked.

Until soon hopefully, love you all,

Elections!

Elections here, elections there, elections everywhere! So to all of you that wrote me interested in what went on in the elections down here...this is Bree's official election blog entry. Can I just start by saying how impressed I was to get so many emails, even amidst a heated election at home. So first, here's how I personally spent the election weekend.

It was a long weekend, the election was on Sunday but everyone had Monday off of work as well. So, the way elections work here is that each party has a team of people allover the country who "work" the elections. These workers are citizen observers from all parties that all work together to monitor elections. The sisters in my house, Margarita (31) and Lila (29) each worked the elections for the MRS party. So, for the weekend, Gloria (my host-mom) signed up to be the regional cook for the volunteers working the elections. That meant we (Gloria and I) were in charge of preparing 4 meals for 50 MRS election workers during the weekend. It all started Friday night when we packaged beans and rice, cheese, and coffee for fifty. Gloria and I created an assembly line and boxed up the meals. When people stopped by and commented on how hard we were working, Gloria told them how good of a packager I was "because she has worked in restaurants." Anyway, so 24 more hours of almost continuous carrot chopping, bean and rice sorting, chicken thawing, and coffee tasting, in the end we packaged over 200 meals for MRS election workers. Gloria explained to me that they have always worked in the elections. Several times they have done this same job for the FSLN (Sandinista National Liberation Front), before they withdrew their support. This is her way of contributing to the democratic process and really it was a great way for me to feel like I did something too. On Monday, while everyone awaited the results, everyone in the house was anxious. Gloria said her rheumatism was acting up because of stress and so she made some relaxation herbal tea that we all drank. The votes here are paper ballots so the results trickle in...in a painful process really that keeps everyone glued to the tv for days at a time. At mid-day on Monday we took a break and watched Lord of the Rings.

So, now it's Tuesday night (when I wrote this blog in my journal...it's actually Wed morning as I'm typing it). The results are in...well mostly. Over 90% of the votes have been counted and everyone is accepting that Daniel Ortega has won. The second place candidate already gave a graceful defeat speech, and there have been no real charges of fraud. Daniel won with about 38%, with the next guy Eduardo Montealegre (the US brain-child) with 29%, and then the rest split between the other 3 candidates. This country is basically split between people who love Daniel Ortega, and people who hate him. As the polls show, 38% love him I guess, and 62% hate him. But it was fair, it was democratic, and the Nicaraguan people chose their president in a heated election amidst incredible intimidation from the US. About 75% of the eligible population voted. This is how democracy works folks...people getting out and voting...the US should be ashamed of our average 45% of voters. As I write this blog in my dark room in a barrio called Ciudad Sandino, the sounds I hear are the inevitable roosters, faint screams coming from the horror movie my family is watching in the living room, and someone nearby is also shooting off fireworks and blasting the perpetual John Lennon "Give Peace a Chance" chorus that is the soundtrack of the FSLN (Ortega's party). People are celebrating…well at least 38% of the people.

What do I think this victory means for Nicaragua? Well I only wish I knew...everyone's pretty much waiting to see what will happen. Some people are convinced that peasants will get titles to their land, that education financing will increase, and that they will begin tackling the enormous gap between poverty and wealth in the this country. Others (about 62% of people I reckon) are holding their breath, hoping the Chinese owners of the sweatshops they work in won't pack up and head out (leaving them unemployed), hoping that they won't have lines at the grocery stores with empty shelves, and hoping that the money their family sends them from the US won't be cut off. It's kind of quiet here...everyone's waiting.

Basically, here are some thoughts of Ortega. I can't say this is “what I think of Ortega”, because that's too committal...but here are some thoughts. Ortega has come a long way since his defeat in 1990...and even farther from his FSLN victory in 1980. Ortega was president of the FSLN throughout the whole revolution of the 1980's, and then in 1990 the people elected a US-friendly neo-liberal president after a decade of crippling US economic sanctions and war. Since then, he has remained the powerful force behind one of the biggest parties in Nicaragua (FSLN). For the past 16 years since Ortega's first presidency, Nicaragua has had one US backed neo-liberal president after another...and the common theme has been that they have robbed funds from the people (including millions of Hurricane Mitch relief money) and turned Nicaragua into a tax-free playground for multinational corporations that are drawn here by cheap labor. My nica sister Lila has a college degree and works 40 hours week at a sweat shop, earning $80/month. Nicaragua is the second poorest country in the hemisphere (second only to Haiti), 78% of the people live on less that 2$ a day. The neo-liberalism of the past 16 years has been a load of empty promises.

So during the past 16 years, Ortega has been pulling strings and collaborating with power-elites (often times the very ones that were stealing money) in order to rewrite the laws that would someday favor him in an election and he's also kicked people out of the FSLN party that speak out against him. His personal fortunes seems to be continuously growing (substantiated by the 5 mercedes benz SUV's parked in his driveway). He even underwent a "religious conversion" (sound familiar?) that won him the support of the catholic church. Basically that conversion just entails an anti-abortion platform and throwing "gracias a Dios" around in his speeches...but I digress.

So, he won...fair and square...and sometimes I have hope that he will be different than the presidents of the past 16 years. That maybe he will restore some dignity to Nicaragua, and try to chip away at the ol' poverty block. Maybe he'll have some solutions of how to do this that will fall outside of the abomination that is "trickle down economics." Some of his supporters say that he just played the last 16 years smart...making friends with the devils on many occasions, so that he could end up where he is right now, as president, where he can do something good. Machiavellian politics at its best I guess (you know..."the ends justify the means"). And then there's the US factor. People are still scared. And although lots of people feel betrayed by Ortega, the overwhelming reason why people are scared of him...is their fear in what the US will do. What if they put up an embargo (like they did in the 80's)? What if they cut off the aid? What if they cut off the money people send us? AHHHH!!! So we'll see. I personally, think that things are different now than they were in the 80's. Nicaragua, regardless of who its president is, has few economic options. We are in an era where poor countries not only have their hands tied by rich countries, but also by institutional financial structures like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. There are strict "free market" restrictions imposed on these countries that provide no wiggle room. Ortega has already vowed to cooperate with international investment and to continue participation in CAFTA (Central American Free Trade Agreement). So as far as I'm concerned...it's gonna be neo-liberal business as usual for now.

So having said that, why is the US so fired up? Because the US acts like an ass sometimes. If the US would just open their eyes and smell the friggin sweatshops, they would see that Ortega has changed a lot, and is looking more and more like someone they would support. Whether you see that change as a good or bad thing, well that's the big debate I guess. Did I mention that Ortega's vice president is a former leader of the contras? (those who faught against the Sandinistas in the 80's?) Yeah...how's that for "reconciliation" for you? That's been Ortega's whole campaign...peace and conciliation. we'll see.

Final thoughts: I'm partially disillusioned, I don't think the best person won (Edmundo Jarquin with the MRS)...but the worst people did not win either (Montealegre or Rizo). I hope Daniel Ortega has just been acting like an asshole for the past few years so he could get in power and really shake things up in a good way. I am glad that Nicaragua stood up to the US after an election filled with intimidation and threats, I hope that the US is learning one country at a time that "democracy promotion" includes accepting the decisions that democratic countries make. I'm also glad I will be listening to John Lennon for the next year.

That was the end of the election blog:
So guess what. So, my family recently got a new tv, a gift from a cousin, and this one has a dvd player. So for the past week i've been watching movies. But for some reason, the family only wants to watch horror movies. In the past week i've had my mind horrifyingly filled with mother's drowing their children to extract the evil deamons, chinese women who see dead people, and most recently, a exorcism thriller. About 30 minutes into the exorcism thriller, I decided it was enough, I excused myself to go to my room and read. But, as I moved a skirt out of the way to make room for newly folded clothes...guess what i found..a scorpion. The scene was surely something that would have fit into any of the horror movies I've watched this week. I've learned to be comfortable with a lot in Nicaragua...pelting rabid dogs with rocks, sharing my living space with mice, bats, bull frogs, but I will not...I repeat not...tolerate scorpions. After several hard blows by a sandal, I triumphed victorious, but I'll probably sleep with the light on tonight. oh my god.
much love..bree

Best Friends and Fallen Revolutionaries

So I guess it’s time for another blog entry. Sorry it’s been a while since I wrote a real entry…I could offer some half-hearted (or half-ass as my dad would say) excuses but the reality is, I just haven’t felt much like sitting down to write a blog and then the past week I have been showing around my friend Jessica. If you are reading this, it means you didn’t give up on me…thanks for that. Today I’m feeling blogish though and long-winded…so here goes.

So one of my best friends, Jessica Wendt, came to visit me for the past week. She rode 3 days worth of busses down from Mexico, where she is living right now, and so for a whole week I got to show someone I love about the place I am growing to love so much. It was so nice to have someone here for a week that really knows me. The other volunteers and my Nicaraguan family and co-workers are all so much cooler than I could have ever hoped for…but the place in my heart that best friends fill just can’t be replaced…it was sweet. So, I convinced the JHC people that I had a lot of errands to run this week so I got to spend a good chunk of time showing Jessica around Managua and she was such a good sport. On her second night here a bum approached our car with a threatening chunk of rock in his hand and she told me “I hate this country, I always feel scared.”…but then last night after only a week she said “I can’t believe I only have one more day left, I’m really going to miss Nicaragua.” That’s how it is here…it looks rough on the inside but once you try to understand it a little, you realize that this is a beautiful place and that the people are amazing. I’m glad Jessica is awesome enough to have given it that chance…and now she’s one more cool person who likes Nicaragua. If you want to read the entries she added on her blog about her time here in Nicaragua, it might offer a cool fresh perspective…her blog is www.jessicawendttomexico.blogspot.com

I took a couple days off from work last week so we took a long weekend and went to the northern mountain town of Esteli. In Esteli we toured the city a bit and enjoyed an outdoor folk concert and the local Heroes and Martyrs Museum. The museum is run by a network of over 300 mother’s who lost children in the revolution so it is full of old photographs, memorabilia, letters, uniforms, the works. After a day in Esteli we took a bus for an hour up into the mountains to stay for a few days on a biological reserve. The place was amazing…our little wooden cabin was so quaint and the weather was very cool. At night we had on sweatshirts and were wrapped up in blankets enjoying hot coffee and tea. I can’t explain how much I needed that cool weather… I felt like I relived a thousand Kentucky fall evenings on that mountain. Anyway, so we hiked around and saw some of the most amazing views I’ve ever seen. I made the comment to Jess that I felt like I was in The Sound of Music or on Macchu Picchu…she said she thought it was definitely better than either of those. Anyway, we did some yoga up there…some of which is hilariously documented in the photo page. So for the rest of the weekend we walked across babbling brooks and watched oxen and cows and horses, wild birds, farmers working their land, and children carrying water. I’ll try to post the pictures later today because they are so nice. If any of you come visit…I will probably take you to Esteli.

A Change of Pace: Election News:
So I know I talk about the elections a lot on here…that’s because I’m obsessed with them. I’m obsessed with the elections because it is unbelievable how I am learning so much about what democracy looks like for many developing nations. And also I really want you all to be experiencing this with me. Anyway, democracy…whatever the hell that even means. Anyway, so Jeb Bush is apparently obsessed with Nicaraguan elections too. Last week Jeb Bush took out a full page ad in the newspaper here reminding Nicaraguans that he is the governor of Florida, and that he is watching. Here is an excerpt of the ad…“Florida is also home of hundreds of thousands of Nicaraguans that love liberty. Many of whom arrived in Florida during the bloody decade of the Sandinista government, not only to escape totalitarianism, but also in search of better economic opportunities for their families. On the 5th of November, the Nicaraguan people have to make a great decision, whether to make a tragic step towards the past, or a step into the future. I hope that en these elections the people will use this opportunity to break the suffering of the past.” Unbelievable really….a full page in the newspaper, with his signature on the bottom, printed on official letterhead from the office of the government. That is so blatant…it’s just wrong, and a gross abuse of power. Shame on you Jeb Bush. I am putting a picture of the article with my pictures. Last night on the news, a US republican representative from California, Dana Rohrabacher, was interviewed and he threatened once again, that if Daniel Ortega is elected, then the millions of dollars sent home by Nicaraguans working in the US will be cut off. Why? Because it could be funneled to terrorists. That’s right…terrorists. As we were watching the news Jessica told Gloria (my host-mom) “don’t you worry, that senator is a nobody….I’ve never even heard of him, it doesn’t matter what he said.” Gloria explained to us about how it didn’t matter who he was…all anyone has to say is that they are a US republican congressman and people get scared…because they know that is the party that is in power right now in the US and therefore is equivalent to the whole government for them. But it goes further, you don’t even have to be a current politician…..you could even be an ex-politician muddled by scandal like Oliver North, who was here last week supporting one of the candidates. It never stops. People are scared of the eagle. (Here is where you should picture and evil eagle in your mind…one with beaty red eyes…maybe fangs too…oh my!)

Here in Nicaragua, 5 days before the election there is an electoral silence, which means the politicians cannot speak about political issues or distribute propoganda. So, since the election is the 5th, lastnight was the official last day of the election and so there were huge rallies allover the country to close the campaigns of the different political parties. The party that my Nicaraguan family is voting for (the Movement for the Renovation of Sandinismo) had their rally in downtown Managua. Jessica and I dressed up in our bright orange campaign shirts (fitting since it was halloween) and marched downtown…it was awesome. We also went through the parade for Daniel Ortega’s party too. There were dump trucks outfitted with flashing Christmas lights, dogs wearing campaign banners, families riding on bicycles (to clarify, that means one family on one bicycle), and plenty of black and red banners waving to the spanish version of the Beatles’ “Give Peace a Chance.” I was standing there and thinking, no one other than Jessica will ever understand how exhilarating this is…the whole town was out, people were celebrating and going crazy. My heart was beating fast and I almost cried from so much emotion and then the thought crossed my mind “I’m never leaving Nicaragua.” (don’t worry mom, that was a heat of the moment thought….im coming home). This Sunday is the election and so I am going to stick around here and help prepare food and stuff with my family here. One of my host sisters is working to patrol some voting booths. We are going to make traditional food and celebrate (nervously) all weekend. Today is also Day of the Dead, which means we are working a half day and then people will flood the cemeteries to bring flowers to the graves of loved ones and make sure the graves look nice. I am going to try to take some pictures without looking like a weird morbid tourist…but that’s probably a lost cause.


So since it’s been so long since I wrote a blog, I have some stories from the last month that I want to share…most of these are straight from my journal. Some are pretty old but thanks for waiting.

October 15th. I went to this outdoor folk music festival yesterday. It was a memorial concert for the death of Che Guevara. They were remembering and honoring Che and also Carlos Fonseca who is the Nicaraguan revolutionary equivalent of Che. Carlos Fonseca died right before the revolution started in 1979 but he was the philosopher and leader. Anyway, so the concert was really nice and there was a lot of good displays…representatives from the Zapatista’s in Mexico and different citizen groups from the area. I couldn’t help but think how strange it was for me to be there though, and how different a Che memorial concert is for me than it is for the people of Nicaragua. Che Guevara is probably the most famous international t-shirt character of all time. Why t-shirts love Che so much, I don’t really know. I think it must be because there is something inside all of us that glorifies a revolution, glorifies that kind of strength that rises from the oppressed. But revolution has a much different sentiment here in Nicaragua. Here they are proud of their revolution, but it was a very painful time too….so so so many people died here and in the end the revolution did not succeed. It was strange to be at the Che concert singing about revolution amongst a group of people who actually fought one. It was strange because I knew I was the odd one out, the one that didn’t get it… but the one most likely to buy the t-shirt. (which I did not by the way…buy a t-shirt that is)

October 18th One of my neighbors had a birthday party…she turned 13. It was the typical boys on one side, girls on the other, and blasting reggaeton (latino rap) to drown out the awkward adolescent tension in the air. Anyway, so for some reason, the gringas (2 other volunteers who live nearby and myself) were designated to be the party starters and the mothers insisted that we get people dancing. So we each got paired up with a 4 foot tall 12 year old boy, and we danced. With their heads hitting the height of our breasts and their clammy hands on our wastes, we awkwardly tried to find the right mix of booty shaking and self-constraint. It was a sight but I can say we officially got the party started, and broke a few hearts in the process.

October 20th I’ve been learning about natural medicines from my host-mother Gloria. She has slowly introduced me to how mystical she is. It started when I got a cold and she fixed me an herbal tea of chamomile, lemon, honey, and homemade rum. My mind kept flashing back to a month or so ago when people were dying from moonshine rum contaminated with methanol. Anyway, I’m alive and cold and methanol free. In the weeks that have followed since the cold incident, I have seen her fix a natural concoction involving aloe for a neighbor that has cancer. She also shared with me that one time she cured a friend with hepatitis, and another time she cured a child with measles. She even shared with me once this ritual she does each night with a bucket of water that blesses and guards the house overnight. So, as I learn more about remedies, magic, and spirits and such, I’ll keep you updated.

October 22nd Gloria also sells used clothes out of our house. There is a sign on the outside of the house that reads “We sell USA clothes.” Every few weeks, Gloria shows up with a load of clothes to sell and she hangs them up in the living room for display. She gets the used clothes from the nearby market and people from the neigborhood come by and buy things from her. Well, yesterday we got 100lb. of US women’s lingerie to sell. So, lastnight we passed the night giggling and trying on lingerie…the favorite of which was a thong pair of panties with a rat on the front and a furry tail on the back. Some of the neighbor women came over and Gloria has two grown daughters so there were 6 women in the house and once the power went out, we continued on in the candlelight. I learned quite a bit of new Spanish vocab lastnight…none of which is appropriate to share on public internet domain.

So this is all the stories for now….there are many more to tell but there is a general understanding that a blog should only be so long. Other stories I’ll one day tell you include how I got an oversized vehicle stuck in the mud in the barrio and how I bribed a cop out of giving a ticket. There is a volunteer coming down in a few weeks and if you have things you want to send me, the best way to do that is to send stuff to her in the states and then she’ll bring it down with her. If you’re interested let me know and I’ll give you more info. Thanks to all of you who are writing me emails and commenting on here and letting me know how things are going. Thanks also for your patience, as I can’t always write back so quickly. Alright, until next time, love you all,
Peace
Bree

PS thanks also for not judging me for my excessive comma use

Skillz

I did it! I have picture uploading, website creating, direction following skilllzzz. If you click on the link to the right, I believe you will find a few pics. Now that I know how to do it, I hope to have some more up soon. Love you all!
Bree

Little House in the Barrio

Greetings again after a couple of weeks off from blog writing. I’ve been thinking about what I might include in this entry because for now at least, the travel adventures have slowed down and I’m getting more of a taste of the day to day Nica life (that’s what Nicaraguans called themselves…Nicas). For those of you in the states, I envy your ability to walk outside and enjoy the fall-time. There are two seasons here, rainy and dry. Right now we are entering the thickest part of the rainy season and I miss the changing leaf colors and beauty of the fall. You’ll have to share your fall-time stories with me.

Probably the biggest change for me over the past 2 weeks is that I moved off of the CDCA property and into a home with a nearby Nica family. I am living with a 50-something woman named Gloria, and her 2 twenty-something daughters. This has surely been the best part yet of being in Nicaragua because I feel so much closer to the people and the culture. The house is about a 10 minute walk away and I moved in about 2 weeks ago. My room is in the back of their house….I have to walk through the chicken yard to get to my room and I have an outdoor bathroom that is also back there. I couldn’t really be more pleased because the room is just separated enough to give me some privacy but I still get to eat and hang out and watch soap operas and political shows with the family. Gloria is super chatty and actually has been very involved in the community and in politics in Nicaragua. She only graduated from elementary school but she is a fireball and I love to just sit and have her talk my head off about politics. When I walked in the first day, I had to smile at the three pictures that made up the decorations on one livingroom wall…a portrait of Fidel Castro, A portrait of Che Guevarra, and a precious moments poster of the Lord’s Prayer…so Nicaragua. The first couple of nights in the house were rough. With all the cats fighting on the tin roof, I almost never fell asleep. Then, around 3 am the roosters started cockadoodle-doodling, and then I had to pee so bad but couldn’t because the evil dog Natasha was growling at me when I tried to walk across the yard to the bathroom. So, although an empy Gatorade bottle I found in my bag did help with the peeing thing…there was little sleep to be had. Let me just mention that Natasha always has a broken rope about 2 feet long around her neck that just drags behind her…eeks. Also, whoever made up the terribly inaccurate rumor that the rooster crows at dawn, has obviously never slept anywhere near a rooster. The truth is that the rooster starts crowing whenever the hell it wants (but usually around 3 am)…and will not shut up until it wants…or someone makes it into a soup. I recently got some earplugs which have worked like a charm but now the new challenge is finding an alarm strong enough to penetrate them at 7am.

Being in the homestay also has brought me much closer to some of the real issues that Nicaraguans are facing now, issues that are important to them in the upcoming presidential elections. Right now electricity and water are big issues…basically there is hardly ever any of either. The electricity is usually out for most of the day, and often comes on around 6pm, goes back out around 7pm, comes back on around 9pm, and may stick around for some of the night. The water on the other had…generally comes only about 11pm and stays for a few hours. So, that directly translates to a lot of water conservation, lots of filling up buckets in the night, and also limited toilet flushing (if it’s yellow let it mellow, if it’s brown, flush it down). I’m taking bucket showers and reading by candle light…I’m kind of like Laura Ingles Wilder….starring in Little House in the Barrio. Speaking of candlelight…it’s amazing how much a candle actually does light up a room…we only use them for smelly reasons in the US but here, when it’s completely black for miles…you light one little candle and the whole house is visible again…it’s pretty cool.

Nicaragua is truly a fascinating place, while there have been a lot of personal hard times already, times when I doubt that I am doing anyhting here but getting in the way, I think I can say with moderate conviction that I am indeed learning (something) and becoming a better person. Perhaps the overarching, overwhelming “slap you in the face” reality of my time here so far has been how different “national sovereignty” looks and feels from the point of view of a developing country. Nicaragua is the 2^nd poorest nation in the western hemisphere, and although in their past they have seen brutal dictators, socialist revolutionary government, US marine occupation, and neo-liberal democratic governments…things haven’t changed all that much for the people who make up this country. Something like 78% of the people are still living on $2 or less a day. The US is heavily heavily involved here, although we may pass a whole year in the US without ever seeing a snippet on the news about Nicaragua. With Nicaraguan presidential elections coming up in November, the US is putting the pressure on the Nicaraguan people to vote for a candidate that will be acceptible to the US. The US ambassador is in the news daily threatening (or “giving advice to”) the people about the way to vote. Two US senators visited last week, Donald Rumsfeld is here right now (for a meeting of regional Secretaries of Defense). Some of the threats have been that if Nicaraguans don’t vote the way the US wants, the US will cut aid to this country. Also, the US will have to “reconsider” the immigration status of millions of Nicaraguans living in the US (and sending home millions of dollars to their families). All this under the guise of “democracy promotion.” Think about that irony…promoting democracy is not done by threatening people how to vote...that’s democracy manipulation. Also, I’m no expert…but in my international law class I’m pretty sure that it’s clearly stated that foreign diplomats are not allowed to interfere in local elections…but we all know international law is a joke for the US. Just in case you want a breakdown on candidates for the election in November, here it is.

Daniel Ortega: FSLN (Sandinista National Liberation Front). Leader of the 1980’s revolution. The US is real scared of this guy…he’s in the boat with Chavez, Evo Morales (Bolivia) and Lulu (Brazil). US threats are almost entirely toward him. He is the front-runner in the poles right now. He has changed and sold out quite a bit since the revolution which has lost him a lot of traditional Sandinista supporters but has also gained him some more moderate votes.

Edmundo Jarquin: MRS (Movement for the Renovation of Sandinismo) This party is made up of former Sandinista’s and other break-off groups that think the FSLN is corrupt and sold out. I like this guy….so does my Nica family. He goes by the name “el feo” (the ugly) because he is kind of ugly.

Rizo and Montealegre: PLC and ALN: Two similar neo-liberal candidates with similar platforms and promises to bring jobs bla bla bla…more of the same shit as now….but the US like them.

One other dude with 1% of the vote…not a real issue.

So there…sorry if you didn’t want that…but I was talking to my brother lastnight and he gave me hope that people might actually like to know. Just in case you wanna dig in more, a really good engligh website is http://www.enviomag.com.ni/

What else….still trotting along around here. I have recently found so much joy in a Barbara Kingsolver book I’m reading called Prodigal Summer. It’s set in Kentucky and has so many references to places so close to home for me…the Hunt Morgan House, Euclid Street, Franklin County etc. Besides it being a beautiful book, it has been so good for me to get my head out of fiery Nicaraguan politics for a while. I also finished a book called Confessions of an Economic Hitman, which was really awesome and tuched on a lot of development issues…if you read it be prepared to be depressed though (unless you’re a jerk).

Lastnight I mentioned to my host family that I really missed riding my bike but that the Americans here told me it was dangerous to ride one here. They told me that was hogwash…and as long as I stick to good roads and daylight, I’ll be fine. So they let me borrow an old beat-up cruiser bike they had in the garage. Today I brought it to work and asked one of the construction dudes if he could fix it up. I should have paid attention to Ben and Shane’s bicycle tinkering a little more...they tried plenty of times to teach me. Oh well, now I’m paying for it.

So, this ends the blog entry that is so far the longest, least perky, most opinionated, and most unlikely to be read in its entirety. I am working on adding pictures in that shutterfly link to the right. Check back periodically and see if I’ve had any success. Thanks for keeping up with me. Love you all,

Bree

"I dee kara tum wah"..read on for the translation...

Back from the caribbean coast! (actually, for those of you who care...and you should, it's called the Southern Atlantic Autonomous Region). It's true, it's Monday, and I'm just coming off of a four-day weekend thanks to Nicaraguan independence day. In case you haven't been keeping up, here's a recap of the plans....Eric (the other volunteer) and I headed to the Caribbean coast to the Southern Autonomous Region for the weekend. We flew for logistical reasons (see previous entry) and spent 3 nights and 3 days hopping around islands and trying to take in the culture...which I will go ahead and mention, was way different, and way cooler than I could have imagined.

First things first though, let me explain a little something about the plane that took us to the coast. We knew it would be a small plane because it's a domestic trip. I've been on small planes...no problem...or so I thought. We got to the check-in desk, I presented my ID, did the routine, and placed my bag on the scale..like normal. Then, the desk lady said "and you too." "Me too what?" "Get on the scale with the bag." "You want me on the scale with the bag?" "Yeah, we have to know how to distribute the weight in the plane." "Riiiiiight."

So, I got on the scales, already suspecting this would be a bit smaller of a plane than I had anticipated. The trip in numbers: 20 ft. long...that' how long the plane was. 14 people...that was its capacticy (including pilots) I could have sneezed on the pilots back, he was right in front of me. As we were taking our seats, I figured this was the one flight in my life where I was going to read the emergency instruction card and check under the seat for the flotation device. I reached under the seat to see if the flotation device was there the same time that the Nicaraguan man next to me reached for his. Neither of the devices were there and he turned to me and said "oh well, someone must have stolen them." Riiiiiight.

Anyway, so the flight was pretty easy and I occupied myself by trying not to throw up or have an anxiety attack...but I did get a little nervous when the pilot whipped out a map of "The Nicaraguan East Coast" about 10 minutes before landing. He was orienting himself and turning the map while he looked out the window. I thought, "are you kidding me, do you need directions...I'm outta here (if only I had a flotation device)?!" But that's enough of that...on to the good stuff.

So the Southern Atlantic Autonomous Region is autonomous for a few reasons, one being it's physical geographical separation from the rest of the country, another reason being because of its distinct cultural differences (there are other reasons too...I'm no Nicaraguan expert though.) They people are mostly of African decent, mestizos, or indigenous groups. They speak english creole, spanish, and indigenous languages...all of which you'll hear in the streets. When we first got off the plane in the main city (Bluefields), the first thing we noticed were the bright colors. The houses were all painted bright pastels and they were on stilts. The housing looked like a scene out of Jamaica or the Bahamas...not stereotypical Nicaragua. The village is right on the coast and has a distinct beachside culture. We spent the day walking around and taking it in...we watched a domino tournament, ate fish, and were the awkward white people sitting in the corner of the reggae club.

The next day, we set off in a "panga" (motorboat canoe) to a small island called Pearl Lagoon where we set out on foot to follow the road (the only road) to wherever it would lead. We walked for a bit and met a man who was also walking, he was a Miskito indian and invited us to come to his village for some coconuts. We walked with him and chatted about the life of his people, politics, and his future plans. When we got to the village (called Awas), our friend ran into his house, grabbed a little rope, came out and then shimmied up a tree (with a mechete)...and then two little coconuts fell from the tree....and then he shimmied down. Have you ever seen someone shimmie up a tree?! I had not....did I mention this guy was like 60? So to make a much more interesting story short, we decided to return the next day and spend the day in the Miskito village of Awas to learn about the people.

So we returned bright and early the next day to a breakfast that awaited us of coconut bread, fried fish and coffee. We toured the village, which took about 15 minutes because it was so small. The Miskitos in Awas live on the water and there are about 30 families in all. They all have one or two room houses made of wood planks and the houses are lifted on stilts. We then set out with our friend to visit the farm where the Miskitos work. Once we were ready to head to the farm, all the children had gathered around and so a few lucky ones got to come in the canoe with us to the farm (oh yeah...it was like a 30 minute canoe ride). So we set off in a wooden canoe, with a sail made of tied together Hefty bags...and a crew was nine people total....Eric and I, our guide, and 6 kids...ranging from lik 4-10 years old. There were kids stuck in both corners and under the seats...well not really, but you get the point.

So on the farm we got to eat avocado, banana, yuca, guava, and lots of new fruits that I pretended like I understood the names of. The people don't farm for a living, they just use the food to feed their families...they say they don't have anywhere to sell the fruits....but they do fish for money. All of the people are fishers and farmers by trade.

So after we got back from the farm, we had a lunch of crab-soup and played with the kids all afternoon. We were pretty much hand-game missionaries....spreading the gospel of "rocks paper scissors" and "thumb war." The kids don't speak english or spanish, they only speak Miskito so the sounds of the afternoon were the kids singing "one two three four, I declare a thumb war"...but instead it came out more like "wah too tree fah, I dee kara tum wah"....precious

So....to make a four day weekend email friendly, I guess I will stop there...oh but one more thing, the people on the island play music all day, music is coming out of all the houses. The sounds were reggae, reggaeton, and classic country...that's right, classic country. As I lay in the hammock one night, I realized how small the world is when I rocked to the classic country refrain "kiss an angel good morning, but love her like the devil when you get back home." (Someone...anyone? anyone else know that song?...probably only George)

So more recently, we have gotten 4 new long-term volunteers this week. Besides being excited because they are all super cool, it is also fun for me to have more volunteers to coordinate, being that I am the "volunteer coordinator" and all. So here's the low-down....one girl just graduated from UNC and is here working in the clinic for the next year. Another girl graduated from school in Rhode Island and has been working for a union in DC for the past year and she will be volunteering with the women's sewing cooperative. One girl just graduated from Oxford (yes, a Brit) and is working as the office assistant. The other girl is working on her Master's in social work and recently finished up the Peace Corp in Honduras working with women's agricultural stuff. So...what does all this mean? I am surrounded by fabulous women..interesting, smart, motivated, and willing to split beer with me.


Just as a side note…Ben Abell (my boo…my boyfriend that is) was on the front page of the Kentucky Kernel (the UK newspaper) for some cool stuff his farm is doing. You should check it out…it was Monday's edition (the 18th) and the article is about farm fresh food. http://www.kykernel.com/

Alright....this is it for now...hope all is well with everyone...lots of crazy stuff going on out there. Today I read in the paper that Thailand had a coup, that someone tried to kill Somalia's president, and stuff is still heating up with the Pope doing his thing...yikes. From here, still more politics, the electicity company is robbing the people and they will likely kick it out of the country soon, there is a gas shortage too (but Hugo has vowed to help with that), and they are arresting the people in charge of the methanol moonshine rum. Other than that....I'm just playing with monkies, love you all
Bree

Lists, Runaway Horses, and Daniel Ortega

Greetings everyone, I hope that all is well wherever you are, wherever you call home. I put off writing another blog entry until now because I wanted to wait until I had something “interesting” to say. Then, as the days kept creeping by without feeling like I had lots to share, I decided that if I don’t write on this thing at least once a week, that people will quit looking at it altogether…so here’s an attempt to be interesting.

Week one in Nicaragua has now passed, and I have to say that I am overwhelmed by all that I have already learned, and all that I still have to learn. I have started keeping many running lists to help me keep things straight. The lists so far include a vocab list of new spanish words, a list of the multiple Nicaragua political parties (elections in November…yikes!), a list of things I miss about Kentucky and home in general, and a list of names of all of the peope I am meeting daily. Soon I will probably have to start a list of locations of the various lists that I have…ewww.

So, that being said, here’s what my week has been like. Everyday I continue to follow Eric, my guru job-trainer around, and we do odd jobs like sift cement (my arms are very sore), count medicine in the clinic, chase escaped horses back into the animal yard, answer emails from potential volunteers and volunteer delegations, visit families in the neighborhood, return coke and beer bottles for deposit money, go on tours of the city where I learn how to pretend like I can interpret murals and graffiti and statues…yadda yadda yadda. I am slowly starting to take over parts of the job without Eric’s direct oversight, which feels good, but I am relishing in the 2 more weeks I have before I am truly on my own. I have also started planning for the first group that is coming under my oversight…a group of doctors from Alaska. That should be a cool trip and we are heading up to the coffee plantation cooperative for several days to do some clinics and immunize some animals and stuff…yee haw.
Observations so far: Inheriting a new job is hard...inheriting a new family is harder.

I had my first driving lesson...and it went really really well. I was driving a ten passenger stick-shift van around the narrow dirt streets of our barrio as we ran errands. No horse-drawn carriages, cow herds, ladies with baskets on their heads, mo-ped riders, nor animals were harmed during this experience. I have to thank my parents for making me drive the dreaded vokswagon van as a teenager....it trained me to drive a stick in an oversized vehicle. Many Nicaraguan villagers thank you mom and dad.

It is rainy season here which means that almost every night it rains SO much, and about every other night is a torrential downpour that pours through the cracks in the ceilings, through the screen walls, drenches the “clean” clothes I have the clothes line, and washes away some chickens or small dogs around the property. Maybe it’s because the rain is truly stronger here, or maybe it is because the walls are screen and I don’t have the option of retiring to some indoor place to escape the storms, but I have a newfound appreciation for the power of rain.

I have been reading so so much in the past week. I have been trying to read the newspaper every day, as well as a book I got on Nicaraguan economic policy in the 90’s, as well as the book “Life of Pi”….reserved for when I just can’t read anything else about Nicaragua. Here are some of the headlines down here: People in the nearby city of Leon are dying by the dozens because of guaron (moonshine rum) that was contaminated by methanol (like 80 people dead so far….hundreds in critical condition). The November presidential elections are attracting all kinds of attention….Daniel Ortega, who was the leader of the Sandinistas during the 80’s is running for president and it looks like he will probably win. They have about 4 other serious candidates (and a couple more that aren’t so serious) that are running too. Politics is on everybody’s lips…it’s quite the buzz.

Today is the last workday of this work week because of the Nicaraguan independence day. We have a four day weekend so Eric and I are heading to the east coast. Now, that may not sound too exciting, but it actually is, few people make it to the east coast. If you look at a map of Nicaragua, almost half of its geography is made up of these two autonomous regions on the east coast…they are separated from the rest of the country by some jungle and un-navigable land. We are flying there (the alternative was a 12 hour bus ride followed by a 7 hour boat ride…on a river that is frequented by pirates that want to take our digital cameras, passports, money, and lives….so we opted for the flight). Supposedly, they speak english there and are mostly of African descent, play reggae music, and have a much more caribbean culture. It should be fascinating and quite a kickoff for my second week in Nicaragua. We leave Thurs. and get back Sunday.

I was talking to one of the volunteers here who has been here for a year, but has had to return back to the states 3 times because of unexpected circumstances. He was saying that it kind of felt like he wasn’t truly “totally here” in some way….that keeping too close of ties with home could keep your mind in too many places at once. I thought about that for a bit and decided that I don’t really think that being “totally” somewhere is something that sounds all that appealing to me, nor all that feasible. I mean, for years now my heart has been a little bit in a lot of places…Mexico, Cambodia, Germany, Ohio, South Carolina, Kentucky…allover the world, wherever my loved-ones are. So, what’s the point of being “totally” somewhere in mind body or spirit….I think I will stick to being scattered, but trying to be totally at peace amongst the scatteredness (probably not a word).

Well, this is it for now…no more philosophical ramblings. I will try to put some pics up soon, I know that’s what you want. There aren’t too many computers here that can handle pictures and digital camera hookups and all that…but when I get my hands on one (soon) I promise to get some pics on here. I love you all and thing about you a lot…for serious,

Peace,

Bree

Day One...Nicaraguan style

So I made it...alive and well, going on my 24th hour in Nicaragua. I have had a few emails from people making sure I made it, so here is a quick post to update everyone. I got here lastnight, and was met at the airport by Eric, who is the current volunteer coordinator at CDCA. I will be taking over his job in three weeks, when he leaves. So, basically today I just followed Eric around as he explained to me everything he did...from telling me which keys go in which doors, which CDCA employees are quirky, and the best way to bribe a cop when you are pulled over for traffic violations...it was a lot to take in, but I am convinced I will someday know up from down and be competent in this job. The compound that I live on has many different buildings, the main house, which houses the permanent members, a volunteer dorm (where I live) a guest house, a women's sewing cooperative, and some permanently broken-down vehicles that have been turned into things like "the medicine warehouse." There are many pets...including two monkeys.
Today I ran some errands like going to the xerox store, I toured the medical clinic, and worked on some small construction projects. One thing that I wasn't nervous about before but now am, is driving. I guess I will have to do a fair amount of driving around town, and the streets are chaos here. If you aren't dodging a lady selling coconut water in the middle of the road, then you're dodging a dog with 2 (or less) legs, or 5-6 people all on the same mo-ped. I'm not really looking forward to that aspect of the job...I'm not even a good driver in the US. Oh well.
Today I did bust some bluegrass out on the other volunteers that are here now...overall it was a good reception.
I'll leave you with this comforting observance. Before coming down I was a little unclear about the role of the religious or Christian component of this organization. I knew they hosted a lot of churches, were a faith-based non-profit, and had some religious funding sources, but i also knew that they are not evangelical or prosteletizing (sp?). Anyway, so this morning at breakfast I enjoyed and was comforted by two magnets on the refrigerator. One said "Jesus called, he wants his religion back," and the other magnet had a man kneeling before Jesus and said "Jesus would slap the shit out of you." For whatever reason, I thought, hmm....I think I'm gonna fit in just fine. Love you all,
Bree

Almost to Nicaragua...

Greetings friends and loved ones! (but friends ARE loved ones...so, greetings loved ones!)
I hope that this blog reaches all of you in good spirits and that you can say that the world is treating you well today. I created this blog so that I would be able to keep in good touch with all of you when I go to Nicaragua. Although I'm not too computer savy, I figured a blog might be a good way to get the job done. This way, you can check on me as often (or rarely) as you would like. I will certainly still have email as well.
So, most of you are probably thinking, "haven't you left for Nicaragua yet?" And yes it's true, my departure has been a bit drawn out. I think it was about a month and a half ago that I made the decision to leave the beloved Lexington and head south for the sun, sweat, and Sandinistas of Nicaragua. I finished out a fabulous Kentucky summer by working at the refugee center (which was so cool that it hardly ever felt like a job), floating down several creeks, eating fabulous farm food, giving (and taking) numerous not-so-final goodbye hugs, and taking a fabulous vacation to North Carolina. Now I'm in South Carolina (where my parents live) until the 5th of September...when I finally fly out to Nicaragua. If you want to call me before that, I will be over-eating and watching bad television but will be available to chat in the meantime.
So what will I even be doing in Nicaragua? Well, there is a lot that I will find out once I get there, but here's what I think I will be doing. I will be doing an internship for an organization called the Center for Development in Central America. It is a super-cool organization that focuses on many development projects around Managua (the capital of Nicaragua). There are a lot of things going on including an agricultural cooperative, a women's sewing cooperative, health clinics, etc. They depend on a lot of volunteers, groups and individuals that come down from the U.S. to help with various projects. The groups are mostly university, church, and citizen groups I think. My job will be as the "volunteer coordinator" and as the title suggests, I will coordinate the individuals volunteers and the groups. My understanding is that my responsibilities will include plenty of things like changing the dorm linens, pretending to know Nicaraguan history and giving tours, pretending to be a construction forewoman, making a fool out of myself as a translator, being a general liason, and of course...being a fearless leader (unless dealing with alligators, bears, or large birds somehow becomes part of the picture, then I'm out).
If you are interested in learning more, the organization has a really comprehensive and user-friendly website, check it out at http://www.jhc-cdca.org/
So there's my story...I will post again when I have more interesting things to write about. Much love....Bree