"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