(no subject)
The past week was a new experience for me - I traveled to a world once unknown, and learned a lot from the experience.
Last Monday we all awoke at 4am in order to catch our 5am bus departure to the Carribean Coast of Nicaragua. We were warned by Aynn beforehand that the bus ride cross-country would be trecherous - terribly long and bumpy. However, I found it to be wonderful. After rising long before the sun did we hopped on the bus, and proceeded on our journey across this beautiful country. The first couple hours were filled with sleep, but, once the sun rose, so did I. I watched the sun rise above the mountains in the foreground - it was a beautiful morning. All mornings that start with the witness of the rising of the sun are. Afterward we traveled and traveled through the rain forest of Nicaragua, until we arrived at Rama - where the road ends. To travel to Bluefields from Rama it is necessary to take a boat - there still is yet to be road infrastructure to the Coast. It was a two hour ponga, or water taxi, ride there. We drove incredibly fast - swerving around logs - and taking in the beauty around us. During the ride we saw wildlife - from birds to turtles - and cabana-like straw-covered structures people called home.
After our ponga ride we arrived in the port of Bluefields. Bluefields is the capital city of the R.A.A.S or southern autonomous region of Nicaragua. It is a city of about 15,000 people. When we arrived we pulled up to the dock where custom officials had to search our boat and passports. It was crazy chaotic - but after getting through with not too much hassle, we arrived at our hostel. We then spent the day adventuring in Bluefields, went to bed, slept lots, and woke up to a breakfast before our ponga ride out to our communities. This time the group was broken into two parts. Half of us went to Orinoco, a Garifuna (indigenous) community, and the other half went to Blue Lagoon (a Creole community). I went to Pearl Lagoon.
After about an hour´s ride by ponga (there are no roads on the coast or going to the coast - everything is done by boat there) we arrived in our community. There, we were greeted by Mr. Wesley (our coordinator). We stayed in a bed and breakfast hostely type place owned by Mr. Wesley for the duration. It was a nice little place - with a little park on the side that we often utilized. During the days we had speakers from different organizations come and talk to us. One talked on women and youth in the community, another talked about health in the Blue Lagoon region and their campaign to raise awareness on AIDS, HIV, and STDs. And another talked to us on the municipal government as well as on the environment.
The Coast is an interesting place. As I wrote before, the region was not colonized by the Spaniards, but rather the English came over to the Carribean Coast. Although they did not colonize the region, they exploited it greatly to benefit their own economy and greatly affected the population living there. The area was once inhabited by many indigenous groups, who spoke their own language and had their unique cultures. However, with the arrival of the English (and also many Africans), the demographic of the area changed. Today there are six groups that live in the area - some indigenous, as well as Mestizo (people moving from the Pacific in search of jobs ... without luck), and Creole. There are four languages spoken in the small area. It was acutally quite incredible to see all living together - in close proximity - with different languages - but in relative peace. People learn many languages so that they can communicate with the people that surround them. There is currently an initiative in schools to first, teach the indigenous language to the child of that culture - because maintaining roots is essential. Then after a few years they learn Spanish, and then English. It´s quite an awesome system - and I was thoroughly impressed by the children there - and how much they know and how quick they learn.
The talk on the environment was definitely exciting for me. The city councilman talked about the programs in place in order to raise awareness about the environment and its sacredness. They have many programs - including one that is in schools that teaches children their about biodiversity, keeping the environment litter-free, and about the importance of clean water. Also, there are many programs on the radio that raise awareness on many issues and spread sustainable ideas. They also go out into communities and work with farmers there on sustainable farming methods - working with the environment, rather than against it. They are trying to eliminate the ¨slash and burn¨ culture. Also, on the coast the fishing industry is very dominant. Due to overfishing, fish populations have declined. Another problem faced is the consumption of the sea turtle - which is endangered. There is an initiative to teach fishers about sustainable cultivation of sea life, as well as about the importance of the sea turtle.
Although I learned a lot from the Coast, I felt very disconnected from it. We weren´t integrated into the community at all - and we all lacked the initiate to go out and do that for ourselves (I`d definitely do it differently if I have a chance to do it again). I feel like it was much more of a tourist-type trip - although we did talk to NGOs and a few people from the community - the separation created a lack of understanding of their culture and their way of life - which was quite frustrating.
After a few days in Blue Lagoon, we traveled back to Bluefields for a night (in which we had a Garifuna dance troop performance), and then flew back to Managua (eeek... I am glad that that is the only intra-Nicaragua plane I´ll be on this semester) on Saturday.
Being back in Managua has been pretty good. I feel like I lost a lot of Spanish over the past week in the Coast - a lot. I struggle for words constantly - and am beating myself up about it. I´ve talked to my Academic director about it, as well as my host mom and Spanish professor. They all say the same thing - speak, speak, speak. The frustrating thing is that I do speak a lot - and am always trying to spark lots of conversation at home. I am also reading ridiculous amount in Spanish (last night I couldnt sleep, so I ended up reading 50 pages of a novel in Spanish), and also listening a lot. Aynn suggested that I may be able to volunteer at a school for the last two weeks of October to work a lot with kids and learn from them - as it helped me so much in the campo. I am going to find out a lot more about this over the next couple of days - I think that would be awesome. But, Im definitely throwing myself into it all - headfirst - I dont mind looking like an idiot - I do mind not learning.
This week is the beginning of our social issues segment of our Seminar. After four days of lecture we are going to visit a women´s center in Managua - and learn more about the feminist movement here.
I am getting real excited about my ISP - traveling off for a month by myself, interviewing, working, learning, and being surrounded by Spanish for the full time. In the Coast I had a good amount of free time to research a bit about where I want to do my ISP - and I found out about a place called the Miraflor Nature Reserve, which is located near the city of Estelí (in the northern mountains of the country). It is an area made up of a large number of campesinos organized into an organic cooperative. I met with Aynn about it all yesterday - and she is really excited about my project. I am planning on living with and working side-by-side with the campesino families while researching not only the methods used by them and the challenges and benefits faced - but also about the economics behind it all and about the organic movement in general in Nicaragua.
This weekend I am planning on taking a trip up north to Esteli with a few friends in order to get to know the city a bit and hopefully even meet some people there that can help me out with information pertaining to my project. Im not sure if the office of the UCA (the association of the Miraflor cooperative) will be open - but I plan on emailing them soon to find out more. If anyone has any cool ideas about more of a focus on my project or possibly taking a different approach - definitely let me know. I`m tumbling lots of different ideas in my head right now - but the one thing that is set is that I want to stay in one area (Miraflor) - and work directly with the families.
(Edit: 10.12.05 - My weekend in Estelí was awesome! The city is and always has been a Sandinista stronghold - starting from the roots - Sandino`s struggle in the 20s against US imperialism. Anyway, the city is quite progressive - and is full of tons of cool murals created by youth. They are beautiful murals that are full of children`s voices for hope for change - for health, education, family, human rights, etc.. The time there was full of rain, but I walked the streets for hours and got myself situated ... as well as found an incredible vegetarian and organic restaurant that serves incredibly fresh teas and yummy breads. Looks like I`ll be quite happy basing myself outside of Estelí, and coming in every once in a while for phone, internet, electricity, etc...
oh, and on Sunday night I went with a few friends to a Che Concert - organized by University of Central America - it was an awesome experience with lots of music and revolutionary people. it´s crazy to experience such an event with people who actually have participated in a true political revolution - where it was and is an actual fact of life.)
After this weekend we have just two more days of Spanish class - and then it is off to El Salvador!
(Edit: 10.12.05 - Finished with Spanish! I am crazy happy about that. Today we just have our Field Studies Seminar - and then it is off to El Salvador tomorrow morning. The State Deparment just issued an advisory to travel there due to the terrible weather they have been having - that all of Central America has been having. I don´t know how much is being reported on it there - but there has been crazy rain - and many, many deaths due to mudslides - as well as deaths due to the volcanic eruption in El Salvador.)
I`ll be sure to update on all the happenings of that adventure when I return. Though, right now things aren`t looking too good there - they are having terrible floods (the rain has been CRAZY here too - sometimes I start to wonder if it could possibly rain any harder - I cant even imagine). For more information check out:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/06/international/americas/06stan.html
Also, Nicaragua made a NY Times article yesterday. So, here`s an update on the political situation here right now:
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/news/news-nicaragua-usa-policy.html
That`s about it for now. Ooh, but before I forget, I wanted to let you all know that I am going to be traveling in Costa Rica from December 8-17th. I`d love someone to travel with - so if anyone is planning to be in the area or wants to come down - it`ll be quite awesome times. Just leave a message and Ill be sure to get back.
Hope everything is beautiful and sunshiny there.
much love,
meg
(PS. Sorry that the dates in this entry are crazy confusing! I`ve been writing it over a period of a week - and, that has led to some craziness. But, basically, today is 10.12.05 - and Im off to El Salvador tomorrow. Last weekend was Esteli, the week before was spent in Managua, the weekend before I returned from the Coast, and the week before I was in the Coast).
Last Monday we all awoke at 4am in order to catch our 5am bus departure to the Carribean Coast of Nicaragua. We were warned by Aynn beforehand that the bus ride cross-country would be trecherous - terribly long and bumpy. However, I found it to be wonderful. After rising long before the sun did we hopped on the bus, and proceeded on our journey across this beautiful country. The first couple hours were filled with sleep, but, once the sun rose, so did I. I watched the sun rise above the mountains in the foreground - it was a beautiful morning. All mornings that start with the witness of the rising of the sun are. Afterward we traveled and traveled through the rain forest of Nicaragua, until we arrived at Rama - where the road ends. To travel to Bluefields from Rama it is necessary to take a boat - there still is yet to be road infrastructure to the Coast. It was a two hour ponga, or water taxi, ride there. We drove incredibly fast - swerving around logs - and taking in the beauty around us. During the ride we saw wildlife - from birds to turtles - and cabana-like straw-covered structures people called home.
After our ponga ride we arrived in the port of Bluefields. Bluefields is the capital city of the R.A.A.S or southern autonomous region of Nicaragua. It is a city of about 15,000 people. When we arrived we pulled up to the dock where custom officials had to search our boat and passports. It was crazy chaotic - but after getting through with not too much hassle, we arrived at our hostel. We then spent the day adventuring in Bluefields, went to bed, slept lots, and woke up to a breakfast before our ponga ride out to our communities. This time the group was broken into two parts. Half of us went to Orinoco, a Garifuna (indigenous) community, and the other half went to Blue Lagoon (a Creole community). I went to Pearl Lagoon.
After about an hour´s ride by ponga (there are no roads on the coast or going to the coast - everything is done by boat there) we arrived in our community. There, we were greeted by Mr. Wesley (our coordinator). We stayed in a bed and breakfast hostely type place owned by Mr. Wesley for the duration. It was a nice little place - with a little park on the side that we often utilized. During the days we had speakers from different organizations come and talk to us. One talked on women and youth in the community, another talked about health in the Blue Lagoon region and their campaign to raise awareness on AIDS, HIV, and STDs. And another talked to us on the municipal government as well as on the environment.
The Coast is an interesting place. As I wrote before, the region was not colonized by the Spaniards, but rather the English came over to the Carribean Coast. Although they did not colonize the region, they exploited it greatly to benefit their own economy and greatly affected the population living there. The area was once inhabited by many indigenous groups, who spoke their own language and had their unique cultures. However, with the arrival of the English (and also many Africans), the demographic of the area changed. Today there are six groups that live in the area - some indigenous, as well as Mestizo (people moving from the Pacific in search of jobs ... without luck), and Creole. There are four languages spoken in the small area. It was acutally quite incredible to see all living together - in close proximity - with different languages - but in relative peace. People learn many languages so that they can communicate with the people that surround them. There is currently an initiative in schools to first, teach the indigenous language to the child of that culture - because maintaining roots is essential. Then after a few years they learn Spanish, and then English. It´s quite an awesome system - and I was thoroughly impressed by the children there - and how much they know and how quick they learn.
The talk on the environment was definitely exciting for me. The city councilman talked about the programs in place in order to raise awareness about the environment and its sacredness. They have many programs - including one that is in schools that teaches children their about biodiversity, keeping the environment litter-free, and about the importance of clean water. Also, there are many programs on the radio that raise awareness on many issues and spread sustainable ideas. They also go out into communities and work with farmers there on sustainable farming methods - working with the environment, rather than against it. They are trying to eliminate the ¨slash and burn¨ culture. Also, on the coast the fishing industry is very dominant. Due to overfishing, fish populations have declined. Another problem faced is the consumption of the sea turtle - which is endangered. There is an initiative to teach fishers about sustainable cultivation of sea life, as well as about the importance of the sea turtle.
Although I learned a lot from the Coast, I felt very disconnected from it. We weren´t integrated into the community at all - and we all lacked the initiate to go out and do that for ourselves (I`d definitely do it differently if I have a chance to do it again). I feel like it was much more of a tourist-type trip - although we did talk to NGOs and a few people from the community - the separation created a lack of understanding of their culture and their way of life - which was quite frustrating.
After a few days in Blue Lagoon, we traveled back to Bluefields for a night (in which we had a Garifuna dance troop performance), and then flew back to Managua (eeek... I am glad that that is the only intra-Nicaragua plane I´ll be on this semester) on Saturday.
Being back in Managua has been pretty good. I feel like I lost a lot of Spanish over the past week in the Coast - a lot. I struggle for words constantly - and am beating myself up about it. I´ve talked to my Academic director about it, as well as my host mom and Spanish professor. They all say the same thing - speak, speak, speak. The frustrating thing is that I do speak a lot - and am always trying to spark lots of conversation at home. I am also reading ridiculous amount in Spanish (last night I couldnt sleep, so I ended up reading 50 pages of a novel in Spanish), and also listening a lot. Aynn suggested that I may be able to volunteer at a school for the last two weeks of October to work a lot with kids and learn from them - as it helped me so much in the campo. I am going to find out a lot more about this over the next couple of days - I think that would be awesome. But, Im definitely throwing myself into it all - headfirst - I dont mind looking like an idiot - I do mind not learning.
This week is the beginning of our social issues segment of our Seminar. After four days of lecture we are going to visit a women´s center in Managua - and learn more about the feminist movement here.
I am getting real excited about my ISP - traveling off for a month by myself, interviewing, working, learning, and being surrounded by Spanish for the full time. In the Coast I had a good amount of free time to research a bit about where I want to do my ISP - and I found out about a place called the Miraflor Nature Reserve, which is located near the city of Estelí (in the northern mountains of the country). It is an area made up of a large number of campesinos organized into an organic cooperative. I met with Aynn about it all yesterday - and she is really excited about my project. I am planning on living with and working side-by-side with the campesino families while researching not only the methods used by them and the challenges and benefits faced - but also about the economics behind it all and about the organic movement in general in Nicaragua.
This weekend I am planning on taking a trip up north to Esteli with a few friends in order to get to know the city a bit and hopefully even meet some people there that can help me out with information pertaining to my project. Im not sure if the office of the UCA (the association of the Miraflor cooperative) will be open - but I plan on emailing them soon to find out more. If anyone has any cool ideas about more of a focus on my project or possibly taking a different approach - definitely let me know. I`m tumbling lots of different ideas in my head right now - but the one thing that is set is that I want to stay in one area (Miraflor) - and work directly with the families.
(Edit: 10.12.05 - My weekend in Estelí was awesome! The city is and always has been a Sandinista stronghold - starting from the roots - Sandino`s struggle in the 20s against US imperialism. Anyway, the city is quite progressive - and is full of tons of cool murals created by youth. They are beautiful murals that are full of children`s voices for hope for change - for health, education, family, human rights, etc.. The time there was full of rain, but I walked the streets for hours and got myself situated ... as well as found an incredible vegetarian and organic restaurant that serves incredibly fresh teas and yummy breads. Looks like I`ll be quite happy basing myself outside of Estelí, and coming in every once in a while for phone, internet, electricity, etc...
oh, and on Sunday night I went with a few friends to a Che Concert - organized by University of Central America - it was an awesome experience with lots of music and revolutionary people. it´s crazy to experience such an event with people who actually have participated in a true political revolution - where it was and is an actual fact of life.)
After this weekend we have just two more days of Spanish class - and then it is off to El Salvador!
(Edit: 10.12.05 - Finished with Spanish! I am crazy happy about that. Today we just have our Field Studies Seminar - and then it is off to El Salvador tomorrow morning. The State Deparment just issued an advisory to travel there due to the terrible weather they have been having - that all of Central America has been having. I don´t know how much is being reported on it there - but there has been crazy rain - and many, many deaths due to mudslides - as well as deaths due to the volcanic eruption in El Salvador.)
I`ll be sure to update on all the happenings of that adventure when I return. Though, right now things aren`t looking too good there - they are having terrible floods (the rain has been CRAZY here too - sometimes I start to wonder if it could possibly rain any harder - I cant even imagine). For more information check out:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/06/international/americas/06stan.html
Also, Nicaragua made a NY Times article yesterday. So, here`s an update on the political situation here right now:
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/news/news-nicaragua-usa-policy.html
That`s about it for now. Ooh, but before I forget, I wanted to let you all know that I am going to be traveling in Costa Rica from December 8-17th. I`d love someone to travel with - so if anyone is planning to be in the area or wants to come down - it`ll be quite awesome times. Just leave a message and Ill be sure to get back.
Hope everything is beautiful and sunshiny there.
much love,
meg
(PS. Sorry that the dates in this entry are crazy confusing! I`ve been writing it over a period of a week - and, that has led to some craziness. But, basically, today is 10.12.05 - and Im off to El Salvador tomorrow. Last weekend was Esteli, the week before was spent in Managua, the weekend before I returned from the Coast, and the week before I was in the Coast).