Un montón de fotos!

In this edition of the my evolving blog there will not be a unified story nor a long and involved story either.  Rather a collection of photos from my recent adventures with some captions to help tell the story.

Volcano Boarding: This is a nascent 'sport' similar to sand-boarding but with the goal being to set speed records (In fact watch this video to get an idea of how fast is possible) while sitting on a peice of wood with a little pedazo of formica pasted onto the bottom.  The pictures should help get the idea too.

The volcano with the road leading up to it.  It's an active volcano that has erupted over 20 times since its birth in the 1850s.  The last eruption was in 1995ish so we're due an eruption soon...

From the top - like I said, active with the steam and hot rocks to prove it.

Gotta do the tourist thing!

Absolutely beautiful.  Can't wait to see how the panaromas turn out!

These are our sweeeeet protect my skin jumpsuits.  Unlike sandboarding, volcano boarding hurts when you fall over - and I fell over a lot!  In fact I was god-awful.  They clock your speed wit the record being about 87kph at the bottom.  The max in our group was 50ish and mine was a whopping 24 - but it sure felt fast...

You can just make out our truck at the bottom...it's super steep

Laughing cause I was awful.  Laughing for joy that I didn't end up with a bloody head or black eye (both happened in my group). Laughing that I will never get all the black soot out of my hair, ears, mouth.  Or just a combo of all of the above.  And looking forward to the ice cold beer waiting in the truck...

Poneloya - or my first visit to the Pacific.  Leon is super close to the beach and it is a normal weekend excurision for the Nicas.  Turned out to be a lousy beach day but that doesn't mean the food wasnt good...

Doing the - this is the 1st time Ive touched the Pacific dance and thinking "wow i cant wait to swim in this in a few weeks!)

Sopa de marina - Riquisima!!!!  What you can't see is the half of a fish that's hiding under all the shelled goodies!  And the best part - it costs a whopping 6 dollars!

The aftermath.  It's hard work to eat all that food!

It's nice to eat with a great view.

Struck me more like Africa than Nicaragua...

Fiesta de San Jeronimo:  The Nicas love their fiestas.  The week before was the Virgen of the Merced.  This time for San Jeronimo.  But the difference was night and day.  Virgen de la Merced is a rather religious affair with masses, the rosary and very little alcohol.  San Jeronimo is a giant party with only 1 mass, no rosaries and lots and lots of rum.  I spent the Thursday night in the hospital of Leon with the surgeon who nworks in El Sauce and sutured alot of drunk guys with head lacerations.  So the next morning I had to go see what the deal was all about.

Here's the scoop and recipe for disaster.  Make a turtle-like shell to put over your head and body - without a way to see.  Fashion a head that nominally resembles a bulls head.  Find two large, preferably sharp, bulls horns and attach to the head.  Find people to bang on some drums.  Gather with a bunch of people who have similarily built turtle/bulls and buy lots of cheap rum and beer.  Put the turtle/bull on your head and while your budies pelt the shell with sticks jump up and down and spin around.  Repeat for 36 hours.

The statue of San Jeronimo.  All in all a very interesting event.  The best part - I saw at least 2 guys I had sutured the night before back out on the street the next morning - bandage on head and rum in hand.  Gotta celebrate!

El Sauce - a bird's eye view.  On the first day I walked back from the hospital I saw this little mountain top in the near-distance without any trees on the top and thought - wow I bet the view from that is awesome!  I tried to make plans to climb it but it didn't work out - until yesterday.  And I was not disappointed.  The walk was simple and I passed some beautiful houses a good hour away from Sauce and not very accessible except for on foot.  A good way to see another part of El Sauce.

That's El Sauce down there!  And a bit to the right - the Hospital.

Well worth the trek!  Another one where I can't wait to see what the Panoramas look like.

But just so I wouldn't forget the fact that I am in Nicaragua - the poorest Spanish speaking country in the world and the 2nd poorest country in the western hemisphere.  At least they have a Zinc roof.

This week I will be heading off to Honduras to experience some more Latino culture, some Mayan ruins and even a chance to hang with some Rochester peeps in San Jose.

Virgen de la Merced

This weekend saw another visit to the city of Leon, this time with another friendly and welcoming family.  The hospital here in El Sauce is an interesting place in that nearly all of the younger people who work in the hospital - doctors, nurses, techs and more- live in Leon and work in El Sauce.  Leon is about 1.5 hours away by bus or interlocale(minvan that is waaaaaaay more comfy - usually) and is the capital of this department - and some would argue - one of the better cities in Nicaragua.  So the people live in Leon with their families but spend the week here in El Sauce in rooms provided by MINSA - government department of health.  So one of the doctors invited me to Leon to experience the festival and stay with her and her family - so I did.  Just like everyone that I have met so far they were incredibly welcoming and warm - ready to chat and share their food, their house and their time.  And it was quite the sharing - since there are 7 people who live in the house that is not very large to start!  The doctor and her 8 year old son.  2 of her sisters - one of whom has a son of 2 years.  The doctor's brother.  And then their mother - la dona de la casa.  So I made 8 and then there is actually another sister and her husband who live elsewhere but spent a lot of time with us so there were really 10 people in the house!

But as for the fiesta.  This whole month there are special masses and rosaries in honor of the virgen but the real fun started on Friday.  That night they were saying the rosary all night and the church was packed and beautifully decorated.

Then at 8 and again at 9 everyone gathered in the plaza outside the church for music and event where "toros" ran through the crowd.  These 'toros' are pywood sheets that have fireworks - roman candles, sparklers among other things - attached.  Some guy carries it above his head as it is lit and then runs through the crowd - amid screams, squeals and general chaos.  I am sure it is incredibly unsafe, but it certainly was interesting.

Waiting for 9pm.  There is an unwritten Nica rule that you are not allowed to look happy in photos...

El toro.

2 toros.  There were 2 at 8pm and 3 at 9pm.  I am pretty sure the safest place to be was underneath the board itself!

The next day began bright and early with Masses at 5,6,9 and 11 am - each an every one stuffed full.  Then at noon the statue of the Virgen left from the church to parade around the town.  The procession lasts about 30 blocks but doesn't return to the church until about 10pm!  Each street that the Virgen passes is decorated by the owners to show their faith and devotion. I had the great luck that the procession passed by our house - but for the family this meant an entire day spent preparing the house - with flowers, ribbons, posters and more.  It was really quite nice.  Unfortuantely the rain arrived just before the Virgen.  However, this only served the make things a bit damp - the Virgen and her devoted rode out the storm like champs - nothing a little plastic sheeting can't take care of.

La Virgen de la Merced.

A Patriotic week

This past week saw the passage of 2 days of parades and fiestas known as the fiestas patrias.  The first, on Sept 14th, commemorates the defeat of William Walker, the self-proclaimed president of Nicaragua during the 1850s.  The day is marked by a parade through nearly every city in Nicaragua where marching bands from all the schools - from primary to high school- take to the streets to march in the boiling sun.  In El Sauce this parade ended at the local stadium where the high schoolers proceeded to wow the entire town with song and dance numbers that lasted anywhere from 15-20minutes and were of varying quality.  Although the last 3 groups - those of the largest high schools were pretty impressive!

Everyone gets involved.

Everyone can play the drums.  Most important to the success of these 5 and 6 year olds is the constant vigilance of their parents!

Some of the guys really get into the drums.

Bright, bright colors.  Turns out the colors that each school years are completely arbitrary.

Some friends - all dolled up.

The rain spared us, but took a toll near-by.

An excellent show.  And probably all of El Sauce in the stands.

The next day, the 15th, is celebrated as independence day for all of Latin America.  It is a holiday in Nicaragua with more parades in select cities although I have no idea how these cities are selected.  I decided to go with my 2 peace corps friends to meet another of their peace corps compatriots and to experience another day of parades.  And did it turn out to be an adventure.  We were going to go with buses from one of the schools that they both teach at, that had a band going.  The night before we had tried to make firm plans on when and where they were meeting, but noone seemed to know.  The morning of the 15th I received a text at 530 saying meet at 715 at the alcaldia or mayors office.  By 7, I had received 3 more texts with different locations and times.  By the time we got on a bus - standing room only - at 830 we had walked back and forth thru town 3 times trying to find the buses - that ended up leaving from the school - go figure.  Then, after a bumpy 1.5 hours in a packed bus we arrived in Villa Nueva in time to experience a real carnival - complete with a little ferris wheel.  We met the other peace corps volunteer, watched some parades and then by 2 everything was done.  But we werent actually going to go back until 4 or 5.  So what did all the students and principal do- they started drinking - this is Nicaragua and there wasnt much else to do.  The students then almost got into a street fight with students from Villa Nueva and then everyone jammed into the buses to run away.  But after 20 minutes someone called to say that the principal wasn't on either bus - turns out he had missed  the buses while enjoying a few brews with friends.  So we turned around, but then turned around again when he called to say he had gotten a ride.  Many of the students were riding on the roof - a very common thing here - but when it started to rain we had to stop to let them back in.  We also stopped for snacks - and to let the engine rest on a particulary steep hill.  All in all, the trip back to almost 3 hours!  But we made it - and I'll say it was well worth it.

Peace Corps volunteers on a crowded bus.

Nice developed roads.  Sandinistas and Nicas representin'

Gimme some shade!

Fry that delicious Nica food!

Horses play a major role in all town wide fiestas/activities.

El Sauce representin' in Villa Nueva.

Almost a street fight.  The kids on te bus on throwing limes at the kids down the street.

Not our bus, but going the same way.  Even if you travel up top you still have to pay-but if you can hold on I am sure it is more comfortable than the cramped interior!

Algunas fotos!

When it rains, it really rains!  And this happens just about every afternoon.

Beautiful country side.

Killer sunset - unfortunately a little blurry.

Old railway bridge built by the US.  The railroad has long been dismantled and sold but the bridge is still there.

I spent a Saturday with Ramiro, the brother of a Doctor with whom I have worked, who owns several fincas or farms.  We road some horses in the morning, drank milk straight from the cow, and then spent the afternoon platicando - or chatting - and drinking rum.  They swear it's not a daily occurence but I'm not sure I believe them...

This one's for Dad.  The brother in law of my neighbor and his wife make these bed headers and footers - all carved by hand.  Rather impressive!

La casita!

Wow, another week gone by and was it ever a week. Definitely the busiest I have been since I arrived here in Nicaragua - although that is not too terribly hard to acheive since the mainstay of life here is the ability to sit and chat with your vecinos. If things go the way I hope there will be a flurry of posts in the next day or two, but as with all things in Nica, plans are always subject to change.

This past Sunday I moved out of the house where I had been staying and into this lovely little house that you see below. And when I say little, I really mean tiny. It is probably about 12 feet front to back and then somewhere between 25 and 40 feet left to right. But it has a bedroom, a little kitchen-y area and a bathroom. Since my plan is to spend as much time talking and getting to know other people - ie out of the house - this small size really shouldnt be a problem. That being said, I did need to spend most of this week getting things arranged and finding things to use as shelves and whatnot. But now its all set and good to go!

My room. The mosquitero - or mosquito net - is fantastic. Like climbing into my own protective shell every night. The shelves were a huge success - so happy that my stuff is no longer on the ground. The fan in the background is super clutch too!

My little kitchen with my bumping sound system too. The bike is an absolute neccessity now. The barrio where I am now living is about 1 mile from the hospital and that makes for a long walk in the hot, hot sun. But it affords me a chance to know another part of El Sauce and an entirely different group of people. And with the bike, it's not a big deal. Pretty great though that I had the fork replaced, new brakes, new BB, a trued front wheel and some cables for a whole $25! And all done within 2 hours. Great service here in the Sauce. Still good an creaky but it works - and I even get to keep my single speed-ness!

 A toilet! No seat though. And the ever neccesary water buckets - can never be sure when the water will be there or not.

The backyard - unfortunately I do not have the same shady and fruit bearing trees as my neighbors. Although, I think I will try and plant some veggies - lets see how that goes.

Esteli, in pictures!

Making the cake. She might have gone a little overboard with the icing and decoration...

Our box wasn't quite big enough. Will it be sufficient to protect all that icing?

Turns out it wasn't...booo. Although, with a little help it may be presentable:

Yay! It looks nice. Although the bought one may win in terms of absolute beauty, ours certainly has more substance and a good story

Esteli is a hilly place. These cobble-ish streets are the mainstay of all towns here in Nica. They are laid and leveled by hand-it really is impressive to think that all these roads have been placed one block at a time.

The house where I stayed. The blue and green part is the new part built by one of the Dona's sons and then the wooden structure behind is the heart of the house - the kitchin, general hang out space and the room of the Dona and her husband.

Nicaragua is a beautiful place in the morning! I have seen more sunrises in the last month than I have in my entire life.

It was a long busride but at least the vistas were lovely.

The reason the 45km trip takes 3.5 hours...and this part of the road is good!

Another side of Nica.

This past weekend I made the trek to Estelí, a much larger city located approximately 40km from El Sauce.  However, this is a very, very, very looooong 40km.  But we´ll get to that.  I made the trip with a friend that I met on the bus from Leon to El Sauce my very first day here in Nica.  She was squuezed in next to me on that packed bus and we struggled to carry on a conversation between my rough spanish and the incredibly loud music in the bus.  She was trying to tell me about this radio program that she works for that is somehow involved in health maintainence, but that was about as far as I got.  But most importantly she helped me find my hospedaje and gave me her email.  After emailing back and forth - which was sooo much easier...wish I could converse as well as I can read! - she invited me to Estelí where she has family for a little cousins birthday.  A little strange, but I figured it would be a great opportunity to do something very different - and it was.  On Friday we made a cake to then take with us on Saturday morning.  Cakes are hugely popular here and they are sooo ornate. However, due to the heat and general lack of refridgeration icing is whipped eggwhites and sugar rather than butter based - an unfortunate change in my opinion.  (Pictures to follow on Monday or Tuesday...)  However, I was rather skeptical that an iced cake would amke it in one piece to Estelí given the state of the road we were to travel.  The road to Estelí passes by the hospital and I run it regularly.  It is nice and hilly and makes my runs more like a trail run than a road run - in fact if I were to encounter said road while driving I would be pretty convinced that the road had simply ended!  But no, this is the road that leads to Estelí and we were going to bring a ´well´decorated cake with us in the big yellow school buses that haul people all over Nica.  Unfortunately this bus also left at 5am.  So we boarded at 445 with our cake and arrived a bit after 8am - but remember that bit about it being about 40km away?  yup - that is a looong and slow trip.  But the cake arrived, albeit a bit worse for wear.
  My friend´s family was incredibly friendly and generous - welcoming me into their home and feeding me more than anyone should ever be fed.  But it was an experience very different from my host family in El Sauce.  The house had 3 parts: the main was a wooden structure with hard-packed wooden floor and a open-fire cooking pit in the corner.  Then in the back there was another wooden structure and off to the side a brick house with 2 rooms, but still with hard-packed floors.  There was light in all the rooms - but definitely a different feel than my current house here in El Sauce!
  The party was interesting - loads of little kids dressed to the 9s running around.  Fiestas of any sort are a prime opportunity for Nicas to bring out all the finery.  There was a piñata made by a relative of the family which was supremely entertaining to watch - both for the kids attempts and the adults reactions.  We ate and ate and ate some more and then talked - cause that is how we roll here in Nica.
But the best part of Estelí?  I went almost 2 days without sweating!  The climate is sooo much fresher there it was incredible!  Also hilly, beautiful, and bustling.  The main street is packed with stores spilling their wares out onto the sidewalk and full of people.  It really was a nice change of pace - although I think that El Sauce is a better place for me for this year - even with the crazy heat!
Unfortuantely it rained throughout most of Sunday so the day was spent in true Nica fashion - sitting and chatting.  If ever there was a way to improve your Spanish, this is it.
The return to El Sauce was less eventful but even longer given that it was a Monday morning and all the school kids needed to be picked up so they could make it to school.  Good thing the landscape was beautiful...