Saturday, March 31, 2007

Semana Santa holidays

I´m like a broken record apologising for not having written any blog posts for ages, but I promise you I HAVE been very busy recently and therefore I DO have a good excuse. However, as of yesterday I have a week´s holiday from work for the Easter break, so I´ve come away for a little vacationing in Nicaragua. Yesterday I travelled (complete with hangover from the going away party for three departing volunteers the night before, so my rucksack packing was a little sketchy and sporadic!) from Granada to the twin-volcano island of Ometepe in Lake Cocibolca.

The island is a sort of figure-of-eight shape, with one volcano at the centre of each of the two circular parts. One volcano is still active (no eruptions very recently though) and throws out a bit of ash every now and again; the other (I´m staying on this side of the island) is dead, and the crater is a now a lagoon. I was thinking about climbing up it, but apparently it´s a gruelling 8-hour climb and I popped my volcano cherry last weekend on Volcán Mombacho near Granada (photos to follow, once I´m somewhere with a fast enough internet connection to download them)so I don´t really feel the need. To be honest, I just want to chill out here and rest up with some amazing views. I might hire bikes to go to the waterfalls, or saunter down to the beach and go for a swim, but otherwise I´m just happy sitting out in a hammock, swatting away the bugs and enjoying the break.

The journey here was fine, although I almost missed the 11.30am chicken bus from Granada to Rivas due to a last minute stop off at the office, trying to arrange who could cover the dentist visits for the Monday after Semana Santa (Easter week). But I did make the bus, had my rucksack thrown up on the roof (luckily it came on the same bus as me and arrived in one piece) and a very chivalrous gentleman gave up his seat so I travelled in some relative comfort the whole way. Next to me was an American teacher, part of a group of 4 teachers and 12 students on a 10-day trip to Nicaragua, and I felt for her with having all the responsibilities of looking after teenagers in this country! Then at Rivas I met a Swedish couple and an American couple also travelling to Ometepe, so we all squeezed into a colectivo taxi (yes, that´s five adults, plus five rucksacks, plus the driver in one car!) to travel 20 minutes to the port at San Jorge. We´d timed it right and only 50 minutes later the ferry for Ometepe was leaving (the big ferry rather than the smaller lancha boat, so the crossing wasn´t too rough given that this is windy season!). At Moyogalpa we waited just another hour (with a cold drink in hand) for the two-hour bumpy, dusty bus ride on unpaved roads to Mérida, where I had reserved accommodation at a hospedaje some other volunteers had recommended. It was then a 20 minute walk up a dirt track in the dark, with a five-year-old boy to guide us, and we made it here to Monkey´s Island ranch. So now I really am just chilling out and enjoying my little holiday time. It´s a charming rustic retreat (not luxurious, but clean and friendly) and I´m lapping it up...

Monday, March 12, 2007

shopping Nica style

I've been meaning for ages to write an entry about the different places and ways to go shopping in Nicaragua (apart from those two Managua shopping malls). Basically it all depends on how far you want to go from your house for your groceries, and how much variety you expect to find. First there are the wandering street sellers, with enormous woven baskets on their heads, who sell fruit, vegetables, sometimes cheese, sometimes loo paper, or other random items. But it can be a bit risky waiting at home for a vendor to walk down your street, because I never know when they'll go past or what they'll have. You can pretty regularly rely on bananas, satsumas, onions, tomatoes and these local small green peppers, but anything else (of which melon, pineapple, papaya, carrots and avocados are currently the next most likely to be available) is just up to your luck.

The next closest spot for shopping is your local pulperia - a sort of corner shop which is actually someone's front room from which they sell stuff. These dot every street, and vary in size from two shelves to an entire room. They sell all sorts of handy items: tiny bags of washing powder, a few tinned goods, the ever-present gaseosas (fizzy drinks), perhaps some butter and yogurts, beer, nail polish, soap, instant noodles, crisps, etc. Some have a telephone service too. But they are still a family's front room, so the family will hang out on chairs, often watching TV, in or just outside the pulperia. [N.B. Sitting out on the street in your rocking chair of an evening, enjoying what breeze can be found is the very communal way people live here - and we join in at Casa Santa Lucia too.]

Then there are the supermarkets, of which Granada has two. Although calling them supermarkets in the UK sense of a very large shop with regular supplies is a little dubious. Stock is never very reliable, so if you see something you might want you have to buy it then and there, because it may never be back, or may take a month to reappear - for instance there has been no peanut butter in Granada for 3 weeks now. And I've only seen peppermint tea on sale for a 5-day period once. Today I went to buy chickpeas, to find that there are none, and who knows when there will be again. So you have to be flexible and just buy what you can when you can.

The same is true of the main market, in that you can only ever find things when they are in season and available locally. Apples are incredibly expensive (about one US dollar each) and are sold from special streetside apple stalls. They are one of the few imported items you can get here, and that would be why they are so pricey. So the market has line after line of stalls selling effectively the same stuff, and you can watch the seasons change as the produce on offer changes. Currently we're moving into the mango season, although it's still on the cusp. Also avocados are becoming cheaper and better. And of course the market is the main place to buy anything and everything else you might need for the home. If you can't get it in the Granada market, it can't be bought in town.

Actually, I went for a fascinating trip last Thursday morning (for work, for the women's group) to Managua's Mercado Oriental. Luckily I had a guide - the little old lady mother of one of our women's group members - who knew her way around because that market is ENORMOUS and a complete maze of alleyways, passageways and stalls for miles. There were even trees growing inside. We walked swiftly for at least 20 minutes straight through in one direction without getting anywhere close to the other side of the market. My guide was very worried about my security and told me not to bring a bag in case it got stolen (and every guide book going repeats the advice that it is full of pickpockets, etc). But having taken this advice, I really found I felt very comfortable there and was rather taken with the hustle, bustle and general craziness of the country's largest and busiest market (and not another foreigner in sight). The way it works is that people go there from here, buy up stuff cheap and then sell it on back in Granada. So the microbus back to town was stuffed to the gills with all sorts of random purchases. Even people who don't run market stalls or pulperias will pick up a few things whenever they go to the Mercado Oriental and then sell them on to their friends and neighbours. Everyone in Nicaragua needs to make a bit of extra cash on the side to keep afloat financially...

Sunday, March 11, 2007

some photos

I am sitting in my regular internet cafe (where everyone knows me so well, of course!) on a lazy Sunday afternoon, nursing a slight hangover after double birthday celebrations last night. Both Johanna (one of my housemates) and Guillermo (who works in our office) had their actual birthdays yesterday, so we went out for dinner and then to Cafe Nuit - of course - and then on to Kayak, one of the late night bar/clubs down on the lake shore. Let's just say much rum was drunk and I got home this morning at 7am! Oh, to be young(ish) and having fun (I now allow myself a little gentle dancing every now and again, as my ankle seems to be improving)...

So, I realise that once more it's been a long time since my last post here, and that I'd better put down at least a few words. I have nothing super-exciting to say today, since life continues in its usual Granada way: with work, socialising, household stuff, cooking/eating, poker night, volunteers coming and going, and the occasional trip away (like an afternoon spent with Becca at the big handicrafts market in Masaya on Friday looking for birthday presents, or the regular volunteer boat trip to Las Isletas last Sunday). Perhaps the hangover is inhibiting my writing abilities too - yes, probably. I left a house-full of sore heads and tired bodies lying on the sofas and armchairs watching a film on cable TV (so hopefully the TV won't do its usual half-hourly regular breakdowns when we have to bang it so hard you think it might break to recover the picture, as I don't think anyone could cope with the noise).

Anyway, just so I have something to add here, I thought I'd link in some missing photos albums, which do have captions at least so even though they're out of sync with my posts (most are from Mexico), they should give you all something to look at.

Torey's farewell night out


Mexican sightseers


Las Mariposas Monarcas en Michoacan


Mexico City farewell dinner

Monday, March 5, 2007

La Esperanza weekly newsletter

Here's this week's message from our office:

Seems like it's been a very long week. You will have all the news up the the end of February from the monthly so this is what has happened since - plus some things for the coming week.

Firstly we will have new volunteer Kyle Willets starting on Monday, and another new face that you will see in the office a little in coming weeks is Iain Smy who will be helping us with some computer organization. Iain, who is a friend of the organization for some time now has come down from Canada for a 4 month plus stay in Granada - and he arrived on Thursday night with 40,000!!! children's chewy vitamin tablets. This will give us enough for a whole school year. The district directora Margarita said that the food should start during March too, so we can then give the vitamins at food time and get the maximum benefit for the children, which will hopefully improve their learning capacity. This is one of dreams we have had for a couple of years to be able to give vitamins to all the younger children. Other good news is that the food this year is supposed to include vegetables as well as rice and beans.

We have also had donations of $100 from Denton and Terry Sparks from U.S.A., plus $100 from Nuria Terrigausa in Spain. Plus we have had lots of people bringing clothing in to the office, packets of crayons etc.

Nigel as of this week is fully in the role of Volunteer Coordinator, so he will be able to help with any ideas or plans you may have. Nigel and Christy organized a great day at the community center on Thursday with a group led by John Ogle, who completely cleaned up the yard there, and I believe it is now looking great.

Becca is working on some health clinics to be run at the schools and/or community center from two groups who will be here in the coming months and want to help us - these are both quite sizeable medical groups. We seem to be getting more and more enquiries of this kind which is great. We are starting this week with some children for eye tests with an optician too, and although we have had some donations, the eye testing is cheap, but if they all need glasses we only currently have funds for nine children to get glasses (though of course if we need some can come from general funds) but if anyone has some ideas that can help us more effectively help with eyeglasses please talk to Becca.

La Epifania had no school on Friday due to teacher training and I believe there will be no school there next Friday - but need to check on this. Elba Zamora had no pre-school on Friday. I know that we often receive short notice of when there will be no school or early closures - but could you please put it on the notice board in the office as soon as you know of anything like this. We may need to know for English teaching, School nurse, health team, builders going out to the school for repairs, promotion tours etc. So it is important please to make sure everyone has a chance to know.

The high school kids and lots of volunteers had a terrific afternoon on Friday at the Laguna. Seems like we need to have some more things of this kind to help motivate the high school children rather than just tutoring. When going to places like the Laguna though it is important that it should be seen as just individuals going with children as the organization doesn't have any kind of insurance or anything that would protect us, or more importantly help the child/family in the event of an accident.

Some hard goodbye's this week. Especially to Jan and Eva who have been here for six months - even though Jan has worked with Casas de la Esperanza for the past three months, Jan and Eva have been very much a part of La Esperanza Granada. It was Eva who really got us off the ground with Radio Volcan - plus both of them have been great team members, leaders, fundraisers, and good all round friends. Carolyn has also decided to finish this week, but has left some great things behind her, notably the volunteer diary which has greatly simplified my work. Carolyn will of course also be our star when the Discovery Channel shows Granada to the world. Carolyn did great work in promotion; Stefan is now going to take over doing the tours and helping with promotion. Another loss is Lynette who was working in all the schools with English - though she had to shorten her stay Lynette was great to work with and will be missed.

Next Saturday's library duty is for Fiona and Mike. This week Fenna and Lizzie went up with Doctor Patricia.

Today is Isletas day, and I believe a baseball (soccer?) game day too - good luck to our team, and for any I don't see at the Isletas, see you through the week.
Regards, Pauline.