Work, several weeks in

After several weeks of work, I’m beginning to get a little better idea of what I’ll actually be doing over the next two years! The first week was slow, and I have to admit I was a little worried that there wouldn’t be enough for me to do. I thought it might just be a matter of time though, and sure enough it’s looking like things will get busy before too long.
Cantera, the organization I’m working at, has several sites in and around Managua. The one I’m based at is in one of the city’s neighborhoods known for being a rough area of town, so many of the activities and classes offered at the center are geared toward at-risk youth. I have heard of gang activity in the barrio, but I haven’t actually seen anything yet, and it seems like the majority of crime is just petty theft. The Cantera center is working to provide people in the neighborhood, especially youth, with alternative options: art, dance, computer and English classes, after-school help, and a program for youth to learn construction skills. While I’m still clearing up exactly what I’ll be doing at the center, it looks like I might help with the English classes and possibly the after-school tutoring for kids. I’d really like to work with high-school aged youth, so I’m looking at different ways to get involved in that. Possible ideas so far? Hanging out with the soccer teams affiliated with the center, teaching swim classes at a local pool, and organizing activities in the country (hikes, camping) for the city kids. All of those would be right up my alley and I know would be especially life-giving to me (and hopefully those I’m working with!), so hopefully those start to come together.
Another aspect of the worksite that I’m getting excited about is the possibility of working with some of the rural communities which Cantera accompanies. There is a variety of programs the organization runs in campo communities such as agricultural extension work, womens’ groups, and youth groups. I’m hoping that in addition to working with youth in the barrio, I can get out to these rural communities and see what opportunities there are to work with youth there. This last week, I went out to visit some schools with another volunteer at Cantera. We met with teachers and brought up the idea or working with kids once a week; luckily, there seems to be some support for the idea…so more waiting but hopefully in the coming weeks we’ll find out if that is going to happen.
One of the highlights of the first several weeks of work came following one of these visits to a rural school. After finishing the meeting with primary school teachers, Kati (the other Cantera volunteer) and I started walking the four kilometers down the dirt road to the highway where we could catch a bus. Soon after we started walking, a young man riding a wagon towed by a horse came up behind us, and I jokingly stuck out my thumb for a ride. He slowed down the horse and to our surprise offered a ride on the small wagon. We both had been looking forward to a walk, but he insisted and I was convinced easily enough to accept at least for a short while. We squeezed onto the wagon and were trotting along the dirt country road and chatting it up before long. It turned out he was returning from Ciudad Sandino, on the outskirts of Managua, where he had been selling firewood. “Here’s the cash,” he proudly told us patting a cloth bag next to him on the wagon.
His house ended up being only a kilometer or so up the road, so it was a short ride. Before we continued though, he invited us to take a look at the view from his house; the community was up on a ridge above Managua, and from the back yard we could see all of the city, Lake Managua and the surrounding countryside. He pointed out landmarks below with obvious pride, and though his simple house was precariously perched on the exposed ridge, he clearly was happy to call this his home.
Another highlight of my time here in Nicaragua came this past week as well. On the strong recommendation of a good friend of ours, our community of four decided to splurge and go to the Ruben Dario National Theatre to see “El Nica,” a one-man monologue about a Nicaraguan immigrant in Costa Rica. With a much stronger economy and more stable political situation, Nicaraguans have been crossing the southern border into Costa Rica to look for work for years. Construction, migrant agriculture and tourism services seem to be some of the most common industries in which Nicaraguans find work, much like many Mexican or other Latin American immigrants in the US.
“El Nica” was one of the best plays I have ever seen, and it was entirely in Spanish. I was happy to see I could follow along, although I did miss a few of the Nicaraguan innuendos. The play followed the story of a young Nicaraguan man who illegally enters Costa Rica to work and send money home. He struggles with loneliness, work-related injuries, and discrimination for being a foreigner. The parallels to the struggles of immigrants around the world-particularly in my home country-were all too clear. I was greatly moved by the performance, especially the message implied from a slide in the intro with graffiti on a wall reading “Yo solo quiero trabajar.” I also was reminded of how often we overlook people on the margins of society, barely giving them a look in the eye. And how easy it is to take a few seconds to say hello and recognize the dignity of every human being! I’ve been thinking of that a lot recently and I want to make that a habit during my time here in Nicaragua. At the end of the show I felt shivers go down my spine as the entire theater rose to give the actor a ten minute standing ovation and clap along to “Solo le pido a Dios” by Mercedes Sosa. It was a night of some of the best culture Nicaragua has to offer and I hope to hold on to the energy and emotion in that theater in the weeks and months to come.

Feliz Ano Nuevo!

I’m a little late, but happy new year from Nicaragua! It has been too long since I last posted anything on this blog, so I’ll try and catch up a little from the last few weeks.

Life here in Nica is quickly settling down and it’s beginning to feel more comfortable for me. This was the first Christmas I’ve spent away from family, so that was a little tough to get used to. Besides not being around family, it has been hot (at least 80 degrees or so) and sunny pretty much every day, so it really felt different from most of my Christmases at home. Nevertheless, I spent it with the seven other JVs here in Nicaragua and that ended up being a great experience. We had a big Christmas Eve dinner together, did a simple gift exchange, and had a great Christmas morning brunch as well. Christmas Eve is the big celebration here in Nicaragua, so we all went outside at midnight to here fireworks going off nonstop all over the city.

Immediately after Christmas, Thomas (one of my housemates) and I took a trip to go explore a remote peninsula of Nicaragua and climb a volcano. We went to Cosiguina, in the extreme northwest of the country. After a torturous day of eight hours on crowded buses we found ourselves in a tiny little fishing village. After getting our bearings from some of the locals, we walked out onto a deserted black sand beach facing the open Pacific-the perfect location to set up camp! From the beach we were able to see not only the volcano we would climb the following day, but also an island that is part of El Salvador and a Honduran volcano. We spent the evening swimming in the ocean, chatting with some of the friendly campesinos who came by, enjoying sitting around a driftwood bonfire and stargazing. The next morning we headed up the Cosiguina volcano, a hike which took about three hours through hot dry forest. It was well worth the view on the top; the crater came to an abrupt edge and dropped nearly straight down 2000 feet to a blue lake. It looked like it would have been a refreshing swim if only we had some climbing equipment…or a helicopter!

Some of the second year volunteers here have had families visiting, so after getting back from our little excursion we were able to spend time with them. We had a relaxing New Years (Catchphrase and more fireworks!), and spent New Years Day having a barbeque with the visiting families.

Right now I’m enjoying my last few days of really free time before work kicks in. I’ll be starting on January 11^th, so I’m excited to get that aspect of my time here going and settle in to a bit of a routine. In other news, community living has been a wonderful experience so far. I love getting to know my community mates and I think we all have high hopes for the coming year. I’ve only cooked a few times so far, but I had a great success this week: a crusty Mexican bean bake with rice and a simple salad, and pineapple for dessert! I’m hopeful I’ll be able to master a couple simple dishes here to expend my limited cooking repertoire.

I think that’s about it for now! Thanks for checking in, and I’ll hope to have some thoughts to share after work begins next week. All the best!