17 Feb 2010
7:40 PM
SIT Centro de Estudios, Colonia Máximo Jérez, Managua
Tomorrow we head off to the campo, the rural area of the country, to learn about the campesino life for 6 days. I've heard rumors of 5 AM tortilla-making, river-bathing, alcohol that puts moonshine to shame, and pigs that chase you while you try to evacuate your bowels. We'll see how much is true. By pure coincidence, the village we'll be staying in is very close to San Ramón, a sister city of Durham - lots of Durhamites are involved in running an ecotourism coffee farm/hotel that's supposedly very successful.
I already have a massive backlog of happenings and observations that I haven't had a chance to write about, and I'm worried it will only get longer while I'm away from technology, so I'm just gonna list a few highlights and hopefully do them justice later.
*First Friday night in the Colonia - 12 of us gringos invaded this massive outdoor bar in a nearby barrio. It was "Revolutionary Music Night." Bottles of Flor de Caña (national rum of Nicaragua) for 7 dollars. Yum.
*First Saturday night - All the moms took us out to a fancy dinner/dancing place on a lagoon. Had a blast. My 64 year old mom still knows how to get down. Much better dancer than me. Not that that's saying all that much.
*Two nights ago - Watching a dubbed Jaime Foxx movie with my mom. She thought it was really really hilarious and kept a running commentary to make sure I understood what "The Negrito" (essentially, "Little Black Man") was doing.
*Classes with Dora Maria Téllez - Comandante Dos in the taking of the Palacio Natcional during the Revolution. Power lesbian, brilliant lecturer, and all-around bad-ass. Her task was to familiarize us with all of Nicaraguan history and politics in 4 2-hour sessions. I'll miss her.
*Trip to Granada today - Another beautiful colonial city. It's hosting an international poetry festival this week. Nicaraguans are BIG into poetry. The McDonalds near the Universidad Centroamericana is named after Ruben Dario, a much revered Nicaraguan poet.
*Everything about our Academic Director, Guillermo Pérez Leiva. Tricia, one of my fellow students, just described him as a "really insightful teddy bear," and I think that's a good summary. But that would be omitting the fact that he's also a metaphysicist. He tends to speak in long metaphorical orations that occasionally touch on the topic we're supposed to be discussing. In our prep talk tonight for the campo, he urged us (in Spanish) to make sure to reach out to the trees in the campo, so we can absorb some of the calming energy stored in their roots. This is coming from a MASSIVE ex-guerrillero, who has a huge metal-filled dent in the side of his head.
Alright, peace out, technology. See ya next week.
GAH, speaking of which, the connection in the study center just all but disappeared, so photos will have to wait till later.
7:40 PM
SIT Centro de Estudios, Colonia Máximo Jérez, Managua
Tomorrow we head off to the campo, the rural area of the country, to learn about the campesino life for 6 days. I've heard rumors of 5 AM tortilla-making, river-bathing, alcohol that puts moonshine to shame, and pigs that chase you while you try to evacuate your bowels. We'll see how much is true. By pure coincidence, the village we'll be staying in is very close to San Ramón, a sister city of Durham - lots of Durhamites are involved in running an ecotourism coffee farm/hotel that's supposedly very successful.
I already have a massive backlog of happenings and observations that I haven't had a chance to write about, and I'm worried it will only get longer while I'm away from technology, so I'm just gonna list a few highlights and hopefully do them justice later.
*First Friday night in the Colonia - 12 of us gringos invaded this massive outdoor bar in a nearby barrio. It was "Revolutionary Music Night." Bottles of Flor de Caña (national rum of Nicaragua) for 7 dollars. Yum.
*First Saturday night - All the moms took us out to a fancy dinner/dancing place on a lagoon. Had a blast. My 64 year old mom still knows how to get down. Much better dancer than me. Not that that's saying all that much.
*Two nights ago - Watching a dubbed Jaime Foxx movie with my mom. She thought it was really really hilarious and kept a running commentary to make sure I understood what "The Negrito" (essentially, "Little Black Man") was doing.
*Classes with Dora Maria Téllez - Comandante Dos in the taking of the Palacio Natcional during the Revolution. Power lesbian, brilliant lecturer, and all-around bad-ass. Her task was to familiarize us with all of Nicaraguan history and politics in 4 2-hour sessions. I'll miss her.
*Trip to Granada today - Another beautiful colonial city. It's hosting an international poetry festival this week. Nicaraguans are BIG into poetry. The McDonalds near the Universidad Centroamericana is named after Ruben Dario, a much revered Nicaraguan poet.
*Everything about our Academic Director, Guillermo Pérez Leiva. Tricia, one of my fellow students, just described him as a "really insightful teddy bear," and I think that's a good summary. But that would be omitting the fact that he's also a metaphysicist. He tends to speak in long metaphorical orations that occasionally touch on the topic we're supposed to be discussing. In our prep talk tonight for the campo, he urged us (in Spanish) to make sure to reach out to the trees in the campo, so we can absorb some of the calming energy stored in their roots. This is coming from a MASSIVE ex-guerrillero, who has a huge metal-filled dent in the side of his head.
Alright, peace out, technology. See ya next week.
GAH, speaking of which, the connection in the study center just all but disappeared, so photos will have to wait till later.
Moonshine !! Pigs!! and River baths!! Ahhhhhhhhhhh the campo...
ReplyDeleteBuena Suerte,
te amo
mama L
soooooo....???
ReplyDeletenot back yet?
on a scale of 1-10.. how was it?
malaria pills working?
guess you can tell who this is!!!
i had an experience years ago JUST like what you experienced with 8 year old jeffrey. mine was in a poor rural community somewhere in florida - yes, not quite as radical or poor as where you were for sure, but i will never forget the feeling of meeting this one little girl...and spending time with her and playing and then needing to leave her, realizing as smart as she was, she didn't stand a chance.....how great these experiences are....Aunt F from NYC
ReplyDelete