6 Feb 2010 12:32 PM
Hotel Casa San Juan, Managua (with some stuff I wrote in El Parque Central, Leon yesterday)
Along with the health talk, we've been going through all your standard orientation fare: be safe, don't sexually assault each other, how to get ready for classes, etc, etc. Last night, Carolina, the homestay coordinator, came and listed the profiles of the various families we might be living with. I felt like I was shopping for a new family. How many kids do I want? Any mascotas (pets)?
It's an overused phrase, but so far I feel like the best way to describe Nicaragua so far is un país de contrastes/a country of contrasts. Driving to dinner the other night, we passed the massive upper-middle class mall built with foreign money located directly across from a trash-laden field with protesting farm workers, living in shacks. In comparison to other national capitals, Managua is certainly nothing extraordinary. Thanks to the terremoto in 1972 and the lack of capital, there are very few rascacielos/skyscrapers or beautiful architecture here. However, there are a few monuments to honored revolutionaries (including poets, an occupation that nicaragüenses apparently hold in high regard).
Yesterday, we drove to León, a much older city that has a history of being, well, less than politically neutral. It was the first city to be taken by el Frente and apparently the entire city came to the aid of the Sandinistas. We were dropped off in pairs around the city with a set of questions to answer and a location to meet up at in five hours.
Julian and I went in search of a certain mural, that turned out to be a massive artistic representation of the entire history of Nicaragua, from the Mayans to the arrival of the Spanish to the Somoza regime to the revolution and on to the future.
I think what struck all of us here was how incredibly amable almost all the people are. Everyone was willing to share any information they had with us, and would sometimes call over friends to help if they didn't know themselves. I guess it helps that Nicaragua is not exactly a tourist trap, so estadounidenses are more interesting than annoying.
Bueno, tomorrow is the last day of orientation. We'll leave our moderately Westerized hotel behind (hot water, toilets you can throw toilet paper into, etc) and move in with our Nicaraguan families. I'm both incredibly nervous and incredibly excited.
¡Hasta luego, cheles!
P.S. Oops, forgot to mention this before, and now there's no good place to stick it in. But the banda de gringos/gang of whities I stuck in the title is just a reference to our tendency so far to roam the streets of Managua in one huge pack, attracting many bemused looks from the locals.
Hotel Casa San Juan, Managua (with some stuff I wrote in El Parque Central, Leon yesterday)
Do you know how to get the type of diarrhea you have diagnosed in Managua? Well I do. As diarrhea here in Nicaragua can be caused by bacteria, viruses, parasites, or some mix of all of them, you have to verify what kind you have before you treat yourself. But how to do that? Simple! Just collect a sample and bring it to your neighborhood farmacia in a relatively clean container. They'll be happy to analyze it and provide you with a detailed report. The gringo doctor who told us about this process in her overview of health issues for foreigners shared her own report with us. Her specimen was apparently colored amarillo. TMI?
Along with the health talk, we've been going through all your standard orientation fare: be safe, don't sexually assault each other, how to get ready for classes, etc, etc. Last night, Carolina, the homestay coordinator, came and listed the profiles of the various families we might be living with. I felt like I was shopping for a new family. How many kids do I want? Any mascotas (pets)?
It's an overused phrase, but so far I feel like the best way to describe Nicaragua so far is un país de contrastes/a country of contrasts. Driving to dinner the other night, we passed the massive upper-middle class mall built with foreign money located directly across from a trash-laden field with protesting farm workers, living in shacks. In comparison to other national capitals, Managua is certainly nothing extraordinary. Thanks to the terremoto in 1972 and the lack of capital, there are very few rascacielos/skyscrapers or beautiful architecture here. However, there are a few monuments to honored revolutionaries (including poets, an occupation that nicaragüenses apparently hold in high regard).
Statue of Augusto Sandino, inspiration of the Sandinista movement
Yesterday, we drove to León, a much older city that has a history of being, well, less than politically neutral. It was the first city to be taken by el Frente and apparently the entire city came to the aid of the Sandinistas. We were dropped off in pairs around the city with a set of questions to answer and a location to meet up at in five hours.
Cathedral of León. Inside, there is a lion (león, get it?) weeping over a memorial to the poet Ruben Dario, who's a big deal here).
Julian and I went in search of a certain mural, that turned out to be a massive artistic representation of the entire history of Nicaragua, from the Mayans to the arrival of the Spanish to the Somoza regime to the revolution and on to the future.
The mural we were looking for. The letter was written by Rigoberto Perez Lopez to his mother, explaining why he had to kill Anastasio Somoza, the "padre" of the Somoza dictatorship.
I think what struck all of us here was how incredibly amable almost all the people are. Everyone was willing to share any information they had with us, and would sometimes call over friends to help if they didn't know themselves. I guess it helps that Nicaragua is not exactly a tourist trap, so estadounidenses are more interesting than annoying.
On the roof of a museum dedicated to the revolution. Without our asking, this ex-guerilla gave us a detailed tour (including this trip to the roof that I don't think we were supposed to be on).
It was the guide's idea.
Bueno, tomorrow is the last day of orientation. We'll leave our moderately Westerized hotel behind (hot water, toilets you can throw toilet paper into, etc) and move in with our Nicaraguan families. I'm both incredibly nervous and incredibly excited.
¡Hasta luego, cheles!
P.S. Oops, forgot to mention this before, and now there's no good place to stick it in. But the banda de gringos/gang of whities I stuck in the title is just a reference to our tendency so far to roam the streets of Managua in one huge pack, attracting many bemused looks from the locals.
SHEESH gene,
ReplyDeleteis that an OOzie?? or what??
YIKES.
love,
your mother,
L
Dear Gene,
ReplyDeleteThis is Jake, Casey, and Aunt Fredda. We loved your post, and Nicaragua seems very interesting. Just wondering; did you actually have the revelating experience of bringing your diarrhea to the pharmacy? Big snowstorm here; snowday from school! Casey is very jealous of the big Rocket Launcher you were able to hold.
Have fun with your new family! We'll think of you as we are flushing our toilet paper down our toilets!