'92 Honda Civic for Sale

After my 3 month hiatus I'm back to blogging! I spent the summer teaching full-time at SPSCC trying to generate enough dough to fuel my travel addiction. I was pretty disgusted with myself at the end of the quarter when my major occupational complaint was that I couldn't stuff myself at any more end-of-the-quarter potlucks! Nevertheless, I'm looking forward to the new challenges of teaching English as a foreign language in Spain- and by challenges, I mean teaching high school.
I'll be in a small town called Vera in the region of Almeria, Andalucia. From what I can tell, it's extremely small, dry and rather un noteworthy. However, it is relatively close to the eastern Mediterranean coast, so you'll know where to find me most days! Aside from Almeria, the closest well known city is Granada. Along with the normal travel apprehensions of tying up loose ends, packing and making sure one's visa comes in time (sounds a bit redundant after the whole passport ordeal doesn't it?), I still have yet to hear from the school where I'll be working and I have no idea where I'll be living; yet, in the grand scheme of things it seems like such an minute detail... right? At the moment I'm more involved with my prefunk travel plans where I'll be spending about a week and a half in both New York and England before becoming homeless in Vera. More on that as it unfolds...
In the meantime, I've got to mock pack, practice my Spanish, gather teaching materials, and oh is there anyone out there who would like to foster a wonderfully overweight, tremendously lovable older kitty? Or perhaps you're in need of a '92 Honda Civic (180,000 miles/$1,800) anyone? Anyone?

Fighting the Urge to...

For anyone traveling to or from Nicaragua, I would not recommend the four flight rout- it's a bit exhausting. But I'm back in one piece and have began reflecting on my travels.

I find that I keep fighting the urge to:
- Put on bug repellent before going to sleep
- Trow away toilet paper
- Honk all the time when driving
- Greet everyone with "buenas"
- Consistently take pictures

I am enjoying:
- Running water
- Food that is not fried
- Washing machines
- Green
- Understanding everything
- Not being tssss, tssssed at (the sound men are constantly making in attempts to get your attention)
- Not being perpetually sweaty and sticky
- The quiet

Things I'm Missing:
- The noise
- being warm
- Not being able to tune things out (there were a few conversations on the airplane I would have rather not understood)
- Meeting new people everyday
- Funky tan lines
- Mangoes and pineapples
- The exchange rate
- Major rain storms
- Counting how many times I hear "Si tu estuvieras" each day (a popular song)
- Eskimo (the ice cream)
- Natural fruit juices
- Being around kids
- Passing volcanoes
- Geckos everywhere
- Sitting in rocking chairs outside in the evening and just chatting

Things I think are strange:
- Fat animals
- People talking on their cell phones for extended periods of time (In Nica no one has phone plans they just buy minutes but it's expensive so everyone has a cell phone but no one ever has money to talk)
- Refrigerators that aren't used for storage
- Having to make appointments to see anyone here
- Thinking that people are continually trying to rip me off

La Epoca de lluvia

Everyone kept telling me that we were on the verge of "la epoca de lluvia" the rainy season, a fact the brown landscape around me seemed to be denying. There are only two seasons on Nicaragua, summer and winter, dry and wet. Sure enough, it was like someone had turned a switch to winter. The air filled with anticipation and then with little warning it began pelting rain. Coming from a state notorious for rain, I thought I'd seen it all but the rain here is warm and there is not the pretense of rain as often fills WA days, it just rains as if it's got a job to do. It is proceeded and followed by a suffocating, sticky mugginess that clings to your body and oozes out your pores. It is cruelly ironic that with all this rain, my family in Santo Tomas is still without water. No bathing, no laundry, no washing dishes, nothing.
On Tuesday Dawn and I took a van to Managua to the hotel I was staying at across from the airport. On the way there we began to see mounting flashes of lighting accompanied by occasional claps of thunder. Then biblical rains began to fall. The lighting cracked so close that I felt like a cartoon character; my heart leaping out of my chest, followed by my skin, and leaving my naked body behind. We bid our fellow passengers a hasty good bye and good luck and sprinted from the van to the hotel; in the 50 seconds it took to make the dash it looked as if I'd decided to take a swim backpack and all. I am now a believer in the epoch of rain.

A three hour tour...

Yesterday I scraped myself out of bed to meet the 4:00 am bus headed for the atlantic coast. A group of about fifty people from three different groups in the commnuity boarded the big yellow school bus for a five hour trip to La Laguna De Perlas. Stepping off the bus was like stepping into another country. Chontales, the region where Santo Tomas is located, is relatively dry and dusty; yet the atlantic coast is tropical and wet! Most surprisingly the people speak creole along with Spanish. It felt more like Jamaica than Nicaragua and it was surreal translating for our spanish speaking friends in their own cournty. The samll town was filled with umbrellas headed on their way to church and a sense that time ran on a much slower clock. We walked half hour to Awas, an indigenous hamlet on the beach. We swam in the shallow bay where the water was warmer than the rain and flung handfulls of sand at eachother. For lunch we ate fish stew, a speciality of the region. After which we ventured into the village where we were promptly met by Orlando who introduced himself as the head of tourism. The tour itself primarily consisted of turning in a 360 degree cricle and ended with one of the men shimmying up a coconut tree and cracking some open for us to drink. Due to an oncoming storm we had to make a quick dash back to the bus; our arms filled with loaves of freshly made coconut bread. The trip back was long and precarious since the road conditions were poor and the old school bus ailing. Yet with crossed fingers we made it home tired but safe. If I had more time to spend here I would definitely love to go back to the atlantic coast- alas!

El Chancho

On Satruday we went to a friend's farm to celebrate an early Mother's day (which is May 30th here). I've been living under the impression that I was raised on a farm (however small), but after spending a day at Doña Arora's I realized what I grew up with is a mere shadow of farm life. We started the day be taking water from the creek and watering each plant individually. Upon returning to the house we discovered the main event of the day; the butchering of the "chancho" or pig. We got to witness the process from beginning (pouring hot water over it to loosen up the hair for a close shave) to end (delicious). Although I documented it all, I'll spare you the photos (I think you've probably had enough with the toe pics alone; I wouldn't want to discourage anyone from reading my blog). We ate the meat with tortillas and home made cheese from the farm. Later we learned to make Nacatamales, the traditional Nicaraguan tamale that is wraped in banana leaves! We brought a cake to share with the family in honor of all the amazing mother's here; women who truly do it all in a form that is so amplified from my experience in the U.S. All in all it was a humbling and satisfying day.

Bitter Sweet

I had planned to spend the summer here in Nicaragua, but after receiving word that I got the position in Spain I´ve decided to save my self $100 bucks and come home on my original ticket. So I´ll be back in O-town on May 23, less than a week! This will give me an opportunity to earn some money before leaving for Spain. On the one hand I´m looking forward to coming back (clean feet, less mosquitoes, not sweating all day, flushing toilets, and running water just to mention a few things) but on that other hand I´m really going to miss it here. The people are as warm as the weather, it is honestly beautiful and I can eat mangos to my heart´s content! But as they say, "the beat goes on." And my travels aren´t over yet!

Bug Bites

Despite my mosquito netting, I ended up with about twenty bites on my legs last night. Apparently it was an all you can eat buffet; prime white meat imported from a far! Life here in Santo Tomas is very tranquilo and the people are truly of the "mi casa es su casa" mentality. I´m getting quite good at bucket showers! Although, the latrine takes some adjusting to... My toes were doing great until yesterday when blisters suddenly appeared where the infection had been (not a good sign). I´m trying to keep them clean and hope for the best; I´ll spare you all the pictures this time.
Yesterday we went to la finca (the farm) that is run by the Comitte for Community Development (CDC) and got to see the various animals and plants there. They have this animal that is a cross between a sheep and a goat (apparently from Africa) that is called a "peliguay" which supposedly has very delicious meat. I was also cured of my notion that pineapples grow on trees. If I had more time here, I´d love to work on the farm. They have a series of water filtration pits where once the water has been cleaned it is used by the women of the village (those who don´t have access to water in their homes) to wash their clothes.
After the farm we went to Rosaura´s house (some of you may remember her, she was one of the last delegates from Santo Tomas to come to Olympia and she is a fabulous singer). Her family welcomed us into their home (her father had cooked home made pizza) and they sang revolutionary songs for us. All the family had such strong passionate voices that I was tickled pink I had remembered to bring my tape recorder!