Friday, August 27, 2004
Army exercises
So, while I was working with the students, on the 28th of July and onward, there were army exercises right near and in my site. Pretty funny. First day I show up after Granada with Annie and Tara, and there are all these militares around the pulperia and I talk to Marlon and hes like, yeah, they are doing exercises. Military here are all volunteer and they are only fed one meal a day. So the days they practice threre were all these fake bomnb sounds but sound reall, and they go running down one of the main fottpaths we were using, and one soldier was hitting on Nely, a student one day when she was checking nets and then she didnt want to go by herself for awhile. And one soldier came by with Marlon to the banding station because he wanted to see the gringa. He got bored and left after 10min. And one day when we were walking to the site, this jeep pulls up´and asks where the house is that the grings is staying at, and I{m like, yeah thats me, and why do you want to know. And it turns out they want to buy cuajada from Dona Isabel, the weird cheese everyone eats here, which I quite like, but is made from skimming the cream off of the milk and putting a pill in that makes it coagulate and squishing the water out until it is a big chunk. This is why I have gained weight here, That and the 2L of oil I consume a week. And Dona Isabel told me she puts cuajada, or heavy cream, in everything. Great.
Anyway, some militares came by the house the night before at like 11pm to buy cuajada, and apparently made Dona Isabel all upset because its very startling to have people come by your house so late, and wake everyone up, you think someone has died, but the they said they were military, and people here still get very jumpy about that because apparently one thing the military used to do during the war was just knock on your door late at night and when you opened it, shoot you in the face. Nice
anyway, got to go
Anyway, some militares came by the house the night before at like 11pm to buy cuajada, and apparently made Dona Isabel all upset because its very startling to have people come by your house so late, and wake everyone up, you think someone has died, but the they said they were military, and people here still get very jumpy about that because apparently one thing the military used to do during the war was just knock on your door late at night and when you opened it, shoot you in the face. Nice
anyway, got to go
The Vela-July 22nd
So, wind up your time machine, we are going back in time. For more neat stories of Annies visit, see her blog at http://neotropical.blogspot.com
So first of all, Annie and I wait for a milk truck that never comes so have to have a horrible 3 hours hike to my house from where the bus drops you off. But while we were waiting for the truck, this policeman stops by and is fascinated by the army pants of Annies that I am wearing. He keeps saying that they are authentic and where did you get them. He then asks us if we have a camera, and I am a little freaked out now, because it is 4am, and not a whole lot of people around. Annie gets her camera out and he grabs an old automatic rifle out of his car. What ensues are some pictures of my in the army pants and bandana posing with this gun, and then he wants a picture of us together and while he is standing next to me he starts holding my hand. I was just confused and tired and it all seemed very surreal. Probably those pictures are going to put me on some weird CIA list:)
So Annie and I are working, and one day when we come home, Thursday the 22nd, Dona Isabel tells me that Don Franciscos mother has died that morning, very suddenly from a heart attack. She was also the mother of Dona Lucia, where Jane lives. So there is a vela that night, where all family and friends stay up all night with the body. We decide to go and then Annie can just leave from Dona Lucias house to get Tara.
My family is very upset as she lived very close and they were all close to her. Someone actually got ahold of the rest of the family from Condega to Esteli, all 13 of her children and their familys, and all 9 of her siblings and when we get to Dona Simoncita house, EVERYONE is there. From family, to the community, to people from other communities out of respect, all in all about 200 people coming and going. There are just tons of people outside on the patio and surrounding areas, and they have a generator running lights outside, and women in the kitchen keeping people supplied with coffee and sweet breads. The atmosphere is a mixture of somber and party like, with people not having seen each other for awhile and lots of joking going on, and of course groups of young guys huddled in corners drinking rum, and checking out girls that pass by. I hang out with Dona Isabel and her son Francisco and his wife Letvia and their child Brian and Jane a lot. And Annie and I play this joke on two year old Brian that he as a frog in his belly. He goes all crazy about it and for the next three hours he keeps looking at his belly and trying to look in his belly button, and then pretending the frog jumps out and tries to show it to people and tries to squash the imaginary frog with his foot. To this day he remember and when I am wearing a frog t shirt I have he point to his belly and starts pretending the frog has jumped out again and tries to show me where it went. He is super cute and very imaginative.
The coffin was laid out into the front room, and Jane and Lucia and other church ladies have decorated these white sheets with ferns and flowers, and there are two big flower arrangements in from, one from UCA, and one from her sons. There are candles, and photos, and a group of valient church women who stay up singing the WHOLE night. I mean from 6pm to 6am they did not stop singing. I ended up crashing out around 1 for a fitful 2hrs of sleep, and wake up to a house of groggy people who are still going about and cooking and getting ready for the burial that day. Everyone is in a half stupor of sleep deprivation and grief, and Dona Lucia especially is crying a lot. In fact three days later when I stop by to see Jane, she just opens the door and falls into my arms, and just cries. She was very close to her mother, and is normally very reserves,so I didn't know what to do, I just held her until she stopped crying, and then she wiped her eyes and offered me coffee.
I missed the burial to go to Esteli with Annie and get her to the bus, but later on saw some creepy photos they took of her in her coffin and in the grave, which some of her grandsons, including my friend Marlon, had spent the day of the vela digging. Imagine digging your grandmothers grave. Difficult to say the least. Apparently they cement the whole thing up and the burial is very short, so Jane told me. I will meet annie and Tara in a few days to go to Margaritas despedida, and then in nine days from the the death there will be the nueve dia, another all night full family and cmmunity celebration. I also have tons more stories, but it just took me an hour to write this, so I have to go.
Lots of love
Melissa
So first of all, Annie and I wait for a milk truck that never comes so have to have a horrible 3 hours hike to my house from where the bus drops you off. But while we were waiting for the truck, this policeman stops by and is fascinated by the army pants of Annies that I am wearing. He keeps saying that they are authentic and where did you get them. He then asks us if we have a camera, and I am a little freaked out now, because it is 4am, and not a whole lot of people around. Annie gets her camera out and he grabs an old automatic rifle out of his car. What ensues are some pictures of my in the army pants and bandana posing with this gun, and then he wants a picture of us together and while he is standing next to me he starts holding my hand. I was just confused and tired and it all seemed very surreal. Probably those pictures are going to put me on some weird CIA list:)
So Annie and I are working, and one day when we come home, Thursday the 22nd, Dona Isabel tells me that Don Franciscos mother has died that morning, very suddenly from a heart attack. She was also the mother of Dona Lucia, where Jane lives. So there is a vela that night, where all family and friends stay up all night with the body. We decide to go and then Annie can just leave from Dona Lucias house to get Tara.
My family is very upset as she lived very close and they were all close to her. Someone actually got ahold of the rest of the family from Condega to Esteli, all 13 of her children and their familys, and all 9 of her siblings and when we get to Dona Simoncita house, EVERYONE is there. From family, to the community, to people from other communities out of respect, all in all about 200 people coming and going. There are just tons of people outside on the patio and surrounding areas, and they have a generator running lights outside, and women in the kitchen keeping people supplied with coffee and sweet breads. The atmosphere is a mixture of somber and party like, with people not having seen each other for awhile and lots of joking going on, and of course groups of young guys huddled in corners drinking rum, and checking out girls that pass by. I hang out with Dona Isabel and her son Francisco and his wife Letvia and their child Brian and Jane a lot. And Annie and I play this joke on two year old Brian that he as a frog in his belly. He goes all crazy about it and for the next three hours he keeps looking at his belly and trying to look in his belly button, and then pretending the frog jumps out and tries to show it to people and tries to squash the imaginary frog with his foot. To this day he remember and when I am wearing a frog t shirt I have he point to his belly and starts pretending the frog has jumped out again and tries to show me where it went. He is super cute and very imaginative.
The coffin was laid out into the front room, and Jane and Lucia and other church ladies have decorated these white sheets with ferns and flowers, and there are two big flower arrangements in from, one from UCA, and one from her sons. There are candles, and photos, and a group of valient church women who stay up singing the WHOLE night. I mean from 6pm to 6am they did not stop singing. I ended up crashing out around 1 for a fitful 2hrs of sleep, and wake up to a house of groggy people who are still going about and cooking and getting ready for the burial that day. Everyone is in a half stupor of sleep deprivation and grief, and Dona Lucia especially is crying a lot. In fact three days later when I stop by to see Jane, she just opens the door and falls into my arms, and just cries. She was very close to her mother, and is normally very reserves,so I didn't know what to do, I just held her until she stopped crying, and then she wiped her eyes and offered me coffee.
I missed the burial to go to Esteli with Annie and get her to the bus, but later on saw some creepy photos they took of her in her coffin and in the grave, which some of her grandsons, including my friend Marlon, had spent the day of the vela digging. Imagine digging your grandmothers grave. Difficult to say the least. Apparently they cement the whole thing up and the burial is very short, so Jane told me. I will meet annie and Tara in a few days to go to Margaritas despedida, and then in nine days from the the death there will be the nueve dia, another all night full family and cmmunity celebration. I also have tons more stories, but it just took me an hour to write this, so I have to go.
Lots of love
Melissa
End of Honduras vacation
Ok, so Honduras was awesome, and Clare and I at the end stayed a day and a half in a Garifuna village that we were invited to go to by our Garifuna guide from a snorkeling tour. His name was Richard, and was really cool : In Tela he found us the right bus, and also got these Espanolas to go who were also on the tour. We stayed in an okay hotel, but RIGHT on the beach, had the best seafood dinner ever (at least I did, but Clare is total veg, and that was kind of a bit harder in the village than in town). We all went out dancing, or tried to, but Richard the first live band was at a a casa cultural and was pretty empty, so we opted for a bar down the road. We had to cross around the beach which was very windy and there was lightening in the distance and the only light that we wouldnt have would be when a ray would light up the sky and your would see crazy waves and wind whipped palm trees, and crabs scuttling across the beach. It totally made me think of Pirates of the Caribbean. I love pirates, and Honduras is famous for pirates.
I never told about Margaritas despedida in Cebollal, other than Annie and I got our headlamps stolen, but nicaraguan boys are very insistent on dancing, and they surround you in hordes and if you turn one down, then 5 more are all like bailamos, and grab your hand. Anyway, men at this bar were about the same, but Richard ran interference and took really good care of us, so the whole dancing experience on the whole ended up being pretty pleasant. I will have to say that the bar we went to in Tela the night before to see a live band was more fun, and the music was AWESOME, and Garifuna women can move their butts in a circle. I cant do that. There are certain songs where the whole point is to come up on stage and shake what your momma gave you while the band plays, so a procession of women et up there, and I think the bigger the butt, the more popular you are.
Funny thing was, that the next day the old guy who owned the hotel insisted on escorting Clare and I to where we ate dinner, and even waited for us to finish, which ended up being a good idea, because the electricity went out and he had a flashlight and I did not. But he even asked us where we were going when we went for a walk down the beach, and so we started to think that either this place was really dangerous, or he just wanted to make sure we were okay. When some guys came up to us on the beach and started chatting me up ( Clare was sleeping), he came up and chased them off.
Women roam the beaches selling coconut bread, which is not sweet, but absolutely fantastic and offering to put your hair into braids. Anyone who remembers my experiment with braids in the past will know that I turned them down without a second thought! The last thing I need to do is lose more hair!
The last bit Clare and I went to the most awesome botanical garden, where I will definitely go back to to go birding, and I got an awesome birding book and will try and do the Christmas count in Honduras. Clare and parted ways, me to Esteli, and she to the Bay islands, which look fantastic and where Annie and Tara and Paul and I have plans to go scuba diving!
Love
Melissa
I never told about Margaritas despedida in Cebollal, other than Annie and I got our headlamps stolen, but nicaraguan boys are very insistent on dancing, and they surround you in hordes and if you turn one down, then 5 more are all like bailamos, and grab your hand. Anyway, men at this bar were about the same, but Richard ran interference and took really good care of us, so the whole dancing experience on the whole ended up being pretty pleasant. I will have to say that the bar we went to in Tela the night before to see a live band was more fun, and the music was AWESOME, and Garifuna women can move their butts in a circle. I cant do that. There are certain songs where the whole point is to come up on stage and shake what your momma gave you while the band plays, so a procession of women et up there, and I think the bigger the butt, the more popular you are.
Funny thing was, that the next day the old guy who owned the hotel insisted on escorting Clare and I to where we ate dinner, and even waited for us to finish, which ended up being a good idea, because the electricity went out and he had a flashlight and I did not. But he even asked us where we were going when we went for a walk down the beach, and so we started to think that either this place was really dangerous, or he just wanted to make sure we were okay. When some guys came up to us on the beach and started chatting me up ( Clare was sleeping), he came up and chased them off.
Women roam the beaches selling coconut bread, which is not sweet, but absolutely fantastic and offering to put your hair into braids. Anyone who remembers my experiment with braids in the past will know that I turned them down without a second thought! The last thing I need to do is lose more hair!
The last bit Clare and I went to the most awesome botanical garden, where I will definitely go back to to go birding, and I got an awesome birding book and will try and do the Christmas count in Honduras. Clare and parted ways, me to Esteli, and she to the Bay islands, which look fantastic and where Annie and Tara and Paul and I have plans to go scuba diving!
Love
Melissa
How I am a month behind in blogging!
Hi all,
I returned from Honduras a week ago, and found out I cannot change my plane ticket, so I will be returning the 10th of September. Super bummer because I got all stressed about work and trying to visit people that I have not seen in awhile before I leave, but then calmed down and realized I am coming back, and anything I dont finish, I can do later. As for seeing people, its amazing how isolated you can be when working. Dona Corinas house is only 1 hr away by bus or 3 by walking but I have not seen her in two months. And Yocasta, the girl who was working there finally had her baby like three weeks ago and noone told me and I meant to go see her in Esteli last night and the baby, but there was some miscommunication, so it will have to wait until later.
Anyway, I am going to attempt to update now, starting with the End of Honduras, and then starting back about a month ago with Annies visit. So, I suggest reading like one a day and pretending that I am updating daily and you just forgot to read them all. Or not. Read them all at once, procrastinate at work, which is what you are all probably doing right now by reading this anyway!
Love,
Melissa
I returned from Honduras a week ago, and found out I cannot change my plane ticket, so I will be returning the 10th of September. Super bummer because I got all stressed about work and trying to visit people that I have not seen in awhile before I leave, but then calmed down and realized I am coming back, and anything I dont finish, I can do later. As for seeing people, its amazing how isolated you can be when working. Dona Corinas house is only 1 hr away by bus or 3 by walking but I have not seen her in two months. And Yocasta, the girl who was working there finally had her baby like three weeks ago and noone told me and I meant to go see her in Esteli last night and the baby, but there was some miscommunication, so it will have to wait until later.
Anyway, I am going to attempt to update now, starting with the End of Honduras, and then starting back about a month ago with Annies visit. So, I suggest reading like one a day and pretending that I am updating daily and you just forgot to read them all. Or not. Read them all at once, procrastinate at work, which is what you are all probably doing right now by reading this anyway!
Love,
Melissa
Friday, August 13, 2004
Nicaraguan Spanglish
Ok, unrelated, but I fund out that only virgins are called Señoritas, so that must mean everyone just assumes I am not when they call me Señora. No comments about that, please
un ride: a ride, like, you know, when you need to get somewhere, and a truck passes buy and gives you a alift
lunchar: almorzar. to go get lunch
un pan: not bread. a small dish, like a cake pan or pie `pan or bowl, used for scooping water. Can be used for other things, but then it is called a plato or tazon. So the same dish, with food, is a tazon, but used to scoop water, a pan.
chorts: pantalones cortas. shorts
Baseball: take all things from baseball, all positions, and just prnounce them with a spanish accent. Except a batter is a bateador. Third base is just turd basee
I will add to this later
un ride: a ride, like, you know, when you need to get somewhere, and a truck passes buy and gives you a alift
lunchar: almorzar. to go get lunch
un pan: not bread. a small dish, like a cake pan or pie `pan or bowl, used for scooping water. Can be used for other things, but then it is called a plato or tazon. So the same dish, with food, is a tazon, but used to scoop water, a pan.
chorts: pantalones cortas. shorts
Baseball: take all things from baseball, all positions, and just prnounce them with a spanish accent. Except a batter is a bateador. Third base is just turd basee
I will add to this later
work update
For those of you who care:
2 more birds died from injuries, one broken leg, and one dislocated knee. I should have mercy killed the broken leg guy, but I thought I would give it a chance, and it just ended up suffering. But considering I catch 50 birds a day, three deaths in a month and a half isnt too bad. The university students came out for 10 days to work for me, and I didnt go back to Esteli for 2weeks, after granada, which is why I am so behind in writing, and they were great and worked really hard.
Some other rat cut one of my mist nets in half. In Half. And the loops on the sides that connect to the poles. Why? I have no idea. Just to do it, because it was some kid with a machete just being a jerk. I dont know if I can repair it, so I am one net down, and another still has big holes in it I need to repair. oh, yeah, and they cost $70, so not too cheap to replace.
2 more birds died from injuries, one broken leg, and one dislocated knee. I should have mercy killed the broken leg guy, but I thought I would give it a chance, and it just ended up suffering. But considering I catch 50 birds a day, three deaths in a month and a half isnt too bad. The university students came out for 10 days to work for me, and I didnt go back to Esteli for 2weeks, after granada, which is why I am so behind in writing, and they were great and worked really hard.
Some other rat cut one of my mist nets in half. In Half. And the loops on the sides that connect to the poles. Why? I have no idea. Just to do it, because it was some kid with a machete just being a jerk. I dont know if I can repair it, so I am one net down, and another still has big holes in it I need to repair. oh, yeah, and they cost $70, so not too cheap to replace.
I suck at updating my Blog
Hi all,
Sorry I have not written in forever, and I have so many things to write about, but now I am in Honduras renewing my VISA, and at the beach and want to write about that. So the next few blogs might by like some independent art student film where there is no string of time and the end leaves you feeling unsatisfied, but here goes...
To begin, Annies visit:
I just need to say how much I love Annie. she came and helped me out and then her and Tara and I went to a party in miralfor, a despedida for another English teacher, and then spent a few days in Granada. It was just so fantastic to hang out with the girls and talk and be me and listen to them and they are just fantastic. Annie and Tara both have just such good hearts, there are so few honest people in the world, and I love them for their courage to be so much themselves. they will both do fantastic things for the world, so if you dont know them, you should.
One funny story¨: We were on the bus and this woman came on selling Pepsis, but I was asleep, and it was like a comercial, I woke up all hot and dusty and my mouth was dry and this woman was calling out "gaseaos, Pepsi, Rojito", and so Annie and I got Pepsis and from the first drink we were all giggles, like were were drinking carbonated happy juice. And we were only half way through when the woman was like "hurry girls, I have to go"(but in spanish), and here they take the bottles back, and so we were trying to drink really fast and giggling, and couldn´t and then she was just staring at us, and we were laughing more, and it was just stressful and finally we sucked up as much as we could and the whole thing went from refreshing to feeling fat and bloated. So maybe it would be a better commercial for COKE!
Okay, one Honduran story:
Got here wednesday with my frind Clare to the beachside town of Tela, which is 2 hrs from La Ceiba, which is the jumping off point for the Bay islands where Annie and Tara and Paul and i are going to go get SCUBA certified, and from everything I have heard and seen, it is going to be phenomenal!
But around Tela is phenomenal, with tons of fantastic parks nearby, and loads of birds. Clare and I went on a kayak trip today througha mangrove swamp,a nd I saw three new species of birds, and actually there was an ornithologist on the trip who was working on a biological inventory at another park in Honduras. He is like a freelance scientist, who used to be a lecturer, but now is independently wealthy because he is a designer of sorts and just does science and conservation work as a volunteer and when he feels like it. I want that job.
Afterward, we chilled at a Garifuna village and relaxed in hammocks underneath thatched huts after a swim in crysatl clear 70 degree water while they cooked fresh fish they had caught that day over a wood fire. i had ceviche, and it was AMAZING!!!!! Also, the night before I had a traditional Garifuna seafood soup made with conch and shrimp and fish and crab and coconut milk that rivaled the casuela in Venezuela. Obviously the highlight of my journey so far is the vacation from 2L of oil a day and rice and beans and cuajada.
I LOVE the Caribbean!!!! Garifuas are escaped slaves who came to Honduras from St Vincent about 200 years ago, and they have awesome music and dancing, very African still in origin, but now some of the more modern stuff mixed with carribean and marimba and cumbia flavors. We are going to see a modern band tonight and perhaps tomorrow seek out a village and see some traditional dancing and then stay the night!
Tomorrow we are going to go hiking and snorkleing in a different park.
Ok, slowly but surely I will get all the storeis in
only one more now:
At the party in Miraflor some ratbastard stole annies and mine headlamps, so not only did we have to walk home in the dark with one weak flashlight between 5 women, I now have to use two poor nicaraguan flashlight for my work at night, and I really cant work as long, and run out of batteries frequently,and have made some data mistakes, and it sucks!!!
Sorry I have not written in forever, and I have so many things to write about, but now I am in Honduras renewing my VISA, and at the beach and want to write about that. So the next few blogs might by like some independent art student film where there is no string of time and the end leaves you feeling unsatisfied, but here goes...
To begin, Annies visit:
I just need to say how much I love Annie. she came and helped me out and then her and Tara and I went to a party in miralfor, a despedida for another English teacher, and then spent a few days in Granada. It was just so fantastic to hang out with the girls and talk and be me and listen to them and they are just fantastic. Annie and Tara both have just such good hearts, there are so few honest people in the world, and I love them for their courage to be so much themselves. they will both do fantastic things for the world, so if you dont know them, you should.
One funny story¨: We were on the bus and this woman came on selling Pepsis, but I was asleep, and it was like a comercial, I woke up all hot and dusty and my mouth was dry and this woman was calling out "gaseaos, Pepsi, Rojito", and so Annie and I got Pepsis and from the first drink we were all giggles, like were were drinking carbonated happy juice. And we were only half way through when the woman was like "hurry girls, I have to go"(but in spanish), and here they take the bottles back, and so we were trying to drink really fast and giggling, and couldn´t and then she was just staring at us, and we were laughing more, and it was just stressful and finally we sucked up as much as we could and the whole thing went from refreshing to feeling fat and bloated. So maybe it would be a better commercial for COKE!
Okay, one Honduran story:
Got here wednesday with my frind Clare to the beachside town of Tela, which is 2 hrs from La Ceiba, which is the jumping off point for the Bay islands where Annie and Tara and Paul and i are going to go get SCUBA certified, and from everything I have heard and seen, it is going to be phenomenal!
But around Tela is phenomenal, with tons of fantastic parks nearby, and loads of birds. Clare and I went on a kayak trip today througha mangrove swamp,a nd I saw three new species of birds, and actually there was an ornithologist on the trip who was working on a biological inventory at another park in Honduras. He is like a freelance scientist, who used to be a lecturer, but now is independently wealthy because he is a designer of sorts and just does science and conservation work as a volunteer and when he feels like it. I want that job.
Afterward, we chilled at a Garifuna village and relaxed in hammocks underneath thatched huts after a swim in crysatl clear 70 degree water while they cooked fresh fish they had caught that day over a wood fire. i had ceviche, and it was AMAZING!!!!! Also, the night before I had a traditional Garifuna seafood soup made with conch and shrimp and fish and crab and coconut milk that rivaled the casuela in Venezuela. Obviously the highlight of my journey so far is the vacation from 2L of oil a day and rice and beans and cuajada.
I LOVE the Caribbean!!!! Garifuas are escaped slaves who came to Honduras from St Vincent about 200 years ago, and they have awesome music and dancing, very African still in origin, but now some of the more modern stuff mixed with carribean and marimba and cumbia flavors. We are going to see a modern band tonight and perhaps tomorrow seek out a village and see some traditional dancing and then stay the night!
Tomorrow we are going to go hiking and snorkleing in a different park.
Ok, slowly but surely I will get all the storeis in
only one more now:
At the party in Miraflor some ratbastard stole annies and mine headlamps, so not only did we have to walk home in the dark with one weak flashlight between 5 women, I now have to use two poor nicaraguan flashlight for my work at night, and I really cant work as long, and run out of batteries frequently,and have made some data mistakes, and it sucks!!!
