Nicaragua: Touring Managua and going home

Monday, June 30: This was our only chance to be tourists. A woman from a cultural arts school came to the hotel to talk about the school that strives to continue the indigenous crafts and history. She had attended the school as a child and is now an instructor. She had tables full of her jewelry and paintings and we spent a while buying gifts to take home. Unfortunately, during this time Carolyn laid her purse down and it disappeared, leaving her without money or credit cards for the rest of the trip. Luckily, CEPAD had collected our passports and hadn’t returned them yet so she didn’t lose it.  

Learning about the crafts school

We spent the rest of the morning at the nearby Masaya Volcano National Park. We stopped at the Visitor’s Center and learned the history and geology of this very active volcano. We were happy to learn that the winds were such that we could not only drive up to the rim but wouldn’t need gas masks for the visit. A few members of our group chose not to go up the mountain because of fears of the gaseous fumes overflowing the caldron but no one who went had any problems. The basin was so full of those fumes that we couldn’t really see much over the rim but we could look across the city of Managua, and down into the valleys and the lake formed by the last major eruption. 

Relief map showing Jinotega, the reservoir north of it, and up into the mountains where we stayed.

Hannah and Grant looking at the map of Masaya Volcano National Park

Close up of the three calderas of Masaya Volcano National Park

Barb, Hannah & Nancy at the rim of the volcano

Panorama of the rim of the volcano

Looking into the caldera

Looking over Managua from the volcano's rim

For lunch we went to a very good, but slow, restaurant overlooking a volcanic lake called Laguna del Apoyo in the town of Catarina. We had lots of time to wander the market there after lunch. 

Lunch with a view!

Active volcano looking right from the restaurant 

From there it was a short drive to the shore of Lake Nicaragua where we got into two long, low launches for an hour’s cruise through and among the mangroves along the shoreline. Our guide had limited English but when he realized I was interested in the birds he pointed out many along the way. 

Leaving the dock area

Water fowl on the rocks

The edge of one of the hundreds of islands in the lake

Our other launch

Active volcano near the lake

The lights of Managua

On the way back to the hotel we stopped for a quick visit to the Massaya Market, which is very old. By the end of the day we had seen a lot of the greater Managua area and learned much about how the numerous volcanoes have shaped and formed the landscape. Over the two days we also had several opportunities to see the ornate light features around Managua added by the president’s wife for a visit by Chavez. Our “Farewell Dinner” was held at a favorite restaurant of CEPAD’s people, Cocina de Dona Haydee, where we had most of the back room to ourselves. There was confusion over the bill when Carolina paid so we ended up putting in more money (as we were able) to cover it. Back at the hotel we readied ourselves for a quick get-away in the morning.

Other than having to be up well before dawn, it was an uneventful trip back to the good ol’ USofA. It had been a very good experience that really pushed the boundaries of our comfort levels. We were both very satisfied with what we had done and accomplished and were grateful for the opportunity. It should be a long time before either of us turns on a tap to potable hot and cold running water without giving thanks for the blessings in our lives.

Nicaragua: Part 6

Sunday, June 29: After breakfast in the morning we packed up the bus and made it to a nearby church for their 9:30 service. It was a bright and airy cement block building with tall open windows, very light gray tiles on the floor, and a blaring sound system for a keyboard and drums and microphone on the podium. As promised, it was a very loud, enthusiastic, Evangelical service with lots of talk and lots of singing, all in Spanish, which went on and on and on.  We were introduced to the congregation and Bonnie said a few works on our behalf. Carolina mentioned several times that we had to leave at noon and right on time we all stood up and left, with the pastor mid-sermon and everyone else staying on indefinitely. After lunch we headed all the way back to Managua with only a rest stop in Jinotega. Part of our hurry was because Jeffrey had had word that his brother was very ill with complications of diabetes and in the hospital. We went to the Nehemiah Center where a number of groups were staying and they fed us a nice meal of chicken, salad, and, of course, rice and beans. We sat in a group and had a discussion about CEPAD with one of the directors. As we talked we got the sad news that Jeffrey’s brother had died. We returned to the Casa San Juan in different rooms but similar groupings and settled in to what felt like very luxurious beds after our time on the floor of the school.

Pastor Bonnie gives greetings on the group's behalf.

I forgot how few people were there until I saw this picture again.

Carol and Grant leave the church.

William atop his carefully loaded bus.

Don Pedro's nieces enjoy the hammock on the front porch.

Nicaragua: Part 5

Saturday, June 28: Today was to be more of a cultural experience day for us. We spent the morning at a parcela project just down the road from Don Pedro’s. The farmer here had a fascinating personal history, having been with the Contras and the Sandinistas, and had lived in Cuba and Russia. He now runs a small organic farm established with the help of CEPAD. He took us for a tour of his small farm, showing us mango, lemon, lime, pineapple, orange, yucca, plantains, bananas, and any number of other crops. He demonstrated how he plants on the hillsides, where it was steep enough to be uncomfortable to stand in one place. Then he put us to work, planting plantains and then yuccas. He and his young son laid out rows and rows of each for us to plant and we did so for an hour or so in the humid heat, until we had slowly all given up and made our way back down to the road to have bottles of coke from a tiny store across the street. It tasted incredibly delicious by then! 

Notice the many little legs under the hen's breast.
She had a whole brood under there!

This proud Tom was constantly strutting his stuff, causing Marv to caution,
"If your display lasts more than 4 hours, call your veterinarian."

Carolina translates as the farmer explains his farming techniques

Felix and the farmer

Carolina shows us a cashew as they come off the tree.

Digging the planting hole

Putting in a plantain

Marv and Hannah show off their plantain

The group gets started with the planting

The little boys found us Gringos to be pretty amusing

Enjoying our Cokes while we chat with a local high school student

After lunch at Don Pedro’s we drove a short way the other way to Santa Cruz, where we broke into two groups. The men went up the hill to play baseball with youth and men of the village, while the women stayed below for a demonstration of how they make corn tortillas and two kinds of traditional mango drinks. My stomach was still feeling queasy so I didn’t last long in the sweltering kitchen. But I sat with some others on the porch where we had a nice breeze and we chatted. When the kitchen group was finished, they all came outside and joined in the conversation. Presumably because the men were not there, we had a much better talk than the day before, with more give and take. The women asked us what a day in our lives was like and the group of children that were there sang a few songs for us. It was probably my favorite time of the whole trip. I’ll let Marv tell about his afternoon:

So when you are in the “mountains” where do you find a baseball diamond?  We climbed a steep hill that opened to an area that was the ball field. Work had been done to raise a corner of the field and make room for home plate, including a short backstop.  Right field fell away down a big hill.  Any ball hit that direction was an automatic double.  We found that the game had already started so we had a chance to watch.  These guys were good! The field was incredibly bumpy and their ability to adjust to the ball as it bounced off of one thing and then another was impressive. They also hit the ball hard and were fast. They gave us a chance to play and four of us took part, Grant, Alex, Kris, and myself. They took pity on us and slowed the pitching down considerably.  The bats were enormous and it was clear that they had been turned by someone locally and were not purchased in a store. We all got a hit, but we found that it was a very long run to first base, and the time I got to third base I found that it was an uphill run to get there. Playing the field was also interesting as the field was so rough, but we had a good time and everyone had fun.  After a couple innings we retreated to the sidelines and watched as the young men and youth continued the game they had been playing.  It was good to be included but the situation did not lend itself to conversation.

The evening plan included a campfire in the farmyard and a farewell time with the community. As it turned out, the only ones we met with were the extended family of Don Pedro. But it allowed us time to talk with the women who had cooked for us and to thank them and to learn more about the folks with whom we had been living for four days. We presented Don Pedro with a t-shirt like the group had worn and expressed our appreciation for all they had done for us.

Marv was pretty appalled at the shape of the tires on our bus

Marv gets a hit!

Shooting the breeze while enjoying a breeze

Truly a ball park with a view!

The women and girls meeting on the porch outside the kitchen

Carolina helps Felix explain more about CEPAD's work

On end of our outdoor dinner table

The other end of our outdoor dinner table

Don Pedro gets his t-shirt

Our bedroom on the last night

Nicaragua: Part 4

Friday, June 27: Today’s work was in the more uplifting community of Placeres del Coco. First we had to walk down the drive at the farm to board the bus because the off and on rain had turned the red clay into a mucky mire. As we left Don Pedro’s sons were filling the drive with gravel from a cart pulled by oxen. The farms of Placeres del Coco are stretched across the hills that line each side of the Coco River, so named for its water color. It is a wide river here and runs to the border of Honduras and to the Atlantic Ocean.  Many of the farms here had wells for household water. The heart of the community has a large community kitchen next to a church being built overlooking the river and farther up the hill was the school. A large group of people welcomed us to the village, with a tall, handsome Afro-Carib man at the front. He was clearly in charge and turned out to be the President. We found out from Carolina that there has been a lot of migration by river from the coast, leading to a more mixed population. Again the council leaders took us to the farms that were getting purifiers. Marv and Alex really hoped to be in a group that would hike farther into the countryside today. But no one else was interested in changing groups and leaving us would have left our group too small to do the work. So we stuck with the same groups. Once again our group went to the closest farms, which still meant we hiked a long ways uphill to do our installations. Our council leader was a young woman in flip-flops who carried the barrels and hiked along with no sign of effort. Our first stop was the home of an elderly woman who didn’t have water on hand so we left the materials and went on to install our next purifier, which was fast and easy. The people at this house wouldn’t let us take their picture with the purifier until they had changed clothes, and they didn’t want us to show their feet, wearing the ubiquitous flip-flops, since they didn’t have time to change into their good shoes People are the same, everywhere. On our way to the next farm we found out that the son of the woman at our first stop had brought her water so we could go ahead and complete her purifier. At one of our next stops there were a pair of twins, about a year old, and their mother and her mother. At another, they had just killed and scalded a chicken that they were then going to cook for dinner. It was so interesting to be in people’s homes and see these indications of everyday life. There was no one home at our final stop up on the hills so we left the materials, knowing that the people of the community would be able to get it set-up for them. We had circled back almost to the school and continued back to the farm closest to the community center. This was a sprawling complex of houses that several parts of the same larger family occupy.  On our way it rained a little, and while there it rained hard on their noisy metal roof. But it quit and the sun came out by the time we finished, again heating things up like a sauna.

Slowly our three groups gathered at the kitchen, where the women of the village had prepared a chicken, beans and rice (with tortillas, of course) lunch for us. Jeanette had stayed behind today because of the hiking required and so she had helped in the kitchen. When we arrived she was entertaining a group of children, telling them the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves in her fractured Spanish. She has beginning to middle ability but she speaks with such animation and hand gestures that she is a delight to watch and hear. After lunch a few of us went up the hill to the school to break a piñata with the children. Most of us stayed on the porch where we had eaten, sitting in a large circle to have some conversation with the leaders of the village. We asked questions of them about their hopes and dreams for the future of their community and learned more about what CEPAD had been doing with and for them, as well as how they will carry on in the years to come, since their five years with CEPAD come to an end this year. We found out that one of our groups had been to a large fruit tree farm that CEPAD had helped establish. The women who were leaders assured us that they felt equal as leaders to the men in the association but we did notice that men were usually the ones to answer our questions. During this time Marv and Alex also attempted to hike down to the river but, lacking a clear path to get there, they stopped short of their goal. In general this association seemed more cheerful and more prosperous, which raised our spirits as well. Though the work had been equally challenging, we returned to Don Pedro’s farm in a much better frame of mind. Again the women of the family had prepared a rice and bean meal for us, which we ate gratefully before we held our circle and opened our prayer partner gifts. I knew who my exercise buddies had for prayer partners so it was fun for me to watch as Carol and Grant opened their packages. But I was still in the dark as to who had Marv or me. Once again the cold, trickling shower felt wonderful before climbing in bed. I was having some troubles with my stomach and the need for quick trips to the latrine so I was sort of dreading going to bed. But prescription meds from Jeanette and Imodium got me through the night. 

Working on the drive with a pair of oxen

Chickens were everywhere!

Plowing a field on our way to Rio Coco

Everyone had to get out and walk up the hill when the bus
bottomed out at the stream bed along the way

Countryside arriving at Rio Coco

Community kitchen and meeting room

Carolina gives directions at one of our stops

Family with their new water purifier

Farms across the river in the distance

Cute, cute kids!

Jeanette entertains kids and adults alike

Cooking fire at our last stop

Pinata that we brought to share with the kids

Jim enthralls the kids with their own pictures on his IPad

The bus made it all the way to this community and is parked
at the top of the hill while we're at the community area