8th Letter Homeo - Managua, Apoyo (hell, heaven)

8th letter home

Dear family and friends,

I have been back in Managua since I can’t remember when. It seems like forever. I do not like Managua. It is hot, dirty, loud, and I don’t know what else, because I have only seen a kilometer square area of it. A friend, Douglas, is going to take me around tonight to see some of the city before I go upcountry again tomorrow morning. Thank goodness!

I am locked down with the nuns every night beginning after dark, which is promptly after 6:30. There are about 5 doors with 5 different locks on them that are VERY hard to close, as they have these parts that have to fit together. I have never seen these kinds of doors before I came here. I don’t have keys to all of the doors and yesterday they locked me out at a time that I really needed to be inside resting – haven’t been extra well lately.

ANYHOW, whine whine whine. I won’t complain about being robbed the first night I got back here from upcountry. It is too ironic after worrying about Guatemala and not having anything happen there (well, okay, my backpack was slit in the market, but they didn’t get anything), and then after having a perfectly lovely trip around Nicaragua with Laure, getting ripped off here in Managua. Much worse is the fact that the heat interferes with my ability to work, to think, which is hard for me. There is no relief from it except the winds, which blow filth everywhere. I am literally filthy dirty all of the time.

It was a joy, however, even though I was ripped off that night we returned, to meet with the Canadian folks who bought the 50 panels I worked on to install in an orphanage somewhere north of here, near the coast and up from Leon (I didn’t get to go with Martin and Mauro to deliver the second set at the orphanage, so I don’t know exactly where it is). They were just wonderful people. Two older guys who are Dutch Canadians and a woman probably about 40, all three of which live in the Vernon area, near Silver Star! They were just wonderful folks, happy, generous, they come down once a year to work on something in Nicaragua. The woman, Sherry, I think, was one of the instigators and got these guys to join up with her a couple of years back. Their attitude was wonderful, they loved our little panels (we were holding our breath), and paid us for the other 25 not yet delivered, sight unseen. I hope they all work ok! That evening was the first night back and the last time I had any real fun.

Finally, I just picked myself up and took myself to Laguna Apoyo, and I have pictures posted for you on the blog. It is heavenly. A deep, freshwater crater lake, formed of course by one of our many volcanoes, and one of the few clean lakes left in Nicaragua. The area is a reserve and it is right in the middle of a lot of population, so one hopes that somehow, against all odds, it can stay the way it is. I stayed in a lovely lovely place run by a Canadian woman for $11 for a dorm room, and about $18 more a day for meals. That is under $30 a day for room and board. It isn’t cheap, but it is bearable for a few days, and I got to swim freely in fresh water with no other anythings on the lake (an occasional kayak), and also I could kayak as much as I wanted. The wind is pretty high in the afternoons, and, really, a lot of the time, so it is fun to paddle, and at least for me, relatively safe after the currents of Puget Sound! The best part for me was waking at 5:30 am to see the last of the night stars give way to the sunrise and listen to the howler monkeys and the birds begin their day. It is luxurious for me to be awake so early and to awaken to the sounds of the jungle. There are some downsides, of course, to the jungle, one of which is scorpions (I almost put my face in one in the sink one night), and I was stung in the toe of all things by a little wasp, apparently, that you can barely see, and that sucker hurt like HELL for hours. Despite the dangers, it was great to get away, talk, swim, and be cool. And eat right for a change. I am in charge of my own meals here in Managua, but one can’t cook around the nuns. No room in the frig, no space in the kitchen or on the stove, so . . . . basically, I eat ice cream. Laure knows what kind.


The other plus about Apoyo besides its beauty and all is that there are plenty of folks to talk to if you want, or, you can be by yourself if you want (I worked part of the time, as there is WIFI there that works great, although Ann pays $200 a month for it! Astonishing price). I was going CRAZY to talk to someone in my language, so it was wonderful in that way. . . . .Laure, you will get a kick out of the fact that I ran into Helen and Hugh there – they were spending their last weekend in Nicaragua at the same place! And another couple, this one from Denmark, were lovely. And a guy from the states I met and chatted a lot with, although he was just a day tripper, was a lovely person.

I stayed 3 days at the lake and had a fresh start upon returning to Managua. Until today. Now I am officially sick of it again, and my timing is good because I am leaving tomorrow for Sabana Grande again. The country has its own set of challenges, but ones I vastly prefer.

Let’s see. There is one good thing about being here with the nuns and that is that I get to take cold showers basically whenever I want to. THAT is GREAT. When did you think you might hear someone rhapsodizing about cold showers? Well, that’s the only kind we have here, and having a shower at all is a rare thing, so perhaps you’ll understand.

Living with nuns is not for me, I have to tell you. They have their pettinesses . . . and my favorite, Maria, has taken to confiding in me her displeasure at the other two. And I have to say they drive me loca. Those two don’t do anything all day from what I can tell except clean and cook and eat. And trying to work around that is not easy. I can barely get breakfast cooked. I don’t even try other meals. This is not unlike many women in central America. Cleaning and cleaning and cleaning. Even though they just cleaned.

I have this image of little birds who cannot fly flapping their wings helplessly . . . .and repeatedly . . . . to no avail.

Another thing is that there are no laundries here like there are every block in Antigua. Thus, I wash my clothes --- which I can really only wear one day, as they are stinky and sweaty and dirty because of the climate and the city and the wind --- by hand. It is quite a process to do all of your clothes this way. Although when you keep up with it day by day it isn’t bad. We have a huge wash area that has a built in concrete washboard, basically, and one scrubs on it. This process, I have noted, uses an enormous amount of water and soap, not to mention time. Lots of time. It was bad after I had to do a really dirty bunch of clothes that hadn’t been washed at all for my two weeks upcountry.

The conditions at UNI, the National Engineering University where Susan’s program is housed, would appall most Americans. The toilets, which are rare, seldom flush. They keep barrels of water and cut off plastic gallon bottles in the toilet area for people to flush with. The internet is so slow I literally fall asleep between clicks – I have taken to working more here at “home” because there is a free signal I pick up – whenever. That of course is the problem – knowing when my anonymous benefactor will have his/her line up and running. Keeps things interesting.

UNI is celebrating its 25th anniversary. It was founded not too long after the revolution, with the full support of the revolutionary government. It is a young and poor and innovative institution. The fact that they house what Susan is doing and don’t make her teach anymore, and let her run amuck in the countryside doing all this community building for poor people is evidence of its political leanings. And during this time, they is much celebration of the 25th anniversary, some of the ceremonies of which I have been able to attend. One was a program honoring people who have contributed to the development of the university since its founding and Susan was one of the honorees! Also, Dan Ortega received an honorary doctorate the other night, and I just walked into this open air area on campus and took pictures. There was no security and I walked ever closer to the stage to get a good picture (but I didn’t want to be too conspicuous). No one even spoke to me or seemed to notice. Wouldn’t happen in the good old USA, would it? (;~) You can see Dan and his compañera on the blog. All of what I put up there is actually little film clips. There was this priest there on the podium from the US and true to form, his little talk was about the School of the Americas the entire time. It was like another form of ethnocentrism, I thought. Like, it didn’t say anything about Daniel Ortega, the degree he was getting, nothing. It was just this rant about the School of the Americas. I thought it was weird. But I figured my pals in SOA Watch would have loved it. But hey, there is a time and place for everything.

Okay, well, enough raving. I will leave you to your own devices for a while . . . . . . and probably won’t be reporting a lot in the future, as I have already supersaturated all of you. I continue with organizational work with Susan. Currently I am working on two foundation proposals. I love to write, so it makes me happy. Upcountry, there will be a solar course going on the whole time and I can participate as much as I want, but Susan will be there the whole time, too, and no doubt I will be strategizing with her, writing up ideas, sorting out organizational stuff, getting ready for their next 5 year strategic plan.

There are new fotos on the blog, too!


LOVE,
Kahty