10 Things I LOVE in Nicaragua (that I didn’t notice or really like before)

   

1. Rubbery, deep fried cheese- A year ago I could not stand the sight of it let alone having it in my mouth. It was like taking the sole off your tennis shoes, cutting it into perfect squares, then smothering it in boiling corn oil. It was the worst. Fast forward to the present, I don’t eat fritanga (street food) without it. Fried cheese with a nice sweet plantain, YUM.

2. Washing my laundry by hand- I spend about 40 minutes every morning washing laundry. It has become a meditation of sorts. Repetitive. Back and forth. Not so bad really. That said, I cannot wait to use a machine when I get back the States. No more of that fire, burnt bean smell in my dried clothes.

3. Bucket showers- Ok well I don’t really need to take bucket showers here but, I do. The water that comes from my faucet is freezing. It comes from the water treatment plant in the mountains. It smells of chlorine and something else you just can’t put your finger on. It is worth my time to boil water on my gas stove, and use that the shower. So worth it.

4. Dia de los Muertos- I guess I never really celebrated Day of the Dead in the US. Halloween kind of overshadowed Nov 2^nd. Here though it is amazing. Families go out to the local cemetery and dedicate themselves to painting tombs for their loved ones. The cemetery comes to life with colors. Flower venders line the street to sell everything from real flowers to bags of plastic confetti to cover the ground in. Little boys come out, each with their own machete, to sell their labor; hacking weeds off of tombs. Old women have their great-grandsons arduously wheel then to their families grave site, all the while laying out specific details of what needs to happen when they die. It is a beautiful holiday. Quiet, colorful and full of purpose.

5. Beans- There are two main foods in Nicaragua, rice and beans. I like rice, but I love beans baby.

6. Rocking chairs- In the US a rocking chair is for two purposes: babies and old ladies. We rock and sing our babies to sleep. We see old ladies on their porch, rocking back and forth, while they heckle neighborhood kids. That is it. Here in Nicaragua though, everyone has rocking chairs. In fact, everyone who can afford it has multiple. Like 6 or more. I’m not kidding. Living rooms have rocking chairs instead of sofas. I have two. They are the BEST!

7. Jump ropes- The last time I used a jump rope in the States was probably 2^nd grade, in P.E. Here, I use one almost everyday. Braden brought me one from the US and my youth groups love it. They aren’t so good at it, but they are learning. And, like I said, they love it.

8. Big sheets of paper- Every presentation or class I give includes at least 4 or 5 huge pieces of paper. We call them papelografo here. Who wouldn’t like a vast sheet of white you can write anything or draw anything on?

9. Electricity- I love having electricity. Do I need to say it again? I love light at night time, having a charged computer, a phone that works, having a fridge that keeps my food edible for longer then a day, even watching telenovelas. The phrase se fue la luz, is so common here that I am scared when I get back to the US I will hoard batteries and make myself anxious of possible electricity blackouts. Ridiculous.

10. Christmas- Well, I loved it before but I love it even more now that I don’t really have it. Holidays like Dia de los Muertos and Purisima are celebrated more here in Nicaragua then Christmas. Pretty much, I am a sucker for the music and lights in the US. I love the peppermint lattes at Starbucks. I love waking up in the morning and digging through stockings. I love cooking breakfast in the morning with my family. I love Christmas. Enough said.

Elections

Elections are coming up this weekend and life in Jinotega has been full of music, parades and general festiveness. I can’t say elections in the States are the same. I went to work on Monday and arrived to find the health center closed and all of the staff dressed in FSLN memorabilia. There were hats, shirts, flags and even stickers for your moto (that’s motorcycle if you don’t speak the lingo).

Anyway, I left and went home. As a Peace Corps Volunteer my job is be a-political. If that is a word . . .

But, I did take some photos.

CLOSING THE YEAR- Warning- May contain condoms!

Last Friday I held my last meeting of the year with the older girls from Circulo de Amigas, a local NGO. We closed the year with a class on “behavior change” and a Circulo de Amigas/ Peace Corps evaluation. It was really an amazing get together. We had 61 girls and 1 boy, ages 9 to 28 with over 75% of them between the ages of 12 and 18.  At least 12 of the older girls are in university and wonderful help in these monthly meetings.  They have really become leaders in their own right. In fact one of the girls got up at this last meeting and announced how proud she was to be a woman. She said it was our responsibility to be informed and strong, to change the way woman are seen and treated. It was something special. Then a group of girls, contagiously laughing, got up and did a condom demonstration with one of the girls using her mouth to put the condom on the wooden dildo*.

The evaluations were great as well. Each girl was asked a variety of questions including what was the most important thing she has learned in these classes, does she understand how to use birth control, is she happy that she is a woman and what other questions does she have on sexual and reproductive health. The answers were empowering to read. A 9 year old (a girl who is not affiliated to CdA but recently started coming with a friend) wrote that the most important thing she learned is that men need to use condoms when they want to have sex with her. A 13 year old wrote she learned she could actually say no to sex. A 21 year old wrote she learned how to talk to her pareja about birth control, family planning and using a condom and asked if we could teach her how to talk to her mother as well.

 

This experience has been inspiring for me and I know it has been for these girls too. I have never once left a meeting and not been tracked down by a young women with a question. It is eye opening to know that many of these young women have no place to go and feel like they have no one to talk to about violence, sex, babies and men. We are changing that at Circulo de Amigas and opening the doors for conversation.

* Many issues that come up with condom use are focused on insecurities. Men and boys say they are too big for a condom, they feel nothing with one on and, condoms are not sexy. I have talked to boys and asked them to actually demonstrate how to use a condom. Many of them have no idea what to do. If we can teach girls (and boys) how to properly use a condom and feel capable of asking their partner to put one on we may make a small change. So, I have been teaching the girls to combat “I will NOT use a condom, it isn’t sexy” with a few different responses: “I can put it on with my mouth”, “no glove no love”, “if you love me you will use one.” Of course this is all accompanied with a serious discussion on relationships and open conversations with your partner.