A few of my recent activities

Last night (actually night before...i wrote this yesterday) I went to a local party for a boy that was shipping off to work on the cruise ship. They ship off for 8 months at a time….so there is much need for a celebratory farewell. It was in a small house; such that the 20-25 people packed the entire living room and kitchen (I think the home only had 3 rooms). There were young and old people, and everyone danced. The older ladies were so much fun to watch; they were dancing with the younger guys and having so much fun. Everyone passed around a big bottle of rum to fill their glasses and just sat back and relaxed to the music. Then they passed around soup for everyone. It was a light broth soup with some vegetables. it was really fun to experience a little local party. And even though I didn’t really know many people, I really felt relaxed and everyone was so nice to me. After a few hours everyone (the younger people) went out to the dance hall to dance.
Today I checked out the casino here in Bluefields. Mostly like any other casino, but it was really small. All the machines were 1 Cordoba (about 5 cents), and most have the actual handle you pull and the 3 things spin to match up. I didn’t win much, but my friend hit a “jack-pot” of $450 (Cordoba)….so that was about 23 dollars….not such jack-pot really. Since I supplied the money in the first place (I am the sugar-mama) we just stayed for a few hours and gambled the winnings. So that was sort of fun to do for the afternoon!
A few days ago I went to El Bluff. It is a small town on the other side of the lagoon, where the main port is. There is a beautiful beach and a big bluff where you can look out over the ocean. It was such a beautiful place. There are no cars there and it is much like Bluefields, but only about 2000 people. I met a family and they were such great people. One of the boys showed me around the place all day. It was so nice to be on the beach, and see all of the fishing industry. Although the economic situation at El Bluff is struggling a lot as well. One of the main reasons is that a fabrica for fish (canning plant) that employed about 500 people shut down a few years ago. That had a dramatic effect on the community. It was so sad speaking with the older man, as he described the bleak situation he teared up. Saying that he has seen people go hungry and it makes him so sad. That really had an effect on me, I wish so much that there was something that I could do….. The people of the Atlantic coast need jobs more than anything. Its not that they don’t want to work, there just is none to be had. Investors don’t want to put money into businesses either because of the instability of the government…it really is a difficult situation. If I had money, I would buy the fabrica and re-open it….that’s what I would do.
Last night I went out dancing. We first went to a place over the water for drinks. It was one of the most beautiful nights I have seen in Bluefields, the sky was perfectly clear and you could see all the stars. Then went to the dance place, it is a dark Caribbean style club that is about 120 degrees and was packed with people. It was so hot that I could only dance one or two songs before going out for air. Then we went to a house next to the club that sells late night food right inside their house. Everyone just comes in to the living room and buys their food in the kitchen and sits on the couches to eat…very interesting. I had hot soup again…that seems to be the favorite late night snack here. It is hot because you put pepper juice in it, super spicy!!! That will sober you up relay fast! Then we went back to dance more, but soon a fight broke out….sort of scary because the place is a bit dogey and I guess that people get shot there sometime. So my friend said we should leave before it got to that point…..
So the only thing that is not going good on this trip is my Spanish. I only am around Creole speaking people mostly, so it has been hard. Even though they speak Spanish as well, they just automatically talk to me in English…I think that my English has actually gotten worse too. I have started to talk a little Creole I tink! I find myself leaving out a’s and s’s and other preposition words: so like to say “will you come to the park with me?” I will say “come to park?” or to say “ I have a banana” I say “I have banana” or to say “my friends are nice” I say “my friend nice”….so hopefully that won’t stick for too long when I go home….I don’t know what people will think I did on this trip!

180 attitude

I cant believe that I am leaving Bluefields so soon!!! I can honestly say that my attitude about this place has changed 100% from the first 2 weeks I was here… I really have had the best time in the past week, and it will be really hard to leave (I never imagined I would be saying that!). I have learned so much being here too….although the people don’t have much, they know how to be happy and the atmosphere of the place just starts to suck you in. It really was something that took some getting used to though, to look beyond the poverty was really hard to do, especially coming from a place that has so much. But even though these people don’t have much money, they are the most generous people I have ever known. Everywhere I have gone I have been given food or drink, and it is customary for whoever invites you to go to eat or drink that they pay. It has made me think about many people in the US, and how selfish many people are. I have just been amazed by how many people with enormous hearts that I have been lucky enough to get to know.
I love the atmosphere of the place when walking down the street. Even though it is a fairly large town, everyone knows each other (in the neighborhoods that I stick to). Everyone says hello and stops to chat…kids play in the street all of the time ( there aren’t many cars here besides taxis)…anywhere you are you can always hear somebody’s music playing (which is always happy music…socco, reggae, reggaetone)…everyone has their door open and people are always sitting on the porch… over all, it is just a happy place, with great, happy people….it is definitely the kind of place I would like to live someday….and the kind of place you don’t find in the US very often.
The people….they love to dance….love to “run jokes”….have a laugh…..”molest” each other (that’s what they call kidding around)…are eternally optimistic about life…love children (and start early!)…love old people and always show respect with Mr. and Miss….and the people here LOVE Bluefields (everyone I have asked tells me that they absolutely love to life here!)

update from last 2 posts

Just to update…those last posts I wrote last week, just didn’t have a chance to post them.
This weekend I would have to say has been the best time I have had since coming to Bluefields! Friday was beautiful and I went running and had a few good interviews, and then went out with the one friend I have made, we stayed out dancing all night…..was really fun. Then Saturday was holiday for Sandinista revolution and I went to the park and watched some of the activities. Sunday was another beautiful day, I went for a long walk and took pictures, and relaxed the afternoon. And there was not a drop of rain Saturday or Sunday!!!! It was just a beautiful weekend here in Bluefields! So I have been out past dark 2 more times and it has not rained 2 days!

Running

I have gone running a few times here in Bluefields….I guess I am going to do a ½ marathon at the end of August so I have to get started(I am not going to let Jamie beat me this time)! Running here brings a new set of challenges that I never imagined might be obstacles for the normal morning jog…..(here is just a few of the things I have to watch out for)
Stepping in dog crap
Stepping in horse crap
Stepping in pig crap
Stepping in any other unknown crap
Slipping on the sidewalk or road which is always wet and has some slimy algae growing on it in many places
Places where the sidewalk literally has chunks missing and if you’re not careful could fall into the gutter
Mangey dogs that won’t move out of the way
Other farm animals in the streets (mainly pigs and horses)
Taxi cabs that drive as fast as they possibly can all of the time, and instead of using breaks they just use the horn
Shouts, stares, hisses, whistles, and any other remarks you can possibly think of that might be said to a white gringo running down the street (I crank up my ipod and do my best to ignore)
The street unexpectedly ending at a pile of mud and dirt
Nonexistent sidewalks many places, making it sometimes necessary to dive in to the bush to avoid the rampant taxis
……and all of this is at 6 am! I was told that if I went out really early in the morning, there were people jogging all over! Well I have gone 2 days at 6 am and not seen one other jogger….i just get looks like, what the heck are you doing….(I guess I will have to go out even earlier, by 6:30 the streets get to crowded to run…mostly with children walking to school)
Some other things…
Saw a few naked people showering on their porches (their shower consists of dumping a bucket of water over themselves)
Some children tried to race me ( that was so cute)
And the best thing of all…..when I reached the top of the hill behind the city, I looked out and saw rainforest and ocean! And remembered I am in the Caribbean! Nothing better to wake up to than that...so, stepping in a little crap isn’t as bad as it seems!

A few fun things that may (or not) surprise you:

I have a mouse in my room…I have seen it once a day
I also have 2 pet geckos in my room…to help out with the bugs
My shower is a trickle (on a good day) of ice water
I ate Turtle Fin (i know Jericho….)(it was not good either!)
I have probably eaten about 20 chickens since coming here….(I thought fish was a popular in Bluefields, but not compared to the never ending pollo!)
The Taylors have an avocado tree right in the back yard, and I eat them every day (the Nicaraguans call them pears)
It had rained at least once EVERY day I have been here (that is not an exaggeration either)
I have been to church twice…for over 2 hours each time!
I am a local celebrity….for the folks that listen to Marvin’s 7 am radio show (he has mentioned me a few times)
I have watched more US television here than in the US…CNN is the fave here (I could tell you every detail of the Madonna and A-Rod “Affair of the Heart”, or Christy Brinkley’s divorce drama, or some lady that died scuba diving in Australia 6 years ago…..)
I have been out of the house past dark 3 times (2 of them were coming home from church)
Chickens crow nonstop from midnight to 5 am…guess they don’t really know when morning is
Dogs bark all of the time….mainly with a unison morning wake up at 5 am
I try to go to bed early (11ish)but normally cant fall asleep till 1, by then the chickens start, and I am up another hour…I usually end up sleeping in the morning but that is hard too because along with the usual chickens and dogs, there is taxi’s constantly blaring the horn, and neighbors with music cranked up…but actually when I am not trying to sleep, I like all of the sounds of Bluefields, they are happy sounds, happy music, and happy people J

Religion?

So, I am quickly becoming a devout Christian here in Bluefields…..(I know a bit out of character for me). It is just that the culture here is so strongly religious and believing in God brings these people hope in a place that has almost lost all other hope. I think that the people here need God to put a smile on their faces every day, and somehow he does. This makes me a believer…. I get asked at least once a day about what religion I belong to, or whether or not I believe in Jesus Christ. It would be way too hard to tell the people here that I find religion to be questionable…especially when they depend so strongly on the church. So I say, yes of course I am a Christian. And I don’t even know if I am lying anymore, being here sort of makes me feel religious….
When I ask people my survey questions about what they would do in the event of a hurricane, most (especially the older ladies) respond by saying it is in God’s hands. They don’t say that hurricanes are an act of God so much as they say that God will save them in the event of one. And I know that they need God to save them, because most don’t have the money for a safe home, and especially don’t have the money to leave in the event of one.
So if God can bring these people hope and a little joy each day, I will praise God too.
Ok, with that I am off to church (yea, seriously I am going tonight!)

I don’t really know how….but I might be starting to like this place (a little). I am beginning to see the unique of the culture and people that are here. The music is just amazing and such a unique mixture of Jamaican reggae, native Punta from the small population of Garifuna, Socca, and Latin influence as well…. It would really be a fun place, if it was a little safer, or I had more friends...

first night out in 3 weeks!

I went out last night finally! We went to a Reggae and Calypso playing dance place. The experience can be best summarized in a quote that my friend (the girl that is also doing research here) said to me..."Isn't it hard to be a white intelectual that thinks from the shoulders up in a place where everyone thinks from the waist down?"....my answer..."I'm trying not to think"

Went out for dinner with Americans

A lady that I had interviewed last week said that she had a boy form Chicago staying with her this week, so yesterday he came and I met with him for awhile. He was in the Peace Corps in a village near Bluefields, and he also knew a girl that was doing research here to and was from Wisconsin. They had apparently been roommates in Chicago for a while and were good friends, so we all went out to dinner tonight. Apparently there has been quite a community of Midwestern people that have come to the Atlantic coast to do volunteer work. I was also amazed at how many people in the community that they both knew. I suppose though, living anywhere for 2 years will make you become part of anywhere you go. They both seem to like it here enough to come back too. The girl is back to do research for her master’s thesis too, she is studding literature and says that she has conducted about 30 interviews that have gone up to 5 hours! That makes me feel like I have hardly done anything! Anyway, it was nice to talk with some other people that have some similar experiences researching Bluefields.

an old style home...not many left. and me bored in my room because it is raining again!

A little clarification about the ambitions of the Creole people.

I am reading a book about the culture of the people here in Bluefields, this is one excerpt regarding the ambitions of the Creole people and why they have struggled to succeeded in Bluefields:
Our culture regarding the land is that it is not something you own, rather something that is shared. This is a vision that could serve the whole nation, if only the government did not see our culture as being backward. The government permitted the law of autonomy, but this was only to legally protect them. The government is still taking our land and resources and we don’t even know how to fight back, because we don’t even understand that way of doing things. They also say we are lazy, but the truth is that we are confused. What we used to know is not good anymore, and what we know now condemns us to destructions. We are not lazy but many of us feel worthless. (Taylor, 2005 p. 183)
Talking to many Creole people in Bluefields I can see that this frustration is shared by many. They are very intelligent people, and value the importance of education. However, the Creole people are very culturally different than the Latino people of Nicaragua, many of who have recently moved to Bluefields and started businesses of their own. It is almost as if the people are stuck in the middle of two places. One place is the past that they know here in Bluefields, and they try to hang on to their past traditions, language, and culture, all of which came from English influences. The other is the influence of the Pacific, as they call it, which is the Spanish influenced, Nicaraguan cities of Managua and Granada. The old people live the old ways, and the young people have quickly adapted to the influences of the pacific Nicaraguans. It has made a mix that is very tangled and this has made many of the Creole people feel insignificant.

short story of Nica Politics....

Week two done. And time to talk some politics!!! You knew this was coming!
Although the past two weeks haven’t exactly been loads of fun and parties, they have managed to fly by just the same. I can honestly say that I have easily adopted this laid-back, easy paced lifestyle. Each person that I have talked to and met with has a different story to tell, and quite often, as I am quickly learning, these stories don’t necessarily agree with one another. Usually the stories depend on which political party the person belongs to. This is what I have learned about the political past of this area, in the simplest terms I can explain:
From the 50’s to the late 70’s Nicaragua was ruled by Somoza, he was a dictator. At that time the country was relatively prosperous. Education was a high priority in Bluefields, and there were some of the best schools (all affiliated through the churches, and the Moravian was top ) in the entire Central America. The people of Bluefields remember Spinoza’s dictatorship as a time that the streets were clean, and it was safe to walk around the city at any hour, day or night. However, the people of Nicaragua didn’t want a dictator anymore, some wanted a democracy and others (the Sandistas) wanted a more socialist government. (one of the main reason that people rejected Somoza was because when the terrible earthquake hit Managua (Nicaragua capital) in the 70’s he kept most of the aid for himself and has party members rather than distributing it to the earthquake victims). So then came the Revolution. The Revolution happened in 1979 and it was terrible. Basically I think it was a mini world war fought here in Nicaragua, the Nicaraguan people got caught in the crossfire of some of the world’s most powerful countries fighting against each other. But first they had to throw out Somoza, the Sandista party did this by kidnapping several members of the Somoza party. Then the Somoza party retaliated by going on a killing spree for the next several years against the Sandista party and eventually killed their leader. So the country was up for grabs as to which political party should be in power, they only knew that they wanted Somoza out, so the other 2 parties joined forces as Sandistas to make sure he was gone. And since every other country is so nosey and eager to take a side, of course the rest of the world had to get involved. At that time the US (pres. Carter) supported the Sandistas to get rid of Somoza. The Russians and Cubans supported the Sandistas, because it was socialist/communist. Then the United States had an election in 81 and Ronald Regan saw Sandistas as threat. It was thought that if communism succeeded in spreading to Nicaragua, that surely the U.S. would be overtaken by the communist rule as well. So the United States government did what is does best (or worst) of course, it went to war! But it did not go to war directly with Nicaragua (Nicaragua was not yet controlled by communist, communism was only supported by one Nicaraguan party) so it when to war with Russia and Cuba on Nicaraguan soil, through the surrounding counties of Honduras and Gaugamela. Ronald Regan sold military weapons to Iraq (yep we supplied that enemy too) and used the money to support anyone in Central America that would fight agents the Sandistas. So soon there were huge armies in Honduras and Costa Rica, basically any bordering country of Nicaragua. The Sandistas had a lot of support within the country and from Cuba and Russia. So yes, this is quite confusing, but needless to say the war turned into an indirect war between the US vs. Russia and Cuba, which was fought by Nicaraguans that just wanted their government to change for the better! Ok, so eventually there was sort of peace after nearly a decade of war and hundreds of thousands of people dying. But the US wasn’t really happy about the peace, because then the Sandista government won. So then there was communism government in Nicaragua. And this didn’t work either because the money lost value so quickly, the already poor people had even less. One man I met with explained to me how he was a starving millionaire after the Sandista government took over, he had is weekly salary which was around 100,000 Cordoba’s, and couldn’t even get a few meals from it. I don’t really get how the money system changed, but basically it was hyperinflation. So after all that, the people were still not happy with their government because now there was more unemployment and the US was mad at them, and everything else. So this brings us to 1990 when all of the political parties that were not Sandista joined up as one and were given lots of money by the US of course, and won back the power through elections. So by this point I am trying to get the feel of what government the people think is good and what is bad. Basically the people liked the Sandista until they actually came to power, and then wanted something else, then when they got that they wanted something else and so on. So now the old Sandista leader is back in power, but he is not really ruling the country under the communist regime as before, but not as a democracy either. They say that this government is Ortegenista (after pres. Daniele Ortega) and is all together different yet!
So what has this all meant? Well you can see the immense confusion of the political state of the country (and this all didn’t happen to long ago!)) so now with Ortega people are still very upset and are talking of another revolution. Keep in mind that even thought the people are often fed up with the government, everyone is up-to-date on what is happening here and in other countries (it is not like US where many people don’t give a rip about voting or politics, they just care about themselves). The people understand that every leader or political party that has had power over the past century as been incredibly corrupts! Talk about the lesser of two evils, here that is not just a statement, it is the absolute truth! All of the political parties have been know not kill, kidnap, steal, lie, rape and pillage to get what they want! And that is no joke! One man told me a story of how he was a politician a few years ago and his opposition tried to kill him in a van with others from his party. Two people actually did die in the intentional car accident. This is an extremely corrupt place and being involved in politics here is dangerous business, for real!!!
This makes me realize that, yes the US has plenty that I disagree with, but relatively speaking it has a successful democracy and is fair! Here, it doesn’t matter who the people vote in or overthrow, or what, they keep getting f*ed over, time after time. But they don’t give up either, they continue to look to the future, and say “soon enough we will have a government that cares about the people”.
I hope this “History of Nicaragua, the way I see it” makes a little since, and hope that you have learned something. And I hope that the next time you think our political system is completely broken and without hope, think of the Nicaraguan people and the recent political history they have experienced and how even after all this, they are optimistic about their political future.

some of the ninios helping to load up el basura.

a few pics from the first ever trash pick up

more park and city... the highligts of Bluefields....

the central park

the best ocean fiew i could find....(neadless to say, I haven´t been to the beach)

the town

walking down the street in the center of the city....notice the shape of they taxi cabs, they are all like this.

a place of their own

Well thankfully today was a little better than yesterday. I was able to go out and get a few interviews done today, and I talked with one guy that was very helpful and was a part of the emergency management in Bluefields, so that was good. I have just 7 surveys completed, and I am going to get my butt in gear to hurry and finish here. I can’t wait to be out of here…. I sort of feel bad saying that but, this place really wares on you after a while! I don’t feel comfortable walking down the street, not that I feel in particular danger, but this community doesn’t get to many tourists, so they are not used to a white girl walking around. The dirtiness and the rain and everything is just starting to get me a little down. So hopefully I can start to get these surveys done really fast and leave!
On Sunday I went to church with Noel, the service was 2 hours long and it was mostly singing and dancing with some time for the preacher doing some shouting. It was really amazing to see the people here thought in church. They seem to be clinging to God for help, for salvation. It is….well I don’t know how to describe it, because I know how poor the people are and how difficult they have had it for many years now, but at the same time, it doesn’t look to me like they are trying to do much about their situation, they just pray about it. Yes, prayer is important, but it is not going to put food on the table. These people still need to find ways to make money. The other interesting thing is how educated most of them actually are. Many have college degrees, especially the middle generation, and the schools here were said to be some of the best in Central America. However, even the educated people can’t get jobs here in Bluefields and must go away to work. They also say that there are some of the richest natural resources in the world right in this area with fish, forests, gold, ect. I just don’t understand how the people can’t be a little more creative and make some industries for themselves. They just seem to constantly blame the government, which I understand has been very unfair to them, but that is not a solution. Maybe Nicaraguan government (with the help of the U.S. …not a surprise) has been taking everything from them for so long that they have gotten tired of trying. It is just a sad situation. I wish there was something I could do to help, but then I realize that this is in a way a how these people choose to live, although it may be getting progressively worse. It would not work for an outsider to come to their place and tell them how to do things. This makes me think of the war in Iraq to….just because an outsider is coming in to tell these people to do things a certain way doesn’t mean that that is what they want or will survive off of. This made a little more since when the local I interviewed today explained to me that the Creole people here in Bluefields were not raised with very much ambition. Most business owners in this community are outsiders that have come here and made it for themselves. So it is possible to do, the local people just lack the ambition or something to do it. All of the mottos here seem to suggest to relax, take it easy, enjoy life not work your way through it… Well I certainly agree with that mentality! However, seeing that that attitude doesn’t put food on the table either makes me realize that there is such thing as “a little to chill”.
What is really amazing about this place is the sense of home and knowing that this place, no matter how bad it is, is theirs forever, no matter if it is called Nicaragua, England, or whatever. Bluefields has always been the home to this unique mixture of people, and it seems that they can only really relate to another, since no other place has quite the same unique ethnic mix. This make me look at my own life and realize how far away from my sense of place I have become. I look at the closeness in these families and hope that someday I can feel that again with my family and friends. I just feel that I want to belong to something, a feeling that I have really ever felt. All of the traveling and moving makes it nearly impossible to establish a place of your own, and now I am realizing how alone I really am without a place.