Stories

7-02-08

Things have settled down here, though the little doggy friends at my homestay have remained just as irritating as they were at our first meeting. I love walking through the streets—around every corner an award-winning photograph is waiting to be taken, and though most of the buildings are in the same style, there’s always something new to see.

This is my third day here, and already I have had the best watermelon and pineapple I’ve ever tasted—the variety of pineapple they have here is different than what we usually have back home; the fruits are bigger, and the flesh is very light yellow, almost white. It is so sweet and succulent! I wish I could bring some back to share. I also had a fresco (fruit juice) yesterday (from some kind of fruit whose name I can’t remember) that was bright purple. It was clear that it was fresh-squeezed, but I want to see the fruit it came from! Apart from fruit, the food is simple: frijoles y arroz (beans and rice) for lunch and dinner, sometimes supplemented with a porous, very salty cheese, steamed or fried plantains and fresh (delicious) tortillas. Yesterday my frijoles y arroz came with shrimp and pasta in some kind of alfredo-esque—though lighter—sauce. Que rico!

As I walked home from school yesterday I bought myself one of the little bags of cut up mango they sell on the streets. It was delicious! As I was paying, an old beggar woman extended her cupped hand towards me. The evening before I had been reading about begging in my guide book, and decided that since I had my change out already I could spare a cordoba. When I placed the small silver coin in her palm, her whole face lit up! How’s that for instant gratification, eh? As my guide book says, the beggars here are not aggressive like those in India, and the poverty—at least here in Granada—is not as dire or overt as in the streets of many Indian cities. The book does say to be careful of giving money to “glue sniffers”—young drug users—but after my good experience I decided that I’m going to carry my 1 cordoba coins in my pocket, and give them to people who beg from me. With the exchange rate, I can give a cordoba to 100 beggars for less than 5 bucks! I think I can spare the change….

My teacher Erick told me this morning about a saying that they have here about people who eat very fast—they say they are “muerte de hambre,” literally “dying of hunger.” After thinking about this for a little while it seems to me more like black humor than just a saying, since this is so literally true of many humans, dogs, horses and others in this country.

This afternoon I went to the Iglesia San Francisco with my two new friends Roberta (from Winnepeg) and Steve (from outside Edinburgh, Scotland). San Francisco is the oldest church in Granada, and possibly in the country. They have a museum set up there displaying beautiful Pre-Colombian pottery and a large collection of stone statues (also Pre-Colombian period) collected from the Isla de Zapatera, showing human and animal shapes combined. After sitting in the courtyard of the church in some great rocking chairs, we went to a juice bar on the main (very touristy) street, and met the owner who was from Ireland and made excellent smoothies. Together we formed a happy little collection of Anglophones, and rounded off a very pleasant afternoon.

About 20 minutes after arriving home the sky emptied over Granada, relieving the heat of the sunny afternoon and stranding me in my room (I have to cross a tiny courtyard to get to the rest of the house). I stood in my doorway, watching and listening. It was lovely, and fierce. I have a deeper sense now of why rain so often plays a part in novels and stories from this part of the world.
Tomorrow: more class, an expedition to the book store, and another church (not sure which one yet…)

7-4-08

My patriotism (clearly..) runs very deep: I didn’t realize that today was the Fourth of July until my fourth teacher of the day asked me about it…Even though I had written the date in my notes this morning. Ah well!

Yesterday I went in the afternoon to two tour companies in town to get information about Kayaking and zip-lining, etc. I signed up for a tour to Isla Ometepe which will only go if other people sign up also, so I don’t know when I’ll get to that. I hope it goes! Then I went over to a place called Mombotours to ask about the kayaking—they said they had a tour leaving that afternoon at 3:30 with two other people already signed up. I had planned to wait until the weekend, but the guy said that there wasn’t anyone signed up yet for the weekend, so I decided to seize the moment! I was a beautiful trip, low key (though my shoulders are definitely a bit sore today), through a series of tiny islands (called isletas) that were made when Mombacho, the local volcano, tossed large masses of rock and lava into Lake Cocibolca. Many of the isletas are now the sites of vacation homes (both of foreign and local rich families), but there are still many indigenous people living in little shacks on their family island, scraping by. We saw some beautiful flowers, various birds and I got to try a baby mango, which our guide said that people eat with chili powder and/or use like a lime with salt and tequila. It was sour, and a little bitter, but also tasted like mango. One of the birds we saw was (I think I remember the name correctly) the Oropendula, whose males weave elaborate nests that hang from the branches of a specific tree (the national tree of Guatemala, whose name I can’t remember…). We saw nests and birds, and I really wished I had brought binoculars!

Our guide was very helpful, and spoke decent English, with some funny idiosyncrasies thrown in—I asked him about Mombacho canopy tours, and he set one up for me, at a discounted price since I had already done the Kayak tour. Again, I’m as yet the only person signed up for that, but I’m hoping that they got some people today and that I can go tomorrow!

I’ve met several more of the students at the school now, and today I met Todd (??) who is a UC Davis ecology and agronomy student!! He’s friends with some of mine and Conor’s friends, and lives not very far from us in Davis. How wild to come to Nicaragua and meet someone from Davis! He said that a few of his Davis friends are coming in a two weeks, and I’m sure we’ll get together again. Yesterday I also met Jim whose family now lives in Montpelier, VT, my home town. The world grows ever smaller.

My reasons for coming to Nicaragua were not particularly specific—my friend Emma had spent a year here and raved about it, and I was planning on doing something to improve my Spanish over the summer, so I checked out some schools and found that Nicaragua is quite reasonably priced! As I am interested in Latin American poetry generally, I have been asking people here about poetry and have found that, quite by accident, I’ve come to a country with a rich literary history, of which I was previously totally ignorant. Beginning with Rubén Darío, Nicaraguans have given voice to their culture through many generations of poets, and there is an alive and pulsing artistic culture producing great works today. I’m glad that I have the time and leisure while I’m here to find out what I can about it! I’m planning to make a trip to the bookstore this afternoon, and maybe I’ll be able to bring some poems into my classes so that my teachers can help me read them. One of my teachers told me about an international poetry festival that they hold here in Granada every February—poets and writers from all around the world come and read their work. I hope I can come back for it one day!

The Nicas I have come in contact with so far all like to talk, a lot. It’s fairly easy to get them going on various subjects—politics, Nicaragua vs. US culture, food, festivals, life in Granada and especially romance and relationships. Most of the men I’ve talked to have expressed some form of a wish for a girlfriend from the US, and a few have said that they have ex-girlfriend from the states. They are not at all shy about asking you how old you are, if you have a significant other, and if you do, how things are going with that person. Everyone is very friendly, and eager to answer questions.

Tonight a few of us are going out with some of the teachers from the school. My guide has a lot to say about Nicaraguans being excellent dancers, so I’m hoping I’ll get to experience some of that part of this culture.