- the letter S is not really utilized, its not a lisp but more of a muffle
- the last sound of many words is completely dropped off, in particular if it is an S sound, this is particularly annoying to me since the entire meaning of verbs lies in the last sound.
- in nicaragua they use VOS for Tu, and when they do they conjugate the verb differently, its weird.
- people here have all their v´s and b´s mixed up, so if something is written one way its usually pronounced the other...so i can´t recognize even the vocabulary i do know.
Also, everyone mumbles.
i can´t understand anything at all, it sucks.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Eggplant!
Esteli is AWESOME! this is a great town, there are great people everywhere, and lots to do always. This morning there was the huge Saturday farmer's market, Hannah and I bought enough produce for a week, and we're making eggplant tonight, weeee!
tomorrow there is a big fiesta at the cathedral and time square, can't wait! sorry i won't have pics, those damn thieves! i'm sure there will be more fiestas in the near future though.
For our Friday night, Hannah and I did laundry by hand for 4 hours. my arms are tired today.
monday i'm headed to the mountains, i can't wait to unpack my bags finally!
tomorrow there is a big fiesta at the cathedral and time square, can't wait! sorry i won't have pics, those damn thieves! i'm sure there will be more fiestas in the near future though.
For our Friday night, Hannah and I did laundry by hand for 4 hours. my arms are tired today.
monday i'm headed to the mountains, i can't wait to unpack my bags finally!
Monday, September 24, 2007
a long rusty cochillo
well folks, i had some fun stuff to tell you, but then yesterday....
i got mugged.
so, i´m gonna tell you about that instead. It was walking, as i sometimes do, down a main, busy, street in the middle of the bright and sunny day....when.....two boys, 13ish, ran up from behind. one with a knife to my stomach, the other grabbed my purse, whipped me around and down to the ground, slipped the purse off over my head and both took off. it only took a couple seconds and my beautiful camera was gone, my glasses, my wallet with my money and cc cards. well, bummer.
so it goes sometimes, luckily i´m totally fine, just a little sad about the camera. but, it can be replaced, this time with a less expensive one just in case.
as soon as i got back to the house and told my family about it everyone had a story. last week my cousin, last month my aunt, my brother 2 days ago, on the bus, in the street, in the library even....everyones has a story. it happens all the time. Melida, the woman i´m staying with, said her nephew got robbed in the exact same place and then today when i told one of my teachers she said the same happened to her in the same place. i guess its a bad little section of street.
i thought everything would be okay on the main streets. there were 10 or so people less than 10 yards away, no one said anything. they just watched. then they stared as i had to walk back by them afterwards.
i guess people do what they have to when they are deperate.
this is such an impoverished place. it really is hard to comprehend the way people live here because the poverty and lack of education is so extreme.
well, no anger here, i´m still on my adventure and all is well.
to Esteli on wednesday!! yay! i´ve heard its very nice.
love,
Lo.
i got mugged.
so, i´m gonna tell you about that instead. It was walking, as i sometimes do, down a main, busy, street in the middle of the bright and sunny day....when.....two boys, 13ish, ran up from behind. one with a knife to my stomach, the other grabbed my purse, whipped me around and down to the ground, slipped the purse off over my head and both took off. it only took a couple seconds and my beautiful camera was gone, my glasses, my wallet with my money and cc cards. well, bummer.
so it goes sometimes, luckily i´m totally fine, just a little sad about the camera. but, it can be replaced, this time with a less expensive one just in case.
as soon as i got back to the house and told my family about it everyone had a story. last week my cousin, last month my aunt, my brother 2 days ago, on the bus, in the street, in the library even....everyones has a story. it happens all the time. Melida, the woman i´m staying with, said her nephew got robbed in the exact same place and then today when i told one of my teachers she said the same happened to her in the same place. i guess its a bad little section of street.
i thought everything would be okay on the main streets. there were 10 or so people less than 10 yards away, no one said anything. they just watched. then they stared as i had to walk back by them afterwards.
i guess people do what they have to when they are deperate.
this is such an impoverished place. it really is hard to comprehend the way people live here because the poverty and lack of education is so extreme.
well, no anger here, i´m still on my adventure and all is well.
to Esteli on wednesday!! yay! i´ve heard its very nice.
love,
Lo.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
weekend
this weekend, even a national holiday weekend, is creaping by. without school and not knowing a soul in the city, i have nothing to do. not know the language hurts too since i can´t really just hop a bus and start exploring. BUT, monday will be much better since i´ll get to start working in the afternoons after school, so i won´t have so much down time.
in other news, i ate the following interesting things in the last 2 days:
Thurs.....una empenada de queso...not really any cheese in it, but yummy cinnamin flavor. Para la cena.....plain boiled potatoes with shredded cabbage with lemon on top, and a couple chicharrones. You folks in New Mexico know what those are....well, we got em here too.
Friday.....hotdog bun and butter for breakfast. dinner......it was either chopped up hot dog or bologna, i´m not sure which since i haven´t had either for probably 15 years, fried with tomatoes and served with a tortilla (a very good tortilla). Also, i was introduced to pinol: water and corn as a drink, and also, pinolino: pinol with cacao. not bad.
Yesterday was the Nicaraguan Independance day, from Spain, and since it was a national holiday everyone got to have electricity for the whole day (interesting, don´t you think?). so, we watched to big parade at the city´s stadium on the television. a little different than parades at home, but really interesting. more of a precession, lots of fun drumming and dancing.
in other news, i ate the following interesting things in the last 2 days:
Thurs.....una empenada de queso...not really any cheese in it, but yummy cinnamin flavor. Para la cena.....plain boiled potatoes with shredded cabbage with lemon on top, and a couple chicharrones. You folks in New Mexico know what those are....well, we got em here too.
Friday.....hotdog bun and butter for breakfast. dinner......it was either chopped up hot dog or bologna, i´m not sure which since i haven´t had either for probably 15 years, fried with tomatoes and served with a tortilla (a very good tortilla). Also, i was introduced to pinol: water and corn as a drink, and also, pinolino: pinol with cacao. not bad.
Yesterday was the Nicaraguan Independance day, from Spain, and since it was a national holiday everyone got to have electricity for the whole day (interesting, don´t you think?). so, we watched to big parade at the city´s stadium on the television. a little different than parades at home, but really interesting. more of a precession, lots of fun drumming and dancing.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Whoa - a little overwhelming and new
Okay, So i'm a little shell-shocked, but all is well, read below:
this place is very much like i expected except that everything is much more intense and extreme than i aniticipated. The poverty i've seen in only 2 days is like poverty i have never witnessed before....and i really thought i had seen poverty. this is like inescapable, have nothing, know nothing but....poverty. i saw a whole giant city park filled with tents made of trash bags, kids in the highway (litterally, didging cars) selling whatever they can, lean-to's all along the roads.
So far, my homestay is surely one of the most interesting experiences of my life. The house is owned by the nicest lady named Medina, and her mother Luisa and her brother Ronal also live there. None of them speak spanish. Medina says her brother works as a driver (taxi?) but I haven't seen him work....havn't seen a car or uniform, etc. he is the exact image of how i imagined the macho nicaraguan man....he struts, bosses the other women in the house around, really only comes around to eat (didn't even sleep here last night, stays at his novias i guess), and does nothing to help in the house at all (he hasn't really even acknowledged my presence and I prefer it that way). from what i can tell all the household income comes from Medina offering her spare room to people like me (I am her 9th homestay). I am trying by best to just understand what they are all saying, though it is very difficult and most of it goes over my head. There are 4 kids that are always running in and out, i think they are Medina's nieces and nephews, and i can't understand them either....its actually even more difficult since they talk so fast. All in all, they are all very friendly people and i feel fairly welcome.
The house has a small front room and attached living space, a small cement kitchen area behind ....but all the water and cooking instruments (stove) are outside in the back. the toilet and the shower are also in the back, outside in wooden stalls. the bedrooms are a row of concrete rooms that open off the back area next to the stalls. My room has all concrete walls and floor with a bed that is higher on all 4 corners than it is in the center and also has 2 shelves along the walls. I have a fan i can use if its too hot and if the electricity is working. Last night there was a blackout that began about 4pm and did not end until after i went to bed at 9pm. i studied spanish by candlelight, had a dinner of smashed & friend plantains and beans. I tried my best to listen to the family talking for a couple hours, but I couldn't really understand much and mostly felt like i was intruding by even being there. (though, they were very polite and understanding...they can't really understand me either).
Sleep hasn't really happened yet, though i really hope tonight will be better. I think it is all a little too shocking right now and i am not nearly comfortable enough in any sense to let my guard down enough to really rest. i had set my alarm to get up this morning, but was pleasantly surprised when i didn't need it since the rooster crowed to wake me up....until i realized it was only 4:30 am and i was already wide awake....well, more awake than i had been before. The rooster did his thing for a while and then when he finally stopped the dogs began...lots of them, and then some cats chimed in and after that the chickens started clucking....the house i am staying in has no animals at all...so they are all animals at the neigbors' homes, or just in the neighborhood.
this morning i got dressed and went straight to studying for class (i am trying to take these spanish classes very seriously)....i chose not to shower as i am not quite ready to brave the stall....
For breakfast Medina made me some scrambled eggs with onions and a plain hotdog bun. odd, but not terrible. coffee so far is of the instant variety, but i can handle that for now.
This weekend is a huge national holiday in Nicaragua...the independence day from Spain. There is a big parade I will hopefully be able to see, and in preparation there are tons of people drumming and practicing on their loudspeakers in the street. its all very loud and a little unsettling since i can't understand a word they're yelling.
Spanish school is great, the school is nice and the teachers and other students are great. it is next door to my homestay....i kind of wish it wasn't so i'd be forced to find my way there and maybe encounter something cool on the way....as it is i don't know where to go or what to do during my down time.
okay, a novel i now.
i'm sure there's plenty i'm leaving out too.
what a place this is.
i'm a little overwhelmed. at the same time, i have so much dead time during these days that i'm bored. I'm not really confident enough to explore managua on my own yet, but maybe in a couple days. I wish I had a friend here. Things will change in 2 weeks when I go to Cusmapa where I will have an American friend and a whole community of people to get to know.
well, hasta,
for now,
L.
this place is very much like i expected except that everything is much more intense and extreme than i aniticipated. The poverty i've seen in only 2 days is like poverty i have never witnessed before....and i really thought i had seen poverty. this is like inescapable, have nothing, know nothing but....poverty. i saw a whole giant city park filled with tents made of trash bags, kids in the highway (litterally, didging cars) selling whatever they can, lean-to's all along the roads.
So far, my homestay is surely one of the most interesting experiences of my life. The house is owned by the nicest lady named Medina, and her mother Luisa and her brother Ronal also live there. None of them speak spanish. Medina says her brother works as a driver (taxi?) but I haven't seen him work....havn't seen a car or uniform, etc. he is the exact image of how i imagined the macho nicaraguan man....he struts, bosses the other women in the house around, really only comes around to eat (didn't even sleep here last night, stays at his novias i guess), and does nothing to help in the house at all (he hasn't really even acknowledged my presence and I prefer it that way). from what i can tell all the household income comes from Medina offering her spare room to people like me (I am her 9th homestay). I am trying by best to just understand what they are all saying, though it is very difficult and most of it goes over my head. There are 4 kids that are always running in and out, i think they are Medina's nieces and nephews, and i can't understand them either....its actually even more difficult since they talk so fast. All in all, they are all very friendly people and i feel fairly welcome.
The house has a small front room and attached living space, a small cement kitchen area behind ....but all the water and cooking instruments (stove) are outside in the back. the toilet and the shower are also in the back, outside in wooden stalls. the bedrooms are a row of concrete rooms that open off the back area next to the stalls. My room has all concrete walls and floor with a bed that is higher on all 4 corners than it is in the center and also has 2 shelves along the walls. I have a fan i can use if its too hot and if the electricity is working. Last night there was a blackout that began about 4pm and did not end until after i went to bed at 9pm. i studied spanish by candlelight, had a dinner of smashed & friend plantains and beans. I tried my best to listen to the family talking for a couple hours, but I couldn't really understand much and mostly felt like i was intruding by even being there. (though, they were very polite and understanding...they can't really understand me either).
Sleep hasn't really happened yet, though i really hope tonight will be better. I think it is all a little too shocking right now and i am not nearly comfortable enough in any sense to let my guard down enough to really rest. i had set my alarm to get up this morning, but was pleasantly surprised when i didn't need it since the rooster crowed to wake me up....until i realized it was only 4:30 am and i was already wide awake....well, more awake than i had been before. The rooster did his thing for a while and then when he finally stopped the dogs began...lots of them, and then some cats chimed in and after that the chickens started clucking....the house i am staying in has no animals at all...so they are all animals at the neigbors' homes, or just in the neighborhood.
this morning i got dressed and went straight to studying for class (i am trying to take these spanish classes very seriously)....i chose not to shower as i am not quite ready to brave the stall....
For breakfast Medina made me some scrambled eggs with onions and a plain hotdog bun. odd, but not terrible. coffee so far is of the instant variety, but i can handle that for now.
This weekend is a huge national holiday in Nicaragua...the independence day from Spain. There is a big parade I will hopefully be able to see, and in preparation there are tons of people drumming and practicing on their loudspeakers in the street. its all very loud and a little unsettling since i can't understand a word they're yelling.
Spanish school is great, the school is nice and the teachers and other students are great. it is next door to my homestay....i kind of wish it wasn't so i'd be forced to find my way there and maybe encounter something cool on the way....as it is i don't know where to go or what to do during my down time.
okay, a novel i now.
i'm sure there's plenty i'm leaving out too.
what a place this is.
i'm a little overwhelmed. at the same time, i have so much dead time during these days that i'm bored. I'm not really confident enough to explore managua on my own yet, but maybe in a couple days. I wish I had a friend here. Things will change in 2 weeks when I go to Cusmapa where I will have an American friend and a whole community of people to get to know.
well, hasta,
for now,
L.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
I'M HERE!!!
Managua is the most beautiful city to fly into on an aiplane. First, you come into the area over the Gulf of Mexico, then you come over the land only to shortly be over water again, only this time it's a giant lake. Then, you come to the mainland again and right away you are right over a giant volcanic lake, the crest and downslopes of the old volcanoe are so sharp, green and beautiful, and the water inside the volcanoe is dark deep blue. the land around the shore is lush green that drops right into the water, they aren't sandy beaches, not around the lake. There were fires burning here and there near the shore and I could see their smoke rising over the water from the plane. There are lots of farms , tins roofs and several old churches that i could see from above. .....
Ah! So pretty!
i havn't yet seen much but the airport and the hotel, but tomorrow the real adventure begins. Fabretto orientation and the beginning of spanish school and a homestay for 2 weeks.
what a relief to finally be here!
Ah! So pretty!
i havn't yet seen much but the airport and the hotel, but tomorrow the real adventure begins. Fabretto orientation and the beginning of spanish school and a homestay for 2 weeks.
what a relief to finally be here!
Monday, September 10, 2007
TOMORROW!!!!
So, I'm off to the South and my grand adventure tomorrow afternoon. I'm not freaking out quite like I thought I would, though I've got another 24 hours or so for that to come on, so who knows how I'll be feeling in the morning. I've had a great time these couple days in Houston, seen some people who are very dear to me just in time to leave them again for a year. It has been a good way to ease into my travels.
Managua tomorrow for two weeks and then to the northern mountains of Nicaragua where I will live for the following year. yay!
Managua tomorrow for two weeks and then to the northern mountains of Nicaragua where I will live for the following year. yay!
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
The Day is Nearing!
Just 4 days now.
can you all let me know if this thing is working? do you recieve an email when I make a new post, is that how this works? can you see the photo i posted a while back, the volcanoe?
that hurricane that hit Nica sounds pretty aweful, those poor folks just can't catch a break.
can you all let me know if this thing is working? do you recieve an email when I make a new post, is that how this works? can you see the photo i posted a while back, the volcanoe?
that hurricane that hit Nica sounds pretty aweful, those poor folks just can't catch a break.
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