La Vida

I can't believe it's been almost a week since my last entry. It should probably also be known that I was sick all of Thursday and Friday. My cold morphed into a 100 F fever. Then I woke up this morning a bit dazed but back to normal. Fortunately, it's la semana patria (patriotic week), so we got Friday off. I mostly self medicated with water and an "anti-gripal" drug called Panadol. Right now I'm at the SIT study center, with the hope of completing my paper about above mentioned semana patria--in Spanish--yet that is for some reason a bit daunting at the moment. So I'll talk about my feelings instead. =)

Here's my daily routine. I wake up at around 7:00-ish, probably earlier thanks to a rather enterprising rooster next door. Since the water shuts off at 8:00, I make sure to take a shower soon after I wake up. I'm not sure exactly how the water system works in the house. Edu fills up buckes to the brim every morning so there's ample amounts for the rest of the day. There's even a barrel in the shower, so if I miss the water hours, I could always take a bucket bath. Then I have breakfast, usually rice, beans, and a banana.

At around 8:30, I start walking to the UCA. Usually I go with a few other people from the SIT group, and we take a route known 'round here as the Zig-Zag, preferred for its scenic beauty and lack of pedestrian-unfriendly superhighways. Depending on who I walk with, this can take between 20 and 40 minutes. Taxis are constantly beeping at us--their way of inquiring if we want a lift-- and men regularly shout out piropos, or catcalls, at the women. The best way to deal with this is to ignore it, reactions of any kind just make it worse. But then of course you occasionally ignore someone who genuinely is wishing you a "buen dia." But that's life.

Spanish class goes from 9-12:30, with a break at around 11:00. At this point I usually buy instant coffee from a little convenience store on campus. It costs 3 cordobas, which works out to about 1 penny. Unless you want milk or sugar, then it can get as pricey as 6 cordobas. Class is a lot of discussion which helps widen my vocabulary and improve my grammar. There's three spanish teachers, and every week the three spanish classes rotate. So, the first week I had Myrna, last week was Araceli, and next week Ramon will be my professor. Also, twice a week we have conversation partners. These partners are students at the UCA who are paid to talk with us for an hour. I never really know what to say to my partner, Margarita--I think she sees herself as a teacher more than a peer. So our interchange is a bit unidirectional. She's majoring in "bancofinancia," and is pretty much always busy. I asked her how she was going to celebrate la semana patria, and she seemed surprised at the idea. Still, I'm happy to have someone to practice my spanish on.

After class is out, I have lunch somewhere. A couple very enterprising students in the group have found some great comedors--on thursday we went to a vegetarian eatery, which included some very delicious soy burgers. I don't think I've ever gone to the same place more than twice. And the price is never more than 35 cordobas. That's maybe $1.50. Lunch is usually rice, beans, chopped up cabbage (soaked in vinegar to ensure cleanliness), a banana, and some kind of meat. It sounds more boring in text. You have to imagine plastic square tables and red plastic chairs, the smell of diesel and whatever sugary beverage you managed to order (on thursday, mine tasted exactly like therma-flu). There's always some sensory overload during lunch.

In the afternoons, I have class with Aynn and Guillermo on the CIES campus. This is fairly close to my neighborhood, which is good because the sun begins to set about the time class ends, so it's a safer campus to leave from. Aynn teaches a field study seminar every Monday, and Guillermo leads the Revolution, Transformation, and Civil Society seminar, which has always been lectures and presentations from other people on topics surrounding Nicaraguan politics. Last week has been really interesting. First, Guillermo talked to us about his experiences during the revolution and later fighting the contras. Then a Contra commandante talked to us about his point of view. And on Thursday, we heard from a man who fought the sandinistas, basically because he thought he was true sandinista and the ones in power were too marxst-leninist. There's always a question and answer session as well, and I've managed to ask a question every time. Don't know if they were all that good, but I like that I'm involved.

After that, I go back the the SIT center, which is just a few blocks from my house, to do homework. Electricity was off from 5-10 this week, and next week that will change to 2-7, which makes far more sense in regards to lights sources. SIT has a couple electric lamps, so I use them. Then I go home to the pulperia, have rice and beans for supper, and talk Edu outside of her store for a few hours.

Sometimes, I'll go to a concert or two during the week. I went to a fundraiser for the hurricane on Tuesday, which mostly featured (mostly bad) folk singers. On Thursday I went to a different hurricane fundraiser to see the pop band Perrozonpopos, which reminded me of Jack Johnson. Except there were something like two bass players, a synthesizer, a drum set, and an electric violin as well as a lad back guitar player man.

I think that sums up my life. Any questions?