Since we have moved to the apartment behind our old apartment we have been invaded by ants. Now ants were always a problem, Sabine used to complain about them in her spotless kitchen! We have the same problem, although our kitchen is not always spotless but, once the lights go out, the ants take over, its gross, but there's not much that can be done.
This time the Leaf-cutter ants attacked my bougainvilleas. It went from a flowering, green leafy plant to a bunch of leafless branches in what seemed like a day or two! We can always see ants walking in their little line, carrying bits of leaves, hard at work. It never really bothered me that much until they took all the leaves of my plant! So I went to the hardware store and got this poison. The guy told me to sprinkle it in their path and they will pick it up and bring it back to the nest (or whatever the place ants live is called) and die. It seemed easy enough. Ivan and I went outside and found the line of ants and sprinkled the little green disks along their path.
We watched as they started picking them up and carrying them along their way back home. I was amazed that it worked so fast, the ants immediately picked them up, but then I started feeling guilty. I was tricking them and they were carrying off poison that would kill them all! I have never liked killing living things. Ask my dad who I would call up into my room when there was a spider, but then ask him to capture it and bring it outside instead of killing it. I would often do that myself, if I was brave enough. Although here the insects are sometimes a little too big and scary to do this and Ivan doesn't go for capturing it and putting it outside. So I have had to get used to the killing of little and big insect alike. And just to be clear, I think cockroaches are the only thing I don't care about killing. I cant decide if they are more gross dead or alive, I certainly dont like killing them because of their gooey insides and but I have no remorse for them when they are gone.
I was surprised that Ivan was saddened by our massive ant murder as well. At first I thought he was just making fun of me, but then he suggested even cleaning up the poison we had left out and said that we were messing with the circle of life. It is true. When we went outside tonight we only saw one ant on the ant road, poor thing doesnt know where all his friends went. I dont know, maybe I have watched too many of those movies, "Antz" or "A Bug's Life", but both Ivan and I were feeling pretty bad about the whole thing.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
No Thanks! No Time!
(The title is for you, Cales!)
The past two months have been busy, busy, busy and have flown by! The week after starting school again after Christmas break my Master's classes began. Framingham State College has some sort of international program, I am not sure if it is only for masters of teaching or if they offer other fields of study, but it is a pretty cool program. The professors that have come have taught courses all over the world. It is kinda nice too to have people from Massachusetts come, some of them have accents and it is enjoyable to listen to.
So I started one class last summer, classes were offered in Jan and Feb and then two again in June once classes got out. I didnt do the classes in Jan and Feb last year because I was too stressed out with the day to day pressures of school in general. Now I wish I had at least taken one course. The program takes two years (9 courses). So I will finish next summer. And since I decided to stay another year, I though I should take advantage of this opportunity. Well actually it was one of the reasons I decided to stay another year too. The master's is technically in International Education, which I am not sure will hold up in public schools in the States, but it will at least look good, maybe help with private schools in the States and definitely be great if I come back to teach in Managua again, or anywhere else. The school that hosted the Teacher's Conference I went to in the Dominican Republic in October was really, really nice. Maybe I will become an International teacher and just teach my way around all the places I want to visit in the world!
The first course was Technology in the Classroom, which was an awesome class and I learned lots of new ways to integrate technology in the classroom and learned how to make little movies, which was the best part of the class. There was also a nice atmosphere and classmates were supportive and class was fun and went by quickly. Classes are held from 4-7 M-F and 8-5 Saturdays for two weeks. During the first week of class I was on a cleanse diet. I had seen a lot about them on talk shows around New Years time, saying that people should do them at least once a year and they sounded pretty great. Plus, just the week before I suffered through 2 days of food poisoning from some tacos I bought on the street. Not fun! So I thought it would be a good time to clean out my system and what a perfect place to do it where there is endless fresh fruit and veggies for cheap! But, this diet requires a lot of prep. When you eat only raw fruits and vegetables, you are basically eating constantly, and so each night I was up late chopping and preparing tupperwares full of papaya, pineapple, melon, carrots, celery, etc. The diet was nice, I didnt notice some of the promised effects like brighter, whiter eyes, or luminous skin. But I did feel good every day.
After that class ended we had a one week break to catch our breath and then the next class started with the same schedule. The next class was Special Ed in the Regular Ed classroom. The class was interesting, and I learned a lot, but the class over all just had a really bad feeling to it. We started off class with a debate over inclusion of a downs syndrome student in a regular classroom. It was a great way to learn about the pros and cons of this issue, that is a hot topic, but some people seemed to take the debate personally and had strong feelings about it and there just seemed to be this lingering animosity for the remaining two weeks. The professor wasnt very dynamic and the class seemed to drag on each night.
Also during this time Ivan and I started Salsa Casino classes, which we have been wanting to take since I moved here. Ivan of course has a natural feel for dancing salsa, and I had lessons a few years earlier in Leon, but I dance rigidly, 1, 2, 3, forward, backward, side, side. So our salsa styles werent quite compatible, but it is something we both enjoy doing, so we thought taking a class together would be great! Classes are Tues and Thurs from 730 to 9. So after my masters classes ended at 7, I would go meet Ivan and usually have to change in the car so we could be on time for classes. After class, we would eat a late dinner and I would have to stay up late doing homework or writing a paper.
On top of all of this I found out that I need to apply for the Master Program, duh, seems pretty obvious, but, big surprise, the school never told me and I had asked them about it and they said I just need to take the classes. Well that isnt the case, as I found out from some others in the class. I was supposed to matriculate before taking my third course, but this was impossible as the application needs to be mailed to the school, it cannot be sent digitally. I got an extension until the end of Feb, and luckily Ivan's Uncle was visiting from Miami and so after I ran around and got all the letters of rec I needed and wrote an essay, etc, etc, I sent the package home with Ivan's Uncle, who will mail it along for me.
So now classes are over (YAY!), Ivan and I still have salsa classes, which are nice to be able to go to with more energy. I am playing a bit of correcting catch up and enjoying those extra hours I have each day.
The past two months have been busy, busy, busy and have flown by! The week after starting school again after Christmas break my Master's classes began. Framingham State College has some sort of international program, I am not sure if it is only for masters of teaching or if they offer other fields of study, but it is a pretty cool program. The professors that have come have taught courses all over the world. It is kinda nice too to have people from Massachusetts come, some of them have accents and it is enjoyable to listen to.
So I started one class last summer, classes were offered in Jan and Feb and then two again in June once classes got out. I didnt do the classes in Jan and Feb last year because I was too stressed out with the day to day pressures of school in general. Now I wish I had at least taken one course. The program takes two years (9 courses). So I will finish next summer. And since I decided to stay another year, I though I should take advantage of this opportunity. Well actually it was one of the reasons I decided to stay another year too. The master's is technically in International Education, which I am not sure will hold up in public schools in the States, but it will at least look good, maybe help with private schools in the States and definitely be great if I come back to teach in Managua again, or anywhere else. The school that hosted the Teacher's Conference I went to in the Dominican Republic in October was really, really nice. Maybe I will become an International teacher and just teach my way around all the places I want to visit in the world!
The first course was Technology in the Classroom, which was an awesome class and I learned lots of new ways to integrate technology in the classroom and learned how to make little movies, which was the best part of the class. There was also a nice atmosphere and classmates were supportive and class was fun and went by quickly. Classes are held from 4-7 M-F and 8-5 Saturdays for two weeks. During the first week of class I was on a cleanse diet. I had seen a lot about them on talk shows around New Years time, saying that people should do them at least once a year and they sounded pretty great. Plus, just the week before I suffered through 2 days of food poisoning from some tacos I bought on the street. Not fun! So I thought it would be a good time to clean out my system and what a perfect place to do it where there is endless fresh fruit and veggies for cheap! But, this diet requires a lot of prep. When you eat only raw fruits and vegetables, you are basically eating constantly, and so each night I was up late chopping and preparing tupperwares full of papaya, pineapple, melon, carrots, celery, etc. The diet was nice, I didnt notice some of the promised effects like brighter, whiter eyes, or luminous skin. But I did feel good every day.
After that class ended we had a one week break to catch our breath and then the next class started with the same schedule. The next class was Special Ed in the Regular Ed classroom. The class was interesting, and I learned a lot, but the class over all just had a really bad feeling to it. We started off class with a debate over inclusion of a downs syndrome student in a regular classroom. It was a great way to learn about the pros and cons of this issue, that is a hot topic, but some people seemed to take the debate personally and had strong feelings about it and there just seemed to be this lingering animosity for the remaining two weeks. The professor wasnt very dynamic and the class seemed to drag on each night.
Also during this time Ivan and I started Salsa Casino classes, which we have been wanting to take since I moved here. Ivan of course has a natural feel for dancing salsa, and I had lessons a few years earlier in Leon, but I dance rigidly, 1, 2, 3, forward, backward, side, side. So our salsa styles werent quite compatible, but it is something we both enjoy doing, so we thought taking a class together would be great! Classes are Tues and Thurs from 730 to 9. So after my masters classes ended at 7, I would go meet Ivan and usually have to change in the car so we could be on time for classes. After class, we would eat a late dinner and I would have to stay up late doing homework or writing a paper.
On top of all of this I found out that I need to apply for the Master Program, duh, seems pretty obvious, but, big surprise, the school never told me and I had asked them about it and they said I just need to take the classes. Well that isnt the case, as I found out from some others in the class. I was supposed to matriculate before taking my third course, but this was impossible as the application needs to be mailed to the school, it cannot be sent digitally. I got an extension until the end of Feb, and luckily Ivan's Uncle was visiting from Miami and so after I ran around and got all the letters of rec I needed and wrote an essay, etc, etc, I sent the package home with Ivan's Uncle, who will mail it along for me.
So now classes are over (YAY!), Ivan and I still have salsa classes, which are nice to be able to go to with more energy. I am playing a bit of correcting catch up and enjoying those extra hours I have each day.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Merry Christmas and Happy Purísima!
December is a month of celebrations in Nicaragua, the Purísima (see my Dec 08 post too) is to celebrate the conception of the Virgin Mary and the miracles she has performed. My good friend and Nicaragua expert, Miguel, was telling me, on a recent visit to Leon, that the Purísima is to give thanks to Mary for stopping a volcanic eruption that was threatening a Nicaraguan city. I have not found this explanation anywhere else, but I will keep asking around about it. La Gritería (The Shouting) happens on the Purísima's Eve. People go around to houses with alters made to Mary and sing to her and the people in the house then hand out treats such as sour lemons, chicha drink, sugar cane, molasses based candies and noise makers. Its almost like trick or treating and Christmas caroling put together. I wanted to go to Leon to see the celebration (because like most things, Leon does it better than anyone). But Ivan and I ended up being busy with work that weekend, so we didnt go :(
Ivan and I did go out during La Gritería to see what we could see.
I enjoyed hearing stories about when Ivan was young and he used to partake in the festivities and get all the sugar cane that he could! Ivan is also quite the traditionalist and hates to see how commercial the holiday has become with households now giving out candy bars and such. Most of the people participating are very poor and carry around large sacks to collect all they can. Others however are devout Catholics and of course lots of kids. The government also sets up alters downtown and hands out beans, rice and oil to the poor. Ivan and I drove through downtown after it had ended and it was horribly amazing to see how much trash was littered all over the streets. It was jaw dropping.
One of the best parts is the firecrackers everyone sets off at noon, 6 pm and midnight. It is really fun to hear hundreds going off at once and it last for 10 minutes or so too!
Christmas in Nicaragua is celebrated on Christmas Eve. Families get together and have a late dinner (around midnight)open presents and set off fire crackers. I will see this tradition first hand tomorrow night!
In the meantime, here are a couple good articles from Times magazine about Nicaragua and Christmas:
Nicaragua: Where Everyday is Christmas
Have Yourself a Sandinista Christmas
Merry Christmas!
Ivan and I did go out during La Gritería to see what we could see.
I enjoyed hearing stories about when Ivan was young and he used to partake in the festivities and get all the sugar cane that he could! Ivan is also quite the traditionalist and hates to see how commercial the holiday has become with households now giving out candy bars and such. Most of the people participating are very poor and carry around large sacks to collect all they can. Others however are devout Catholics and of course lots of kids. The government also sets up alters downtown and hands out beans, rice and oil to the poor. Ivan and I drove through downtown after it had ended and it was horribly amazing to see how much trash was littered all over the streets. It was jaw dropping.
One of the best parts is the firecrackers everyone sets off at noon, 6 pm and midnight. It is really fun to hear hundreds going off at once and it last for 10 minutes or so too!
Christmas in Nicaragua is celebrated on Christmas Eve. Families get together and have a late dinner (around midnight)open presents and set off fire crackers. I will see this tradition first hand tomorrow night!
In the meantime, here are a couple good articles from Times magazine about Nicaragua and Christmas:
Nicaragua: Where Everyday is Christmas
Have Yourself a Sandinista Christmas
Merry Christmas!
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Democracia Si, Dictadura No!
Last night I woke up around 4:30 and I thought it was strangely quiet. The parrots and other tropical birds started chirping around 6 and Ivan's friend arrived at the apt around 8:30. We watched some news coverage and all seemed peaceful. They left here around 9:30, dressed in white shirts, and planning on meeting up with colleagues from work. They arrived back here around 12:30, they were excited but exhausted. Ivan said it was an amazing feeling to reach Carretera Masaya and see a river of white.
Now, we are being forced to watch the Sandinistas "celebrating" one year since the victories of the municipal elections, which they just so happened to schedule for the same day. At first none of the channels were covering the "celebration", just channel 4 (the one owned by the sandinistas). But now all channels must be mandated to show it, because they are all showing the same feed and without commentary or anything.
Here are some videos I took of news coverage:
"
Here is a video of what I could hear from the apt:
Now, we are being forced to watch the Sandinistas "celebrating" one year since the victories of the municipal elections, which they just so happened to schedule for the same day. At first none of the channels were covering the "celebration", just channel 4 (the one owned by the sandinistas). But now all channels must be mandated to show it, because they are all showing the same feed and without commentary or anything.
Here are some videos I took of news coverage:
"
Here is a video of what I could hear from the apt:
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Sandanistas Back to their Old Tricks
Last month Nicaragua's constitution was violated, changing the law that will now allow Ortega to run for re-election. Since that time there has been some political turmoil, but not as much as I would have imagined. It actually seemed to happen without people blinking an eye. It certainly was expected, but doesn't make it any more acceptable.
The biggest outrage was seen when Robert Callahan (US Embassador to Nic) made a statement, making it clear that the US State Dept was concerned about the recent changes to the constitution and more so how it was changed. Sandinista turbas (basically street bums paid by the Sandinista's to cause trouble) were outside the fortress that is the American Embassy destroying signs, light fixtures, and trying to throw things over the wall. Police did little to nothing. I think it is sad how these people openly destroyed property and were never arrested or detained. There seems to be absolutely no justice-no one has to take responsibility for their actions. And I see this every day in school as well. It is amazing to me how such behavior, mainly unaccountability, committed by those that are seemingly social deviants, is the same type of behavior that I see some of my students display at school and sadly sometimes behavior I see administrators display as well. The school is a microcosm of the society. And I am sorry to say that from my point of view, displays of such behavior are not only made by deviants, but normal members of society as well.
Anyway, there has been a protest, a march in the works for several weeks now and it has turned into a three ring circus, as most things in Nicaragua do. It started off as a march against the change in the constitution, and then people said they wanted to march against the fraudulent elections that happened last year, and then the liberals said they were marching and different unions are marching and of course, the Sandinistas are marching against the march! What was supposed to be a peaceful protest now is billed as being the 2nd Revolution!
The opposition march planned their route and gathering places in advance and cleared it with the police and such. Now the Sandinistas are saying they are marching the same route in the opposite direction. The police, at first, told the Sandinistas that they needed to change their route, but now, since they are in the government’s pocket, the opposition in now being told they need to change their route.
This is all supposed to take place on Carretera Masaya, which is about 3 blocks from my apartment, and the starting point will be at the Mall, less than a 5 minute drive from my house. There is no worry for me though, because our road is not a main road and only traveled by those who live here. There should be no rabble rousers on our street.
There has been a document released, and the validity of it has been questioned, but it is supposed to be the Sandinista plan to impede the Opposition March. They are trying to use fear tactics, as always, to keep people from marching, saying that they are going to take over all main traffic routes of the city, fire off mortars, burn tires, throw rocks, generally terrorize, to keep people from coming out. Ivan has decided not to march, which of course I am happy for, because I would not want him out in that madness, but I am also a little upset as well. He should be able to go out and protest this travesty done to his country and speak his mind. It is all very sickening.
Here is a great article from the New York Times that explains things much more eloquently than I. There is something about this situation that leaves me at a loss for words at how wrong it is.
I will most likely be posting information here on Saturday, as it happens. Ivan teases me that I think I am a breaking news source or something.
The biggest outrage was seen when Robert Callahan (US Embassador to Nic) made a statement, making it clear that the US State Dept was concerned about the recent changes to the constitution and more so how it was changed. Sandinista turbas (basically street bums paid by the Sandinista's to cause trouble) were outside the fortress that is the American Embassy destroying signs, light fixtures, and trying to throw things over the wall. Police did little to nothing. I think it is sad how these people openly destroyed property and were never arrested or detained. There seems to be absolutely no justice-no one has to take responsibility for their actions. And I see this every day in school as well. It is amazing to me how such behavior, mainly unaccountability, committed by those that are seemingly social deviants, is the same type of behavior that I see some of my students display at school and sadly sometimes behavior I see administrators display as well. The school is a microcosm of the society. And I am sorry to say that from my point of view, displays of such behavior are not only made by deviants, but normal members of society as well.
Anyway, there has been a protest, a march in the works for several weeks now and it has turned into a three ring circus, as most things in Nicaragua do. It started off as a march against the change in the constitution, and then people said they wanted to march against the fraudulent elections that happened last year, and then the liberals said they were marching and different unions are marching and of course, the Sandinistas are marching against the march! What was supposed to be a peaceful protest now is billed as being the 2nd Revolution!
The opposition march planned their route and gathering places in advance and cleared it with the police and such. Now the Sandinistas are saying they are marching the same route in the opposite direction. The police, at first, told the Sandinistas that they needed to change their route, but now, since they are in the government’s pocket, the opposition in now being told they need to change their route.
This is all supposed to take place on Carretera Masaya, which is about 3 blocks from my apartment, and the starting point will be at the Mall, less than a 5 minute drive from my house. There is no worry for me though, because our road is not a main road and only traveled by those who live here. There should be no rabble rousers on our street.
There has been a document released, and the validity of it has been questioned, but it is supposed to be the Sandinista plan to impede the Opposition March. They are trying to use fear tactics, as always, to keep people from marching, saying that they are going to take over all main traffic routes of the city, fire off mortars, burn tires, throw rocks, generally terrorize, to keep people from coming out. Ivan has decided not to march, which of course I am happy for, because I would not want him out in that madness, but I am also a little upset as well. He should be able to go out and protest this travesty done to his country and speak his mind. It is all very sickening.
Here is a great article from the New York Times that explains things much more eloquently than I. There is something about this situation that leaves me at a loss for words at how wrong it is.
I will most likely be posting information here on Saturday, as it happens. Ivan teases me that I think I am a breaking news source or something.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Recent Seismic Activity
This week there has been lots of moving and shaking in Nicaragua! I am sure it is all connected to the earthquakes in the South Pacific, we are all part of that "burning ring of fire".
Monday I came home from work and took a shower, a thunderstorm had started and I thought, I should get dressed right away instead of lounging around in my towel for awhile, just in case there is an earthquake. A few minutes later there was a 4.4 Richter scale tremor. It felt stronger than the first one I had felt here and seemed to last longer, only a couple of seconds. I think I had the little premonition because the first time I felt a quake here was in the afternoon, around the same time during a thunderstorm too.
Adrienn, friend and 6th grade science teacher, commented today during a rain storm, that earthquakes often happen at that time, when a drastic change in temperature happens. And it was really hot today! I don't know what temperature has to do with plate tectonics, but people have often said here that earthquakes happen when it is really hot, which to me it always seems really hot. Maybe it is an old wives tale, or maybe I know nothing about earthquakes, being a New England girl and all!
Tuesday night there were two small tremors, I didn't feel them, but Ivan felt one and my students were talking about it in class. Last night there was a noticeable one as well. I am told that lots of small tremors are good! Small releases of pressure instead of pressuring building up and resulting in a large earthquake. They say when there hasn't been tremors in awhile, they start getting nervous. This makes sense to me, but I also feel like small tremors are warnings to something more to come, like signs before a volcanic eruption.
Anyway, I have been checking up on the Nicaraguan Seismic Monitoring website and there have been quite a few tremors each day (25 yesterday!), many too small to feel. Most are originating from near Volcan Apoyeque, which is on Lake Managua, not far from the city. But the stronger ones we have felt, have been from near Puerto Sandino, which is closer to Leon on the coast.
I am wondering if there are similar movements happening further up the ring in San Francisco and Seattle...Ceilidh, Mom, Dad?
Monday I came home from work and took a shower, a thunderstorm had started and I thought, I should get dressed right away instead of lounging around in my towel for awhile, just in case there is an earthquake. A few minutes later there was a 4.4 Richter scale tremor. It felt stronger than the first one I had felt here and seemed to last longer, only a couple of seconds. I think I had the little premonition because the first time I felt a quake here was in the afternoon, around the same time during a thunderstorm too.
Adrienn, friend and 6th grade science teacher, commented today during a rain storm, that earthquakes often happen at that time, when a drastic change in temperature happens. And it was really hot today! I don't know what temperature has to do with plate tectonics, but people have often said here that earthquakes happen when it is really hot, which to me it always seems really hot. Maybe it is an old wives tale, or maybe I know nothing about earthquakes, being a New England girl and all!
Tuesday night there were two small tremors, I didn't feel them, but Ivan felt one and my students were talking about it in class. Last night there was a noticeable one as well. I am told that lots of small tremors are good! Small releases of pressure instead of pressuring building up and resulting in a large earthquake. They say when there hasn't been tremors in awhile, they start getting nervous. This makes sense to me, but I also feel like small tremors are warnings to something more to come, like signs before a volcanic eruption.
Anyway, I have been checking up on the Nicaraguan Seismic Monitoring website and there have been quite a few tremors each day (25 yesterday!), many too small to feel. Most are originating from near Volcan Apoyeque, which is on Lake Managua, not far from the city. But the stronger ones we have felt, have been from near Puerto Sandino, which is closer to Leon on the coast.
I am wondering if there are similar movements happening further up the ring in San Francisco and Seattle...Ceilidh, Mom, Dad?
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Mariposa Means Butterfly
There have been so many mariposas around lately, and it has been such a welcomed sight. After a tough class I start walking to the teacher's lounge all hot, sweaty, and frustrated and then a little (or big) butterfly crosses my path and makes everything all better. Sometimes they fly into my classroom or hover around the many flowers on campus. They come in all colors and sizes. I like the black and blue ones the best. I wish I could carry around a little camera to capture their beauty, unfortunately I always seem to see them at school and therefore don't get pictures.
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