I have many firsts in Nicaragua and today was my first earthquake, little earthquake. I got home from work just before a thunderstorm and torrential downpour began. I was enjoying the loud booms of thunder and downloading some pics onto my computer when an especially loud boom of thunder seemed to shake the apartment and even the couch I was sitting on. At first I thought that the building had been hit by lightening, but then I realized it must be an earthquake! And I realized the loud boom of thunder must have actually been the sound of the earthquake.
I spoke to Ivan soon afterward and he confirmed it was a little quake, registering 2.5 on the Richter scale, a surface quake, that's epicenter was 4 K outside of the city. There was a pretty big quake in Honduras today and since I have been here we have often seen and heard of large earthquakes in Costa Rica and Guatemala, it is only a matter of time before a large earthquake hits here.
One of the contributing factors of Nicaragua's downfall to one of the poorest nations in the hemisphere, besides the Sandinista Revolution, was the Earthquake of '72, which hit Managua very hard and much of the "old city" was never rebuilt due to mismanagement of funds by the government. In fact, many directions here are given by prominent landmarks that were there before the earthquake, "go down to the corner where the BAC building used to be, and then go two blocks toward the lake".
Anyway, Managua is long overdue for a big earthquake. So Ivan and I have an emergency evacuation plan, "get out!" And like my dad always says, "I'll be in Idaho that weekend" referring to my worry of Mount Rainier destroying Seattle...I guess I will have to say "I'll be in the States that weekend".
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Help I can't get out of Nicaragua! Awww yeeeah, I got myself an Exit Visa!
So now that I am a legal resident of Nicaragua (I have my very own cedula (Nic ID card), as of March) apparently I have to get an exit visa to go back to the States! So Ivan and I went the Foreign Migration office this weekend to get it sorted out.
We waited in line for about 15 minutes(which is not that bad compared to other stories I have heard), and the woman at the counter told us that we had to get copies made of several pages in my passport and my cedula. I also had to fill out this form, which I had to pay a few cords for as well! So we went to a copy place and got the photocopies taken care of, filled out the form and waited in line for a bit again.
Not liking the thought of having to do this all over again for my visit home this summer I asked about multi-exit visa. I could pay a few dollars more ($10 total) for a 3 month exit visa. So I did that :) I was excited at the thought that I wouldn't have to pay $5 to get back into the country, as they say the $5 is for your 3 month "tourist visa" but the woman told me I still have to pay that too, apparently my cedula is only good for allowing me to stay in the country for longer than 3 months without being fined and I am able to legally work here. So I guess I will still get my passport stamped with a tourist visa, which confuses me a bit, but I guess it just doesn't matter.
All and all, although I feel like it is a little strange that I need a visa to leave the country, because I am a resident, but still have to pay for a tourist visa to come back even though I am not a tourist and just giving my money away to the Nica gov't...it would be MUCH more difficult for me to live and work in the USA if I was a foreigner, not to mention WAY more expensive! I think it cost a Nicaraguan $100 just to apply for a US tourist visa and most applications are denied!
I am glad the US will always take me back for free...I just will have to pay a little money to get out of Nica :)
Now I am off to Danielley's College Graduation!
We waited in line for about 15 minutes(which is not that bad compared to other stories I have heard), and the woman at the counter told us that we had to get copies made of several pages in my passport and my cedula. I also had to fill out this form, which I had to pay a few cords for as well! So we went to a copy place and got the photocopies taken care of, filled out the form and waited in line for a bit again.
Not liking the thought of having to do this all over again for my visit home this summer I asked about multi-exit visa. I could pay a few dollars more ($10 total) for a 3 month exit visa. So I did that :) I was excited at the thought that I wouldn't have to pay $5 to get back into the country, as they say the $5 is for your 3 month "tourist visa" but the woman told me I still have to pay that too, apparently my cedula is only good for allowing me to stay in the country for longer than 3 months without being fined and I am able to legally work here. So I guess I will still get my passport stamped with a tourist visa, which confuses me a bit, but I guess it just doesn't matter.
All and all, although I feel like it is a little strange that I need a visa to leave the country, because I am a resident, but still have to pay for a tourist visa to come back even though I am not a tourist and just giving my money away to the Nica gov't...it would be MUCH more difficult for me to live and work in the USA if I was a foreigner, not to mention WAY more expensive! I think it cost a Nicaraguan $100 just to apply for a US tourist visa and most applications are denied!
I am glad the US will always take me back for free...I just will have to pay a little money to get out of Nica :)
Now I am off to Danielley's College Graduation!
Friday, May 8, 2009
The rain is back, Yay! or not.
So the last couple of weeks it has been really humid and when I say humid, I mean I dont think anyone has ever felt this kind of humidity before, EVER! Its humid when you wake up, all day long and still when you go to bed. Finally, a few days ago it rained, no, it poured! And with that rainy season is back. It was a welcomed homecoming for the rain, after six months of dust everywhere, seeing people watering the dirt to keep the dust down, burning fields, brown foliage and hot humid days. But after just a few days of it, I think I am good with the rain for awhile.
First thing I hate about rainy season is that our landlord shuts off the internet router at the first drop of rain cloud or distant boom of thunder and then never turns it back on. I feel so disabled when I dont have internet. Plus twice this week our power has gone out which makes it impossible to get any work done and you cant even sleep because it is so hot without the fan. You would think the rain would cool things off and sometimes it does, but other times it makes it feel more humid because the sun starts to burn off the rain that has just fallen.
Things have already begun to smelly musty again and I am really not looking forward to the mold that will be growing on the clothes in my closet and having it take 3 days to dry the laundry, just to have it feel wet again from all the humidity.
OH! Dont let me forget the flying ants that have invaded the house. It is like a horror movie, they are literally coming out from behind the electric outlets and falling from light fixtures! Ivan says they always come with the rain. Sabine predicts that since we are seeing the egg-laying ants that soon there will be larvae and then millions of ants everywhere! I, no-joke, killed 79 ants (with or without wings) when I was on skype with my parents on Sunday. They were crawling up my legs, on the table, falling onto the computer, awwww!
With all those negative things, I will never complain about the sound of rain hitting the palm trees at night, big big thunderstorms and the orchids that seemed to bloom overnight outside my apartment!
First thing I hate about rainy season is that our landlord shuts off the internet router at the first drop of rain cloud or distant boom of thunder and then never turns it back on. I feel so disabled when I dont have internet. Plus twice this week our power has gone out which makes it impossible to get any work done and you cant even sleep because it is so hot without the fan. You would think the rain would cool things off and sometimes it does, but other times it makes it feel more humid because the sun starts to burn off the rain that has just fallen.
Things have already begun to smelly musty again and I am really not looking forward to the mold that will be growing on the clothes in my closet and having it take 3 days to dry the laundry, just to have it feel wet again from all the humidity.
OH! Dont let me forget the flying ants that have invaded the house. It is like a horror movie, they are literally coming out from behind the electric outlets and falling from light fixtures! Ivan says they always come with the rain. Sabine predicts that since we are seeing the egg-laying ants that soon there will be larvae and then millions of ants everywhere! I, no-joke, killed 79 ants (with or without wings) when I was on skype with my parents on Sunday. They were crawling up my legs, on the table, falling onto the computer, awwww!
With all those negative things, I will never complain about the sound of rain hitting the palm trees at night, big big thunderstorms and the orchids that seemed to bloom overnight outside my apartment!
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Semana Santa...Holy Week...Easter
I was quite the lucky girl this Semana Santa! The World Traveler, Ms Jennifer Healy made her first and long awaited trip to Nicaragua.
After a half day of school on Friday, Jen and I joined Cezanne and her mom and aunt on a day trip to Mirador Catarina, zip lining at Volcan Mombacho and the city of Granada. The next morning we left early for Corn Island. It was a girls only trip, again with Cezanne's mom and aunt. After a long check-in at the airport we hopped into a little plane and we were off on a hour and 20 minute flight to Corn Island, an island off the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua. By 8:30am we were eating breakfast in front of the crystal clear turquoise waters of Corn Island. Although I put on sunscreen, I got a super bad burn while walking the beach with Jen on the first day. We dined each night on fresh seafood and had fruit and coconut bread for breakfast in the morning. Jen and I went to a baseball game with our cab driver, that we used the entire time we were there. The game was Managua vs the Atlantic Coast. It was an exciting game with lots of interesting plays and the Atlantic Coast came back to win the game in 6 innings (not sure why that many). The tickets cost $1.50, I bought a ticket for the taxi driver as well! There were tons of families there, babies, little kids, everyone enjoying popcorn and ice cream.
The next day we took a small boat over to Little Corn Island. We had hoped to go snorkeling there, but they were all booked. Instead we met up with some people we had met on the plane, Carmen and Theo. They were from Corn Island and owned a large piece of property on Little Corn Island. we hiked their property and ate fresh sugar mango and drank coconut juice. It was interesting to learn a little bit of the history, culture and politics of the Islands and the Atlantic Coast, which is far different than the rest of Nicaragua. The population is mainly black and the official language is English. The population is small, giving them little political representation, but the land area is huge and the natural resources rich.
The ride back to Big Corn Island was really rough, the waves we big and we were sitting in the front on the boat. Jen got some bruises :( We enjoyed our last morning in Corn Island and caught the afternoon flight back to Managua.
The next day we went on the night tour of Volcan Masaya, were we were able to climb the crater and have a great view of the surrounding cities by moonlight. We also went into a bat cave and saw lots of bats leaving for the night and the little babies they left behind. We were supposed to be able to see some lava too, but conditions werent right for it.
The next day Jen headed back to the States and Ivan and I prepared for another couple of days at the beach. We went back to Playa Hermosa, where we spent last Semana Santa. We arrived late Friday morning and the friends of Ivan's family who own the house (along with their kids who go to Lincoln) left on Saturday morning, so we had the place to ourselves for the rest of the weekend. The water was a little rough, but we were able to find some calm times each day to take a swim. We also spent hours exploring some really cool tide pools full of colorful ocean wonders.
Overall it was a relaxing week off, watching 9 beautiful sunsets over the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Check out my album to the right ----->
After a half day of school on Friday, Jen and I joined Cezanne and her mom and aunt on a day trip to Mirador Catarina, zip lining at Volcan Mombacho and the city of Granada. The next morning we left early for Corn Island. It was a girls only trip, again with Cezanne's mom and aunt. After a long check-in at the airport we hopped into a little plane and we were off on a hour and 20 minute flight to Corn Island, an island off the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua. By 8:30am we were eating breakfast in front of the crystal clear turquoise waters of Corn Island. Although I put on sunscreen, I got a super bad burn while walking the beach with Jen on the first day. We dined each night on fresh seafood and had fruit and coconut bread for breakfast in the morning. Jen and I went to a baseball game with our cab driver, that we used the entire time we were there. The game was Managua vs the Atlantic Coast. It was an exciting game with lots of interesting plays and the Atlantic Coast came back to win the game in 6 innings (not sure why that many). The tickets cost $1.50, I bought a ticket for the taxi driver as well! There were tons of families there, babies, little kids, everyone enjoying popcorn and ice cream.
The next day we took a small boat over to Little Corn Island. We had hoped to go snorkeling there, but they were all booked. Instead we met up with some people we had met on the plane, Carmen and Theo. They were from Corn Island and owned a large piece of property on Little Corn Island. we hiked their property and ate fresh sugar mango and drank coconut juice. It was interesting to learn a little bit of the history, culture and politics of the Islands and the Atlantic Coast, which is far different than the rest of Nicaragua. The population is mainly black and the official language is English. The population is small, giving them little political representation, but the land area is huge and the natural resources rich.
The ride back to Big Corn Island was really rough, the waves we big and we were sitting in the front on the boat. Jen got some bruises :( We enjoyed our last morning in Corn Island and caught the afternoon flight back to Managua.
The next day we went on the night tour of Volcan Masaya, were we were able to climb the crater and have a great view of the surrounding cities by moonlight. We also went into a bat cave and saw lots of bats leaving for the night and the little babies they left behind. We were supposed to be able to see some lava too, but conditions werent right for it.
The next day Jen headed back to the States and Ivan and I prepared for another couple of days at the beach. We went back to Playa Hermosa, where we spent last Semana Santa. We arrived late Friday morning and the friends of Ivan's family who own the house (along with their kids who go to Lincoln) left on Saturday morning, so we had the place to ourselves for the rest of the weekend. The water was a little rough, but we were able to find some calm times each day to take a swim. We also spent hours exploring some really cool tide pools full of colorful ocean wonders.
Overall it was a relaxing week off, watching 9 beautiful sunsets over the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Check out my album to the right ----->
Friday, March 6, 2009
Avocados and a Humming Bird
So I have these experiences here and I am always thinking how I can write about in my blog and I write all these great blogs in my head and never get around to doing it.
So one lovely Monday morning, about a month ago, I was sitting in my classroom during Virtue class. You would think having a once a week class on good virtues, these kids would behave better, but that's besides the point. This class I teach with a co-teacher and we switch off weeks because she doesn't speak english and I dont feel comfortable teaching in Spanish, so it would just be a mess to teach together.
So my co-teacher was teaching class, when a little, precious humming bird flew in. It was so cool to see it flying around and get a good look at it, since usually they come and go so quickly. But after awhile it couldnt seem to find its way back outside. It kept flying into the lights and every once in awhile would get get its long beak stuck in the medal borders of the ceiling tile, it would then stop flapping his wings and just be hanging by his beak until he would wiggle himself free and start flying again. I turned off the lights, hoping maybe he would try to fly toward the light outside, but it didnt seem to help. The co-teacher was upset by the children no longer paying attention, but didn't seem to want to do anything about it. So I went out and got one of the gardeners at the school and he came in and tried to catch it. For awhile the humming birds was perched on the crucifix (that are in each classroom) which would have been a great picture, but then it was finally caught and released by the gardener. In LA class I had the kids write a story about the whole thing and I got some really great and funny stories. I wish I still had some of them to share with you. Anyway, I felt it was one of life's small blessings to have that little humming bird fly into my classroom.
And avocados! Yesterday I was hanging clothes out on the line and I looked over toward the neighbor's yard and saw one tree, taller than the others and hanging off the top were, you guesses it, AVOCADOS! There is no one living in the house next door. There are mangos all over the backyard. So now I have to find a way to get those avocados....I will keep you updated.
So one lovely Monday morning, about a month ago, I was sitting in my classroom during Virtue class. You would think having a once a week class on good virtues, these kids would behave better, but that's besides the point. This class I teach with a co-teacher and we switch off weeks because she doesn't speak english and I dont feel comfortable teaching in Spanish, so it would just be a mess to teach together.
So my co-teacher was teaching class, when a little, precious humming bird flew in. It was so cool to see it flying around and get a good look at it, since usually they come and go so quickly. But after awhile it couldnt seem to find its way back outside. It kept flying into the lights and every once in awhile would get get its long beak stuck in the medal borders of the ceiling tile, it would then stop flapping his wings and just be hanging by his beak until he would wiggle himself free and start flying again. I turned off the lights, hoping maybe he would try to fly toward the light outside, but it didnt seem to help. The co-teacher was upset by the children no longer paying attention, but didn't seem to want to do anything about it. So I went out and got one of the gardeners at the school and he came in and tried to catch it. For awhile the humming birds was perched on the crucifix (that are in each classroom) which would have been a great picture, but then it was finally caught and released by the gardener. In LA class I had the kids write a story about the whole thing and I got some really great and funny stories. I wish I still had some of them to share with you. Anyway, I felt it was one of life's small blessings to have that little humming bird fly into my classroom.
And avocados! Yesterday I was hanging clothes out on the line and I looked over toward the neighbor's yard and saw one tree, taller than the others and hanging off the top were, you guesses it, AVOCADOS! There is no one living in the house next door. There are mangos all over the backyard. So now I have to find a way to get those avocados....I will keep you updated.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Hipicas de Diriamba
A few weekends ago Ivan, Ali (Ivan's friend), Augusto (our neighbor) and I went to Diriamba for the Hipics. The town is famous for this festival which takes place in Managua in August. Ivan and I did not go to the one in Managua because it was just too crowded.
The Hipics is basically a big horse parade and a bunch of people that have pretty horses come and march them down the street. The horses look like they are dancing to the loud music that is playing on every corner, it is amusing and nice to see big, healthy horses here! i have gotten used to seeing the small, sad skinny ones that don't have a healthy, shiny coat.
I had never been to Diriamba before and I really liked it. It looks like a small Leon, only cooler temperature wise. There are lots of houses painted in bright colors and I found myself obsessed with taking photos of the houses with cars or people wearing the same color in front of them. I played around with lots of different functions of my camera, but none seemed to capture the colors as vividly as they really were.
We had a front row spot to view the parade, but it was a little scary at times. Some of the horses march to the side and seem to be out of control, while other horses march straight. Ali said it depends on their breed. There were a few times when we had to get out of the way very quickly. Ivan could not believe that I had never seen horses march. I said, I don't think they do that in the States...but I could be wrong. I never considered myself a big horse person, but I grew up in the country and have been around a lot of horses. So check out the pictures and videos below and horse people, let me know if this is strange to you or not.
The Hipics is basically a big horse parade and a bunch of people that have pretty horses come and march them down the street. The horses look like they are dancing to the loud music that is playing on every corner, it is amusing and nice to see big, healthy horses here! i have gotten used to seeing the small, sad skinny ones that don't have a healthy, shiny coat.
I had never been to Diriamba before and I really liked it. It looks like a small Leon, only cooler temperature wise. There are lots of houses painted in bright colors and I found myself obsessed with taking photos of the houses with cars or people wearing the same color in front of them. I played around with lots of different functions of my camera, but none seemed to capture the colors as vividly as they really were.
We had a front row spot to view the parade, but it was a little scary at times. Some of the horses march to the side and seem to be out of control, while other horses march straight. Ali said it depends on their breed. There were a few times when we had to get out of the way very quickly. Ivan could not believe that I had never seen horses march. I said, I don't think they do that in the States...but I could be wrong. I never considered myself a big horse person, but I grew up in the country and have been around a lot of horses. So check out the pictures and videos below and horse people, let me know if this is strange to you or not.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Not So Super Market
So Ivan and I decided to spend our Friday night doing something super cool, grocery shopping! We were 2 of about 7 total people there including a couple and their young son, and two old men, because here in Managua, no matter how old you are, you go out dancing and drinking on the weekends. It is one of the nice things about here, going out to a club and seeing older couples dancing salsa among the younger crowd. There doesn't seem to be that generational dislike of each others music either. Salsa and merengue will never go out of style and the older folks don't even seem to cringe at the bass busting and sometimes indecent reggaeton.
Anyway, I am off topic, so we were at our local supermarket (again at 8 pm on Friday) and we needed a few basics: milk, bread, chicken, cheese, baking soda, brown sugar, etc. Well we were able to find most things, except for baking soda and brown sugar! Now brown sugar has been something I have been on the hunt for since Christmas, when we were unable to find it to make the beloved sticky buns for Christmas brunch. They had said they were out, but I haven't been unable to find it at any super market in Managua since that time! I mean, this is a super market in a capital city people! Brown sugar is a staple, something that should be found at any market, but certainly a SUPER one! Even dear, old Matthew in Anne of Green Gables was able to buy 20 lbs of brown sugar (and a puffed-sleeved dress to boot) at the local market in Avonlea at the turn of the 20th century!
"Twenty pounds of brown sugar!"
And baking soda...do I even have to explain how basic and necessary baking soda is? And not just that but the magnitude of its multi-purposefulness: its a baking ingredient, a cleaning agent, an odor absorber (which is what we needed it for in the fridge), its what you brush your teeth with if you run out of tooth paste, its what you put on a bee sting! If they don't have baking soda then they might as well not have tooth paste, or cleaning supplies or air fresheners! If interested click here for a link to 75 extraordinary uses for baking soda.
Although, two things they do have, which are quite delightful, are plain yogurt and mango nectar. Mix those together in your new Cuisinart™ blender, and you get a killer smoothie, which I am enjoying at this very moment :)
Anyway, I am off topic, so we were at our local supermarket (again at 8 pm on Friday) and we needed a few basics: milk, bread, chicken, cheese, baking soda, brown sugar, etc. Well we were able to find most things, except for baking soda and brown sugar! Now brown sugar has been something I have been on the hunt for since Christmas, when we were unable to find it to make the beloved sticky buns for Christmas brunch. They had said they were out, but I haven't been unable to find it at any super market in Managua since that time! I mean, this is a super market in a capital city people! Brown sugar is a staple, something that should be found at any market, but certainly a SUPER one! Even dear, old Matthew in Anne of Green Gables was able to buy 20 lbs of brown sugar (and a puffed-sleeved dress to boot) at the local market in Avonlea at the turn of the 20th century!
"Twenty pounds of brown sugar!"
And baking soda...do I even have to explain how basic and necessary baking soda is? And not just that but the magnitude of its multi-purposefulness: its a baking ingredient, a cleaning agent, an odor absorber (which is what we needed it for in the fridge), its what you brush your teeth with if you run out of tooth paste, its what you put on a bee sting! If they don't have baking soda then they might as well not have tooth paste, or cleaning supplies or air fresheners! If interested click here for a link to 75 extraordinary uses for baking soda.
Although, two things they do have, which are quite delightful, are plain yogurt and mango nectar. Mix those together in your new Cuisinart™ blender, and you get a killer smoothie, which I am enjoying at this very moment :)
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