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Published: March 7th 2009
Thanksgiving day
This is how I spent Thanksgiving. We participated in an end of the year celebration of the Literacy Program in Balgue, with much folk dancing, marimba playing and dancing. Then a curry chicken dinner at Kim and Ela Esterberg (founders of BOSIA) little house in Balgue. I wrote my December article about this day. Hello all!
I have not fallen of the face of the planet - don't worry! We were without internet for two months here so that definitely dissuaded me from spending hours at the internet cafe uploading photos.
Right before Christmas I travelled to the Solentiname Islands (southeast Lake Nicaragua) with a group of Peace Corps volunteers to teach an intensive English camp for locals on the various islands. It was really amazing to see another group of islands, and the people were SO kind! The people of Solentiname are known for their vivid primitivist paintings and carved handicrafts, so it was really fun to stay with two different host families that were artists. My camera died right before that trip, so you'll have to check out the photos on my friend Joanna's website:
Look for "Solentiname Camp" or "Erik's Solentiname" or "Katie Solentiname"
Mom, Dad and Emily came down for Christmas and my birthday! It was an amazing experience to have my two "worlds" collide. I love that I can talk about places and people on the island now and they can actually have a grasp of what I am talking about. A special moment I remember was when my mom first met Dorita and said, "Thank you for taking such good care of our Maggie." I wrote my January Bainbridge Review column about their visit, so I've copied and linked it below.
Tomorrow I will travel to El Salvador to take part in a CISPES (Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador) delegation to observe the Presidential elections and to meet local community organizations. We may even have a press conference with the US Embassador, so keep your eye out when watching the international news! I'll be sure to take some photos and share my experience with you afterwards!
In other news, I am in the middle of applying for bilingual elementary teaching positions in Denver. I will move to Denver in June then jet off to Atlanta for Teach For America's Summer Institute Training. I've also started volunteering three mornings a week in the local elementary school - Ruben Dario Primaria - helping out the three first grade teachers - those kids have a TON of energy! I have learned that kids don't raise hands in Nicaragua, which makes for a noisy, boisterous classroom. On my first day, one kid came
happy campers
Our faithful taxi driver Eddy got us to the last ferry in the nic of time! up behind me and wrote on my shirt with a whiteboard marker. In general though, they are excited to have me in the classroom, and the teachers are really open about letting me help out with the kids. I am realizing that I already do have some teacher instincts!
Well, whew! Lots of updates, now that I think of it... For something a little more poetic, read on 😊
Here are the links to my most recent columns:
November: Living in the Moment: Fervor in Altagracia
December: Was not posted online, see below
January: See below
February: Health Delegation makes an all important visit
Coming soon: Nicaraguan Old Wives' Tales!
Very special visitors from the north
· Guest Column · Jan. 30
Jan 30 2009
By MAGGIE PETTIT
Guest Columnist
Urbaite, Noon, Dec. 22
Luckily, the first-ever cell tower in Urbaite was finally turned on a couple weeks previous, so I was able to call my host brother Antonio to alert him of our visit.
By the time we were huffing and puffing up the endless hill to Urbaite, sun beating down on us, Day 2
Bike ride to Charco Verde beach and nature walk we realized it may have been a good idea to start the day a little earlier, in the cool of the morning, but, oh well, we said. The shade of my Urbaite host family’s front porch was enough motivation to pull us along.
We arrived how I usually arrive in Urbaite: smiling and sweaty. Nonetheless, Doña Amada greeted Mom, Dad, Emily, and myself with warm hugs. I walked into their house to grab some chairs and a bucket of water to cool us, my family’s presence causing me to think briefly about this action - the degree of comfort I now shared with the Flores Paizano Family. Katherine Marcela and Antonio emerged from the shadows of the house, while Thomas Adolfo remained silently hidden as usual.
They looked at us, smiling. Doña Amada said I looked like my father. We admired their hand-made nativity scene, complete with a stick fence that most certainly was the work of Thomas Adolfo. Mom and Dad asked questions in English,
I translated, and Emily attempted to teach. The conversation bumbled along from one topic to the next, punctuated by Doña Amada’s hearty laughter and the given silences of a conversation between
two languages.
After restoring our energy, we said our goodbyes and set off to tackle the rest of the hill. Our sweet reward - “what goes up must go down” as Dad would say - was coasting down the hill, mesmerized by the gorgeous full-body shot of the Maderas Volcano to the east.
Balgüe:10:05 a.m., Dec. 26
Darling was surprised to see us on her front porch, but she sat right down in the chair I had pulled out for her, in a semi-circle with my family. I was content to sit back and let Darling’s fair command of English guide our chat. Perhaps there were fewer silences than our visit with the Flores Paizano Family, but the giddy exchange of perspectives and sentiments was equally present.
Mom and Dad reconnected with Darling, recalling those cold winter nights we had bundled her in three blankets and blasted a heater in Kate’s bedroom where she slept. Dad remembers dancing with Darling at Island Center Hall - contra dancing a first for the both of them. Although this was her first time meeting Darling, my sister Emily quickly found common ground - commiserating about the universal struggles of
Yay for public transportation
The busses were reallllly full at this busy time of year! being a teacher.
It was a special visit. There is something incredible about sitting back and watching people from different places of your life talk to each other. It almost feels like you are dreaming it all up.
Altagracia, 6 p.m., Dec. 27
I futzed around Dora’s house, frantically anticipating my guests as I usually do on my birthday. Finally, Dora’s niece, Maricela, a pizza chef extraordinaire, helped make my decision for me - everyone would sit in the side room, with rocking chairs strategically placed around the edge of the room.
* * *
They trickled in bit by bit, some on nica time, some punctually norteamericano. We stuffed ourselves with pizza after pizza and cool milk cacao drinks. Nicaraguan birthday music blasted at near-full volume, as is custom here. At one point I stopped futzing around, slicing the pizza for long enough to look around the room without anyone noticing me. I was literally encircled by my “worlds” converging: Mom and Emily talking with Joanna and Elieth about teaching; Dad shooting the breeze with Andres about life on Ometepe and our English conversation group; and even Doña Dora was chatting it up with
Ojo de Agua
We took all the kids in Dorita's family to the water hole. my Urbaite host father, realizing in the process that they were actually related by marriage.
I suppose the 23rd birthday is not considered as momentous an occasion compared to other “big” birthday years, but somehow that fact was lost on me that night. I couldn’t help but feel that this was as momentous as it gets.
-----------------------------------------------
Giving Thanks on Ometepe
By Maggie Pettit
Thanksgiving Day
Balgüe, 3ish in the afternoon
I never imagined a Thanksgiving where I would be rushing along to a year-end party for a Literacy Project, with a Sponge Bob piñata precariously teetering on my lap, and a bunch of marimbas and their musicians in the back of the truck, but there I was. My "bright idea" of combining the graduation party for the Balgüe Literacy Project (supported by Bainbridge's Grace Episcopal Church) with a performance of the Altagracia "Ometepetlel" Marimba group (trained in June 2008 by Bainbridge's Ushamwari group) was seeming less and less ingenious as time ticked by; complications caused us to leave Altagracia a full hour and-then-some late, but the moment we saw the expressions of relief, excitement, and surprise on the faces of all those children and
guests at the Balgüe Community Center, my worried heart was finally at peace.
After the national anthem, the literacy hymn, and a few folklore dances, we began the part the little ones had all been waiting for: the piñata. Sponge Bob took a back seat as a star appearance by a small swan piñata took the stage. The boys and girls took turns, performing a traditional two-step to the music in between each overexcited swing of the crate paper-embellished piñata stick. Finally, the piñata rope handler allowed an older boy to give the final blow to the swan, sans blindfold. The candy burst out, and the children swarmed around the boy's feet, seemingly before the sweets even hit the ground. Pure chaos ensued with a mix of aggression and utter giddiness. I stayed back in my chair, content with my role as spectator. In the thick of it all, a small boy emerged, in a stained blue-gray shirt. He leaped towards me, and just as soon as he appeared, he was gone. Not a word passed between us; the only proof of our encounter - a small flat lollipop in my palm. No one had told this boy to
give a lollipop to the white girl in the corner; he had done it as his own act of kindness, sacrificing a pivotal moment in the battle for piñata candy. I smiled at the whole scene before me, plucking the lollipop from its plastic sleeve and letting its lemon-lime sweetness fill my mouth.
* * *
The children were on their best behavior for the marimba performance, perched on the curb of the basketball court, attentive. Some stragglers had come to look for a coveted seat amongst the special BOSIA guests: Founders Kim and Ela Esterberg, David Mitchell, Lisa Giles, Dora, and myself. I let a boy sit on my lap and another one beside me in an unclaimed plastic chair. After watching the marimberos beat away a few lively songs, I joined Ela in her quest to fill the empty dance floor. Soon enough, Ela and I had tipped the scales - one kid after another grabbed a hand, forming one big clumsy circle. Laughing and skipping along, we contracted and expanded our circle. Smiles were contagious inside and outside of our circle - this simple act filling the late afternoon air with a sense of bliss.
7:32
p.m.
The cool breeze sweeping off the lake onto Kim and Ela's deck calmed the busyness of the afternoon. Their one-room house is simple, tucked amongst palm trees and flowering bushes. Cement stairs lead up to a strawberry-red picket gate around the deck. There is a blue wooden bench full of toys to entertain the younger visitors, and Dora's daughter, Kendra, finds refuge there. A map of Bainbridge Island and recent family photos are proudly displayed on the table. It is a place where friends visit unannounced, bringing bananas, graduation invitations or simply a long-awaited hug.
I interrupt our first bites of Ela's flavorful curry stir-fry, requesting that we share in a Thanksgiving tradition. All are in agreement, so I began: “I am thankful for the fact that I can feel that I am amongst family today even though my true family is so very far away from here." And as the tradition passed around the table, I smile as I think about the lollipop, the marimba dance circle, this meal amongst friends from both sister islands - the important moments when life just seems to fall into place.
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