Blogs from Capital Region, Nicaragua, Central America Caribbean - page 16

My goodbye party at Chacocente was yesterday. It was amazing...and sad. Way too sad. At this point I pretty much feel like my heart has been ripped out and thrown on the floor. Extreme, I know, but thats how I am. The school gave me a diploma! haha And then Manuela and Karen cooked food and made punch. We all met under the one big tree and had a small culto and the kids sang to me and then every family got up and said some words. Thanking me and things like that. I was doing well, not crying, even when my Chacocente mom, Manuela, was speaking. And then when Veronica got up to speak, she couldn't even finish because she was crying so much so she just gave up and came and hugged me. At ... read more

Bus strikes suck. They really do. Last Monday a bunch of the taxi and bus drivers went on strike protesting the price of gas. I can get anywhere within Managua without problem but to try to get to Chacocente. hah. Won't work. I can get the bus as far as Tipitapa where I would then normally pick up a bus to Masaya but they aren't running. The other teachers have been going in trucks that are running from Tipitapa to Masaya every day. They're like..pirated trucks haha. But theyre more dangerous, especially for me, a little white girl, so I havent gone to the project at all in the last week. Its been nice to hang out around the house, I'm not gonna lie, but I MISS THE PROJECT! I only have one week left in ... read more

Sorry for not posting for so long. We've been very busy with work, activist causes, people visiting, and Sarah visiting law schools. I wanted to share with you a blog I wrote for work about the new US ambassador in Nicaragua. In USA's typically head strong way the government appointed a man partly responsible for funding and administering the Contra War in the 80's. A war that was especially cruel as US-trained fighters were taught to attack "soft targets" such as farming cooperatives, health clinics, literacy centers, etc. The war led to tens of thousands of deaths, dismembered peoples, and forced migrants. Now a man that was involved in that atrocious war (also the Iraq war) was appointed to represent us, citizens of the USA, in Nicaragua. I felt that it was important to document what ... read more

We got up early and headed to a Barcelo resort, at Montelimar, for a day at the beach. It does not get much better than this! All inclusive day and night. We had the beach to ourselves and the weather was perfect, so we walked a good distance then headed to lunch. Found a delightful table overlooking the beach and stuffed ourselves at the buffet and drinking various fruit juices (might have been a few beers too). Then off to the hammock. As the sun began to set we grabbed a couple of chairs and sat in friendly conversation, listening to the waves crashing and watched as the sun disappeared...it's really amazing how fast it sets. I set my camera to video and planned to attach the video to this blog for you to share the ... read more

Spring break 2008 and we are off to Nicaragua; leaving our beautiful Atlanta spring behind. So far we have been fortunate to be getting a more normal amount of rain and the plants are rewarding us. And sure enough it's rainy and fog as we take off No matter how many time i fly, I still enjoy popping above the clouds. We had a uneventful 3+ hour flight to Managua. Tried to get a picture of the volcano as we approached, but on wrong side of plane and then a cloud concealed the view. The inactive volcano and lake are adjacent to Managua. On the way to lunch, our "tour guides" took us through the area of the 1972 earthquake, which pretty much wiped out the town. Very little has been rebuilt except for small businesses ... read more