Blogs from Moropoto, Northern Highlands, Nicaragua, Central America Caribbean - page 4

And we are back! Lenin and I have decided to make Mamita's kitchen floor cement, instead of dirt. In order to do this we had to have sand delivered and buy bags of cement, illegally, I might add. And then we had to excavate the kitchen to make it level, which is what Lenin and I did all day yesterday. He used the pick to break up the dirt and I shoveled into the wheelbarrow and he went to unload it. So really, he had the brunt of the work.... but then again I spent hours that morning washing our clothes... so it all works out. Lenin went to work this morning, gets back tomorrow morning, at which time we shall make cement and lay the floor. And there will be photos of that, too. By ... read more

09 March 2010 Tuesday 3pm It’s too damn hot. My father taught Lenin “It’s too damn cold,” over Christmas, and now we’ve taken to repeating how it’s too damn hot on a daily basis. The strange thing is that it is searingly hot in the sun and downright chilly in the shade. We woke up seeing our breath in the air this morning and the water that came out of the community spigot was steaming. My body steamed clouds worth as I showered at seven in the morning. But now, at 3:00pm, it’s so hot that my legs have rivulets of sweat streaming down from where I sit on a plastic lawn chair. These are the hot, dry summer months in Nicaragua. March and April reach the dry dry hot hot stages and then sometime in ... read more

It's Tuesday and I am in Somoto. Lenin has been sick with upset stomach and general grossness, so we went out to his uncle's house and found some root that helps with stomach aches, and picked some lemon grass for lemon grass tea, which is great for congestion. And then I gave him some Benadryl and knocked him out. He woke up feeling helluva lot better! Yay natural medicine and benadryl. Also went to the post office and received.... two letters from my mom, one card from my great Aunt Pearl of San Diego, and a manila envelope from my mom. There is one internet cafe in Somoto that has ethernet cables to hook up laptops. Technically I think any internet cafe can hook you up for your laptop, but I like this one. It's bright ... read more

On Thursday, 21 January, 2010, I visited the cafetal, or coffee farm, of Don Hugo Huete. His finca (farm) is located in El Rodeo, which is just a short drive up the mountain, but a long walk. Karen, the daughter of Don Hugo, Lenin and I decided to hike up to Rodeo. We set off at the hottest part of the summer day at noon with a backpack full of water, a sandwich, an avocado, several tortillas, and a few bananas for each of us. The house puppy, Huesita, followed us for the adventure. We hiked up and up through dusty ravines, seeking out shade and taking breaks every so often to drink plenty of water and wipe the streaming, dusty rivulets off our faces. After nearly an hour we merged with the road and ... read more

It's snowing. Again. We've had two snows thus far, but they've both melted within a day or two. Now it's snowing again. Perhaps we'll get to, like, build a snowman or go sledding! Also, thank god 2009 is done. 2008 was such a mile stone for me. I'd been planning for 6 years to get to Beijing during the Summer Olympics, and I was there all summer and got to see some Games. And while I was there, the Peace Corps called. And so, since I've started this phase of my life, I keep saying "hasta Noviembre de 2010," or "until November of 2010". So I went from Life Goal Olympics 2008 to End of Service 2010. Which means that 2009 was.... well, kind of a non year. In the grand scheme of my goal oriented ... read more