wiwili, jinotega.... well, outside of wiwili... REALLY outside...

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24 March 2010
Wednesday 7:30 pm

Got back from Wiwili last night around 5pm.

Last Sunday Lenin and Ozmancito and I took off at 4:00am for Wiwili. Actually, once we are in Wiwili, Nueva Segovia, we have to take a boat across the Rio Coco and then we are in Wiwili, Jinotega. Then we take another ruta to Maleconcito and then walk an hour up to San Felipe, which is actually where my suegros live.

Blah blah.

Things I learned in San Felipe… some of which I already knew, but it’s all here for your enjoyment.

Lightning bugs are called candelias in Spanish.
A night singing bird is a pocoyo.
Walnut tree is nogal.

We hiked a lot. Well, the boys hiked a lot more than me. They climbed the mountains to milk the cows every morning.

Lenin’s family consists of:

Parents Bernardo & Vilma, Lenin (24) & Molly, brother Deyvis (21) & Sandra who have daughter Asly and son Alan, brother Carlos (19) & Doris, and sister Iris (16) who is still single.

All live in the same house exept Deyvis & Sandra, and they live on some land by Sandra’s parents. We hiked over there twice to visit with Deyvis and Sandra and play with 5 month old Alan.

Asly does not live with her parents and is being raised by her grandparents and aunts and uncles, or Lenin’s family. She is freaking tiny, and she is the most unhappy 1 and a half year old I’ve ever met. I say that because her parents gave her away to the grandparents when she was a year old when her brother was born means 1) she wasn’t able to nurse long enough and 2) she has a fear of being left again. If someone wasn’t holding her on a hip or a lap, she immediately started bawling. Even after more than a week she still cried every time Lenin or I entered the room. And, as you can see from the photos with both kids, she is the same size as her 5 month old brother.

Okay, enough, let the photos do the talking.

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Photos

we started at 4:00am...
ps this is not our bus

dry rio coco
we crossed the rio coco several times between la chela and wiwili... and then we crossed it again to get to jinotega

POR FIN!
We arrive in Wiwili, NS

we are riding the "macho" or male mule
for those who know, check out the stirrups... nicaraguan stirriups have little shoes

Lenin is riding a horse ahead and taking the photos at the same time
he's multitalented

did i mention there's no electricity?
the camera flash shows the dark kitchen the first night... the kerosene candle (thank you chavez for the kerosene)..... that's doris, carlos's woman, and asly

once we crossed the river and climed the other side
we looked back at where we'd come from ... the house of my parents in law