Fotos 2 and a little bit of news from Maggie's world

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I thought I would tell my story in images...click on the photos for detailed captions. If the photos don't load at first press Refresh on the webpage and they should come. Be patient, there are a lot of them!
Here is a good map (click on it to zoom) for you to follow on with my island journeys to different towns:
http://www.nicatour.net/en/nicaragua/Ometepe.asp

P.S. I updated the captions of my last entry, see it here:
http://www.travelblog.org/Admin/review-entry.html?diary_id=304471

P.P.S. Look for my first monthly news column in the Bainbridge Review on Wednesday!

P.P.P.S Congrats to Emily Silver on her Olympic victory! Your sister island down here is very proud of you too!

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Photos

Russell and I
Russell and I went to the chahuite (cropland) of Dora's family on the first weekend I was here. The property is a bicycle ride away from Altagracia and they grow mainly plantains and bananas but have a row of fruit trees (mango, orange, local fruits that we don't have in the US, limes, etc). There is a really yummy fruit tree that they take the leaves of to make this really refreshing green juice. They make a lot of "refrescos" or juices from local fruits, plus a boatload of sugar.

Elieth
This is Elieth. Russell used to teach her English so one day before he left she came in and asked me if I would be continuing the tradtion. I said sure, why not? And so began my English conversation group on Wednesdays at 5. Its open to anyone, but sometimes people are rather non comittal or embarrassed at the idea of speaking English with me. So Elieth and I had a solo session where we chatted about local medicinal plants and watched a clip from the movie No Reservations. She already asked me if we can do 2 sessions a week, I said Id think about it ;) I'm already committed to leading a yoga class on Tues and Thurs at 8 pm, which consists entirely of Dora's family members but soon the PEace Corps volunteer who works with Dora's english class may come join because she doesn't have enough room for warrior poses in her host family's house.

The office door
Don't worry, we bought more locks for the door! The first week here (I wasnt yet living in the office) someone drilled these holes in the door overnight (Russell didnt even hear them). We went to the police station and they said they would come check it out, They never did until I saw one speed by on his motorcycle and flagged him down while I paused the soccer game I was playing with Dora's nephews. I came, he saw, he complained about the fact that there are only 5 officers who work for the Altagracia station and that they don't have time do deal with these things. Finally I asked the obvious question; ok, so if someone tries to break in while I am living here, what do I do? He said: Correte. Translation: Run. Hmmm, Well finally he gave me the police officers cell phone number, since the land lines come and go like the rain and the electricity and the internet. He came back and took a photo the next day, just for kicks I think, because we havent seen him since. But we pretty much know the kid who did it. They call him Vampirin or Vampire. Hes a scrawny little brat of a kid and he normally hangs out on the street corner where the office is at night with his sidekicks. The neighbor lady across the street throws water on her sidewalk so the kids dont park themselves there. I cant say I havent tried it ;)

Garden out back BEFORE
This is what the back patio and garden looked like when I arrived.

Goodbye, Welcome, Thank you party
This is in a town called Merida. This was two days before russell left. This was actually a surprise party because the Merida Sister Islands scholarship committee had called an urgent meeting that day to discuss an issue. But when we arrived the cat was out of the bag just by looking at the school - the students had prepared for a big celebration! The announcer said the party was to celebrate three things: 1. A goodbye party despedida for Russell, 2. A welcoming for me, 3. An official presentation of all the desks they have made with funds that the Bainbridge Ometepe Sister Islands Assoc had approved for the primary school. They danced for us, recited poetry, and all the students had decided to remain standing during the entire celebration until Dora and Russell cut the ribbon at the end. Then we went to the preeschool to be served a special meal. Whew!

Goodbye, Welcome, Thank you party
More celebrating! This couple had to be about 3 yrs old. All the costumed children are dancing the traditional folkloric dances of Nicaragua. Absolutely mesmerizing some of them!

Goodbye, Welcome, Thank you party
This chick new how to rock it!

Goodbye, Welcome, Thank you party
Dorita, my coworker, and Russell, the former volunteer.

Concepcion Volcano
So why did they name this place Ometepe? Well the nahuatl roots of the word are literally two (ome) mountains (tepetl). This becomes obviously accurate when seeing Ometepe for the first time. I took this photo when I was biking to Urbaite for a meeting last sunday after visiting my host family for 2003 in La Palma and my friend Darling Arguello Mairena who came up to Bainbridge in 2004 with an English teacher delegation and stayed in my home. A few minutes after this I crashed on my bike - luckily I was wearing my dorky helmet! Thanks Mom!

Mono cara blanca
This is the white faced monkey that cheered me up after falling off my bike (and having my bike fall ontop of me). I stopped at Santo Domingo beach and went into the Hotel Villa Paraiso where we have an acquaintance with the organization and asked to use their restroom to clean the mud out of my wounds. After I cleaned up I went outside and ran into a young man who I recognized because he had come by the new library I opened and checked out a book by Borges. I asked him how it was and if I could use the bike pump from the bike rental place of the hotel. After some frantic searching he gave up and I was too distracted by the cute monkeys to really care. Ive been searching for a little pet to keep me company but my other coworker, Estela, said she would quit if I got a monkey. I think a kitten would be better anyways, to chase away the mice in my kitchen.

Woman at work!
Ok, yes that is a powertool, but look how careful I was to put on my glasses to protect my eyes before i started cutting! Besides I needed to make a bigger opening to access all that rainwater I had caught with my new gutter system leading into that barrell! I borrowed the tool from the guy who has been working on the marimba keys that a Bainbridge marimba delegation donated to a group of marimba players here.

More library goers!
These guys came to look up a Honduran revolutionary for a school project and they sat there copying down the info from the encyclopedia while the kid in the middle read it aloud.

This is where I wash clothes
Ok, a little dorky, but hey, I just wanted to state the fact that I am washing every single thing I own here BY HAND on that cement washboard. First you soak the clothes with powder detergent in a bucket for a few hours - do NOT leave for a couple days because the water will STINK! Then you wash the clothes on the washboard with a bar of detergent soap. Then you hang them up to dry!

My pride and joy
My water catchment system! I already have 1 barrell of water after only a week! Its the rainy season here. When it rains, it POURS! the street becomes a river all the way down to the lake!

Garden out back NOW
ok, still in process, but now there are two more tires and I planted seeds for cucumbers, squash, basil, and flowers yesterday.

Little Miss Little
This is the Miss Chiquitita contest that started last weekend. Dora is one of the judges. Russell judged the teenager contest before he left. Basically they girls have to present themselves (this is their "fantasy" outfit) with a little speech and then do a folklore dance. Next week the show continues!

My vote!
This little miss danced the best in my opinion. Her dress is a unique - most girls wear the long flowing cotton dresses like the celebration in Merida - but her dress is a mix between the indigenous wear (the scarf skirt is mayan i think because women in Mexico in the indigenous towns still wear something similar) and then the Spanish top and hat. She actually smiled when she danced ;)

Agua
This is when we did an official visit to Tauisapa, a village only a couple minutes bike ride from Altagracia, also where my other coworker Estela lives. There BOSIA had supported a water project to install the piping and bring water to these families who had been using dirty water from the lake previously.

Computer for the blind
This is in the office. We did an official presentation of a computer for the blind community on the island. The computer reads aloud what it says on the screen. There are 5 blind teenagers who mainly come to use it. They are shy about it thought because they say they are worried about wasting too much of the office electricity or bothering us while we work.

Comments

[Ela Esterberg]

Wow and gracias!
What a wonderful way to tell us all the story of your time on Ometepe as our Office volunteer from the North. Thank you. Please keep it coming!

[Maggie Moose]

CAN YOU SEE THE PHOTOS?
HEY GUYS LET ME KNOW IF YOU CANT SEE SOME OF THE PHOTOS. SOME OF THEM DONT LOAD FROM MY END, BUT IM NOT SURE IF ITS BECAUSE OF THE SLOW INTERNET OR BECAUSE THEY DIDNT FULLY LOAD. LET ME KNOW. YOU CAN LEAVE A COMMENT HERE AND ILL CHECK IT. THANKS!

[Dad]

Great photos
I really like the photo essay. The pictures show us what day to day life is like and your descriptions tell the story. Keep wearing that bike helmet. Love, Dad

[Ruth]

Wonderful photos!
What an adventure, Maggie! Thanks for sharing the photos! They are great!