<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:st1="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">
<head>
<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 11 (filtered medium)">
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="country-region"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="City" downloadurl="http://www.5iamas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="place" downloadurl="http://www.5iantlavalamp.com/"/>
<!--[if !mso]>
<style>
st1\:*{behavior:url(#default#ieooui) }
</style>
<![endif]-->
<style>
<!--
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{color:blue;
text-decoration:underline;}
a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
{color:#606420;
text-decoration:underline;}
span.EmailStyle17
{mso-style-type:personal-compose;
font-family:Arial;
color:windowtext;}
@page Section1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:.7in .7in .7in .7in;}
div.Section1
{page:Section1;}
-->
</style>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapedefaults v:ext="edit" spidmax="1026" />
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapelayout v:ext="edit">
<o:idmap v:ext="edit" data="1" />
</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]-->
</head>
<body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink="#606420">
<div class=Section1>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%;text-autospace:none'><font size=3
face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Arial'> Villa
El Carmen [VEC] the MUNICIPALITY is an area of XXX kilometers (sorry, I have
the number but not here) that stretches from the Pacific shore to maybe 15
miles inland, with VEC the VILLAGE roughly in the middle. To date Iīve seen
the Pacific only from a distance of maybe 10 miles from the top of a hill, in
car. Over 30,000 people live here, according to the alcalde [mayor]. The
village VEC has around 3000 people, including the 'suburbs,' such as the area
where I am staying, called the <i><span style='font-style:italic'>colonia</span></i>,
built largely by the owners themselves as part of a project funded largely by <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Canada</st1:country-region></st1:place>.
These houses--and I think they're typical--are of two basic sizes: 20x20 feet
and 20x35 feet. The design and materials are basic: concrete block,
corrugated metal roofs, wall material flimsier than our sheetrock. Ceilings
are of light plastic blocks, about a yard square, resting on supports; when I
enter my 7x10 bedroom, the act of opening the door pushes air into the room so
that the ceiling blocks rise and fall and it sounds like a wind has rattled the
house. No house here has a second story or a basement.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%;text-autospace:none'><font size=3
face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Arial'> The
electricity is pretty reliable--last year, Iīm told, it was not. Three times
in the past two weeks there have been outages of 1-2 hours, and I live in fear
of not having my electric fan functioning in my windowless bedroom. The
lighting here is all bulbs from the ceiling--I donīt know about the other 2
bedrooms. If I can do it without being insulting, I want to leave this
family--Ana, Mario, and their niece Aura--a good reading lamp. Aura is in
effect the child of Ana and Mario; her mother, Mario's sister, is in <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Costa Rica</st1:country-region></st1:place>
with two younger siblings, and I know nothing of her father. In effect itīs
Mario, and heīs great at it. Ana and Mario are otherwise childless.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%;text-autospace:none'><font size=3
face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Arial'> In
many ways, as you'd expect, life here is primitive by American standards.
Nobody has hot water. The water supply is OK at least in the <i><span
style='font-style:italic'>colonia</span></i>, but though there is a shower in
the house, the water pressure does not allow showers, exactly. 'El agua no
sube,' I was told the first morning. Instead, you fill a large pail outside and
take it into the shower stall and use a bowl for pouring. Physically itīs the
most refreshing time of the day. I shave using a 1 1-2 x 3 inch cosmetic
mirror borrowed from Ana. There is no bathroom sink and no mirror in the whole
house (donīt know about the other bedrooms).<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%;text-autospace:none'><font size=3
face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Arial'> Mario
and Ana are among the professional elite in the town, being education
administrators and former teachers, and they have the basics, though in old,
creaky forms: a gas stove, a refrigerator, microwave, washing machine (no
dryer), microwave, blender, TV, CD player and radio. (I bless the
blender--with it Ana makes various full-fruit juices, often with orange and
sugar to taste: we have cantaloupe juice, pineapple juice, papaya juice,
tamarind juice, even carrot juice and a juice with the huge local version of
BEETS.). They have a car, which like all the cars here is a well used ex-taxi.
It has bad shocks and only one headlight on normal, which is interesting on
these roads. Driving is supposed to be the most dangerous thing you can do in <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Nicaragua</st1:country-region></st1:place>,
and I can see why. But Mario is a good driver.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%;text-autospace:none'><font size=3
face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Arial'> VEC
the municipality has seven schools that go from K to 11, the full range here. There
are about 3750 students in these schools, total. There are also 30 or more <i><span
style='font-style:italic'>satelitos</span></i>, small elementary schools in the
more rural areas. I am to sped a day at each of the 7 large schools and have
seen three already. I teach English at the local school, Instituto Gustavo
Carrion Zamora, to the seniors, on Tuesday and Thursday. The school has a
computer lab, funded by the national government so that it can offer computer
certification to adults as well as a tool for students. Itīs air-conditioned!
This is the only Internet connection in town, and no other school has the
connection, which costs $400 monthly (that's 7200 cordobas), far beyond the
capacity of any school to pay for itself.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%;text-autospace:none'><font size=3
face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Arial'> The
school principal, Alba Sequeira, has graciously offered me use of the computer,
so I have two reasons to go to school--three if you include the air
conditioning. (At its coolest this area feels like mid-80s, at its hottest
over 100, and humid though not so humid as <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">Georgia</st1:country-region></st1:place>, say. There will be no
running here, or fast walking; any movement is exercise. When not moving
myself, I am always seeking moving air.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%;text-autospace:none'><font size=3
face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Arial'> But
I always walk to school, about 3/4 mile away, since the first 2 days when I
took the packed school bus with the regular English teacher. Her name is Ruby
Ribgy, and she comes from Bluefields, a former English colony (I think) on the
Atlantic coast. She is the only person I have met in town who speaks
near-fluent English. Ana, who learned her English a decade ago at the American
Language and Culture Program at UIdaho, is probably still pretty fluent, but
she almost never uses English with me. I asked her not to, before coming, in
an unguarded moment.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%;text-autospace:none'><font size=3
face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Arial'> When
I leave this house I am walking on a dirt road (thank God itīs the dry
season--they call it summer, defying the laws of meteorology, because itīs
hottest in Feb-March-April). This street has about 20 houses on it, all
structured like Ana and Marioīs, with ten feet between them--just room for a
car, of which there are only two on this street. At the end of the street,
about 150 yards (if I go the other direction, in 50 yards I am at an incline
and a local dump site), I am at another, wider dirt street. I turn right, walk
past a bus stop, turn left, walk around a curve and over a small but sturdy
bridge which is the pride of the current alcalde. He is given credit for
getting it built, and now buses and trucks can roll over it; before it was
built last year vehicles had to take a much longer way around this particular
gulley.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%;text-autospace:none'><font size=3
face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Arial'> Then
another long stretch, until I reach the town's central--and only
paved--street. It is paved with interlocking concrete blocks about 1-foot
square. So far on an ordinary day I will have been passed by a couple of
ex-taxis, a bus, a pickup or two, a horse and rider, a wagon drawn by one or two
cows. The cows of this area have wide horns, folds of hide handing down from
the neck, and big oval ears just like the cartoon ears of Dubya, but more
horizontal. A herd of about 12 is driven down these streets twice <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%;text-autospace:none'><font size=3
face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Arial'>daily.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%;text-autospace:none'><font size=3
face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Arial'> When
students ask me how <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Nicaragua</st1:country-region></st1:place>
is different and what I like about it, I sometimes mention how I like it that
the people and the animals all live together. In my home town, I say, only
dogs and cats live in town; the roosters, chickens, cows, and <i><span
style='font-style:italic'>chanchos</span></i> (pigs) live in farms, usually
penned it. Here all the animals roam free in town except horses and some of
the cows. I can sit in the back yard for half an hour and see roosters,
chickens, and pigs all stroll by me as well as dogs and an occasional cat. These
animals live off the land, which includes being composters for peopleīs garbage
scraps put in the yards.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%;text-autospace:none'><font size=3
face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Arial'> The
dogs are a puzzle to me. They are mostly small to medium size, docile, sweet,
and scrawny. I may be wrong, but to me they embody St. Paulīs idea of love, at
least some of it. They are not proud, they do not bark much, neither do they
beg; they expect nothing, nor do they want to smell my hand or my crotch. Iīve
seen only a couple with collars. There are lots of them, and they must have a
place to call home, but only a couple of times have I seen anyone TOUCH a dog.
I hesitate to be the first, not wanting to set a precedent or find out that
theyīre really vicious curs. But they me homesick, reminding me of my Lucy,
that highly privileged black beast.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%;text-autospace:none'><font size=3
face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Arial'> Here
at the edge of the main street, I have already passed at least two stores. I
say 'at least' because I am discovering more family businesses all the time. A
couple of blocks from Ana and Marioīs, a family owns a freezer, and they store
and sell packaged ice cream cones and sandwiches and popsicles. Various
women--girls usually--walk around selling warm tortillas, and one girl has
cornered the market on <i><span style='font-style:italic'>cajetas</span></i>, a
delicious soft candy.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%;text-autospace:none'><font size=3
face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Arial'> But
here on the main street there are a couple of stores in every block: <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%;text-autospace:none'><font size=3
face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Arial'>one-room
affairs with a motley assortment of goods. I know where I can get shampoo and
paper goods, where I can restore my electrolytes with Gatorade, where--only one
place in town, evidently--I can buy a newspaper, Nuevo Diario or La Prensa.
Today I bought a white shirt, for 65 cordobas--that's about $3.75, and I
probably got what I paid for.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%;text-autospace:none'><font size=3
face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Arial'> Like
all people Nicas must have their downsides, but so far I have seen only one:
there is a <st1:place w:st="on">LOT</st1:place> of noise here. Acoustics in
the schools are terrible! In the neighborhoods noise is constant; in a warm
climate the doors are all open (one front and one back) unless itīs windy (dust
here is everywhere), and music and voices mingle from house to house like a
stew of sound. But itīs a happy noise. There seems to be very little anger
here, and the children donīt fight, or cry, only yell. The music is loud, and
emphatic. Nobody seems to mind the noise. I think the roosters have trained
them, as they are training me.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%;text-autospace:none'><font size=3
face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Arial'> I
am constantly struck by everyoneīs friendliness to me, as well as their
civility to each other. Obviously they see me as a curiosity, but I have seen
no hostility anywhere. Fears that they would see me as a CIA agent have not
materialized. Of course, I come with the seal of approval of the local school
authorities, and all the local children have seen me and heard my broken
Spanish. (By the time I leave here I will have talked to most of the classes
in seven schools, some 3500 students.)<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%;text-autospace:none'><font size=3
face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Arial'> But
most important, I come connected to the past contributions of the Moscow Sister
City Association and the schoolteachers of the city. MSCA has sent various
loads of school supplies and has funded house constructions, wells, and other
projects needed by this community. MSCA funded Anaīs semester in <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Moscow</st1:City></st1:place> in 1998. It funded
the visits here by Connie Larson and recently Meghan Beard and Katrina Nelson.
Meghan and Katrina are still sharply in the memory of people here, whose faces
light up at the mention of their names. I had this experience a few days ago meeting
three women by a river last week, and buying my shirt today. My predecessors
hare largely responsible for the response Iīm getting here.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%;text-autospace:none'><font size=3
face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Arial'> Even
the strangers I meet will often initiate and always return a greeting: <i><span
style='font-style:italic'>Buenos dias, Hola</span></i>, or--the most common
greeting--<i><span style='font-style:italic'>Adios</span></i>. A warm,
informal, physical closeness is the atmosphere: adult to adult, child to
child, adult to child. I am largely included in the mix. The children blow me
away. Apart from their amazing physical beauty--they are always reminding me
of my two grandchildren who combine Korean and Caucasian skin tones--they have
the brightest smiles ever seen. They are shy--often i have to smile first, and
then they light up like the most enchanting thing in the world has just
happened to them. (As I type the little girls next to me are staring
transfixed by my typing.) Then they keep the contact. Kids at school are
always saying to me, 'Hello DAYvid, how AAHRE you?' Yesterday I sat down to
write some notes on a bench outside, and was immediately surrounded by a dozen
ten-year old boys who just wanted to look at what I was doing--no purpose, just
curious. Today while I was waiting to get into the computer room, a class of
7th graders lined up and one girl said hello and then went down the line of
children naming each one for me, so I could say 'Hello, how are you?' When a
class was leaving a few days ago, a girl put her hand on my shoulder and said
'GOODbye, DAYvid.'<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%;text-autospace:none'><font size=3
face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Arial'> Now
I have to close out and go to a school ceremony, delayed by the death of a
relative of a teacher, for Valentineīs Day: <i><span style='font-style:italic'>EL
Dia del Amor y la Amistad</span></i>. I suspect Iīll probably add to my
collection, from a previous school, of 250 Valentineīs Day cards. I hope my
Hotmail account works this time. <i><span style='font-style:italic'>Ya veremos</span></i>.
Weīll see. In Mario and Anaīs house is a live but incapacitated iguana,
waiting patiently to become dinner tonight. Tomorrow the principals of the
seven schools are taking me to the areas of Masaya and <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City
w:st="on">Granada</st1:City></st1:place>, and an active volcano. Every day
this world is new.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%;text-autospace:none'><font size=3
face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%;text-autospace:none'><font size=3
face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Arial'>Love
you all,<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%;text-autospace:none'><font size=3
face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Arial'>Dave<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%;text-autospace:none'><font size=3
face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%'><font size=3 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
</body>
</html>
<BR>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>--<BR>
No virus found in this outgoing message.<BR>
Checked by AVG Free Edition.<BR>
Version: 7.5.441 / Virus Database: 268.18.2/692 - Release Date: 2/18/2007 4:35 PM<BR>
</FONT> </P>