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<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial'>From Dave Barber, in Villa El
Carmen, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Nicaragua</st1:country-region>, <st1:City
w:st="on">Moscow</st1:City>’s <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Sister</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">City</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>, who is
“writing on this rickety machine with a Spanish keyboard, students all
around me, and the school day to end in half an hour.” [The
keyboard was so contentious that Dave had to dispense with capitalization, so
it’s been reintroduced.]<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial'>There are about 20 machines
[computers] here. That´s the good news. The classrooms are
built in a row, with two sides open, with class sizes of 45-60. Acoustically
it´s a zoo. Not enough chairs. Absolutely beautiful children.
Amazingly friendly children, who love to use their English as they pass:
HELLO, HI, BYE, GOODBY, GOOOD MORRNING. They hate to use their English in
class--they´re afraid of me, says Ruby the English teacher, but
it´s a game--they smile to light up the room. Earlier this week
Í was with younger students, observing and participating at intervals. Today
I met the seniors, ages 11 to 21; they are in their 5th year of study, and they
are really afraid to commit themselves. Besides, I think their level of
English skill is really low, and all my ideas of having them read and write are
out the window. Have to regroup for the next time I see them (next
Tuesday). Tomorrow I am to visit another school -- probably the same
thing will happen to me as happened last Monday: at the end of the day
the students all assembled, in straight lines before a platform; I was
introduced, and asked to explain myself and why I was there, in Spanish, of
course, to 500 kids. It was sort of fun, whatever I may have said, and 50
kids went by afterward and said BYE, or GOOODBYE.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial'>The family of Ana Julia and Mario
(in their mid-thirties) -- their niece Aura, Ana´s mother Yamanda,
Mario´s mother Aura, and Ana´s nephew Roberto -- have all been
wonderful, and all basic needs are met. I have a small bedroom -- no
window, but a fan. They have lots of life´s modern
conveniences--washing machine, frig, gas stove, TV and CD player. At the
same time, they have a by-hand-scrubbing structure outside, which at least Aura
uses, and though they have a shower the water pressure does not allow it. A
shower is a large pail of cool water, with a bowl, in the shower stall.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial'>This is the only time of the day I
have felt cool. The heat is relentless; this is SUMMER here. I
know, this flies in the face of astronomy, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">Nicaragua</st1:country-region></st1:place> being in the northern
hemisphere, but febrero y marzo are the hottest months of the year. I
guess that´s because when the rains come in may they cool things off. Astronomy
buffs will also be happy to know that the sun really does set FAST in the
tropics. And when I look up in a very bright starry sky, around 9pm, I
see Orion overhead but to the NORTH.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Because of the heat I haven´t
really been hungry since I got here. The food is fine if bland -- we´ve
had varieties of beef, chicken, fish, and lots or rice, beans, and platanos. Last
night Mario, who does the cooking and washing, etc., because Ana gets up at 4am
to take the bus to Managua and returns around 8pm, made corn tortillas from
scratch. (Platanos are not bananas, by the way, but a related sickly
sweet fruit that is hard for me to like, unless they’re green and fried.)
I have been drinking water and juice and gaseosos [carbonated drinks] and
today I discovered Gaterade in a store; I drink pretty much nonstop. Montezuma
lurks but has not struck. The family drinks no coffee, so my last cup was
last Friday [2/2].<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial'>So much to say. I love this
family, which will be no surprise to those of you who knew Ana Julia [who
studied in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Moscow</st1:City></st1:place>
for a semester in 1998]. They are so helpful, including Aura, who is 13
and a darling child. We almost never talk in English--only Ana can,
really, but they slow down and rephrase their Spanish when necessary. I
am teaching Mario and Aura English, un poco. It´s pretty relentless
trying to think and talk in Spanish all day, but I love it, mostly.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Only a little time left, I think. What
to tell? It is not true that their house fences out the animals. They
compost by throwing garbage into the small back yard -- to the delight of dogs,
pigs, and chickens. Lots of these, but few cats. The dogs are small
and scrawny. they seem very sweet, but nobody touches them and I hesitate to do
so. The house has lizards, 2 - 6 inches long, to eat the insects. The
pigs are OK, they mind their own business. There are lots of cars around
here -- almost all of them used-up taxis. And pickups. But also
people riding horses, wagons drawn by cows, bicycles. The cows have wide
horns, long folds of skin down from the neck, and wide ears like cartoons of
Dubya, only more horizontal.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Speaking of Dubya, I have not seen a
newspaper in any language, though there is a periodista [journalist] who works
at the alcalde´s [mayor] office and took lots of photos of the welcome
dinner [for me] last Saturday. I saw the pictures this morning and
I´ll try to send some sometime. I know nothing of the <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">US</st1:country-region></st1:place>,
except by chance that the Colts won the Superbowl. I assume that the
world is continuing to go to hell-in-a-hand basket. Gotta go. I
love you all. If this gets through, please let Ana know.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Dave<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>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><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>
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