A Day in Managua

Our last day in Nicaragua was spent touring the nation's capital, Managua. Although we have been living just outside the city limits, today was the first day that we were given the opportunity to explore the intricacies of this nation's largest city. With Becca as our guide we were able to formulate a cohesive historical narrative regarding Managua's turbulent past.

We began with the Martyr's monument, where we learned of the atrocities carried out during the Somoza dynasty. Myriad unknown Nicaraguans faced execution for any suspected political dissent. Despite the scenic vista the point was tainted by its sorted past. Moving deeper into the city, we visited one of the cities markets where we saw vendors selling everything from turtle eggs to pinatas. Becca then guided us to perhaps the most recognizable places within the city center. We learned of the insurrection and revolution on the very grounds where they took place. After sampling El Salvadorian pupusas at Rincon Salvadoreno, we headed down to the lake front where we saw a new installation that sought to recreate the Managua city center prior to the earthquake of 1972. We then headed up to the formal presidental palace of Somoza where we got to see Managua from a unique vantage point while enjoying some ice cream. Our tour was finished by visiting the home of Gerardo Arias, a local painter whose influence stretches all the way to Lewisburg. He and his wife opened their home to the group and displayed their various works. After learning about the various opportunities provided by the community center that Gerardo was very influential in establishing, we headed back to JHC for our last evening in Nicaragua.

As bittersweet as our departure is, it is doubtful that this will be our last visit to this beautiful and resilient nation.

Nica love,
Miriam, Mike, and Drew

Despite blisters and back aches and sleep deprivation the whole gang managed to put on their dancing shoes and made their presence known at la discoteca. The group was welcomed by fellow Nicaraguans and made some friends on the dance floor.
The 6:30am wake up call came sooner than expected, but with a full day ahead the group pulled themselves together and prepared to load on the bus and take on the day that would consist of Volcano Masaya, Pedro the potter, a laguna and Jaraochita Masaya. We arrived at the volcano but due to active conditions and high winds, part of the path at the top was obstructed. The experience was breathtaking when we hiked up to the border of the active crater. After adventuring around the volcano, we boarded back on the bus en route to visit Pedro's studio. We were witness to political presentations celebrating the eight year anniversary of the election of Daniel Ortega. Next, we had the privilege of watching the hard work that goes into authentic Nicaraguan pottery by Pedro, who taught himself art of pottery at a young age. His work is well known worldwide and he hopes to inspire the next generation of potters by starting his own school. We learned that the materials were all locally sourced. One piece of pottery takes 15 days to finish. We quickly managed to wipe out his showcase of elaborate pottery (lucky friends and family at home may benefit from this shopping spree). After visiting Pedro, we traveled to the laguna and had the chance to relax and have the chance to experience the leisurely aspects of this beautiful country. Our afternoon was spent in the caldera of a now extinct volcano swimming, kayaking and tanning. The refreshing water was just what the doctor ordered after several of hard physical labor and minimal sleep. After relaxing for a few hours, we then toured the Plaza, a typical feature of a Spanish colonial city. The vendors sold everything from fresh fruit smoothies to leather goods to colorful hammocks. After leaving the plaza with considerably lighter pockets, dinner was served at Jarochita Masaya, a Mexican restuarant in the heart of the city. We were happy to give the restaurant business when it was losing customers due to road construction. After a great meal spent with wonderful company, the group went back on the bus crammed with pottery, hammocks and wet towels back to JHC for our second to last night of the trip. Stay tuned for the final chapter of our trip before returning stateside.

Cheers,
Morgan, Drew and Cat

P.S. Mom and Dad- I am alive and well, don't worry!
-Cat

El Porvenir

After being in the flatlands for the past week, we got a chance to travel up to a coffee co-op called El Porvenir that sits at the top of La Pelona, a mountain about four hours and 70/80 miles from Nueva Vida.  The pueblo is so isolated that halfway up the rocky dirt road we all hopped off the bus and loaded onto what is fondly known as an ox cart, pulled by a tractor and got super cozy as we rode for another hour up the rest of the way.  We arrived at about 1:30 and were greated by a wonderful lunch prepared by Ines, the wife of Rene who is a nice round man nicknamed "Watermelon."  We got to hike around the coffee plantation and learn how the organic farm produces its coffee, cocoa, bananas, and avocados, using 80 year old machinery. We ended up at a hut on a beautiful overlook that showed us the border of Honduras to our left, El Salvador straight ahead, and the rest of northern Nica to the right.  The sunset behind the active volcano to the left was spectacular!  That night we saw the moon rise up over the plains of Nica below us, and the expansive sky was littered with brilliantly shining stars.  We got to sleep on the patio in hammocks, which was at first thrilling and later quite chilling.  The sun and roosters woke us up at around 5:30am and we started our descent down the mountain towards the rest of our day at the sesame plant.

JHC also started a co-op at a sesame plant that is just getting up and running after a dude abandoned it a few years ago.  The guy who runs JHC, Mike, gave us a tour of the plant and the process with which the seeds are peeled and washed off before being bagged and shipped to the US, which is their main export.  Our jobs today were to dig two large 7 ft deep holes where plastic water waste bins will be placed.  Our boss Pedro started making fun of us and our newly acquired layer of dirt that made us suddenly look Nicaraguan.  We finally finished the day and all passed out on the three hour bus ride back to the JHC.  Tonight after dinner we get to go to a discoteca, so let's hope we can all rally in time for a fun night disco dancing away!

Saludos,

Grant, Kari, and Trevor

Last Day at the Health Clinic

Today was another early morning with breakfast at 7:15. After the breakfast we had the pleasure of getting many of our questions answered by members of JHC. We were amazed and in awe at the lifestyle these twelve members chose to live, who all live, worship, and share a common purse with one another. We were shocked to hear that combined the twelve community members make a total of 30,000 dollars a year to live on. After, we were off for another day's work at the clinic, continuing our work in the pharmacy, filing medical records, and making columns for an addition to the clinic's second building. Then as usual, we headed back to the JHC for another delicious lunch of rice, beans, and fried zucchini--yum! In the afternoon, we spent our last few hours at the clinic pouring concrete down for the new addition and finished compiling all of the patient medical records!

A group of five of us (Kari, Emily K., Morgan B., Emily B., and Taylor) went into the community of Nueva Vida with a health promoter to visit several patients in their homes. We visited the homes of six different patients--some where with a newborn child, expecting mothers, elderly patients with Parkinson's disease, and some with diabetes. Seeing the extremely poor conditions inside their homes was a completely eye opening experience, one that all of us will never forget. After returning from our visit to the community, we joined the rest of the group and together took our picture in front of the clinic. We waved goodbye to those who we had met at the clinic and jumped back in our trucks to head back to JHC for a good meal. We had a low key night tonight in preparation for our trip to El Porvenir early in the morning. We will be staying there overnight tomorrow with no Wifi so we will not be posting a new blog tomorrow (Thursday), but you can expect one from us on Friday!

That is all for now--we are off to bed for a good night's rest!

Much Nica Love,

Emily B. and Nikki

P.S. Lisa/Mom if you are reading this I love you and I am safe!
Mom and Dad- Love you lots! (Nikki)

Un Día en la clínica (One day in the clinic)

Hola familia y amigas, (Hello family and friends)

Today was an amazing day. It started bright and early, 7:15 am, with a wonderful home made breakfast. We have to admit that it will be hard to go back to Bucknell Bison food, after eating all this amazing Nicaraguan food. After breakfast we were graced with the presence of Mark Lester, Mr. I-Know-A-Lot-About-Nicaragua, and he gave a wonderful descriptive explanation of the economics, politics, and social reform of Nicaragua. This was a great segway into understanding what we are helping to rebuild, specifically in the clinic. We really feel that it fired up our passion to work and really made everything we are doing real. Although we could have listen to him all day, we had work to do, so off the clinic we went. 

The clinic day was full labor, filing, helping with the pharmacy, and digging a hole. Yes, a hole, a hole in which will become a wall, that will become a building, that they will be able to store more equipment for the people who are in need. Though, we might not be able to see the final project, we know that we helped lay the foundation for something much greater. In between there was lunch and again we say it will be hard to leave this amazing food. 

These days become more and more rewarding. We speak, or try to speak, to the native people, our fellow brigidistas and staff at JHC and learn more of the country we are living in. We could not express enough, our gratitude to those who make all of this possible. These are the types of trips that change peoples lives, and for us, even though its has only been three days, has begun to shape us in ways we have yet to understand. 

Well off we go to sleep. We have a lot of work to do tomorrow!

Buenas Noches!

-Cristal Hermosillo Danbee Kim

A Day in the Life of a Nicaraguan

After one of our best night's sleep on some of the thinnest mattresses we have ever experienced, we ate a delicious Nicaraguan breakfast complete with bread from the local nuns down the street.We started off our day with a lesson given to us by a JHC staff member, Becca, who taught us all about the present situation of most of the people in Nicaragua. It was shocking and humbling to hear that the money we brought for petty purchases was the monthly salary of many locals (around $200). Shortly after this eye-opening lesson, we got a tour of the JHC, seeing the luxurious latrine, the cotton processing building and the cotton gin. Here at the JHC we were amazed when Becca mentioned that nearly all of the people here were highly trained in everything except agriculture. That being said, they are still able to harvest and produce the amount of cotton that they do, learning how to do this from people within the Nicaraguan community. The JHC works for the communities goals, not what they themselves view as the number one priority. At the top of the community's list is first health care, then water, then more water, and then the fancy basketball courts and libraries.

Before lunch we visited the health clinic run by the JHC and got to see what good third world health care is like. Operating with two small buildings, no bigger than a lecture hall at Bucknell, the clinic offers daily check-ups, dental services, and free medications. In addition to this they offer many public health programs such as family planning, nutritional counseling, mental health services and a cleverly named She-Wolf program with the goal of reducing teen pregnancies.

After a quick lunch we headed back to the health clinic and got to work! Some of us stayed inside sorting out our medical donations and placing them on the shelves of the pharmacy. When they were done they rode in the bed of a truck back and forth from the JHC to the health clinic carrying cement blocks that will be used to make a third building at the clinic. Meanwhile, the other group was working outside making the rebar that will combine with the cement blocks to create the wall of the new building. These three hours of work were difficult, but for most Nicaraguans this hard labor is normal for them. It was great to work with some of the local Nicaraguans who are employed by the JHC.

Tomorrow we are looking forward to a long and rewarding day at the clinic. And as always, we are excited to try more Nicaraguan food!!

Until next time,

Taylor and Emily K.

p.s. HI MOM

Day 1: Travel, Orientation, and just a little hike...

Hola from Nicaragua!!

After over 36 hours of travel we have finally made it to Managua.With all of today's excitement all but us bloggers are currently passing out. Cots are calling our names after the long day. Despite the tiresome commutes, bus rides, plane rides, crazy Nicaraguan driving, orientation for JHC, and a not so little hike, we have all come through ready for the week to come. Our orientation to JHC (Jubilee House Community) helped us all answer any questions that we had, from questions about the country, what our plans were for the week, and anything else that we could have thought of. After the orientation and a brief time to get our belongings situated, we went on a hike through the Nicaraguan jungle. We hiked through pastures, by ravines, and past cliff faces learning about things that are important to the local people. Our hike eventually lead us, after some slips and falls, to a vista near the top of a mountain overlooking Managua. The awe-inspiring view really opened our eyes to how small we really are in the world. We think our lives are the norm but they are not. The situation in countries like Nicaragua is astonishingly different than the lives we lead back at Bucknell. This begs the question with these differences how exactly do we handle ourselves in the days ahead?

Tomorrow is our first day of work over at the free health clinic in Nueva Vida and we are all really excited to get started and make a difference to the people of Nueva Vida.

But for now its off to bed in preparation for a very packed week. Us bloggers got to get some shut eye too!

Hasta luego!!
-Morgan H and Michael

And we're off

'Twas the night before nica

In hunt pizza we ate

We were all ready to go

But someone was late!

We worked as a team

And packed all the bags

Handed out the lists

And put on the tags. 

We trekked through the snow

A bag in each hand

We got to the bus

Looking like a marching band. 

Onto the bus 

We threw all our junk

Thank goodness,

There was room in the trunk. 

Now on the bus

On our way to DC

We're sorry this blog

Is kinda cheesy. 

Some people with phones

Some people with books

We're talking in the back

And getting dirty looks. 

That's all for now 

It's going to be a long night

Tomorrow we'll be in nica 

It'll be quite a sight. 

Nica love,

Jenna, Guy, Emily B, Grant and Kristen