I found out last night that all of the small processions in the weeks leading up to semana santa are a way for the churches to raise money for the bigger processions this week. Doña explained that they have to pay for everything they use and pay all the people and musicians involved.
This morning was the first big procession, called the procession of the donkey (procesion de la burrita). It represents Jesus entering Jerusalem on a donkey while the people laid down palms for him. I went along with everyone from the house, plus the two grandchildren that Doña cares for. Before the procession began, people set off fireworks down the street on the path that the procession would follow. Then, a large group from the church including priests and other clergy members passed by. The sides of the street started to fill with people who were walking along with the procession. A lot of people carried palms in their hands, which they held up as they walked. There are also palms on each stop sign in town.
Next was the stutue of Jesus atop the donkey, led by a man and surrounded by people watching and taking pictures. After that, the street filled up with people and we all followed the procession to the central park and the cathedral. I watched the cathedral fill up with people holding their palms up, while the bells rang quickly and repeatedly and more fireworks went off nearby.
I took some photos of the procession, and I also took some that show how many people followed in the procession. In the park, Doña had me take a photo of the three children, which came out really nice. I want to see if I can have it printed as a thank you for her.
Meanwhile, I am feeling a lot better. Doña has been really accomodating as always, serving me boiled potatoes and maduro for dinner and cornflakes with soy milk for breakfast. The medicine I am taking is pretty strong and makes me want to sleep all day, and it also gives me a pretty bad headache, but Im hoping by tomorrow I will be more used to it. I am still excited about my internship and I want to get some work done!
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Semana Santa
This upcoming week is semana santa, or Holy Week for Catholics. The children have off from school, and a lot of people go to the beach or on vacations. There are also a lot of processions in the streets and people set up palms around the churches (I´m still not really clear on what this entails, but I´m going to keep an eye out.) I am going to try to get a lot of work done early in the week, and some today and tomorrow since I was sick yesterday.
In the weeks that lead up to Semana Santa, there are processions in different parts of town. The processions represent the hours leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus. There is a statue of Jesus, which several people support by carrying a platform on their shoulders. When they are not walking, they sway back and forth and the Jesus statue appears to take on a walking motion. They are followed by a band of horns, maybe drums, and once I saw a keyboard. A lot of people follow behind the statue as well.
The other day, a procession passed by the house. I heard the horns, and I was excited to go outside and watch them pass by. Doña encouraged me to go across the street to take a picture up close. The statue was well crafted and the face of Jesus was strikingly sad.
When the procession continued, a man shouted in English, ¨Come on! Follow! Don´t you want to listen?¨but I was too shy to follow.
Last night, there was a larger procession on a local TV station in which Jesus passes by his mother Mary. This procession was followed by a huge crowd and included a row of firecrackers that were set off down an entire street. I´m not sure where this one took place, but Doña told me it wasn´t in Granada.
In the weeks that lead up to Semana Santa, there are processions in different parts of town. The processions represent the hours leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus. There is a statue of Jesus, which several people support by carrying a platform on their shoulders. When they are not walking, they sway back and forth and the Jesus statue appears to take on a walking motion. They are followed by a band of horns, maybe drums, and once I saw a keyboard. A lot of people follow behind the statue as well.
The other day, a procession passed by the house. I heard the horns, and I was excited to go outside and watch them pass by. Doña encouraged me to go across the street to take a picture up close. The statue was well crafted and the face of Jesus was strikingly sad.
When the procession continued, a man shouted in English, ¨Come on! Follow! Don´t you want to listen?¨but I was too shy to follow.
Last night, there was a larger procession on a local TV station in which Jesus passes by his mother Mary. This procession was followed by a huge crowd and included a row of firecrackers that were set off down an entire street. I´m not sure where this one took place, but Doña told me it wasn´t in Granada.
A Stowaway
Yesterday, I woke up very sick to my stomach. I was very surprised because I had been here a week with no problems, and I hadn´t eaten anything outside of the house for a couple of days. Since Doña is very adament about food safety, I couldn´t think of what I could have possibly eaten to get so sick.
By noon I felt bad enough that I called my coordinator to see what I should do. She called a doctor for me and I had a test done. The doctor told me that I had a parasite. But, he said that this parasite takes three weeks to incubate before you show symptoms, which means I got it from something I had eaten at home and brought it here. He prescribed some medicine to stop my stomach from cramping for that evening, and then a course of pills to take twice a day for ten days to get rid of the parasites.
Today, I am feeling a lot better, and I´ve been entertained by the jokes about my ¨gringo parasite.¨
By noon I felt bad enough that I called my coordinator to see what I should do. She called a doctor for me and I had a test done. The doctor told me that I had a parasite. But, he said that this parasite takes three weeks to incubate before you show symptoms, which means I got it from something I had eaten at home and brought it here. He prescribed some medicine to stop my stomach from cramping for that evening, and then a course of pills to take twice a day for ten days to get rid of the parasites.
Today, I am feeling a lot better, and I´ve been entertained by the jokes about my ¨gringo parasite.¨
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
The Work
For the past several months, another intern has been doing research about migration in Nicaragua for her Masters program. At this point in her project, she is putting her work together into a report for her internship and for school, and she is also talking with people in the community and working on future plans based on the needs that she is finding for migrants and their families. This includes programs with the goal of reducing migration, including community organization, micro finance, and job training. At the same time, we recognize that migration is a means of survival for many people in Nicaragua, so that is where addressing the needs of migrants and their families becomes important.
My internship is a migrant rights project. I will be researching and presenting information about migration policy, labor laws, and migrant rights to different communities in the area. We work with a former squatters´community called Solidaridad, which is now a near-complete housing project with Casa de la Mujer. About seven years ago, Solidaridad was a community of people living in an area prone to flooding, and who were often made to leave the area by the government as they were considered squatters. Over time, people organized and got involved with Casa de la Mujer, and eventually started to receive funding from organizations in Spain, Germany, and Italy (I believe this is correct, but I will check).
The housing project aids people in building their own houses. In order to be a part of this project, individuals must provide a foundation for their houses as well as people to work on the house and a payment for the house. This instills a sense of ownership for the houses, which cannot be sold but can be passed on to another family member after a period of time. The community now is full of sturdy-looking houses, but work is still to be done to bring electricity and water to the area. Another thing that has happened is that some people are unable to build houses where they live if they do not own the property or if they have sold it, which is a difficult situation.
One young person who works in Casa de la Mujer is also a teacher and organizer in Solidaridad, and he does a lot with the children in the community. The other day, we went with our project coordinator to present soccer jerseys to the young boys in Solidaridad. Apparently, we are going to play a game with them in a few weeks, which should be interesting considering I don´t know anything about soccer and these kids have been playing for years. I loved seeing them interested in a community activity and hanging out together. I also got to see the kids´club upstairs, where the children learn different crafts and where they hope to compile a library.
Another community that we work with is called Valle de Granada and is close to the old hospital. This is where we had a focus group with the children on Friday, and another one with adults on Monday. When we arrived on Monday, the woman who does a lot of community organizing brought me around the neighborhood to remind people of the focus group. A dog was following us, and she explained that he follows her everywhere and that she calls him ¨el guapo.¨ There is another dog called ¨amiga¨ that also follows her, which she says is because she gives them food. She knew everyone in the community, and we stopped by one house where a man gave her a bag of mangoes and then gave me one as well. Then, she showed me a plant that she said was good to make a tea out of if you have a cough, so she was going to bring it to another house where someone had a cold. She told me that it is difficult to organize the community, but that she hoped in the future that more organization could give the community more opportunities.
The people in the focus group, some of which had previously been interviewed, shared their thoughts and experiences about migration including their own travels as well as those of family members. One woman shared the sadness of leaving her children behind, and the difficulties she faced with her employer abroad. Others shared their hopes of obtaining transportation for their sandal shop, but expressed their frustration at the amount of sandals they would need to sell in order to be able to afford the transportation to sell so many sandals. A lot of questions came up about the process of migrating legally, the requirements, and the costs. People told us that migrating legally and illegally are equally difficult for different reasons, and that they cost roughly the same amount.
After the focus group, the woman who had taken me around the neighborhood shared stories about her life with us. Then, she told us about her hopes for the young people in the neighborhood. She said that people grow up very fast and talked about some of the difficult situations that arise within families including her own when people get married and have children and then fall out of love. She said that she would like to see the young people enjoy their youth and wait to have children, so that they can go to school and then have a stable family when they are older.
After Monday, I had a better idea of the kinds of questions that people have and I began my research yesterday. There is a lot of information out there, so I am trying my best to get as much work done as possible during my short time here. I also met with my project coordinator and the other intern yesterday, and we talked about our current work and ideas about projects in the future. One of the ideas that came up was a very focused micro finance program in Valle de Granada, with the goal of keeping the program very focused within the neighborhood, which would make the project manageable and hopefully more successful than it would be if we tried to have a larger program. Apparently, there is a government micro finance program for women, and I am going to try to find out about any other options we may have.
We also talked about different activities that we could do with the children in the community, and I´m excited about the possibility of doing this in addition to my migration project. All in all, I have a lot to do! I try to stay focused throughout the day and set goals for myself. I plan on making my presentations and creating an informative brochure about the legal process of migration. Next, I want to make a contact booklet or card for different offices and organizations that people may need. I hope that access to the right information and knowledge of resources and contact information will provide people with the tools they need to assert their rights as employees and as residents abroad.
My internship is a migrant rights project. I will be researching and presenting information about migration policy, labor laws, and migrant rights to different communities in the area. We work with a former squatters´community called Solidaridad, which is now a near-complete housing project with Casa de la Mujer. About seven years ago, Solidaridad was a community of people living in an area prone to flooding, and who were often made to leave the area by the government as they were considered squatters. Over time, people organized and got involved with Casa de la Mujer, and eventually started to receive funding from organizations in Spain, Germany, and Italy (I believe this is correct, but I will check).
The housing project aids people in building their own houses. In order to be a part of this project, individuals must provide a foundation for their houses as well as people to work on the house and a payment for the house. This instills a sense of ownership for the houses, which cannot be sold but can be passed on to another family member after a period of time. The community now is full of sturdy-looking houses, but work is still to be done to bring electricity and water to the area. Another thing that has happened is that some people are unable to build houses where they live if they do not own the property or if they have sold it, which is a difficult situation.
One young person who works in Casa de la Mujer is also a teacher and organizer in Solidaridad, and he does a lot with the children in the community. The other day, we went with our project coordinator to present soccer jerseys to the young boys in Solidaridad. Apparently, we are going to play a game with them in a few weeks, which should be interesting considering I don´t know anything about soccer and these kids have been playing for years. I loved seeing them interested in a community activity and hanging out together. I also got to see the kids´club upstairs, where the children learn different crafts and where they hope to compile a library.
Another community that we work with is called Valle de Granada and is close to the old hospital. This is where we had a focus group with the children on Friday, and another one with adults on Monday. When we arrived on Monday, the woman who does a lot of community organizing brought me around the neighborhood to remind people of the focus group. A dog was following us, and she explained that he follows her everywhere and that she calls him ¨el guapo.¨ There is another dog called ¨amiga¨ that also follows her, which she says is because she gives them food. She knew everyone in the community, and we stopped by one house where a man gave her a bag of mangoes and then gave me one as well. Then, she showed me a plant that she said was good to make a tea out of if you have a cough, so she was going to bring it to another house where someone had a cold. She told me that it is difficult to organize the community, but that she hoped in the future that more organization could give the community more opportunities.
The people in the focus group, some of which had previously been interviewed, shared their thoughts and experiences about migration including their own travels as well as those of family members. One woman shared the sadness of leaving her children behind, and the difficulties she faced with her employer abroad. Others shared their hopes of obtaining transportation for their sandal shop, but expressed their frustration at the amount of sandals they would need to sell in order to be able to afford the transportation to sell so many sandals. A lot of questions came up about the process of migrating legally, the requirements, and the costs. People told us that migrating legally and illegally are equally difficult for different reasons, and that they cost roughly the same amount.
After the focus group, the woman who had taken me around the neighborhood shared stories about her life with us. Then, she told us about her hopes for the young people in the neighborhood. She said that people grow up very fast and talked about some of the difficult situations that arise within families including her own when people get married and have children and then fall out of love. She said that she would like to see the young people enjoy their youth and wait to have children, so that they can go to school and then have a stable family when they are older.
After Monday, I had a better idea of the kinds of questions that people have and I began my research yesterday. There is a lot of information out there, so I am trying my best to get as much work done as possible during my short time here. I also met with my project coordinator and the other intern yesterday, and we talked about our current work and ideas about projects in the future. One of the ideas that came up was a very focused micro finance program in Valle de Granada, with the goal of keeping the program very focused within the neighborhood, which would make the project manageable and hopefully more successful than it would be if we tried to have a larger program. Apparently, there is a government micro finance program for women, and I am going to try to find out about any other options we may have.
We also talked about different activities that we could do with the children in the community, and I´m excited about the possibility of doing this in addition to my migration project. All in all, I have a lot to do! I try to stay focused throughout the day and set goals for myself. I plan on making my presentations and creating an informative brochure about the legal process of migration. Next, I want to make a contact booklet or card for different offices and organizations that people may need. I hope that access to the right information and knowledge of resources and contact information will provide people with the tools they need to assert their rights as employees and as residents abroad.
The Interns
I have been getting along well with the other interns here, especially the one who lives around the corner and is doing the larger migration project for her Masters program and another woman who lives nearby who I see often. On Sunday, we went to the volcano called Mombacho with another intern and her friend. We walked parts of two different trails with a guide who knew a lot about the volcano and the plants and animals that live there. We had a great time and it was interesting to learn about the different wildlife and to feel the heat and smell the sulfur coming out of the fumadores. We went to several lookout points where we could see Granada, laguna apoyo (where people like to go swimming on the weekends), and the 300+ islets nearby. When we reached the highest point in our trail, we were all excited to be able to see Concepcion, which is a volcano on the island of Omatepe. The view was beautiful and I´m glad we were able to go.
In addition to going out and having fun, it´s nice to have people around to talk about my experiences with. We talk a lot about our feelings about migration, life here, and the different social and economic issues that we encounter. It´s interesting to hear other peoples´feelings and opinions, which can sometimes be very different than my own but always provide a welcome change in perspective.
In addition to going out and having fun, it´s nice to have people around to talk about my experiences with. We talk a lot about our feelings about migration, life here, and the different social and economic issues that we encounter. It´s interesting to hear other peoples´feelings and opinions, which can sometimes be very different than my own but always provide a welcome change in perspective.
The Family
It´s hard to believe I have been here for almost a week! I am having a great experience here and I think my host family is a really good fit. Doña explains things to me and lets me ask lots of questions, and she talks to me a lot. Her son is very nice and highlighted a lot of points of interest on my map of the city the other day. His wife is also really friendly, she starts conversations with me and encourages me not to be shy. Their daughter is really cute and keeps things lively in the house.
Doña also takes care of two of her other grandchildren while her other daughter-in-law works in the market every day. The children´s father, Doña´s son, is away working in El Salvador for a few months at a time. His wife starts working at 6 AM, comes home for lunch, and then goes back to the market. She is very friendly as well and I admire her hard work. She has invited me to join her at the market whenever I would like to, so I think I am going to go on Saturday since I have the day off.
In the front of the house, Doña has a beauty salon. She has had the salon for many years, and for most of that time she worked all day every day. Now, she told me that she works enough to make some money so that she doesn´t have to ask anyone for anything, and also so that she feels useful. She is also goes to church, is involved with a bible study group every week, and volunteers with the red cross.
A few days ago, her hand started hurting her very badly and she has to travel to Masaya for an ultrasound later this week. She explained that her tendons are strained from so many years of working with her hands. The day that it hurt her, she still did a haircut and styling for a young woman´s wedding, because she has been cutting this woman´s hair since she was a little girl and didn´t want her to have to go somewhere else for such an important day.
Doña is a lively woman who takes good care of herself and her family. I feel very comfortable living here and I enjoy talking with her. The other night, she told me a lot about her family and her life. She also makes an effort to be accommodating, even though I usually don´t ask directly for anything. For example, the second day I was here, she served me coffee in the morning and noticed that I didn´t use any sugar. After that, she started to give me pure fruit juice with ice rather than fresco, which is made with fruit, sugar, and ice. She also gives me a lot of advice when I go out about how to be safe and comfortable.
On Monday, I went with Doña to the market, which I loved. There are so many colors, different things to buy, sounds, smells, and people. The market is huge and gets more crowded as the day goes on. I was surprised to see that the streets are still open to traffic, and people just try to move to the sides to let cars and buses through. Doña showed me the best places to buy certain foods, and also showed me places to buy make up and clothing. We also visited her daughter-in-law´s store, where she sells all kinds of things like rice, corn flour, sauces and jellies, and household items. When we returned to the house, Doña told me about different foods, how to prepare them, and their histories. She also had me try a lot of different fruits which were delicious. I had a ripe mango, which was small and yellow as opposed to the green and red I was used to and it was a lot sweeter. Next, I tried jocote, which is a small green or red fruit that looks like a tomato on the outside. It can be eaten green, which is tart, or red and ripe, which is yellow on the inside and very sweet and has a nice texture. My favorite was nispero, which is brown with large black seeds and tastes like brown sugar.
I tried another plato tipico the other day, called baho. It is made in a large pot with a banana leaf on the bottom, filled with yuca, meat, and platano maduro, and then another banana leaf is placed on top. The pot is covered and cooks for three hours, so afterward everything is flavored nicely. The baho is served with rice and salad and it is really good.
Doña also takes care of two of her other grandchildren while her other daughter-in-law works in the market every day. The children´s father, Doña´s son, is away working in El Salvador for a few months at a time. His wife starts working at 6 AM, comes home for lunch, and then goes back to the market. She is very friendly as well and I admire her hard work. She has invited me to join her at the market whenever I would like to, so I think I am going to go on Saturday since I have the day off.
In the front of the house, Doña has a beauty salon. She has had the salon for many years, and for most of that time she worked all day every day. Now, she told me that she works enough to make some money so that she doesn´t have to ask anyone for anything, and also so that she feels useful. She is also goes to church, is involved with a bible study group every week, and volunteers with the red cross.
A few days ago, her hand started hurting her very badly and she has to travel to Masaya for an ultrasound later this week. She explained that her tendons are strained from so many years of working with her hands. The day that it hurt her, she still did a haircut and styling for a young woman´s wedding, because she has been cutting this woman´s hair since she was a little girl and didn´t want her to have to go somewhere else for such an important day.
Doña is a lively woman who takes good care of herself and her family. I feel very comfortable living here and I enjoy talking with her. The other night, she told me a lot about her family and her life. She also makes an effort to be accommodating, even though I usually don´t ask directly for anything. For example, the second day I was here, she served me coffee in the morning and noticed that I didn´t use any sugar. After that, she started to give me pure fruit juice with ice rather than fresco, which is made with fruit, sugar, and ice. She also gives me a lot of advice when I go out about how to be safe and comfortable.
On Monday, I went with Doña to the market, which I loved. There are so many colors, different things to buy, sounds, smells, and people. The market is huge and gets more crowded as the day goes on. I was surprised to see that the streets are still open to traffic, and people just try to move to the sides to let cars and buses through. Doña showed me the best places to buy certain foods, and also showed me places to buy make up and clothing. We also visited her daughter-in-law´s store, where she sells all kinds of things like rice, corn flour, sauces and jellies, and household items. When we returned to the house, Doña told me about different foods, how to prepare them, and their histories. She also had me try a lot of different fruits which were delicious. I had a ripe mango, which was small and yellow as opposed to the green and red I was used to and it was a lot sweeter. Next, I tried jocote, which is a small green or red fruit that looks like a tomato on the outside. It can be eaten green, which is tart, or red and ripe, which is yellow on the inside and very sweet and has a nice texture. My favorite was nispero, which is brown with large black seeds and tastes like brown sugar.
I tried another plato tipico the other day, called baho. It is made in a large pot with a banana leaf on the bottom, filled with yuca, meat, and platano maduro, and then another banana leaf is placed on top. The pot is covered and cooks for three hours, so afterward everything is flavored nicely. The baho is served with rice and salad and it is really good.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Yesterday my program coordinator showed me around town and introduced me to a few people at Casa de las Mujeres, which is where I will be starting out with my work and where I share an office with another intern. She has been here since January doing interviews and researching migration in Nicaragua and the needs of migrants and their families. I will be working along with her for the first week or so while I get to know the organization and the nature of her work, in addition to beginning my research on migration policy and migrant rights in Costa Rica. I will continue this research and prepare presentation materials through my second week, and then begin presenting this information to different communities for the last two weeks of my internship. Since I only have a month, I really want to make the most of my time.
In the afternoon yesterday, I went with the other intern to a focus group with about 15 children at a community center/preschool just outside of the center of Granada. We began by asking them to draw pictures of who lives with them at home. Next, we talked with them about whether or not anyone in their families lived in Costa Rica or the US and asked them about their feelings. We had cards with illustrations of happy, sad, and angry and asked them to raise their hand for each one and explain what makes them feel this way. Most of them responded that they were happy or sad, and not many said that they felt angry. The sad responses were due to missing their family members, and those who were happy said that they liked receiving gifts and things and were also happy that their relatives had jobs and could work.
The last activity was to make a card to give to someone in their families. The cards that the children made were very nice and creative, and the messages that they wrote were very nice. Over all, I felt a little bit overwhelmed and like I couldn´t help out enough with the activities, but I was glad that I was able to go and meet the children and a few of the mothers and one grandmother there.
After the focus group, a few of the interns and I tried to go to a dance class, but it was cancelled. We went out to dinner in the main tourist area where there are a lot of restaurants. There was a lot going on, people walk around playing music and selling crafts that they make. While we were eating, a group of guys started break dancing in the center of the area where people sit outside to eat. They were really good at it and also had stunts they would do with two people together.
Also during dinner, I saw what is apparently a very common street performance where one person is on stilts inside of a large costume of a white woman and another person is inside of a very short little costume of a man. They dance around and I´m not sure what it represents and I can´t find it online, but I´ll ask my host family what it is called and try to describe it better or take a picture next time.
I really like my host family and the home I am staying in. Doña owns a beauty salon and lives with her son, his wife, and their young daughter. They have a parrot and a small dog. The salon is in the front of the house, and then there is a sitting room with rocking chairs and a TV and a garden with trees and an open roof. There is a corridor with another open garden and to the right is the kitchen and dining room and to the left is my room and the bathroom. The other bedrooms are farther back in the house. My room is very nice and my bed is bigger than the one at home.
In the mornings, I really enjoy opening my mosquito net and the windows of my room. The cold shower is welcome and Doña gives me breakfast of fruit, coffee, and bread. The food she cooks for lunch and dinner is very good and I have had gallo pinto, meat with rice and vegetables, and tortillas. She made a soup yesterday for lunch that was called sopa de rosquilla. The soup broth is made with tomato, onion, garlic, mint, and milk. The rosquillas are little fried rings made out of corn and cheese and together they are delicious!
Today I am not working so I took the morning to walk around Granada and look around. My host family was really nice before I left and gave me advice about where to visit and highlighted a few things on my map. I am going to go back for lunch soon and then I might go swimming down the street from the house. Tonight I am going with my program coordinator and a few interns to give soccer jerseys to some children in a housing project that Casa de las Mujeres works with. I´m excited to meet people there and hear about the soccer games that are coming up.
Next week in addition to working I am planning on going up to Managua with some of the interns to see El Nica, a monologue play about a Nicaraguan living and working in Costa Rica. I am very excited about this because I read about it last year when I was doing research for my senior paper and now I have the chance to see it live. The guy who picked me up from the airport told me that it is very sad and it usually makes people cry.
I also plan on going to a film screening at a place called Casa de los Tres Mundos where they have art exhibits and a lot of really neat cultural events in the center of Granada.
For now, I am enjoying the weekend and getting acquainted with Granada. I am really looking forward to starting work next week! I have a few things to read over about Nicaragua´s history and about migration here, so I am enjoying that as well.
In the afternoon yesterday, I went with the other intern to a focus group with about 15 children at a community center/preschool just outside of the center of Granada. We began by asking them to draw pictures of who lives with them at home. Next, we talked with them about whether or not anyone in their families lived in Costa Rica or the US and asked them about their feelings. We had cards with illustrations of happy, sad, and angry and asked them to raise their hand for each one and explain what makes them feel this way. Most of them responded that they were happy or sad, and not many said that they felt angry. The sad responses were due to missing their family members, and those who were happy said that they liked receiving gifts and things and were also happy that their relatives had jobs and could work.
The last activity was to make a card to give to someone in their families. The cards that the children made were very nice and creative, and the messages that they wrote were very nice. Over all, I felt a little bit overwhelmed and like I couldn´t help out enough with the activities, but I was glad that I was able to go and meet the children and a few of the mothers and one grandmother there.
After the focus group, a few of the interns and I tried to go to a dance class, but it was cancelled. We went out to dinner in the main tourist area where there are a lot of restaurants. There was a lot going on, people walk around playing music and selling crafts that they make. While we were eating, a group of guys started break dancing in the center of the area where people sit outside to eat. They were really good at it and also had stunts they would do with two people together.
Also during dinner, I saw what is apparently a very common street performance where one person is on stilts inside of a large costume of a white woman and another person is inside of a very short little costume of a man. They dance around and I´m not sure what it represents and I can´t find it online, but I´ll ask my host family what it is called and try to describe it better or take a picture next time.
I really like my host family and the home I am staying in. Doña owns a beauty salon and lives with her son, his wife, and their young daughter. They have a parrot and a small dog. The salon is in the front of the house, and then there is a sitting room with rocking chairs and a TV and a garden with trees and an open roof. There is a corridor with another open garden and to the right is the kitchen and dining room and to the left is my room and the bathroom. The other bedrooms are farther back in the house. My room is very nice and my bed is bigger than the one at home.
In the mornings, I really enjoy opening my mosquito net and the windows of my room. The cold shower is welcome and Doña gives me breakfast of fruit, coffee, and bread. The food she cooks for lunch and dinner is very good and I have had gallo pinto, meat with rice and vegetables, and tortillas. She made a soup yesterday for lunch that was called sopa de rosquilla. The soup broth is made with tomato, onion, garlic, mint, and milk. The rosquillas are little fried rings made out of corn and cheese and together they are delicious!
Today I am not working so I took the morning to walk around Granada and look around. My host family was really nice before I left and gave me advice about where to visit and highlighted a few things on my map. I am going to go back for lunch soon and then I might go swimming down the street from the house. Tonight I am going with my program coordinator and a few interns to give soccer jerseys to some children in a housing project that Casa de las Mujeres works with. I´m excited to meet people there and hear about the soccer games that are coming up.
Next week in addition to working I am planning on going up to Managua with some of the interns to see El Nica, a monologue play about a Nicaraguan living and working in Costa Rica. I am very excited about this because I read about it last year when I was doing research for my senior paper and now I have the chance to see it live. The guy who picked me up from the airport told me that it is very sad and it usually makes people cry.
I also plan on going to a film screening at a place called Casa de los Tres Mundos where they have art exhibits and a lot of really neat cultural events in the center of Granada.
For now, I am enjoying the weekend and getting acquainted with Granada. I am really looking forward to starting work next week! I have a few things to read over about Nicaragua´s history and about migration here, so I am enjoying that as well.
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