Vacation(s)

School got out in late November and our travels began in earnest.  Please pardon the long post as we have lots to catch up on.

Jeff, Emma and Hannah went to Costa Rica during the first two weeks in December.  Aileen drove the crew to Managua from where we caught the Tica Bus to Liberia, Costa Rica.  Tica Bus was an awesome way to make the 6 hour trip.  The company runs luxury buses with air conditioning and movies.  Unfortunately the movies contained sex or violence (but never both); thet were totally inappropriate for children and most adults.  Emma was glued to a book most of the trip but I had to spent a great deal of energy distracting Hannah from the screen.

Once we got off the bus it was clear we were not in Nicaragua anymore.  Costa Rica is a pretty developed country - with all the corresponding pluses and minuses.  Liberia is full of strip malls and American fast food joints so we immediately ran into one for lunch.  I guess strip malls count as a minus but it was nice to have something different for a change.  We then jumped into a cab and went to a beach called Playa Hermosa.  We spent a few great days at this beach and had the opportunity to go snorkeling and eat fresh oysters that we gathered ourselves.

Hannah rocking at the food court

Emma searching for more oysters

We then went to the mountain community of Monteverde.  This area was settled by Quakers in the 1950s and is now a very interesting, progressive place.  There are farms, a cheese factory, a Friends school and many nature reserves to visit.  We also went to a frog museum, bat exhibit and butterfly sanctuary.  The girls were most impressed by the Children's Eternal Rainforest, a reserve purchased by a fourth grade class from Sweden and now supported by young people from around the world.  Next we visited Arenal, one of the most active volcanoes in the world.  We stayed at a hotel that was very close to the volcano and expected to see and hear lots of activity.  Unfortunately, it was very cloudy and Arenal had been quiet for a few months.  We still enjoyed our stay and had a great time hiking, horseback riding and visiting a hot spring resort.   While in Monteverde and Arenal we identified 26 types of trees/plants, 6 insects, 7 mammals and 27 birds including a Quetzal.  We also saw dozens of bats, frogs and butterflies in various exhibits.

 

Quetzal

Relaxing at the hot spring and bar

We then headed back to Liberia and learned that there was much more than strip malls in this nice little town.  The next morning we left for Nicaragua.  Since Liberia is not a main stop, we had to wait on the highway to flag down the Tica Bus.  We were given lots of conflicting information as to when it would arrive and ended up waiting for two hours. At least we got on the bus, and much to our surprise they were expecting us!  Unfortunately Aileen's truck broke down on the way to meet us in Managua and though she finally got there, it was a fiasco. We ended up staying the night in Managua and had to bus it back to Matagalpa.  Despite these transportation hassles, it was a great trip to Costa Rica.  It was also fattening and expensive.  The only thing I did not like is that most everyone who works in tourism speaks English.  Some of the folks we encountered were happy to let the girls practice Spanish but most wanted to show off their language skills.  On a related note, Costa Ricans can be a bit arrogant, especially when it comes to Nicaragua; I often found myself defending the honor of our adopted country.

Emma enjoying the diverse cuisine

Hannah showing that she lost her second tooth in Costa Rica

Soon after we returned from Costa Rica, we were visited by our good friends Jason Alberston and his son Elias.  We spent the first five days of their trip kicking around San Ramon.  We visited Matagalpa, toured some local farms and went to a chocolate factory.  The highlight was Emma and Hannah's birthday fiesta attended by their friends.  Jason was a huge help and it was great to have Elias there.  We then spent the next six days travelling around Nicaragua.  We went to the beaches near Leon where we took a boat trip in a mangrove forest full of crocodiles.  Next we toured the City of Leon and found a restaurant that served shwarma!  The next three days were spent in Granada.  We took side trips to: Masaya volcano where we toured some caves; Mombacho volcano where we did a zip line; and Laguna de Apoyo where the kids got to take flying leaps off a dock into crystal clear water.

Birthday dancing

Old friends in a new place

Mangrove tour

Masaya National Park

Team zip line

It was wonderful spending the holidays with old friends. They left on 12/31 and on the way back to San Ramon we got some cool fireworks to celebrate the New Year with some of our new friends.

A few days later Jeff, Emma and Hannah went to Playa Gigante in southwestern Nicaragua for a week.  The girls attended Spanish school in the mornings and Jeff studied a hammock.  In the afternoon we enjoyed the amazing beaches and also took a fishing trip.  Aileen joined us for the last few days and brought along our puppy Cuate who had the best vacation of his life.

The fish Hannah caught

Nobody here but us, Cuate and a few surfers

Tomorrow we are heading for the USA for a few weeks and will post about that when we return.  It was a great 2010 and we are really looking forward to what comes next!



Aileen's Turn

Emma, Hannah and Jeff just got back from Costa Rica.  It was a great trip and we will blog about it soon.   In the meantime, here is a photo from a hanging bridge in the Monteverde cloud forest.

Though we had a wonderful time, we really missed Aileen.  Speaking of which, here is her post about life and death in Nicaragua.....

Today I went out to Tapasle, the rural community where we’re building a preschool. I was going to use my truck to help them bring sand, rocks, and water from the river to the school site. I was happy because I got an early start. The last two times I was planning to spend the day in Tapasle, hauling materials in the truck, I got waylaid, the first time by a flat tire, and the second time by a roadblock: two large trucks that were trying to pass each other both got stuck in the deep mud along the edges of the road, blocking traffic in both directions.

Anyway, when I arrived at the community, Hector, the president of the project committee was waiting for me. He said that they had a favor to ask. A man from the community had passed away the day before, and they needed help to bring his body and casket to the cemetery, which was in Sabana Grande, a community about half an hour away, up a long, steep hill. I told them of course I would help them, and Hector took off on his horse to let them know that I would take them.

We unloaded the cement that I had brought with me, and then we got as close to the house as we could, in a vehicle. While we waited, I heard the story of Don Timoteo’s widow, Doña Vicenta.

Vicenta was from the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua, which is really isolated, geographically, politically, and culturally, from the rest of Nicaragua. When Vicenta was in her late teens, she met a young man, and moved with him to Tapasle. Soon afterwards, he left to fight in the Contra War and was killed. She was a young, childless widow, in a community where she had no family of her own. She stayed there, and about ten years later met Timoteo. They didn’t have any of their own land, and in the twenty or so years that they were together, they never had children. Timoteo worked as a day laborer on other people’s land, and during the coffee harvest, they both worked, picking coffee. Yesterday, they were working together, picking coffee, when Timoteo had a heart attack. Again, Doña Vicenta is a childless widow, but now she’s in her late 50’s, in a community where she has no family of her own.

As I helped Doña Vicenta into the passenger seat of my truck, I told her how sorry I was for her terrible loss, and she just stared at me, numbly, and remained that way for the entire way to the cemetery, staring straight ahead, unblinking.

Interlude

We are taking a break from the "each person does an in-depth post" series to give a little update on what has been going on lately.  Since our last post, Jeff, Emma and Hannah went back to visit our friends the Valles. When we got there Jeffrey Jr. and his brother were away but we got to spend time with Aileen Jr. and her parents. There was no traumatic river crossing this time but we did get to watch our lunch (chicken) being killed and prepared.  It was so very touching to watch Hannah running around with the semi-developed chicken eggs and other innards that they let her play with.  That evening we stayed at a hotel in the town of El Sauce owned by our old friends the Blancos.  Xiomara and Francisco are amazing people and we were very happy to hear that all three of their daughters were doing well in their chosen professions.  This family is a very bright light in a country where the future often seems so dark.  It was energizing to be around them and we plan to go back very soon.

To the Valle's house we go....

In other exciting news, our zoo continues to grow. The Valle family decided to give Hannah a chick since she loved playing with them so much.  Aileen Jr. and Hannah forced Jeff into submission and we took the little sucker home.  It had to spend the night in the Blanco's hotel with us. Muji (hen in Chinese) is the newest resident of our chicken coop and she seems to be adjusting well.  In addition to Muji we now have a bat living in our patio named Bat Girl.  Bat Girl is probably there to enjoy a nice meal of chicken blood and hopefully not feasting on our dog too.  Actually we chased her away the other day but I would not be surprised to see Bat Girl again.  Speaking of the dog, Cuate is getting HUGE and is lots of fun for all of us when he is not destroying various items he gets his mouth on.

Bat Girl

Thanksgiving was another highlight of the month.  Aileen cooked a wonderful meal of chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans and cranberry sauce.  We were not able to watch football as there was no power all day and we had to cook and eat by candlelight.  The next day we visited a pre-Columbian museum in a nearby town called Chaguitillo. The museum guide (Jimmy) took us to a creek to see petro glyphs that were about 1500 years old.   Not only was the trip really interesting, Jimmy was a really nice guy who just got a scholarship to study nonprofit management in the USA.  Jimmy is another bright light and we plan to hang out with him before he leaves.

Thanksgiving Nica style

The really big event this month was the end of the Nicaraguan school year.  Hannah had her preschool graduation which was a huge affair.  It started with a mass in our beautiful little church.  The mass was lovely but Jeff found himself muttering in Hebrew and keeping an eye out for lightning bolts (only partly joking).  After mass there was a graduation ceremony and fiesta back at the school.  Jeff had to walk Hannah down the aisle which was good practice for the pending marriage to Oscar - her friend who swears he is coming back to the USA with us. 



Hannah getting her diploma

Emma did not have a ceremony per se, but we did have to go pick up her report card today which was sort of ceremonial.  Teacher Carmen told us that Emma was one of the best students she has ever had (and she has been teaching for 30 years).  Emma did incredibly well and has a growing reputation as the town scholar.  She is at the library every other day picking out books to read (English and Spanish).  Both of the girls will miss being at school.  They have made many friends and have been spending more and more time playing with their classmates.  Though they are making lots of new buddies, Emma and Hannah have REALLY bonded.  It is wonderful to see them together (except of course when they are fighting - which gets surprisingly physical sometimes).

Diploma and report card

School starts does not start again until February and we are about to begin our vacation travels  Jeff, Emma and Hannah leave for Costa Rica in a few days and will return mid-December.  Aileen cannot go as she is taking off many weeks of work in 2011 for our trips to the USA and Peru.  Besides all that, she has started a new school project in another community and is getting really busy again.  The travelers will try to blog on the road but if not, we will post when we get return.  Oh yeah, that is if we are even able to leave.  We just found out we need an exit visa for Jeff to take the kids out of Nicaragua without Aileen and it may be impossible to get one at this late date.  We cannot wait to make another trip to immigration!





Hannah's Turn

This week features Hannah.  She decided to do a photo essay about San Ramon.  Before we turn it over to Hannah, here is a brief update.

Not too much has happened in our daily lives since our last post.  However, we have finally decided our plans for the rest of the year.  When we decided to live in Nicaragua, everyone agreed to assess the situation in November and if we were not happy being here we would move to South America.  After weeks of discussion, debate and yes, some tears we finally decided to stay.  Aileen loves her job as well as the town and was not interested in moving.  Emma loves it here even more and was the one who shed some tears at the thought of leaving.  Hannah says she does not like it here but she is always smiling, has many friends and seems to revel in the freedom of small town life -- we took her vote with a grain of salt.  Once Jeff realized he could support the family by working 15 hours a week, the idea of moving to the mountains or beaches of Argentina took hold.  Cooler heads prevailed and we will continue our wonderful experience in San Ramon.  However, we agreed to take some major trips and encourage visits from friends and family in order to make the most of our time here, especially when the girls are off school. 

On to our feature presentation....Hannah's World in Photos.

My teacher is good and I like her

That is one of the San Ramon buses

This is my dog

This is Freddy.  He fell.

That is Hugo and he is nice

The library where everyone studies

They are crazy guys

He is my boyfriend Oscar

Look at the cute pig

That is our store.  My dog's daddy King is there,

That's my school





Emma's Turn

We are suffering from blog fatigue so for the next four weeks, each of us will take turns posting. Emma volunteered to go first.

On our way to a deserted island

My Crazy Week – by Emma
(this is something Emma wrote for the blog in mid-October that never got posted)

At school I am learning about how important it is to NOT waste electricity. In mathematics I am learning geometry. Yesterday I worked on a painting project at an after school program. This week school got cancelled because my teacher had a meeting. On the long weekend I went to the opening of Santa Isabel school (for Aileen's work).

Escuela Santa Isabel Grand Opening

Cuate (our new puppy) has a new puppy friend and her name is Pelusa. Daddy got a bike and I can ride on it with him by sitting on the bar so we ride around town a lot. If you have NOT seen me on Facebook I will tell you right now I made a video of a song for my Mom and Dad’s anniversary.

My School – by Emma K.
(note: this is from a project that Emma is doing with her classmates in Nicaragua and the USA)

In my school it is more noisy then the San Francisco School. Recess is not as calm. In my classroom it is very noisy and people are always running around the classroom bugging other people. School is noisy but there are lots of very nice friends. I have two best friends, Janyn (Yanin) and Carlos a girl and a boy.

Janyn

School is orange and white but the orange is orangeish-yellow. It is NOT like San Francisco School and is made of concrete. There is a big open space in between the buildings and that is the yard. It is pretty big but not as big as the San Francisco School yard. The power and water always go out and because of that we have a water tank as you will see on my map there is a circle and that is the water tank.

Emma's School

School starts at 7:30. In the mornings we sing the national anthem and the education anthem. We have three subjects, Spanish, Math and Civics. Recently we have been studying nature and Nicaraguan money. Sometimes we have PE or music but not so much. School ends at 12:15.

Emma's Class

Long Time No Blog

It is hard to believe that October is gone and we have been in Nicaragua four months. Things have been a bit slow of late.  Given the rains, the pets, and our work we ended up staying close to town during the past six weeks. We enjoyed some shopping trips to Matagalpa, a nice meal for our wedding anniversary, the national volleyball championship held in our town, and hanging out with friends. Jeff’s job ended and he started doing some consulting work with nonprofits in Nicaragua and the USA.  Aileen started construction on a new school. Emma and Hannah continue to study, play and grow.

Since things have been slow, we will tell you about some interesting medical experiences. As you may have heard, there has been an outbreak of Leptospirosis in Nicaragua and we were getting very nervous. The health care system in Nicaragua was really broken when we lived here in 2000 so we were not sure what to expect. We were pleasantly surprised when a health worker came to our door to discuss Leptospirosis. He provided us a prophylaxis for the disease and said he would return each week with more until the outbreak passes. He then asked if we wanted our H1N1 vaccines while he was visiting!  Unfortunately Jeff had another experience with the medical system after accidentally sticking his hand in our puppy’s mouth while playing (true story Mom, it was NOT a bite so don’t worry). The medical clinic patched him up, ruled out rabies and gave him a tetanus shot. It was a bit disconcerting getting treated in the hallway of the clinic but they got the job done.  The most interesting thing to note is that everything was free thanks to the Sandinista government’s focus on universal health care. Life is far from perfect here but perhaps the USA can learn a few things from Nicaragua.

Fortunately, we now have more interesting things to talk about than our health.  The rainy season is over, school is winding down, Jeff’s job ended and our puppy is growing up. Time to hit the road again!  This past weekend we went to Playa Coco on the Pacific Ocean which is about six hours from our house and an hour or so from the border with Costa Rica. After the long and grueling drive to our cottage by the beach, the girls shot out of the car, quickly changed and bolted to the water.

That night, we drove to nearby Playa La Flor to look for the sea turtles that come ashore to lay eggs every year. When we got to this nearby national park, we paid our entrance fee and were assigned a guide who covered our lights with red cellophane paper before taking us on a short hike to the beach. We were not prepared for what we saw. There were nearly one thousand turtles on the shore – coming and going with little regard for anything other than laying their eggs and getting back to the ocean. Each of us was nearly knocked over numerous times by the giant turtles. Our guide took us to a turtle in the process of finishing her nest (a deep hole in the sand) and laying her eggs. We watched her lay about 100 eggs and cover the nest with packed sand. We then followed her back to the ocean and she swam off without looking back.

The next day we were all pretty tired and decided to play on the beach. There were very few people around this undeveloped area so we had the place mostly to ourselves. We cooked our meals in the shared kitchen near our cottage and had a nice, mellow day. We watched the World Series that evening and went to bed soon after. We had such a good time we decided to extend our stay for another night. Rather than leaving the next morning we woke up early and took a boat to nearby Bolanos Island in Costa Rica. After a one hour ocean trip during which we saw sea turtles, schools of fish and amazing scenery, we arrived at a pristine beach on a deserted island. After a totally treacherous hike up a steep hill our guide brought us to the only frigatgebird nesting site in Nicaragua or Costa Rica. It was quite a site.

The rest of our trip was spent lounging around, playing and chatting. The girls spoke of the Giants, their friends and Halloween. They decided that next year would be Nicaraguan themed costumes. Emma said she wants to be a native Nicaraguan princess. Hannah said she wants to be a stupid drunk guy. Enough said.

We drove back on Monday and did something we try to avoid at all costs – driving at night. However it was really hard to leave the beach so we decided to deal with the horror of Nicaraguan night driving. Jeff actually liked the madness (figures) and drove all the way home. We stopped at a pizza place on the way back and got to watch the World Series. Needless to say that was a huge thrill. When we rolled into town Monday night we noticed a new street sign. We were very excited as signage is rare in Nicaragua. However, our excitement turned to laughter when we realized the sign guiding drivers toward a nearby city was pointing in the wrong direction; why someone put this up is a mystery.

Hail the Victorious Gigantes!

Hopefully this brings our readers up to date. We are looking forward to vacation and upcoming travels and will share them with you in future posts.

What I Like About You

In celebration of our 100 days in Nicaragua we want to share some of the things we like the most about this country.

Aileen
Aileen is still avoiding the blog, but we got her to make a list:

• Our hammock
• Butterflies
• Kids happy with the new school we built in their community
• Birds
• Sunndy days when the soaking wet laundry hanging on a clothesline dries in an hour
• The new tires on my truck
• In Nicaragua, people talk about body size and shape and joke around about it without getting offended
• The old people whose deeply creased faces reflect decades of living under a brutal dictator, through devastating natural disasters, war, and poverty, and they're still smiling

Jeff

There are many things that I enjoy about living in a different country.  However, I have yet to discuss the things I enjoy about Nicaragua.  In fact, I have spent a fair amount of time making bad jokes and negative comments.  I suppose it is time to share some of the wonderful things this country has to offer.

First of all, I really enjoy the natural environment we live in. Nicaragua's beauty is a subtle one but beautiful it is. The subtropical landscape is lush, especially in protected areas that have not been deforested (like the place I worked for example). The colors, foliage, birds, insects, sounds, temperature, rain, lakes, volcanoes, seashore and other things I am forgetting all combine to make something very special. It is not as dramatic as the Sierra Nevada mountain range or as magical as the Amazon rain forest but somehow the combination of it all works well. During the past ten years many public and private nature preserves have been created thus adding to the number of places where the beauty of this country can shine through. You have to work a little harder to see some of the natural wonders of Nicaragua, but that is part of the fun. Sometimes working harder means long and sweaty hikes. Other times it means just paying attention to the new and wonderful things right outside our front door.

Sunset at Finca Esperanza Verde

What I like even more is the people who live here. Nicaraguans are generally very warm and loving people who enjoy the company of their fellow humans regardless of where they are from. The United States has done so much harm to this country during the last hundred+ years you would think there would be resentment against Americans. However, I have NEVER encountered any anti-American animosity in Nicaragua. On the other hand, every time I have been to Western Europe (which the USA rebuilt after WWII) I ALWAYS encounter some anti-American sentiment.  Most Nicaraguans are also very generous with their time, resources and love.  Not a week goes by that our neighbor (who lives in a shack) does not send over some food for us to try.  Not a day goes by that someone does not grab Emma and Hannah and give them a big hug.  That loving and generous spirit which permeates their culture makes it impossible to not love the Nicaraguan people.

Recently I have been thinking about why this is the safest country in Central America and one of the top 25 safest countries in the world. There are likely some complex economic explanations but that only tells part of the story. I think one of the reasons Nicaragua is so safe relative to its neighbors has to do with its people.  Nicaraguans avoid direct confrontation with others. This is sometimes hard for me as I try to be as direct as possible at all times. However, I have to say this non-confrontation thing makes for a more peaceful existence. I believe another reason why crime is so low is because folks have a "we are all in it together" attitude. Aileen feels this cooperative attitude is due to the Sandinista revolution and a quick look at crime stats would confirm that. I also think Nicaraguans really enjoy joking, laughing, dancing and having a good time and crime tends to put a damper on all of that. I am not saying that crime does not happen here; in fact our house got burglarized when we lived here in 2000.  I am just saying that this is a relatively safe place and I think it is largely due to the culture of those who live here.

What I Like - by Hannah

Jeff asked Hannah to tell him what she liked about Nicaragua.  Here is her response:

• My neighbors
• My teacher Yesenia
• Coloring with my friends
• Butterflies
• Our house
• When I get letters
• Playing with my friends
• Getting stickers at the after school program
• Our pets

Can I go now, this is boring?

Teacher Yesenia

I Love You San Ramon - by Emma

The following was written by Emma and copied into the blog letter for letter by Jeff:

1. I like that I (or Hanna) can go where I whant. (when I whant to).
2. I also like all the peoble, evrybody is very nice.
3. I LOVE my teacher.
4. I am very sorry I am going to chang the subject, I think it very funny that a boy in my class (Carlos, who I think very much loves me) wrote on a white bord this, Emma "mi" love ("mi" is my in Spanish).
5. Oky let's get back. I like studying in my school and studying Spanish and guitar.

Classmate Francis



Teacher Carmen

Two More Weeks in Review

We had a very nice couple of weeks. On Saturday Sept. 18 Jeff and the girls drove to Finca Esperanza Verde (where Jeff is temporarily working) and did a nice hike. School was closed for a few days so Sunday we all visited Masaya Volcano National Park and peered into an active, sulfur spewing crater. Fortunately, we left minutes before some decided to through themselves into that crater!  We then went to Managua to renew our tourist visas and due to a series of fortunate events we ended up staying in a fancy hotel with hot water, TV, a swimming pool and no mosquitoes; it was an awesome way to celebrate the three month anniversary of our arrival in Nicaragua.

Emma and Hannah hamming it up at a volcano in an effort to win a photo contest sponsored by their dentist in the USA

Tuesday we went back to Finca Esperenza Verde for some more hiking and school finally started again on Wednesday (thank goodness). Upon returning to school we learned that Emma was one of the top students in her class, with a 98.2% average. It is rude to brag, but we cannot help being so proud of Hannah and Emma who have adjusted so beautifully. Friday was a short school day for the girls as we all went to the city of Dario to celebrate the 20th anniversary of El Porvenir a nonprofit in Nicaragua that Aileen and Jeff worked for ten years ago. It was amazing to see how well the organization is doing and that its unique culture still exists despite some very substantial growth.

Musical Performer at the El Porvenir Anniversary

The following week was a bit slower. The weekend of Saturday Sept. 25 had us stuck indoors due to heavy rain. Power and water went on and off and at some point we lost running water for almost 3 days (fortunately we had water saved up in some barrels). Of course school got cancelled due to the rain because many students do not show up during bad storms. It makes sense that some students do not show up when it rains as they have to cross dangerous rivers to get into town for school. However, the constant school vacations can be pretty frustrating and cannot be very good for the students. Anyhow, the girls passed the time doing their extracurricular activities and playing with their friends.  We also managed to brave the storms and take one of our neighbors out for pizza to celebrate her birthday.

Hannah and Friends Keeping Busy



Birthday Celebration at the Italian restaurant in Matagalpa

The rains subsided toward the end of the week but being stuck inside for many days must have clouded our thinking. We (i.e., Jeff) made the spontaneous and not very wise decision to buy a dog. Our new puppy is called Cuate (Buddy in Spanish). Cuate is 50% Boxer and 100% adorable. The kids love him and are now lobbying to expand the Kositsky Farm with a bunny once our neighbor's rabbit delivers her babies.

Emma, Hannah and a sleepy Cuate

Aileen's work at SOL continues to progress well.  She has finished up one school and is planning the grand opening celebration.  She is now focusing on developing a few schools in other rural communities and hopes to start construction when the rain stops.  Jeff is really enjoying his temporary position at the nonprofit hotel/farm Finca Esperanza Verde.  Despite the fact that this is the slow season, he is keeping pretty busy with a leaky roof, electrical problems, cash flow issues, etc.  We could both tell lots of funny stories about work but choose not to given that our bosses might read this so you will have to wait until we get home to hear them.

Student in SOL's newest school.

That pretty much sums up the past few weeks. Like most of our weeks here, they have been full but mellow and always full of surprises. We are deep into the rainy season so the next month will likely be a bit challenging. However, I imagine Cuate will pose more challenges than the rain!