Bad news about abortion in Nicaragua

A friend sent this to me from the Nicaraguan women's movement...

Hi all,Greetings from Nicaragua, where the women's movement is in absolute shock. I can confirm that a group of Catholic priests and representatives fromEvangelical groups were let into the National Assembly in Managua this morning (my colleagues watched them go in), and women were shut out. Theoriginal request to change the penal code and criminalize abortion in allits forms came from a closed-door meeting between legislators and representatives of the Catholic and Evangelical hierarchies, during whichlegislators agreed to "fast-track" the request, the whole thing has gonedown in less than a month. Meanwhile, NO representatives from the women's movement have been allowed to participate in any stage of this abominablelegislative process, despite repeated requests. The whole thing has been ablantantly political gentlemen's agreement between influential members of the church, the current president, and three out of the four politicalparties currently vying for support from the Catholic church. TheSandinistas, the historic party of Nicaragua's revolution, have reversedtheir position and completely sold women out.Bear in mind that Nicaragua is the second poorest country in the WesternHemisphere with among the highest rates of adolescent pregnancy and maternalmortality in the region, sex ed virtually does not exist here, and women can rarely afford contraception and need a permission slip from their husbandsto get sterilized. Women of all ages from women's collectives acrossNicaragua (joined by many men in solidarity) mobilized earlier in October demanding to have a say in the legislative process (their request wasdenied), then held an all-night vigil last night and an all-day protesttoday. At no point were their demands heard by anyone in the government. Spanish speakers can read more at http://www.puntos.org.ni/default.php ,there are also links to Latin American feminist radio vignettes athttp://www.puntos.org.ni/servicios/actividades/noticias/default.php?acti=932 . Andrea

Graduation

On Tuesday, Carita Feliz had their trimester graduation ceremony. I just learned today that the place is owned by this retired Danish businessman. They have 1500 students (not all of them come every day) and it only costs $4-month per student, for food, class, supplies and everything else. Here´s one of my students, Joël, with his diploma. The other photo is a view from the tower of one of the churches near my house.

Histories

I had an interesting conversation with one of the teachers at Casa Xalteva the other day (they have a website by the way... http://www.casaxalteva.org). I'm always trying to ask people about Nicaraguan history because, as many of you know, I'm a pretty big history nerd, especially when it comes to the history of Latin American wars/revolution. I started asking him a bunch of questions about the time of Somoza (the dictator that the Sandinistas overthrew in July 1979), the time of Sandinista rule, and how it compares to today. He said that when he was a kid, during the time of Somoza, he remembers some military guards coming into his house with guns pointed, looking for people they thought were guerillas. Juan Carlos started crying, and he remembers the guards telling his sisters to make him shut up. He said there were people hiding in the house, but they weren't found. Sergio, my teacher, said that when his mom was pregnant with his older sister in early '79, before the triumph of the revolution, a soldier came into his mother's house and hit her with the butt of his gun. He said that if his mother had been murdered, neither he or his sister would have been born. According to Juan Carlos, the time of the Sandinistas wasn't great either- with the contra war going on and the Sandinistas becoming just as corrupt as their predecessors. Juan Carlos' brother, also named Juan (!), said that even though people have the choice, they so often choose their own oppressors. Juan is a poet, writing about his struggles with addiction to alcohol and his political beliefs. I went to his house and read a couple of the poems, which a friend of his had published...

This conversation took place as a march against the national energy company, Union Fenosa, took place in the rain on Calle Xalteva. They were protesting the privatisation of energy, as there are blackouts every day, which have been getting worse in the past 6 months. Almost every day in class, the lights and fan turn off for at least a couple of hours because of this. Juan says that in the Somoza and Sandinista days, anyone who tried a protest like this would be killed or arrested and jailed. Today things are better.

Volcán Mombacho

It rained all day, but we had a blast! I took a truck up the mountain with Sara, Aldo (from Utah) and Mariko (from Japan). We hiked around the crater of the Volcano (3rd photo), and ¨fumedores¨, where the steam comes out from the active part of the volcano. Everything was wet and glowed, despite the clouds. I felt like I was in a rainforest- but they call it a cloud forest, which describes it really well- at first all we could see was clouds. After eating a snack, we decided to try to walk down the mountain, not realizing that it would kill our quads! We half ran down the mountain, and had some amazing views along the way (last photo). Partway down it started to pour... Luckily we were close to the hostel, where we took shelter and waited for the next truck (top). Needless to say, I was soaked by the time we trekked back into Granada.

Market

I've always been drawn to the markets in all of the developing countries I've been in. There's something more down to earth and organic about buying food or kitchen supplies or anything you might need from a small entrepreneur. The market sprawls out through the streets near the Parque Central. Turning off to the left onto a smaller road south of the park, the booths become more tightly packed. In the wooden structures, merchandise seems to overflow into the streets... candy, bags of chips, notebooks, towels, flourescent plastic strainers, pots and pans, school supplies, soap- all brightly colored. Umbrellas protect wooden tables piled with plantains, tomatoes, carrots, melons, pineapples, green onions and yucca from the rain. Some of the vendors only sell cheese and yogurt in small plastic baggies (farmer cheese for all you Sternbergs out there! Gog would be in heaven :). Others sell small fried pasteles out of large metal buckets, and still others a colorful array of juices in plastic baggies, which people walk away drinking with a straw. You can turn off of this road to the right, into a dark passageway that will take you into the bowels of the market. People squeeze by each other down the stone passageways that run into each other with no clear order. Apparently, the building used to be a huge church- who knew that one day it would hold piles of meat, clothes, shoes and kitchen supplies. Walking through and seeing all of these things definitely triggers my grocery shopping addiction and makes me wish I had my own kitchen. Today I trekked to the market with my new friend Sara from Switzerland. I bought a few pencils for the students at Carita Feliz, a screw to fix my backpack with, a couple of postcards and soap for laundry (which is another story!). When it started to pour, we ducked into a panaderia (bakery) to try out a piece of marble pound cake and an apricot pastry. I hope this gives y'all an idea of the market, because as much as I'd liked to, I probaby won't be taking any pictures in there- I think my looking-like-a-tourist complex is too strong for the market.

Gladys

Today I went to my second day of volunteering at Carita Feliz. I walked down Calle Xalteva at 7:30am, and the skies threatened to open up any second. Kids in their school uniforms sauntered along the sidewalks, and some on bikes as well. As I got closer to Carita Feliz, the sidewalk became dirt puddles, but the houses remained brightly colored, though smaller. CR is on a mud-dirt road. A man had swept up the garbage so the dirt was raked into neat geometrical patterns. I got there early and had a chance to chat with Gladys, the teacher. She described the programs of CR a bit more. They have all kinds of classes- Spanish, English, cooking, dance, music, art, and a preschool. They serve lunch and dinner to the kids, who all come from very poor families. Gladys often brings small gifts for the kids, to motivate them and make them feel good about their work- school supplies, cookies, candy, etc. She bought a piñata today from the kids in the art class to give to kids in her neighborhood who don´t have enough money to buy their own.

I worked with Maria Jose today. She´s in 2nd grade and needs practice reading, so we read La Gigante Egoïste together and she taught me about the seasons in Nicaragua. After class, there was a torrential rainstorm. Gladys sat with me and shared a Rubén Darío poem with me, patiently explaining to me the words I didn´t know. She then said I could borrow the book for the weekend and lent me her umbrella. I feel so lucky to have the chance to work with her.

In the water

So today I had spanish class while swimming in the Laguna de Apoyo. We all went together, all the profesores and students in a truck... I sat in the back with five others on a wooden bench and held on for my life. Class mostly consisted of learning the word "to splash" (salpicar) and puna (fist) while teaching Sergio how to swim. I ate plantains for all 3 meals today. Heaven, I say.

Anyone with ideas or knowledge about teaching kids how to read and write, let me know!! I would love suggestions... I hope all is well in the North!

Pictures!!

<--The road in front of Casa Xalteva, with Mombacho in the background and yes, as you can see, there´s tons of biking in Granada!!

I tried to upload a picture of the cemetary, but it was taking too long.

I started volunteering today at a school called Casita Feliz. I taught 2 kids reading and writing... in Spanish! They had to explain words to me that I didn´t understand, which made it a dynamic learning process. The school also teaches english, cooking, soccer, art and dance. Kind of like an after-school program...
Laguna de Apoyo

La Laguna de Apoyo

Hola!! I just realized I forgot my camera again... So you´ll have to bear with my blabbering w-o pretty pictures. So I started Spanish classes yesterday. My teacher, Sergio, is the same age as me. He told me all about the gangs in his hometown of Tipitapa and how the first toys of children in this town are machetes. We also spoke a bit about the elections. Speaking of which, there is propaganda everywhere! Banners, painted signposts, commercials, trucks that drive around the city with huge speakers belting out messages from Montealegre, Rizo and Ortega. Sergio is pretty cynical about the whole thing. Today in class, we walked to the cemetary. It was a sea of mausaleums, bedecked with crosses, statues of Jesus on the cross, Mary and other saints. In the background was Mombacho, the volcano 10 km away. A few mausaleums were dedicated to fallen Sandinistas in the revolution of ´79, their tombs brightly painted with their names, little pictures of the FSLN flag and messages from loved ones.

This morning I went to the Laguna de Apoyo with another student at Casa Xalteva from Utah, Aldo. We took a bus at 7am from Granada, a yellow school bus. I watched out the window as we passed small towns, lush green valleys and homes with laundry hanging throught the slats of the windows. We then took a taxi over the mountain, fog settled into the vines of the trees and beds of underbrush. Everything was green and wet from the morning rain. The Laguna itself was formed from volcanos and is about 4 miles across. The water was warm, and the mountains unbelievably beautiful... I´ll send pictures tomorrow, I promise.

He llegado!!

Hello friends! I've arrived in Granada, and everything went smoothly. I somehow lucked out and got into first class for the Miami-Managua flight, and sat next to a woman who works for a development consulting company. She has been all over the world, and did a year long backpacking trip around the world with her husband. We both ended up in 1st class by accident. When I arrived in Managua, a young kid named Jose brought me to a red pickup, where the driver, Omar, his wife, Auciliadora (it took me about 8 repetitions to get her name right) and her daughter Omaira were waiting. Jose is 17 and was very chatty. He has lived at Casa Xalteva, where I'm taking Spanish classes for 5 years. CX takes in street kids in a kind of transitional home setting. He loves hip hop, is a DJ and a breakdancer (until he broke his collarbone 2 years ago).

I'm staying with Auciliadora, her mom Miriam (my hebrew name!!) and her brother Oscar. All are very nice. They have students in and out all the time. It reminded me of my great-grandparents taking in boarders in their tiny tenements for extra cash in NYC 100 years ago. So I set up my room and everything is very comfortable. The room is really big- room to do push ups and yoga and whatever else.

This morning I've been walking around Granada. It pours every couple of hours. There's lots of crumbling brightly colored buildings- purple, canary yellow, magenta, lime green...I'll send pictures later on. In the center of town is a church- bright yellow!- in the main square, and some colonial-looking buildings that look completely boarded up. Since I was out early, there weren't too many people out yet. People didn't bother me at all- not like in Dakar, or even Santo Domingo. As they say here, muy tranquillo.

Hasta pronto!!!

Elections

The US at it again trying to stick their nose into the politics of Latin American countries. They’re afraid that Sandinista candidate Daniel Ortega is going to solidify the frightening “axis” of leftist Latin-American presidents even more- check out this quote from an article by Roger Noriega of the American Enterprise Institute in October 9^th’s Washington Post:

" [A] Sandinista rebound will wreak havoc in a region that has taken great strides toward economic integration and political stability; worse still, it will invigorate the
axis of leftist proto-dictators led by Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chávez.
An Ortega victory will scare capital away and slow Nicaragua's sputtering
economy -- only now beginning to recover after a decade of Sandinista
misrule. Most importantly, a Sandinista victory could easily reverse
current democratic trends and devastate a promising North-South partnership
based on free people and free markets." (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/08/AR2006100800926.html)

For more background on the election, the crisis of the Sandinista party and various ways the US has been interfering, check out this article http://americas.irc-online.org/am/3511 or www.nicanet.org

Packing!

Now that I've finished up work and moved out of my apartment, I can start thinking about the most fun part of all- packing! Since I spend most of my time obsessing over minutiae anyways, I can now agonize over whether or not I should bring a 9 month supply of Pantene volumizer shampoo/conditioner, my yoga mat or gym/hiking shoes. But I think the advice I got from Cory is what I'm taking to heart- you never need to bring as much as you think. You can really live out of one backpack if necessary (that is, if you don't have to schlep a monster of an outdated laptop). Honestly though, the packing process really makes you rethink what you consider to be necessities. Is the shampoo more important than Augusto Boal's guide to Theater of the Oppressed techniques Games for Actors and Non-Actors? Do I need to bring 2 pairs of jeans, or should I wait and have the experience of wandering around a Managuan market to buy a 2nd pair of jeans if I need them? See what everyone there wears and shop locally (which makes me wonder if Nicaraguans wear the clothes that are manufactured in the "free trade zone" maquiladoras, or if they're all shipped directly to Target). After a few weeks, I'll give you all the hindsight of the most and least useful packed items...

Murals in Managua

Apparently, during the Sandinista revolutionary government of the 1980's, many beautiful murals, like this one in Barrio Riguero's church of Santa Maria de los Angeles, were painted all over the country (this is actually only one panel of an epic mural that covers all of the interior walls of the church). When Arnoldo Aleman was mayor in the 90's, he had many of the murals destroyed. This one survived, but is now also in danger of destruction as the state is funding construction on the church. This leaves the church roofless and the mural at the mercy of the elements. The plan seems to be to erase the public memory of the revolution by destroying the murals memorializing it. If you are so inclined, email the mayor of Managua, Ing. José Dionisio Marenco Gutiérrez, at alcalde@managua.gob.ni and tell him not to destroy this vestge of Sandinista history.