Ridin’ Nica style

Ridin’ Nica style definition: No mode of transportation has a capacity limit.

Examples: Bikes- Most people in the states think that because a bike has one seat, it was made for one person.  Nicaraguans know this is not true.  Bikes can hold up to 3 people at a time here.  While one person is pedaling, another can be on the bar in front of them, on the handle bars, or standing behind them.  I can’t imagine the balance it must take to do this, but Nicaraguans sure know how to ride

Motorcycles- Motorcycles were made for up to 4, maybe 5 people, as all Nicaraguans know.  In the States, motorcycles are for single people, sometimes couples.  Here, a motorcycle is a family vehicle.  It is common to see mom, dad, plus a few kids on a motorcycle.

Busses- Here is where I have experience “ridin’ Nica style.”  To get to Rancho Ebenezer, I take 2 microbuses, which are basically compact 15 passenger vans.  Well, in the States they would be at least…here they can hold up to 30 people I’m pretty sure.  To help you get a better image of what it is like to ride one, I will tell you about my journey to the Rancho this week.

I started about 9 AM Tuesday morning waiting outside my house for a camioneta to come by.  I waited for about 10 minutes before one came by and then rode it to the bus terminal.  Almost as soon as I got there, it started down pouring (it hasn’t stopped raining since we got back from Corn Island).  So, with my backpack and duffel bag, I hurried across the parking lot to find a microbus to Managua.  A guy was yelling Managua at one of the busses, so I gave him my duffel bag to squeeze behind the back seat and hopped in.  The ride from Leon to Managua is usually fairly comfortable because we start out full in Leon and don’t stop very much during the hour and a half drive.  A few people will get off in a couple of small towns along the way, and occasionally more people get on, but for the most part, the 15 passenger van has 15 people. 

Once in Managua, I get off at La UCA, a bus terminal by the Central American University.  Here, I ask around to get a microbus to San Marcos.  I got on one for Jinotepe this week, which stops in San Marcos on the way.  The bus started off fairly empty when we left the terminal, maybe 10 people.  After a few stops on the way out of Managua, we were full.  This 15 passenger bus was modified a little with a bench facing backwards behind the driver seat, so it could probably hold 19 or 20 people sitting down.  Before leaving Managua, our driver rear ended a taxi at a round a bout.  This took a few minutes for them to talk and decide nothing was damaged, and then we were on our way.  With this bus, we take quite a few stops along the way, dropping a few off here and there, and picking up more.  Just when you think the bus is full, all the seats are taken, the guy taking the money keeps yelling out the window “Jinotepe, La Concha, San Marcos.”  And I’m thinking, why is he advertising where we’re going, there’s no more room!  Well then 3 or 4 people get on, some squishing takes place, a few people end up standing, and the air gets a little more sparse.  Just when I get comfortable and think this isn’t too bad, 2 more people get on.  Where are they possibly going to fit? Oh, we’ll just not shut the door all the way, that will allow for these 2 more people.  Then, thankfully a few people get off and I can breathe again.  But not for long, as soon as 2 people get off, 4 get on it seems.  At one point I counted 27 people in this “15 passenger van.”  You really have to be comfortable with many bodies touching yours and not being able to breathe real well.  I happened to be on around lunch time, which means many students are going home for dinner, so they wouldn’t be on the bus for long, but it meant large groups getting on and off at the same time.  A little over half way to San Marcos, we were climbing a large hill/small mountain and I started to smell something.  A little while later, the driver stops and gets out.  Not long after, they were telling us to get out and wait for another bus to come.  Turns out the bus was overheating or just couldn’t make it up the hill.  Luckily, another bus headed right for San Marcos showed up about 30 seconds later, so 5 of us going to San Marcos squeezed on and headed to San Marcos. 

A microbus

From San Marcos, Dr. Ervin, the vet who works with Rancho Ebenezer, picked me up and brought me to his house in Niquinohomo.  From there I would have to take a moto-taxi to the ranch.  The problem is that the road to the ranch is dirt, and it’s been raining for a week and a half straight.  This means not many moto-taxis are willing to go out there and risk getting stuck.  Dr. Ervin had his guard try and find one for me, and he eventually did, but it was going to cost twice as much as normal.  Shortly after, I started the wonderfully bumpy ride to the ranch.  About 1:10 PM, I finally arrived at the ranch, glad to be done traveling…for now.

I hope that by now you all are feeling clausterphobic and tired, because that is how I felt.  I spent Tuesday afternoon doing much of what I did last time, cleaning pens and feeding goats and rabbits.  This time I did get to meet Carlos, who speaks English and is in charge of the area where I have been working.  It is good to finally have someone to report to and who can explain things to me when I don’t understand.  He usually speaks Spanish to me, so that the other workers know what he is telling me, but he took the time to explain more about the ranch to me in English, which was really nice.         
I was also excited to find out that a group from Michigan was staying at the Ranch this week.  They are a group of doctors who has been putting on clinics in the surrounding area.  It was nice to have other people around after work was done.  I got to eat supper with them and played cards at night with them too.  I got to hear many doctor stories from the day as well as medical jokes and talk that I didn’t always understand haha.
It has been fairly rainy here lately, with very little sun, but Wednesday beat the record for how much rain I’ve seen.  It started raining pretty hard Tuesday night before I went to bed and there was no break in the rain until I was done working Wednesday.  That meant I was nice and muddy all day at work on Wednesday.  It also meant fixing the roof over the goats most of the afternoon.  I supervised haha.  Today I got the chance to milk a goat, watch a hernia surgery on a pig, and help deworm goats.  It was all very interesting and more fun than just cleaning!

After lunch today, I started my trek back to Leon.  Thankfully, it was much less eventful than the ride down.  Although my moto-taxi did get stuck shortly after leaving the ranch, but thankfully we got out and later picked up another passenger who gave me 5 mandarins.  They sure taste good!  As always, it is good to be back in Leon and I am excited to see the rest of the group tomorrow at class.  Sorry for this book, I don’t even have pictures to go along with my stories because I didn’t bring my camera this week.  Maybe next week I will have more pictures and less stories.

Something out of a magazine...not where you actually go

This week is our mid-semester break, so all six of us decided to go to the Corn Islands!  They are two islands off the east coast of Nicaragua, in the Caribbean.  We got here Sunday morning after a short flight, which was an experience in itself.  Our boarding passes were giant plastic credit cards basically and once we arrived, they said the flight would leave in 10 minutes even though we were over an hour early.  It turns out that once all the passengers are there, they can leave, and since the plane was a 12 passenger plane, we were half the plane.  We ended up waiting a little more than 10 minutes, but it wasn’t long before we walked out to the plane.  It was just like you see in the movies!  We just walked right outside and onto the plane.  It was really cool being in such a small plane and we got to see Nicaragua from a different point of view.  The flight only took about 45 minutes and we were instantly greeted by the locals on this tiny island. 

 From the back row of the plane looking forward!

Shortly after getting to our resort, we decided to rent a golf cart to tour the island.  It is really small, so it didn't take long to get familiar with the whole thing.  It is a beautiful, beautiful island and we enjoyed not having much to do.  We spent all Monday at a nearby beach.  The water was calm which made it really fun to swim in.  The water was so nice and clear, the sand was super soft and the sun was shining…it was a great day!  The rest of the week, the water was choppier, so it wasn’t as nice to swim in, but we still enjoyed laying on the beach and playing in the waves.  We also spent a lot of time reading books, listening to music, and napping on the beach.  Needless to say, it was a very relaxing time on the island.

 The ocean from the sky

 The beach in front of our hotel-with a sunken ship nearby

 The beach we spent more time at

 A beautiful sunset over the ocean while we waited for supper one night

On Wednesday, we got the chance to go snorkeling!  It was an awesome experience, especially since the boat was named ‘Endicott Jr.’ It turns out our guide’s first name was Endicott, what a coincidence!  I have never been on a boat in the ocean, so that was a cool experience.  It feels so out in the open compared to the lakes I’ve been on.  The first stop on our adventure was a shipwreck off the coast.  It was cool to see the boat underwater and also the fish swimming in and out of it.  Then we went to a few reefs to hunt for sharks and find some other really cool animals.  We didn’t find any sharks, but we did see a sting ray which was pretty cool.  It reminded me of UnderWater World in the Mall of America, except we were looking down on it instead of up!  I decided that UnderWater World is fairly accurate in their depiction of the ocean.  We finished the trip by going all the way around the island in the boat.  

 My boat!

A nice thing about Corn Island is that most of the people speak English at least a little, along with Spanish and another language we didn’t understand.  Most people speak about as much English as we speak Spanish, so we got to practice our Spanglish most of the time.  The wait staff at El Paraiso got used to us hanging around most of the time since we usually were hanging out reading, using the internet, or playing games when we weren’t eating.

Overall, it was an awesome experience and worthwhile vacation.  Yesterday we got back to Leon and I have a few days with my family before starting another week of class and my internship.  With all these trips, it really is nice to come home to my family.  We are now half way through the semester, and it is crazy how fast time is going!  I am trying to cherish every moment I have exploring Nicaragua as well as every minute I have with my family.    

Rancho Ebenezer

This week I started my internship at Rancho Ebenezer near Niquinohomo.  I will spend most of the rest of my semester working here doing all sorts of things. To learn more about the ranch and what it does: http://www.ranchoebenezer.org/

This week was interesting because I really had no idea what I would be doing.  The director of the ranch is very nice and was super helpful since I didn't know when I was supposed to be where the first day.  I was the only one staying at the ranch this week, so the nights were a little lonely, but it meant that I got all my homework done for the week! 

This shows the area I worked in this week.  The "tables" have leaves on them to feed to the goats and the huts in the background are where the goats live.

During the day, I got to see how things work around the ranch.  I worked with Eddy and Douglas this week.  From what I could tell, they take care of the pregnant goats and sheep as well as some of the rabbits and hens.  Neither of them speaks English, so I got to practice my Spanish and they got to practice their hand motions.  Eventually we understood each other.  My tasks included a lot of scraping pens, sweeping and raking the ground.  Everything is kept very clean at the ranch!  I also helped gather forages for feeding the rabbits and chickens and helped feed the goats several times too.  The work seemed really repetitive and I mostly watched the first few days, but this morning they let me do quite a bit of work on my own.  From what I understand, I will get to work in different areas of the ranch each week I am there, so it should keep things plenty interesting.

A few of the goats

The rabbit room where I was at.

And the chickens!

To get back to Leon, I spent 3.5 hours conquering the bus system of Nicaragua!  I have a love/hate relationship with public transportation here and will be glad when I can drive my car after I get home!  I first had to take a small moto-taxi to town from the ranch which took about 15 minutes on a very bumpy gravel road.  From there, I caught a bus to Managua which took about an hour.  Then I got off on the wrong stop, so I had to wait for another connecting bus to the station I needed to be at.  I waited for about 15 minutes and then spent about 5-10 minutes on the next bus.  Once I got to the station, a bus for Leon was leaving so I just hopped on the next one which didn't leave for another 15 minutes.  Once I am on the bus to Leon, I can relax because I know where I'm going and when to get off.  The ride to Leon took about 1.5 hours and then from the terminal in Leon, I walked home.  My family thinks I'm crazy for always walking home, but it was a nice day and I wasn't quite sure how to tell one of the bike taxis how to get to my house.
Now I have a weekend to spend with my family, which I am excited for since I don't get to spend much time with them any more.  Tomorrow we have our culture class in the morning and then we have next week off for our mid-semester break!  We have all been looking forward to this, and it should be a good time.  We are flying to the Corn Islands, off of Nicaragua's east coast.  They are basically Caribbean islands that are really cheap to get to from Managua.  Hopefully it is a nice relaxing week and we can explore a new part of Nicaragua!

El Campo

This week we had another good trip for our classes.  This time, we headed out from Managua early Tuesday morning with Alma, a lady who works with the Nehemiah Center.  The first stop was Jinotepe, about an hour away.  There we visited with people working for the Luke’s Society.  They work in many small communities around Nicaragua with kids, farmers, and other people.  From there, we took a pick-up truck to a land bank where farmers are given their own land to farm rather than having to rent from rich landowners.   Juan Carlos took us, with all our luggage, some tires and other supplies for the tires, in one pickup.  This meant 4 of us girls squished in the back seat and the other 2 students rode in the bed of the truck amongst all the stuff.  This was another hour drive, however instead of being an hour via highway, it was an hour via bumpy dirt roads.  And these bumps weren’t just small pebbles in the road, it was holes up to a foot deep and various streams crossing the road.  A few times we were sure we would get stuck.  We eventually arrived safely at the first house in this community and met the family we would be staying with that night.  It was very beautiful there, with a view of the mountains in the distance and trees all around.  Hilberto and his wife Marta were very good hosts, especially considering they had just moved their 16 days previously.   Shortly after arriving, we helped with several projects the people in the community were working on.  The first was to dig up some topsoil for a planter.  They turned tires inside out and we filled them with dirt and later planted seeds in them.  The other project we helped with was a water filtration system to turn their dirty laundry and dish water into usable irrigation water for the fields.  All of this was very interesting for us to watch, although we didn’t feel very useful since the men knew what they were doing pretty well.  After finishing the work, we were able to go see the other houses in the community.  There are only 4 or 5 houses there and the longest anyone has lived there is 6 months, so everything is fairly new.  It was really interesting to be able to get to know the families there and see how little they have but how happy they are just because they have their own land now.  All of them had previously been working under other landowners and didn’t earn very much farming that way.  The one house we saw was for 5 people and in total, couldn’t have been more than 8’ x 6’.  This includes sleeping area, kitchen and corn storage, although they were in the process of building a corn storage building.  It was very eye opening to see this, but I have a feeling that once they get established in this land, they will be able to improve their living conditions.  By about 8 we were all pretty exhausted but we managed to make it a little longer before going to bed.  In Hilberto and Marta’s house, there is one big room with beds and then a smaller room that is the kitchen and then a covered area for eating and hanging out.  The latrine was across the field and they had recently built a “shower” where you could take a bucket shower.  In the bedroom, there were 3 beds and a cot, for the 7 women and one of the kids.  That meant a lot of sharing beds and not a lot of sleep happened.  The guys slept outside in the porch area on 3 cots.  That meant they were up with the sun pretty early.  

 The beautiful view at the farm!

After a day of working hard and a night of not much sleep, we went back in to Jinotepe to drop our stuff off at the Luke’s Society.  This journey was slightly easier since we had less supplies in the back, but there were 3 more people coming with us, so all of our group rode in the bed of the truck.  We had a lot of fun singing songs and waving at the people staring at all these “cheles” (that’s what they call us white people) in a truck.   Along the way, we picked up a lady who joined us in the back.  After dropping off our stuff, we headed to another community, a little more urban this time.  There we played games with kids in the morning and then watched a soccer tournament in the afternoon.  It was fun to get to play with kids, doing crafts, ping pong, playing cards and other board games.  We thought we were going to get to play in the soccer tournament, but once we got there, we realized that it was a lot more serious than we thought.  The teams were really good and it was fun to hang out in the park with a bunch of kids and young people, although very hot.  Later in the afternoon, we headed back to Jinotepe and then on home to Leon.  It was a long two days, but very worth it.  We learned a lot and had lots of fun too.  We also learned we have a long ways to go on our Spanish skills since we met two interns with the Luke’s Society who have been here only since July and came with less Spanish knowledge than most of us had prior to coming but are already nearly fluent in Spanish.  It was very humbling and made us want to practice more so we can communicate more. 

Thursday we made a few visits around town for our classes.  In the morning we went to the Museum of Myths and Legends in Leon and then in the afternoon we went to a Catholic Mass.  Both were interesting to see and now we have papers to write about them.  Since we had a few days free, we decided to take an overnight fun trip to Granada.  Granada, along with Leon was one of the first cities in Nicaragua.  There is still quite a bit of rivalry between the cities so it was interesting to visit.  We spent the day walking around town and then spent the night in a tree house!  There was a hostel up a hill a little ways in the jungle where all the buildings were shaped like tree houses and a few of us ended up actually sleeping in hammocks beneath the main tree house.  There was a beautiful view of the valley.  The next day we hopped on a bus to Laguna de Apoyo, another gorgeous spot in the area.  We spent the day relaxing and swimming in the lagoon.  The water was extremely clear, surprising to a Minnesota girl like me who sees plenty of non-clear lakes each year.  I could have spent a few days there, no problem, but we had to come back to Leon to spend some time with our families.  We had quite the adventure on this trip trying to figure out the bus systems and getting very lucky many times.  We counted up 11 busses/taxis that we took during two days, exhausting!  God’s hand was definitely guiding us all the way and we had a great weekend.  

Some of the beautiful views at Laguna de Apoyo

With all this travelling, it is always good to be back with my family and as my Spanish improves, it is fun to have actual conversations that make sense most of the time.  Tomorrow we head to Managua for class again in the morning and the others will all head back to Leon after lunch.  I will stay in Managua though and head to Rancho Ebenezer Tuesday morning to start my internship there.