Buses and Chickens

During our MCC orientation, someone said to us, "You haven´t ridden a bus if you´ve never shared it with animals!" I don´t think this is true, as we´ve had plenty of interesting bus rides (both here and in the US) without animals. But today, we had our first experience sharing a bus row with a chicken. It´s unlikely that the chicken will survive the week, as many Nicaraguans prepare a special chicken dish for Christmas. But the chicken didn´t know that and was well-behaved, and so were we.

Managua has a well-developed bus system, serviced primarily by handed-down buses from US school districts (our first week here we saw a bus with `Harrisburg City Schools´ painted on the side). Some buses, like the one in the picture, are in good condition. Others are bone-jarring buckets of bolts that make riding quite an adventure.

The chicken on our bus is not pictured. However, the two roosters in the photo are from our neighborhood, perhaps some of the ones who announce the day around 4:30 every morning.

--Alan

Pre-Christmas celebration (La Purisima)

On Friday, Dec. 8, many Catholics celebrate the Conception of the Virgin Mary. In Nicaragua, those celebrations, called La Purisima, last nearly 2 days, not counting the nearly 2 weeks of pre-Purisima celebrations. How do Nicaraguans mark the occasion? Fireworks, fireworks, and more fireworks! There were so many on Thursday night and Friday morning that we could smell the gunpowder in the air. And I think my ears are still ringing. Thursday night also included a combo of Christmas Caroling and Halloween - families went door to door singing carols about Mary, and each house then passed out treats (mainly candy and fruit). Friday was a national holiday (no work) and many attended special masses honoring Mary´s purity. It´s interesting to reflect on this holiday in light of Beth`s comments about the role and strengths of women here.

I´ve been helped by Henri Nouwen´s perspective in his book ¡Gracias! A Latin American Journal, and his entry for Dec. 8. He reminds us that in the midst of poverty and heartache, Mary´s words in Luke 1.52-53 ring with hope, "He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty."

The photos are from a parade that passed our house Sunday a week ago as part of the pre-Purisima celebrations.

--Alan

Mujeres Fuertes, Part 1

I have many thoughts and questions about the "strong women" here in Nicaraguan culture! The sociologist, woman, theologian, granddaughter, and wife in me have been emerging and intersecting many times recently as I´ve thought about the roles of women in my life and in society. But for now, I'll keep it brief (but expect more later :)).

We are thoroughly enjoying our "mother" and "grandmother" here in Nicaragua--two delightful and strong women. Leonor, a hard-working, faithful, 84-year-old saint, is in the picture.

Last Tuesday, my Grandma Claassen, another octogenerian saint, died in Kansas. While it has been difficult to be away from family, it has been wonderful to reflect on her life and her incredible mixture of intelligence, compassion, and gentleness.

Mujeres Fuertes, Part 2

Warning: I (Elizabet) am getting more verbose now. :) I don´t have too many answers or insights . . . just some thoughts and questions for sharing:
-Demographically, I keep hearing that the ratio of the country is 5 or 7 women to every one man (depending on the time of year and immigration patterns). As a result, women often fill both bread-winning and care-giving roles. (At least, here in the city . . . I haven´t had too much opportunity to observe rural life yet). Several of my female Nicaraguan friends recognize and sigh about the remaining problems of machismo here--and get caught between the machismo and the demographic reality of the power and influence of women in the society.
-Families also take on a very different structure as women (and men) attempt to balance these roles. Birth control is not widely used, and abortion was just made illegal (with the punishment of 3 years in prison falling on the woman). Families with a mother and father together are not common--grandmothers and aunts are very important.
-There have been multiple models of women in power. Nicaragua had a female president in the early 90s, and last week I met a couple women who are major leaders within protestant denominations here (one is a bishop).
-There are interesting linguistic changes happening in the academic settings here. I´m hearing and seeing the use of tod@s (for "todos y todas"--to include both genders linguistically).
-Mary is clearly an important figure--relgiously and culturally (see Alan´s thoughts above).

Flan

Many of you are aware of my (and our) love for ice cream and pudding. One of my favorite dinners here is flan-from-a-box, which is susupiciously identical to pudding. Here Alan enjoys a bite.

-Elizabet

Masaya (say it like "Messiah")

On Sunday, we went to a couple volcanoes and a nearby town with Lydell Steiner and his family. (Lydell is one of our MCC team members here). One volcano, which is still active, is called "La Boca del Infierno" (the mouth of hell) - exciting, right? We enjoyed hiking and being tourists.

--Elizabet

Birthday! (Cumpleaños)

Saturday was my birthday! Beth took me out for pizza, and then we went to the MCC office where she had organized a party for me. (I sort of knew about it because I helped pick out the cake) My birthday present was a Bible en Español (up until now, we´ve only had the NT in Spanish). --Alan

Granada

Today we traveled to Granada, a city about an hour south-east of Managua, where we attended a conference sponsored by UPOLI (Polytechnic University of Nicaragua), the university where I (Alan) will work. In February, I will work with a team to develop seminars on peacemaking and conflict transformation, primarily geared for the staff and faculty of the university. I will work my way up to teaching courses in peacemaking, theology, & conflict transformation when my Spanish is better.






The conference took place in an old convent in this beautiful city near Lake Nicaragua (see our handy map at the bottom of this page). It is the oldest city in Nicaragua, dating back to the 1500s, and it is filled with brilliantly colored buildings and horse-drawn carriages. --Alan

!Estamos aprendiendo muchas cosas!

It is now our 2nd weekend in Managua. When we think about all the warm people we have met, the church services we have participated in, and the whirlwind of places we´ve seen, it feels like we have been here much longer than 8 days. But then we try to make basic conversation with our host family (their house is in the picture), and we remember that we are still very new to the language and culture. We are full time students of Spanish now, with tutors in the morning, class all afternoon, and practicing with our family in the evening. For the most part, we have really been enjoying the process, especially since we both enjoy word games! We have been extremely successful at making mistakes and embarrassing ourselves frequently.
-Elizabet

Election Fever

We arrived in Nicaragua on the first of three `silent´days before the election - no campaigning allowed. Politics were the hot conversation, however, and campaign banners, signs, and flags were and are everywhere. We met one international election observer from Canada on our flight. Sunday was the election, and after several days of counting, they announced that Daniel Ortega and the FSLN party won. There were many late-night fireworks, parties, and a huge FSLN bash that we drove past on Thursday after Spanish class.

Orientation Fun

After an intense week of orientation, we banded together for some good-natured 'pranking.' Inspired by a video we watched about a Seattle fish market that throws their fish and has lots of fun doing it, we decided to 'fish' the MCC offices by hanging paper from the ceilings and providing fish cracker snacks. Here's a small part of what we did.

Relief Work - Behind the Scenes

Yesterday we took a tour of the MCC Material Resource Center, a facility that ships material resources for much of MCC's relief work around the world. Here are a few pics. Be sure to check out www.mcc.org for details about the remarkable relief work done by MCC.

Orientation Begins

We began our Mennonite Central Committee Orientation today in Akron, PA. We'll be here for the next 2 weeks, and we leave for Nicaragua on Nov. 2.

Nicaragua via Kansas

We blew into Kansas on Thursday on a strong, cold wind. We've unloaded our belongings and are now spending good time w/ Beth's family here. In a few weeks it's off to PA for our training.

And we're off! We've officially started our circuitous route to Nicaragua. We moved out of our apartment yesterday with the help of lots of our friends and family. 709 Locust, #9, has been our home the past 3 years, and while it was hard to say goodbye, we're excited about what's to come. Up next - a cross-country trip in our Penske truck to Kansas.