Casi Nica

I AM HALFWAY DONE! I can’t believe it. I feel like I have been here forever and just got here all at the same time. The weeks have been flying by and I have done and seen so much. Which, sadly, none of you all know about because I have EPICALLY failed at blogging!!! I will chalk it up to being a good student and studying a ton. At least, thats what I tell my host family when I go out with my friends all the time. A good sociology student must fully integrate themselves in society by observing the locals in their natural environment, right? Anyways....

I figured its high time to explain the title of my blog. For those of you who don’t speak spanish, “casi” means “almost.” For those of you who do speak Spanish, “casi” still means “almost.” People have been calling me “casi nica” since the first day. One of my friends gave nicknames to all of us gringas, and while the other girls are Barbie, Pretty Fly For a White Girl, and Sunshine, I’m Casi Nica. I think he might have seen this blog before he gave me a nickname, but still. I got the idea of the title when Doña Laura called said I was “casi Nica” during the Dia de la Revolucion. There are certain things about me that make me fit right in here. But there are also things I don’t think I will ever seem to get right (which makes me definitely gringa). I figured it would make a good halfway point summary to evaluate my “casi-Nicaness” for you.

Reasons why I am casi Nica:

1. I have dark brown hair and brown eyes. Unlike all the other girls in my program who do not have these features, I slip under the radar and can walk around without feeling like I’m in a spotlight. Managua is not used to foreigners, and lucky for me, I don’t look like one. 
2. I swirl ice around in my cup. Why does this make me casi nica? I have no idea. But one time when we were eating dinner I did just that and Laura Mariela pointed and laughed and said “Mira! Casi Nica!” And I just thought I wanted to make my drink cold.
3. I can casi speak spanish. And I guess my accent isn’t half bad either. Casi. 
4. Along with that...I can swear like a Nica. (Mom, if your reading this, I’m just kidding I never swear ever. For everyone else... I can keep up with the boys in the bar). 
5. Carbs are my favorite sorts of foods. And guess what? The food groups here are rice, tortillas, platanos, and other maize products. Match made in heaven, I know.
6. I can haggle with a taxi for a lower price. 
7. I believe in a socialist government. Controversial, I know, I know, and I haven’t really hashed out all of my ideas yet, but I do know that I believe in universal healthcare and education and many other public programs. And that is what they have here. 
8. Bugs, lizzards, snakes, spiders, and other critters don’t bother me. Guess what everyone? I have even gotten over my fear of bats! ...For the most part. I did get a little queasy when Laura Mariela told me that there are bats here that feed on cows.
9. My idea of safety and health codes have dramatically lowered since I’ve been here. Not wearing gloves when you serve me food? Its ok as long as I can’t see any dirt! No soap in the bathroom? or towels? or toilet paper? Hey, at least the water is running? The back door on the bus is rusted open? Doesn’t matter as long as it still gets me there! 
10. I can make tortillas! 

Reasons why I am not Nica

1. I always forget to throw toliet paper into the garbage instead of the toilet. Yes they do that here because for some reason the plumbing doesn’t like toilet paper.
2. I don’t speak spanish. (Ok I know it takes time and I’m learning but I still feel like I’m never gonna get it!)
3. I am still too white. Granted, there are some people here who are very white, but for the most part, the people in Managua are a lot darker then I am. 
4. I do my homework more then 50% of the time, unlike the Nicas.
5. I like cats! Everyone here hates them! I don’t get it. 
6. I can’t walk past being begging without feeling guilty or ashamed. Maybe everyone here feels the same way too. Walking past old people begging or little kids trying to sell crafts for a couple of cordobas is something I don’t think I will ever be ok with. Not that I am in the states either, but it is much more present here. 
7. I was taught that there are 7 continents. They are taught that there are 5. We had a 2 1/2 hour debate about this. 
8. I will never understand the politics here. Granted, I barely understand them in the US.  The Revolution here is one of the most interesting and complicated things I have ever learned about. 
9. I hate groupwork! Every project here is in groups, and I am not a fan. I also feel bad for the Nicas who get stuck with me because I am such a deadweight. 
10. It is too hot. My body does not enjoy it. 

Well, thats it. Casi Nica. Some things I’ve got, some things I’ve got to work on. Culture shock? Work in progress. Some days are harder than others. But I have awesome family and friends here who help me and keep me sane. I have my gringas to analyze and discuss with, and my Nicas to teach me the ropes and correct me when I mix up my words (like gallina and galleta, aka chicken and cookie). Who knows, in the final two months of group projects, volcano hikes, market bartering, bus riding, bar hopping, and beach napping, maybe I’ll be so Nica they won’t believe my US passport. Maybe :)

Fiestas and Fotos!

Hope this one was worth the wait... I finally have some pictures! My camera decided to cooperate, so now I’m gonna do a lot of backtracking to explain them all. I put the link at the end, but you can look at them first if you prefer. Ready?¡Vaminos! (yes I did learn that one from Dora).

So, my last full day in the US this summer was the Fourth of July. Fitting, right? I sat on the dock by my friend Jamie’s boat watching the fireworks explode overhead as people wearing red, white, and blue chatted and snacked. Afterwords, we joined the crowd of people waiting patiently in line for the public bus, and then returned home where I continued to pack (obviously I left almost everything for the night before). All in all, a fun, low-key Independence Day. 

About 2 weeks after I got here was 19 de julio, or Dia de la Revolucion Sandinista. This marks when the FSLN (the Sandinistas, a huge social movement/political party) defeated the Somoza dictatorship in 1979. So, in a sense, similar to an independence day. I can’t give you a history lesson, because I’m still learning myself, and I’m not quite ready to comment on the political relationship between Nicaragua and the US. Another day, for sure. Right now, my goal is to enlighten you on how the people here celebrate their revolution. A little more extravagant then how we do ours, to say the least.

It’s hard to get ready for a celebration when you have no idea what to expect, the most important question being, of course,WHAT DO I WEAR? I threw on a red shirt, knowing the FSLN colors are red and black. When I came out of my room, Armando looked me over, and then handed me a black and red bandana. “You look almost Nica!” Doña Laura said chucking at me as I gratefully put it on with a big fat smile on my face. Armando and I left and piled into the back of our friend’s pick-up truck, the only acceptable mode of transportation to the plaza on the 19 de julio. And the madness began.

I can’t even begin to explain the amount of people. Macy’s Parade? Nothing. Mardi Gras? Close, but no cigar. The pictures don’t do it justice, but I literally think the crowd was carrying me because my feet could not move fast enough to keep up with the mass of people I was being smashed into. We finally made it out of the bottleneck and close to the plaza where we staked out a spot to stand right next to a speaker system.

At first, there wasn’t a lot going on. Someone was making a speech, but I was paying more attention to the crowd of people in black and red FSLN gear, drinking a ton of Toña and yelling and walking around aimlessly. Then there was cheering; I guess it was over? The 2011 FLSN campaign song started and someone set off a ton of fireworks. Now, these weren’t the big, far-off 4th of July kind, but rather chaotic blasting mortars shooting into the sky with flashes and smoke! We were so close I could taste them. Really. A piece of one fell in my hair. Safety codes? Hah. I did say that they preferred mode of transportation was to pile in trucks, right? 

I guess the fire hazard was the signal to get the party started, because the music kept blaring, the people kept drinking, and EVERYONE was dancing! Seriously, that is how every national holiday should be! Meagie, Armando and I went into the heart of it where the lights set the stage for the mass of pink and white 2011 FLSN campaign T-shirts. It was crazy. We returned back to the party, and well, I’ll let the pictures do the talking.

After the party we were pretty hungry, so the next logical step was of to convince Burger King that they should let us in even though they were trying to close. Now, this isn’t any sort of fast food joint you’ve seen in the US. There were flat screen TVS. And they served beer. In pitchers. Dane Cook’s BK Lounge, anyone? We ended the night at my house, hanging out and continuing the ridiculousness. I don’t think I have ever been more exhausted in my life. Now I understand what they mean by holiday here :)

So here we go....

• A link to the theme song of the day! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdcSlGa5rTM
• The BK lounge, if you don’t know it...only the first 25 secs are necessary http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cecP70q3mkE 
• and the pictures! I put descriptions on them to help explain! Hit slideshow in the top right corner, and then hit show info!  http://www.flickr.com/photos/calicasinica/sets/72157627567128006/ 

¡Como mi Toña, ninguna!

Hola amigos! Yes, I’m still alive. Sorry I haven’t written in a while. It’s been a rough week of classes and volunteer work and such. I will elaborate much more later, but for now, lets just say that as the level of work and Spanish increases, my understanding of it, sadly, does not. So what’s a person to do after a week of being abused by homework, improper conjugations, and creepers on la ruta? LEARN A SPANISH DRINKING SONG!

Ok, it’s not really a drinking song, it’s a song in a beer commercial. And ok, yes, I had a rough week, but no, I’m not turning into an alcoholic (...yet). One of my first days here, I was watching TV and this commercial came on. I didn’t think much of it until my whole family joined in with the song. And that happens pretty much every time this commercial comes on. So I decided that in order to actively immerse myself in the culture here, I need to learn this song. Purely educational. 

Actually this song really is educational. It incorporates the most famous parts of Nicaragua: the national flower and tree, indigenous cultures, mountain ranges, volcanoes, lakes, and of course, la cerveza Toña, which is basically the national beer. Doña Laura explained it all to me after Laura Mariela wrote out the lyrics (and calling me borrachita for wanting to learn). 

Here’s the link to the comercial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkvO0DL3s5Y&feature=related

And the lyrics. I hyperlinked some words to pictures, if you're interested. It's all in the commercial but its really fast. You can google translate the rest :)

Soy como soy porque aquí nací entre volcanes y lagos

 y si muriera y volviera a nacer no nacería en otro lado 

Soy un volcán bullanguero, un lago orgullo ,soy un caballero 

Soy la belleza trigueña que no anda con cuentos genuina y sincera 

Soy el alma pinolera del Río San Juan hasta Chinandega 

Soy el alma pinolera del Río San Juan hasta Chinandega 

Soy el cuerpo y el sabor… que hace a Nicaragua una. 

¡Como mi tierra no hay dos! ¡Como mi Toña ninguna! 

Soy Nicarao y Diriangén 

Soy isleta soy caudal 

Soy Madroño y Sacuanjoche

Soy el Cerro Negro y el Amerrisque 

Soy Ostuma y La Estanzuela 

Soy Apanás, Soy Cocibolca 

Soy montaña soy ciudad 

Soy nica como el San Juan 

Soy el cuerpo y el sabor… que hace a Nicaragua una. 

¡Como mi tierra no hay dos! ¡Como mi Toña, ninguna!

Tonces, mi nueva tarea esta semana! And seriously, I’m more about the consequences from Laurita for not studying this homework than I am about my actual clases :)

Trabalenguas

My first weekend here, the Nica brothers of two of the girls in the program took us out for a day trip. After taking a terrifying rickety-old school bus we made it to the terminal of “interlocals”, which are 12-passenger micro-buses that somehow fit 20 people plus whatever was bought at the market that day. Cozy, to say the least. 

We hopped off in Masaya, stretching cramped legs and taking in breaths of fresh air. The city is famous for its mercado viejo where artisans sell their crafts, typical looking touristy souvenirs but still pretty cool. The five of us spent the afternoon looking at hand-painted leather, knotted bracelets, hammocks (yes, of course I bought one), t-shirts, and other wears. Locals were bustling around with baskets selling food, extrañeros shopping, and kids making origami out of palm leaves in exchange for some pesos or some food.

Lauren and her brother Eduardo hadn’t eaten, so we stopped at an outdoor restaurant to grab a quick bite. Now, remind you, this was still the first weekend, so we didn’t know each other well yet and our Spanish was atrocious. We struggled through conversation, asking questions and learning new words. I was getting especially frustrated because I can’t say r’s right if my gringa life depended on it. Gersan, the brother of my friend Sheena, was laughing at me, and then wrote out in my notebook a tongue-twister for me to try. Ready? Tres triste tigres comian trigo en un trigal. (Three sad tigers ate wheat in a sill). Well, that was the source of laughter for Eduardo and Gersan for a while. To get even, we wrote out trabalenguas in English, like “she sells sea shells” and “proper cup of coffee in a copper coffee pot.” Pretty soon, none of us were able to say anything right, English or Spanish. A level playing field for once!

At dinner that night, I told my familia that Gersan gave me homework, to practice the trabalengua. My host sister added on to the assignment an even harder one. I spent the next couple of days muttering tongue-twisters about tigers and race-cars under my breath and watching my family laugh at me through the corner of my eyes. No wonder they think I’m crazy.

The next week my madre brought me to the Mercado Oriental to go grocery shopping. They had explained to me the night before that this was the biggest market in Managua. Bigger than Masaya? Uhhh, yeah. Endless streets of clothes, fruits, rice, electronics, furniture, bags, chickens, mattresses, and about anything else you can imagine. I trailed after my madre, dodging carts full of platanos, hot pans of maize, venders yelling at me to buy things, and water falling from the puzzle of scrap tin that formed a makeshift roof. Doña Laura would pause only to point something out to me or to check that I hadn’t been swallowed into to crowed of Nicas shopping and selling. 

I happily sipped cacao from a plastic bag as I waited for Doña Laura to buy groceries, grateful for the cool drink to ease the heat of cooking food and sweaty people in the market. Doña Laura turned to show me what she got, explaining a curious brown rice-krispy-treat-looking square. “Hecho de trigo,” she told me, “Made of wheat.” “Oh, like the tigers ate?” I said. She looked at me for a split second, like “Ok, I don’t know what they teach you in the states, but tigers don’t eat wheat” and they she realized that I was talking about the trabalengua and just being a smart-ass. She laughed almost the entire way home. 

For a while after, when anyone asked my madre how I was doing (usually right in front of me because they didn’t think I understood), she would answer, “Oh she’s great. She even made a joke one time, listen to this!” and would tell them the one time I succeeded in being funny - on purpose. As soon as I can use the trabalengua to say my “r’s” right, I’ll be good to go :)

Angelito

Before I left on my epic adventure, my friend Samme gave me a necklace with a charm of St. Therese on it. On the same chain I added a fleur-de-lis charm that my friend Kim gave me before she studied abroad in Tanzania. I have worn this necklace almost everyday: St. Therese to remind me of my family and friends at home, the fleur-de-lis to remind me of my friends at college, both to remind me that I have people who are thinking about me while I’m here. Yes, sometimes I can be sentimental and affectionate. 

Well, not even a week after arriving here, something happened that made me miss all those people unbearably. A friend from college, who had just barely graduated, died tragically and unexpectedly. They believe he had a seizure while swimming late in the day. I found this out while talking to my boyfriend Brian for two minutes before my internet cut out. Needless to say, I was left alone and pretty upset.

This sort of situation is one of my biggest fears while being here, something serious that would make me want to be back home, close to my friends and family. But it’s not like I can just hop on a plane for a quick trip back to the states. I’m sort of, well, stuck here. At least, that’s certainly how I felt. What made it even worse was that I had only been here for five days, had barely met my familia, and did not have the kind of vocabulary in Spanish I needed to accurately explain what was going on.

I decided, though, that it was important to tell my familia and the other chicas in the program why I was upset, even though it would be rough. And it was. Its hard enough to explain a situation like that, but not knowing the right words and knowing I was saying things incorrectly made it that much harder. The worst was telling my friend Gretchen because she goes to the same university as me in the US. But I was also more then grateful to have her here, someone who understood. Really though, everyone was understanding: the girls in the program, my teacher, my familia. 

When I got back to my house after class, my madre Laura called me into her room where her and Laura Mariela were hanging out. They asked me how I was feeling, and then chatted with me for a long time, teaching me new words, explaining new things to me. I have been carrying around a notebook solely with words I learn, and soon I had filled pages and pages with translations for clothing, body parts, things around the house, adjectives, and everything in between. Then Doña Laura showed me some of her artwork. I’m not sure what its called in English (or Spanish tampoco), but she creates still life art by carving into tin. Also, she makes all sorts of jewelry. She showed me some of the charms she made, and asked which I liked best. I picked out a little angel that was made from a blue oval and metal wing beads. As I went to hand it back, she said, “lo tuyo” “its yours.” It was so truly sweet. I told them both that I felt much better, and it was true. Of course, I still felt sad about my friend, and for my friends at home, but it was so good to sit and talk and laugh a little. The first time I really felt at home here. 

So now on my necklace I have three charms: St. Therese for my family and friends at home, the fleur-de-lis for my friends at college, and the angelito for my familia here. All to remind me of people who care about me and are looking out for me :)

La Familia

I have a lot to write about to catch you all up to speed about my life here. So first things first: mi familia.

Before they picked me up at the Hotel Ticomo where everyone in the program spent the first two nights for orientation, I was terrified. Like, paralyzing fear. You know, butterflies-in-the stomach sort of feeling? Except if those butterflies were piranhas. Yeah.

I’m not sure what I was scared of. That I would be living with these people for 5 months? That a 3-year-old here speaks better spanish then I do? A combination, I think. Many people have told me that I am really brave for doing this program, but as were we riding in the car back to the house, man, not even the Wizard of Oz could have convinced me that I had an ounce of courage in my bones. 

And was I right to be scared! These people that I live with are crazy. CRAZY! Like I said before, they like to teach me swear words (thats what they did the first hour I was here!). My host sister, Laura Mariela, and brother, Armando, like to talk really fast to confuse me (which isn’t hard to do at all). They also try to convince me that I’m eating horse or iguana or monkey when I ask what dinner is. Even the dog, Bruno, harasses me with a morning hello of trying to wrestle my flip flop off my foot. And they treat him like a prince. Everyone makes fun of me and use words I don’t understand, and my only comeback is to stick my tongue out (which Armando threatened to cut off the next time, “with love”, he said). They yell and fight and make fun of each other all the time. And in no way am I spared for being the younger, confused foreign exchange student. They treat me just like family. 

And I do mean just like family. My madre Doña Laura cooks delicious meals for us everyday, and explains food, holidays, history, and new words to me. Armando rode the bus with me to class to teach me how, and goes with me other places to make sure I’m safe. Laura Mariela teaches me new things too (not all PG friendly, but necessary if I’m gonna be able to chat with a college level vocabulary :). They both invite me out with them, which is always super fun. Rudy, Laura Mariela’s husband, is taking English class and helps explains things to me when I don’t understand. Or he tells me the truth when Laura tells me we’re eating monkey for dinner. He also fixed my computer so I can blog! And Bruno greets me at the door when I come in and hangs out with me while I do my homework. They really have made me feel right at home, and now it’s hard to even imagine why I ever felt like piranhas were eating my insides that first day I moved in. I sure haven’t felt that way since. 

And now that I feel at home, I’ve started to fight back a bit too. I bang on Armando’s door and wake him up with a lovely “BUENOS DIAS!” which I know he enjoys. I fight and joke with Laura Mariela using the little vocabulary I have, and slowly I have learned enough to let my sarcasm shine through. I make faces and fall and basically act like myself, including the fact that I can’t speak correctly (english or spanish).

Rudy said that I’m just as crazy as the rest of them. And, well, he’s totally right. I feel right at home, and I am absolutely loving it :)

¡Bienvenidos!

Hola! Hace casi dos semanas desde llegue a Nicaragua y ya he aprendido mucho! Its been almost two weeks since I arrived in Nicaragua and I have already learned a lot! (or at least thats what I hope I wrote)

For those of you who know me, hola :). For those of you who happened to stumble upon this, were shown this by a friend of mine, are stalking me, or for some other reason are reading this but don’t really know me, hola tambien! My name is Cali and I am junior in college studying sociology and Spanish. In order to deepen my understanding of social justice, inequalities, consumerism, and other social structures, as well as learn a little bit of spanish along the way, I decided to study abroad in Managua, Nicaragua, for this fall semester 2011. I am living with a host family and studying at a university here. Since this is the internet and all, I’m not gonna post super specific details (I did learn something in cyber-safety workshops), so if you have a question, shoot me an email/comment/owl/wallpost. 

So like I mentioned, I arrived in the beautiful country of Nicaragua a while ago. Its been quite the whirlwind of new food, millions of words, heat, food, meeting friends, noise, food, dancing, dogs, and food as well. Its been fun, frustrating, overwhelming, invigorating, and raining everyday. 

Now that my computer has been fixed, I can finally make a blog! There is a ton ton ton of stuff I want to share, but for now I thought I’d just write a little bit about what I’ve learned...

• No matter where you are and what language you speak, when someone falls, its pretty funny
• I’m pretty sure that they don’t have mosquitos here but rather microscopic vampires because I think I’ve lost half my blood already
• It’s socially acceptable to swear at the dinner table (at least with my host family)
• When it comes to swearing, Americans got nothing on the Nicas. Quite the colorful bunch.
• There are different levels of “bitches” when you want to say “son of a bitch”
• Obviously, all I’ve learned so far are swears
• I don’t think I’m going to feel dry til I’m home. Rain, humidity :P 
• People like to dance. A lot. And la musica... que buena :)
• The dog (Bruno) knows Spanish better then I do.
• I’m pretty sure there are no safety codes here because I almost fell out the door of the bus (which are ridiculously old US yellow school buses painted all sorts of different colors with half the seats either broken or missing). Most of them have sayings like “Dios, me guarda” and now I understand why. 
• I like to eat. So do the Nicas. Match made in heaven.
• There are more varieties of fruit here then there are people who live here. Fact. (not really, but still)
• I should have kept my wardrobe from middle school because all anyone wears are jeans and American Eagle or Hollister branded shirts.
• There is a lot of poverty here. Kids begging in the streets. But there is also a ton of social activism. Slowly I’ll figure out what all of it means. 

Thats all for now. I’ll keep learning and I’ll keep posting :)