Hola de Nicaragua! Upon safe arrival in Managua, I made the fairly short drive north into Esteli, located in the nicaraguan highlands. The city, with more than 100,000 inhabitants, is loud, colorful, and bustling with activity. Because of it's rich revolutionary past, many of the people here are direct descendents of the sandanista's and speak openly of their political views. I am currently living only a block from my spanish school, with a wonderfully polite family (abuelita, padres, y dos ninos) and a medical student visiting from San Francisco.
Classes are draining, and I am discovering my love of the afternoon siesta. Each day, the other students and I are taken to a different place of cultural interest. On Monday, we visited the Casa de Cultura and learned about Nicaragua's rich artistic culture. Esteli, in particular, is known for it's vast amount of colorful murals, which grace the walls of many of the buildings here. Yesterday, we visited Las Mujeres, a group of women who use the town's trash to make organic compost and paper. They then use the paper to create beautiful arts and crafts for sale to both Nicaraguenses and tourists. Today we visited the local library, which is powered by a solar panel! Classes are taught there, and the children learn about the various forms of renewable energy that can be employed in the more rural areas of Nicaragua. I checked out a book of famous Nicaraguan poems, for there is a saying here that, loosely translated, says, “everyone in Nicaragua is a poet until they prove otherwise.” The poems are tragic, symbolic, sensual, political, social, and above all, beautiful. What a way to view the Spanish language!

I haven't managed to take many pictures, but since it was father's day at my host family's house this last Sunday, I couldn't help snapping a few photos of their adorable children, Katherine and Michael (named after the one and only Michael Jackson. I kid you not, they share birthdays.)

Too cute!

I can't wait to get out of the city and into the Nicaraguan countryside, but for now, there is an endless supply of this fabulous country right here in Esteli, and I can't wait to discover more of it.
I miss you all back in Santa Cruz and beyond.

Abrazos y Besos

Taylor

july first! ahhhh

quick update from laguna kana

moi is better,
i gave him drugs
and he drank medicinal tea
with boiled orange leaves, i believe
he is no longer convinced he has worms
just a bad tamale or taco

i have started filming down here and got two great interviews. then i realized i didnt bring the charger for the battery. my camera works plugged into the wall... but the battery doesnt charge. D'oh! maybe i can get it mailed down, or maybe itll be more of an indoor production... we shall see. anyways im stoked because francisco is interested in being interviewed and so are the students. they speak real nicely about interculturality and wanting to teach and learn from different people. they are very curious and very smart.

this is my final week with my team at laguna kana and its bitter sweet. i want to check out other teams and communities, at the same time i want to stick with my friends through the whole process. the diagnostico stuff is going real well. we met with the president, secretary and tresurer of the town yesterday and they showed us the campo maps of the ejido, basically laid out all the lagunas, all the agricultural zones and the reserve which people are allowed to hunt but not burn or cut down trees. the most interesting parts for me have been interviewing people and doing the census. these are also the hardest for me because of the spanish. but i have been understanding almost everything and the group decided that i would partner up with one of them so thats really helpful. we learn alot about the history of the community, many of the founder's children are now the elders of the community. it is interesting and sad the way the older generation is full of maya speakers who work the milpa, while the new generation doesnt speak maya and migrates to the tourist zones to work for cash.

part of the university's work here is to revalue that maya language and culture within the community so that it doesnt dissapear.

the hardest part for me is 'being part of the team' because of how much of an outsider i am. maybe if i came back next year stayed for a year and started one up the following summer i could really be on the level. they are convinced that i am here to observe, so i have to find new ways to participate and interexchange... which has been fun. i definately get a million questions about how do you say this in english what does this mean, especially band names and song titles! everyone is also very curious about hebrew. edwin, one of my teammates says what he looks forward to in future intercambios is people from the US who are also from other countries.

also,
its hot.

peace and love and interculturality