A quick thank you to the following people:
-Tim Petrick for sending me a package filled with a ton of chocolate and sufer stickers
-Jan Brown for a fun-filled halloween package and a letter from July that I just got
-Mamow for more letters
-Becca for a postcard from South Africa (just got from Managua office)
-Amanda for a postcard from San Diego (also just got from Managua office)
-Vi my little bro for a postcard from Vietnam (it was stuck in Managua as well)
-Greg Schwartz for using the Claro website to send me hello messages to my cell phone
-Auntie Anne for also sending me hellos via the Claro website
I miss and love you all and thank you for keeping me in your thoughts!
Saturday, October 25, 2008
I Love a Parade!
What a busy week I’ve had! Hence none of you received return emails from me for some time and there has been no new blog post! On top of that, yesterday when I tried to get on my email at the Somoto Oratorio the new internet monitoring system had gone into effect. To give you all an idea, one might compare this “system” to being just as bad as Communist China! I couldn’t get into Gmail at all and then when our computer guy Julian came he set my computer so I could get on it, but after that I had to enter a username and password about 5 times for every click I made! Ohhhhh, needless to say Katie was not in the mood to deal with that. After scolding Julian for putting this entire system in effect, and him telling me it was the higher up’s fault, we came to an agreement that he needed to fix it ASAP so everyone could actually use the internet effectively. Like I told him, we don’t live in China and the people on the street will probably not steal free Wi-fi…why? Because no one in the 1 mile radius could even afford a computer, let alone a wireless card. Hopefully the situation will be taken care of in the very near future.
Next week we should be moving houses! The current house has been leaking rain water into the rooms and it just hasn’t been the most fun to leave my fan on all day to dry out the back wall of my room. It could be worst, but it is definitely getting better! We’re even getting a maid for the new house! Not even my idea, our Administrator’s idea. I get a much bigger room and we have a good space outside to put some chairs out or hang a hammock to relax. It’s 2 blocks away from our current place, which makes it 3 blocks away from the Oratorio. If only the Instituto was closer! The public school is still about a 20 min. walk or a 5 min. taxi ride away. Most times I just take a taxi so I’m not all sweaty when I arrive to class. A taxi costs C$8.00 cordobas, about 40 cents…I can afford that two days a week to just at least get there on time and sweat-free. So yay for a new place that nicer and cleaner! I will sure miss our neighbor’s dogs and cat though, they are just really cute and the big dog (who is too big to fit through the bars) is really soft. I miss having an animal around sometimes.
So, for the story behind the title today before I talk about the regional competition, I actually think this story is more fun. Last weekend we celebrated Callie’s birthday on Friday and Saturday up in Cusmapa. She requested that we cook a grand feast both nights, so of course we did. We all love to cook in Cusmapa because there is a real oven there and a nice gas cooktop to go along with it. Two weekends ago we were looking through the cookbook and we came across Chicken Pot Pie…ohhhhh ho ho….yummy goodness! We all agreed the last Pot Pie we ate probably came out of a freezer with the name Stoffers or Marie Calenders on the box. It sounded so yummy that we decided to make homemade CPP. I was in charge of the filling and Mike was in charge of the pie crust. I have yet to match Mike’s bread/cookie/crust making, he is quite good! We had a can of green peas, a couple carrots, celery, onions, and garlic to mix with a cream of mushroom and a chicken stock soup. With the help of various spices and some flour to thicken it up, it became a creamy filling bubbling away on the stove. I cooked the 2 lb. chicken breast separately on the fry pan to make it all juicy and then Mike and I forked the chicken in the partially baked crust on the bottom, then we poured the filling over the chicken and mixed it up a bit. Mike then added the final touch by placing the cover crust on top to make our Cusmapa CPP. Surprisingly the margarine here makes a great substitute for Crisco and makes amazingly good crust! So that was Feast Night #1.
Next week we should be moving houses! The current house has been leaking rain water into the rooms and it just hasn’t been the most fun to leave my fan on all day to dry out the back wall of my room. It could be worst, but it is definitely getting better! We’re even getting a maid for the new house! Not even my idea, our Administrator’s idea. I get a much bigger room and we have a good space outside to put some chairs out or hang a hammock to relax. It’s 2 blocks away from our current place, which makes it 3 blocks away from the Oratorio. If only the Instituto was closer! The public school is still about a 20 min. walk or a 5 min. taxi ride away. Most times I just take a taxi so I’m not all sweaty when I arrive to class. A taxi costs C$8.00 cordobas, about 40 cents…I can afford that two days a week to just at least get there on time and sweat-free. So yay for a new place that nicer and cleaner! I will sure miss our neighbor’s dogs and cat though, they are just really cute and the big dog (who is too big to fit through the bars) is really soft. I miss having an animal around sometimes.
So, for the story behind the title today before I talk about the regional competition, I actually think this story is more fun. Last weekend we celebrated Callie’s birthday on Friday and Saturday up in Cusmapa. She requested that we cook a grand feast both nights, so of course we did. We all love to cook in Cusmapa because there is a real oven there and a nice gas cooktop to go along with it. Two weekends ago we were looking through the cookbook and we came across Chicken Pot Pie…ohhhhh ho ho….yummy goodness! We all agreed the last Pot Pie we ate probably came out of a freezer with the name Stoffers or Marie Calenders on the box. It sounded so yummy that we decided to make homemade CPP. I was in charge of the filling and Mike was in charge of the pie crust. I have yet to match Mike’s bread/cookie/crust making, he is quite good! We had a can of green peas, a couple carrots, celery, onions, and garlic to mix with a cream of mushroom and a chicken stock soup. With the help of various spices and some flour to thicken it up, it became a creamy filling bubbling away on the stove. I cooked the 2 lb. chicken breast separately on the fry pan to make it all juicy and then Mike and I forked the chicken in the partially baked crust on the bottom, then we poured the filling over the chicken and mixed it up a bit. Mike then added the final touch by placing the cover crust on top to make our Cusmapa CPP. Surprisingly the margarine here makes a great substitute for Crisco and makes amazingly good crust! So that was Feast Night #1.
Hanna enjoys her veggie pot pie, made especially for her!
Homemade chicken and veggie pot pies!
The second night, after Mike had made us fresh bagels with a pesto sauce for lunch, I made veggie lasagna per Callie’s request. Turns out, if you take cuajada (the sometimes nasty, very salty cheese here) and mix it with some sour cream (or crema acida) it takes a ricotta-type texture. We also had some mozzarella brought in from the city, but you can’t have lasagna without the ricotta. I made the tomato sauce from scratch and I baked some eggplant in the oven so it could be added in as another layer. As you can see from the photo my lasagna turned out pretty amazing if I must say! We ate that entire thing, plus another one even bigger than the one I am holding…between 8 of us we had probably 3 servings a piece. Eat your heart out Peace Corps! Who would have known I’d be eating so well here right?
The 1/4 Italian in me finally comes out with the creation of a homemade lasanga!
Oh yeah, the parade part! Usually the Callie and Lauren try to do something special for the kids on their birthdays, for example we made a piñata for Lauren’s birthday in August so the kids had something fun to do. This time for Callie’s birthday she decided that a parade would be a lot more fun than a piñata…and less drama to say the least. The girls have done 2 parades before with the kids and they love it! This time we had over 60 kids in the backyard getting their faces painted and making instruments to bang around during the “marcha”. I painted a couple kids faces and took lots of pictures. Did I mention the kids LOVE having their pictures taken, way more than any other kids I’ve met before! I even bit the bullet and let them paint my face, course that meant I had about 10 different artists working on me…it didn’t turn out too bad. The little boys liked how I painted one kid like a clown, so then the rest of them wanted to be clowns. After an hour of getting the kids ready, Mike gave out the signs we made to a horde that reminded me of Children of the Corn and off we went around the town of Cusmapa with 60 kids. The boys became the band and marched in front beating a tune with sticks on their plastic bottles and I was surprised they could keep the beat with each other. We would yell out “Viva Cusmapa”, “Arriba Callie”, “Arriba los niños del mundo” (“Go Kids of the World”) and everyone would chant back “Viva” or “Arriba”. All of Cusmapa came out of their houses to see the parade of children, some who walked 45 minutes to an hour just to participate! We paraded around for 20 minutes and sang the Nica version of “Happy Birthday” to a little boy whose birthday was the same day. Then we proceeded back to the house where the noise continued and we were definitely exhausted and ready for a 3pm nap! After another song and more photos we slowly got the kids to leave…that’s the hardest part, getting them to go home! The kids who are always at the house thought they were excluded from this rule, but alas they were subjected to the child-herding as well. Finally we got them all out of the backyard and 15 minutes later it started to rain. What timing we had! It actually had been raining all week and then for the parade the sun decided to peak through the clouds for those couple hours we had. I love it when luck smiles down upon those moments when you need it. It was great fun for all of us and the kids had such a great time, hell they didn’t want to leave so of course they had a good time.
A festive artistic creation by Mike...the Cusmapa artist in residence
Mike doesn't like paint on his face, he barely let the kids put a mushtache on...or whatever it is
Me painting one of the clowns
Lauren paints Tony's face...I have at least 10 pictures of him! He always wants his photo taken and he's definately a favorite kid at the Cusmapa house.
Hanna rocks a real woman's mustache!
So I let the kids paint my face...
And this is what happens when you let 10 children paint your face like you were a blank canvas.
Callie the birthday girl with Gieselle
My clowns that I painted!
Tony proudly holds his sign!
Mike tries to control the rabid crowd of children as he divvies out the signs.
Group photo! So many kids at once!
The parade through Cusmapa!
A boy with his sign marches along.
The band leads the parade!
Lauren, her face painted bright red, said "I think an animal might have died on my face!"
Another shot of the Cusmapa parade.Friday, October 10, 2008
Stone Soup: A Juxtaposition of Nicaraguan and U.S. Culture
A few weeks ago I went to the beach with fellow Fabretto volunteer Callie and two Nica friends (I think I might have mentioned this before) and I was introduced to the Nica version of the classic story "Stone Soup". As soon as Ernesto (our storyteller) mentioned the title I thought to myself proudly, "Oh, I know this story, we did this in Jan's class in the first grade!"...oh how I should have known this was a different version, or the Nica version to say the least. Today I'd like to share with you both stories, both the Nica version and the American version, and offer a fairly academic commentary to the social implications these tales offer. The American version is technically a German version since it was originally a Grimm Brothers tale! So I will change the title from "American Version" to the "Western-Ideals Version".
"Stone Soup": The Western-Ideals Version
Note: technically there are two versions, because the children's book is different from the play we did, but I will give you the play version
Once upon a time, there were 3 soldiers named Charlie, Max, and the Captain (I cant remember his name) who were returning from a long and hard-fought war. They marched through the countryside for days and they eventually ran out of food. Hungry and tired they stumbled into a village and set up camp in the center of town. The curious villagers did not come out, but stayed enclosed in their houses and peered out at the strangers from their windows. The Captain ordered Charlie and Max to start knocking on doors and ask the villagers for food. In addition, at this time a great famine has plagued the entire country in general, so the villagers REALLY don't have alot to share, nor do they wish to share what little they have with a group of strangers...let alone their neighbors.
As the song went during the march (I can't believe I still remember this, obviously 1st grade had a very large impact on my musical life...Jan and Peggy Stare would be proud): "Soldiers are we, as hungry as can be, back from the war, in countries oh so far..."
Charlie and Max go to the first house and explain that they are soldiers that have just come home from war and proclaim "food we do wish, some chicken, meat or fish...a tray filled up high with food to reach the sky. And after we are fed, we'd like a nice warm bed. A place were we can sleep and dream of more to eat".
The reply the first family gives them is: "We're sorry you two, not a thing we can do. There's no food for stew and we're feeling so blue. Our pantry is bare not a thing we can do...we're sorry dear Charlie and Max sorry too!" Every house they solicit, they receive the same answer...no food or place to stay for them. The entire village refuses to help them.
With their heads hung they return to the Captain and give him the bad news. In a stroke of genius the Captain pulls out a pot from his sack and proclaims, "then we shall make stone soup!" Charlie and Max look at the Captain like he is crazy...what is this stone soup!? The soldiers find three large stones in the center of town and exclaim "oh these magical stones will help us create a fine meal". They fill the pot with water and dump the stones in to begin their stone soup creation.
"This stone soup will make a great meal for 3 hungry soldiers, course it could be so much better with some cabbage", exclaimed the Capitan loudly. Curiosity and hunger finally got the best of one of the families, who grabbed a meager cabbage out of it's hiding place in the house and brought it out to put in the soup. The soup smelled so much better with the cabbage stewing with the stones! One by one the villagers came out of their homes bringing what little vegetables or spices they had to contribute to the communal pot. Even the stingy butcher brings some salted meat to put into the soup! At the end there is enough soup for everyone to share and the entire village enjoys a filling meal of this "stone soup".
Morals of the story:
-We see the common western military structure, Capitan orders subordinates to do the work while he "holds down the fort". Technically he could be pulling "watch duty", but I don't think one can make a 360 degree security perimeter by himself.
-The soldiers come in with the attitude that these villagers "owe" them something because they serve and protect the country. We all have our own opinions on this one, but in my opinion a soldier should never "expect" anything from the public.
-Hard economic times makes a society scared to donate a little extra to those in need, we see it right now...Fabretto is suffering from a lack of donations along with lots of other NGOs. If we have a little extra, we can afford to work together to make sure that little extra goes toward the greater good. Never forget that one could not buy a $5 Starbucks this week and put it in a donation can instead.
And the biggest moral we learn:
When everyone makes a communal contribution, everyone gains in the end. Sharing is caring basically! Or, the greater good is more important than the individual. Technically this is a Utilitarian ideal but I believe it has been incorporated into most Western micro-societies (sub-societies?) like churches, clubs, neighborhoods, cities, etc.
Once upon a time, there were 3 soldiers named Charlie, Max, and the Captain (I cant remember his name) who were returning from a long and hard-fought war. They marched through the countryside for days and they eventually ran out of food. Hungry and tired they stumbled into a village and set up camp in the center of town. The curious villagers did not come out, but stayed enclosed in their houses and peered out at the strangers from their windows. The Captain ordered Charlie and Max to start knocking on doors and ask the villagers for food. In addition, at this time a great famine has plagued the entire country in general, so the villagers REALLY don't have alot to share, nor do they wish to share what little they have with a group of strangers...let alone their neighbors.
As the song went during the march (I can't believe I still remember this, obviously 1st grade had a very large impact on my musical life...Jan and Peggy Stare would be proud): "Soldiers are we, as hungry as can be, back from the war, in countries oh so far..."
Charlie and Max go to the first house and explain that they are soldiers that have just come home from war and proclaim "food we do wish, some chicken, meat or fish...a tray filled up high with food to reach the sky. And after we are fed, we'd like a nice warm bed. A place were we can sleep and dream of more to eat".
The reply the first family gives them is: "We're sorry you two, not a thing we can do. There's no food for stew and we're feeling so blue. Our pantry is bare not a thing we can do...we're sorry dear Charlie and Max sorry too!" Every house they solicit, they receive the same answer...no food or place to stay for them. The entire village refuses to help them.
With their heads hung they return to the Captain and give him the bad news. In a stroke of genius the Captain pulls out a pot from his sack and proclaims, "then we shall make stone soup!" Charlie and Max look at the Captain like he is crazy...what is this stone soup!? The soldiers find three large stones in the center of town and exclaim "oh these magical stones will help us create a fine meal". They fill the pot with water and dump the stones in to begin their stone soup creation.
"This stone soup will make a great meal for 3 hungry soldiers, course it could be so much better with some cabbage", exclaimed the Capitan loudly. Curiosity and hunger finally got the best of one of the families, who grabbed a meager cabbage out of it's hiding place in the house and brought it out to put in the soup. The soup smelled so much better with the cabbage stewing with the stones! One by one the villagers came out of their homes bringing what little vegetables or spices they had to contribute to the communal pot. Even the stingy butcher brings some salted meat to put into the soup! At the end there is enough soup for everyone to share and the entire village enjoys a filling meal of this "stone soup".
Morals of the story:
-We see the common western military structure, Capitan orders subordinates to do the work while he "holds down the fort". Technically he could be pulling "watch duty", but I don't think one can make a 360 degree security perimeter by himself.
-The soldiers come in with the attitude that these villagers "owe" them something because they serve and protect the country. We all have our own opinions on this one, but in my opinion a soldier should never "expect" anything from the public.
-Hard economic times makes a society scared to donate a little extra to those in need, we see it right now...Fabretto is suffering from a lack of donations along with lots of other NGOs. If we have a little extra, we can afford to work together to make sure that little extra goes toward the greater good. Never forget that one could not buy a $5 Starbucks this week and put it in a donation can instead.
And the biggest moral we learn:
When everyone makes a communal contribution, everyone gains in the end. Sharing is caring basically! Or, the greater good is more important than the individual. Technically this is a Utilitarian ideal but I believe it has been incorporated into most Western micro-societies (sub-societies?) like churches, clubs, neighborhoods, cities, etc.
Stone soup, stone soup, stone soup.
Sounds so silly to you, you, you.
Stone soup, stone soup, stone soup.
The story says it's true...
You've...heard...of...
Alphabet soup and won-ton soup and chowder made with clams.
Rice soup with chicken and split pea soup made with hams.
Three hungry soldiers back from war all tired and food had none.
Cooked some soup with three round stones.
They said it couldn't be done.
Ohhhhhh
Stone soup, stone soup, stone soup..."
-Sung by the 1991-92 Loomis Grammar School classes
Stone soup, stone soup, stone soup.
The story says it's true...
You've...heard...of...
Alphabet soup and won-ton soup and chowder made with clams.
Rice soup with chicken and split pea soup made with hams.
Three hungry soldiers back from war all tired and food had none.
Cooked some soup with three round stones.
They said it couldn't be done.
Ohhhhhh
Stone soup, stone soup, stone soup..."
-Sung by the 1991-92 Loomis Grammar School classes
"Sopa de Piedras": The Nicaraguan Version
Originally told to Callie and I by Ernesto, a Nica
One fine beautiful day in Nicaragua, a drunk Nica dude (borracho o bolo in Nica speak) stumbles into a small town. He smells like a mix of Caballito (moon-shine) and major B.O., like his body hasn't touched water in about a decade (I imagine Pig-pen from Peanuts!). He slurs his words when he asks the townsfolk for something to eat and they of course say "no!" to this drunkard. The stumbling continues on until he passes out on the doorstep of the sweetest little Nica woman in town.
When he finally comes to it, the little Nica woman takes pity on him and brings him a cup of water. Slowly he comes to and shakes off his drunken state...to a hungover expression. Without thanking the woman for her kindness and hospitality, he asks her to bring him a pot of water so he could make some soup. Remember this Nica dude has nothing with him, no sort of money to offer this woman! He's a vago (aka wandering drunk man)! But, out of her kind Nica heart she brings him a pot of water.
"How are you going to make this soup with only water?" asked the woman. "Well, I have these magic stones that will create an amazing soup for me to eat!" said the confident vago. With that, he picked up three random rocks he found on the ground and threw them into the steaming pot. "(Fíjase)You know..."continued the vago, "This soup would be great if we had some onion, give me an onion to put in this soup!" So the lady, not wanting to look like she was a bad hostess brought the vago an onion. "(Fíjase)You know...this soup would be even better if we had some platanos (green bananas) to throw in here, give me those while you're at it" said the vago. Once again the kind Nica woman honored his wishes and brought him her last 2 platanos. "(Fíjase)You know...this soup needs some chicken, I'm really hungry and I want some!" And again the Nica woman brought him a freshly killed and plucked chicken and in it went into the soup. Lastly the vago exclaimed, "(Fíjase)You know...the ultimate finish to this soup would be some salt, bring me some". The woman brought him his last request, and was pretty annoyed with him at this point but wanting to save she didn't say anything.
Once the soup was ready the vago magically pulled a spoon out of his back pocket and begins to eat the stone soup. He doesn't ask the very kind Nica woman if she would like some of the soup, nor does he express his gratitude toward her for her hospitality. In under 10 minutes the vago manages to completely finish the entire pot of soup. Smacking his lips and pulling his shirt up to expose his belly, he passes out yet again on the lady's front porch.
Morals of the story:
-Even the drunkest bolo on the street can be forgiven, maybe he's a great member of society somewhere else.
-If a man asks a woman for something, she better get it for him...that's her job in society, to be of service to the male sex.
-If someone makes you angry, it's better to hold one's feelings in and "save face", one wouldn't want his/her neighbors out on their front porches talking gossip (chisme) about him/her!
-The shirt folded up to show off the Nica man's belly is just another way of cooling off and showing off a very sexy and masculine potbelly...he's drank alot of beers to keep himself that way ya know!
And the biggest moral we learn:
-If someone gives you something, even out of pure kindness, keep asking them for things until you can't get anything more out of them! "So-and-so has more money than me, therefore they need to give me more because I am poorer. I have less than the normal person in my neighborhood and so society owes me something...work, what is that? Where is my Toña (beer) liter?"
--What I have just described is what we have dubbed the "Dáme" culture of Nicaragua. I shouldn't say Nicaragua in general because this attitude (I feel) is more prevalent in Cusmapa and similar poorer areas because they are used to simple cash handouts/donations by NGOs and the government. So the questions I continue to ask myself about this attitude are as follows:
-Where did this attitude come from?
-How do we improve this "give me" attitude?
-Why is there little incentive to work?
-Who is still pumping money into these communities?
-What can we do in the future to make sure development funds aren't creating this type of reliance?
It's a very very very hard concept to grasp. I haven't even scratched the surface of even more underlying problems including education faults, gender roles, etc. which all contribute to the "dáme" culture. I'm glad I get to see this extreme problem with development, someone has to realize this fallacy of putting funds in the wrong hands and in the wrong way.
So, the ultimate question of development is how to we move from this "Dáme" attitude to the "Community Involvement" attitude? At the moment I'm reading Jeffrey Sachs' End of Poverty which I recommend to anyone interested in development. I agree with Sachs when he says alot of development projects are sort of like band-aids for current problems and that countries like the U.S. and Europe just throw money into the projects without looking at the proposals. Gosh there are so many things I want to say about Sachs' right now...but I have a headache from the kids running around me in the office right now. I will talk about the book later, promise.
Anyways, I'd like to thank Jan and Mamow for more letters! Fun fact of the day, there are little black ants and big red ants here that look just like the ones at home. The different between the ones here and there? The little black ones are the mean ones that bite you, really really hard! The red ants leave you alone and smell bad when you smash them. Funny right? I swear the black ones, once they get on you, they go right into BITE MODE! Of course there are always a ton of them too!
Next week my kids compete in the Regional Competition and today I found out some great news. Instead of me and the kids run all over hell's half acre to find funding for transportation and food, we got some company/or program (not really clear) to sponsor us. Actually, it's turned into a 53 people are going to the Regional from Fabretto...that's including the students competing, Empresa Creativa teachers, and other Fabretto employees who just want to see what the regional competition is all about. I just wanted to keep it simple, but if they have the money to bring all these people...fine with me!
Hope the election isn't driving everyone crazy yet! Vote for Obama, vote for change! Or as his campaign office says in New Mexico "Obámanos" (which is a play on the word Vámanos, meaning "Let's go!"). I'll probably post an opinion piece on the elections soon...it's the hot topic Mike, Lauren, Callie and I are always talking about.
One fine beautiful day in Nicaragua, a drunk Nica dude (borracho o bolo in Nica speak) stumbles into a small town. He smells like a mix of Caballito (moon-shine) and major B.O., like his body hasn't touched water in about a decade (I imagine Pig-pen from Peanuts!). He slurs his words when he asks the townsfolk for something to eat and they of course say "no!" to this drunkard. The stumbling continues on until he passes out on the doorstep of the sweetest little Nica woman in town.
When he finally comes to it, the little Nica woman takes pity on him and brings him a cup of water. Slowly he comes to and shakes off his drunken state...to a hungover expression. Without thanking the woman for her kindness and hospitality, he asks her to bring him a pot of water so he could make some soup. Remember this Nica dude has nothing with him, no sort of money to offer this woman! He's a vago (aka wandering drunk man)! But, out of her kind Nica heart she brings him a pot of water.
"How are you going to make this soup with only water?" asked the woman. "Well, I have these magic stones that will create an amazing soup for me to eat!" said the confident vago. With that, he picked up three random rocks he found on the ground and threw them into the steaming pot. "(Fíjase)You know..."continued the vago, "This soup would be great if we had some onion, give me an onion to put in this soup!" So the lady, not wanting to look like she was a bad hostess brought the vago an onion. "(Fíjase)You know...this soup would be even better if we had some platanos (green bananas) to throw in here, give me those while you're at it" said the vago. Once again the kind Nica woman honored his wishes and brought him her last 2 platanos. "(Fíjase)You know...this soup needs some chicken, I'm really hungry and I want some!" And again the Nica woman brought him a freshly killed and plucked chicken and in it went into the soup. Lastly the vago exclaimed, "(Fíjase)You know...the ultimate finish to this soup would be some salt, bring me some". The woman brought him his last request, and was pretty annoyed with him at this point but wanting to save she didn't say anything.
Once the soup was ready the vago magically pulled a spoon out of his back pocket and begins to eat the stone soup. He doesn't ask the very kind Nica woman if she would like some of the soup, nor does he express his gratitude toward her for her hospitality. In under 10 minutes the vago manages to completely finish the entire pot of soup. Smacking his lips and pulling his shirt up to expose his belly, he passes out yet again on the lady's front porch.
Morals of the story:
-Even the drunkest bolo on the street can be forgiven, maybe he's a great member of society somewhere else.
-If a man asks a woman for something, she better get it for him...that's her job in society, to be of service to the male sex.
-If someone makes you angry, it's better to hold one's feelings in and "save face", one wouldn't want his/her neighbors out on their front porches talking gossip (chisme) about him/her!
-The shirt folded up to show off the Nica man's belly is just another way of cooling off and showing off a very sexy and masculine potbelly...he's drank alot of beers to keep himself that way ya know!
And the biggest moral we learn:
-If someone gives you something, even out of pure kindness, keep asking them for things until you can't get anything more out of them! "So-and-so has more money than me, therefore they need to give me more because I am poorer. I have less than the normal person in my neighborhood and so society owes me something...work, what is that? Where is my Toña (beer) liter?"
--What I have just described is what we have dubbed the "Dáme" culture of Nicaragua. I shouldn't say Nicaragua in general because this attitude (I feel) is more prevalent in Cusmapa and similar poorer areas because they are used to simple cash handouts/donations by NGOs and the government. So the questions I continue to ask myself about this attitude are as follows:
-Where did this attitude come from?
-How do we improve this "give me" attitude?
-Why is there little incentive to work?
-Who is still pumping money into these communities?
-What can we do in the future to make sure development funds aren't creating this type of reliance?
It's a very very very hard concept to grasp. I haven't even scratched the surface of even more underlying problems including education faults, gender roles, etc. which all contribute to the "dáme" culture. I'm glad I get to see this extreme problem with development, someone has to realize this fallacy of putting funds in the wrong hands and in the wrong way.
So, the ultimate question of development is how to we move from this "Dáme" attitude to the "Community Involvement" attitude? At the moment I'm reading Jeffrey Sachs' End of Poverty which I recommend to anyone interested in development. I agree with Sachs when he says alot of development projects are sort of like band-aids for current problems and that countries like the U.S. and Europe just throw money into the projects without looking at the proposals. Gosh there are so many things I want to say about Sachs' right now...but I have a headache from the kids running around me in the office right now. I will talk about the book later, promise.
Anyways, I'd like to thank Jan and Mamow for more letters! Fun fact of the day, there are little black ants and big red ants here that look just like the ones at home. The different between the ones here and there? The little black ones are the mean ones that bite you, really really hard! The red ants leave you alone and smell bad when you smash them. Funny right? I swear the black ones, once they get on you, they go right into BITE MODE! Of course there are always a ton of them too!
Next week my kids compete in the Regional Competition and today I found out some great news. Instead of me and the kids run all over hell's half acre to find funding for transportation and food, we got some company/or program (not really clear) to sponsor us. Actually, it's turned into a 53 people are going to the Regional from Fabretto...that's including the students competing, Empresa Creativa teachers, and other Fabretto employees who just want to see what the regional competition is all about. I just wanted to keep it simple, but if they have the money to bring all these people...fine with me!
Hope the election isn't driving everyone crazy yet! Vote for Obama, vote for change! Or as his campaign office says in New Mexico "Obámanos" (which is a play on the word Vámanos, meaning "Let's go!"). I'll probably post an opinion piece on the elections soon...it's the hot topic Mike, Lauren, Callie and I are always talking about.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
2nd Annual Familia Padre Fabretto Competicion 2008
A whole bunch of pictures from the 2nd Annual Fabretto Competition!
I stole these from the Somoto Oratorio camera yesterday.
Our MCs, Sonia and Fatima who work with me in the Somoto Office
Me giving a short blurb (unprepared...ugh) about Empresa Creativa (Creative Business)
Our cultural act from Quebrada Honda...it's like a requirement for any Nica event...I'm not really a fan because it's the same every time and it's basically stolen from Mexico (copy cats!)
Octopuses made out of a glass bottle and yarn, cards made with recycled paper and a custom stamp: Cusmapa Oratorio
Norlan and Brenda from Somoto, showing off their cross stitched burlap bags.
2nd place team who made organic fertilizer using special worms and cow poop.
Same dudes
The logo for their company: Defenders of the Environment
From the left, Peter (executive of Fabretto), Jessica (Somoto PCV Health), husband Matt (Somoto PCV Health), and Domingo (works with a rural community project in collaboration with Fabretto)...a big thank you to them for judging!
Lions made of yarn, from Quebrada Honda
While the competition was going on, the kitchen ladies and some helpers got the refrigerio ready. We had Arroz a la Valencia (Rice with Veggies and meat), some white bread and a Nica-type fresco (aka juice with a TON of sugar)
A sign showing off the Somoto groups working on their projects.
Byron our Fabretto garden coordinator checks in with the kids. The Fabretto garden had a display out.
Other teachers walked around helping out the groups as the day went on. Carmen, in the pink on the right gave the Cusmapa teams a pep talk.
Necklaces made of string and craved wood from Cusmapa.
Same group made a clothes hamper with larger coke bottles and wire. They need to work on the color though...
Fabretto garden teachers and the veggie stand! Radishes, eggplant, celery, grapefruits were some of the things they brought.
Cusmapa groups show off more bags and bracelets.
Roomie Lauren from Cusmapa chats with the Cus-Nor coffee group, 3rd place.
4th place Cusmapa team who made bread with the funky manjar, aka jelly stuff.
The kids were set up under 5 different tents that were donated for the day.
The decorations, as you can see in the background were from the plants in the yard and some Fabretto employees stayed at work late to make the strands and cut outs.
More bracelets...I hate seeing bracelets but at least they had something.
Knitted yarn bags, Lauren taught them how to knit and they took that skill and created their own business. She always drew the logo on their shirts! How cute are they!
Cajetas, which are sweet carmel-like candies made from milk and sugar
Cell phone holders with sayings sewed on them, Quebrada Honda.
The Winners!
Satin pillows wrapped all pretty from Quebrada Honda
Picture frames and baskets made of foam and plastic
Bamboo houses and lions made of yarn next to them, from Quebrada Honda
My boss Georgia with her newly purchased cojine (pillow), she was a little iffy about the colors the kids chose!
The judges mark their points for the 26 teams participating...poor guys!
Cusmapa girls explain how they created their hair ties.
Matt and Jess give out awards to winning teams, next to them in Doña Chena the Directora of the Somoto Oratorio
The kids get refrigerio, or lunch...finally around 1pm!
Time for sports in the afternoon!
Spectators fill up the Oratorio
Coach Anival helps out the girls teams.
Everyone who played soccer got a gold, silver, or bronze medal. Somoto boys won and the Cusmapa girls won.
The Somoto girls got bronze, but they were happy. Pictured here in the middle is one of my counterparts, Maria Jose.
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