a happy heart: Home

I'M BACK IN THE GOOD OL' YOU ES OF AY.

But my heart is still in Nicaragua. I am laying on my living room floor trying to summon my cat to come cuddle with me. I write a few sentences. Then delete them. Then shift positions in hopes that my cat will come to me. Instead I get the dog who smells like shit and is tragically ugly. I write a few more sentences. And start the process all over. I also get yelled at for not packing (I leave for Juneau in less than 24 hours and have nothing done). I'm having such a hard time putting these past three weeks into the right words. The words that the culture, studies, and geography deserves. This might be disappointing, but I'm probably not going to write a whole lot about it.

wall of shame

I'll say, though, that there was a lot of adventure in addition to what we were learning in the classroom. Several groups came in and talked to us about their struggles as a woman in their country. Female revolutionaries were expected to be soldiers, mothers, wives, and daughters. But after the war, they were expected to revert back to their "assigned gender roles". Nicaragua is still very much a machista country. One night we ended up celebrating Mulukuku's soccer team's fifth championship with them. Some were forced to quit soccer because of their significant others were against it. Piropos, or cat calls, are prominent. Initially, I just ignored them because I'm a tourist and I stand out. But, I slowly realized that it was happening with all of the women. The men are asserting their dominance over the women yet again. Another individual that we had spoken with was pregnant in the eighth grade. Resulting in her being unable to finish school because she has a role as a mother. The father is not in the picture. Some women worked and lived in La Chureca, the largest dump in Central America. Though it is technically closed, garbage is still brought there and people are still living/working there. Abortion is illegal even though their is a high percentage of pregnancies that result from rape. Men do not provide financial support to mothers. To increase awareness of the abuse, sexual assault, and other negative aspects of the Nicaraguan male, there exists a wall of shame in Matagalpa. Offenders have their names painted on the wall and until they begin paying child support or confess to an assault, their names remain. However, many women have found a means of empowerment through making jewelry out of garbage from La Chureca. One woman, Martha, began Las Telares. It's a small business that was created to preserve the indigenous culture of weaving, even though it was illegal to do during the presidency of Somoza. Martha found a way around it, though. Some make baskets for a living in addition to working on the coffee plantations. If you were to ask these women how they felt empowered through jobs such as these, they would respond with having their own income and not having to rely on their husband for money. They can do what they please with it, which for many is paying for their child's education.

mainstream waterfall

A significant amount of time was spent adventuring: kayaking, hiking a volcano, sleeping in tree houses of the volcano, surviving taxi rides, navigating the chicken buses, conquering dehydration, going to the Mouth of Hell (which the government used to throw humans into), fighting off demons, navigating to class, and more. We went to Isla de Ometepe one weekend and Mulukuku another. Isla de Ometepe is very touristy, and where most of our outdoor adventure occurred. Mulukuku is a very rural community. There, we stayed at the women's cooperative and further enhanced our understanding of the women's lives and experiences of Nicaragua. Got drunk with the soccer team. I drank a lot of coffee and I spilled a lot of coffee. I ate enough rice and beans to last a life time. I ate the freshest of fresh fruit almost every day. I drank a fair amount of Toña (Nicaraguan beer). Shared stories with my host family of nine (three generations worth). I told them that my sister has twenty assholes as opposed to twenty years (anos v. años). I ate at Kiss Me, a super cute hipster ice-cream shop, several times. I got used to cold showers. And, I have another experience that I will cherish in my heart forever.

Now that I'm home, reverse culture shock has hit but not as badly as when I returned from Bolivia and Chile. I have to consciously throw toilet paper in the toilet rather than in the garbage (we had to toss it in the garbage in Nicaragua). I went to get margaritas last night at El Beso and instinctively wanted to speak Spanish. Even if I'm just walking around the house or running errands, I find myself thinking out loud in Spanish. It's weird being back but it's good being back. I missed North America. I missed the snow. I missed my cat and dog. I know I'll conquer another Latin American or Caribbean country in the near future.

Stay tuned for a GoPro video of everything.

I got home late Thursday night and am already leaving for Juneau tomorrow (Monday). The amount of time I have had to be at home has not been very long. Nothing is packed (naturally). But, I know that it will all get done. At least, I hope so.

As always, I'll keep everyone updated with my future endeavors!

-A

encouraging sign at the tree house hostel

casually standing n front of a volcano

water bottles filled with garbage to be used to continue building the bilingual school which is used to empower children to work in the tourist industry as they learn the english language.