October 11, 2007
Mason hard at work measuring trees with his rural school kids. They recently transplanted the trees, and they are doing great with all the rain!
Here we are celebrating our host mom Gloria's 40th birthday! 
It's been soo rainy lately! The month of October is the big rain month, and we haven't seen much sun since the month began. This is a picture of the street in front of the house after a big rain. The kids are swimming in the street!
Oops... the same picture again!
This is a cool picture of the big catherdral in the city of Leon.
Here are our neighborhood kids with their band. They just use old car oil bottles and sticks, but they are good! They try to copy all of the official school bands that have been preforming recently for the independence day celebrations.
This is me with my good friend Hogla. We spend a lot of time together cooking for our husbands!
This is just a typical campo house.
Here are two of my cute little fourth grade students at one of my rural schools.
Our town had a hipico celebration, which is a day where all the beautiful well-trained horses of the country come to Malpaisillo to show off and have a competition. The horses are taught to "dance" and they are awarded for the best dancing horse! This guy brought his donkey to the festival and decided to dance on top of him! He eventually fell off.
Here is a shot of the independence day parade. Each school came with their band, and they all congregated in the market for a show of folklore dances and singing. 
The high school band with the festival "queen" in the background.
Here's the hipico dancing through the streets!
The Fight of the Year
Last Sunday we were returning home from a nice day at the beach when we came upon a chaotic parade in the streets. We found out it was in honor of St. Jeronimo, the saint of partying, drunkenness and debauchery. As with every Saint honoring parade, they had an image of him sitting on a bed of fake flowers that they were carrying above their heads. Usually the image of the saint is life sized, but this one was smaller then a barbie doll! This procession was also different in that every participant was loud, drunk and dancing. It was sure a sight! We followed them around for a while and eventually made our way home.
We were home for just 5 minutes when the parade of roughly 100 people made its way in front of our house. Right then and there a fight started between two notorious local enemies. Things quickly got out of control and before we knew it, about 4 fights were going on in various places in front of the house. It quickly turned into a mob scene with people running to get away, and even more people running to get in on the action! We watched the whole thing safe from behind the bars of our gate, but it was quite scary. Rocks bigger then my head were the main weapons, and we saw two people get carried away by friends. One pregnant woman got knocked by a rock in the head and had to be taken away in a tricycle taxi. It all died down after about 5 minutes, but it was definitely a scary thing to watch. Ironically, we had a new and impressionable volunteer who is still in training visiting us, and this was his first taste of life outside of his training town!
A Day in the Campo
Yesterday I spent the day visiting my students who attend one of my rural schools. I biked out there in the morning expecting to make some quick house visits and be back by lunch. Little did I know I would receive 4 lunches and make it home at 4:00! I rolled in to my student Keli’s house at around 8:00, and was promptly given a tour of the chickens, goats, ducks horses and cows. The countryside around here is so lush and green right now, and the day was perfect to be outside. We sat and talked with her mom inside her dirt-floor house for a while until we went to visit the teacher next door. I stayed there for an hour or so, talking politics with her husband while we had cuajada, (a local cheese that they make at home. Similar to goat cheese in flavor.) tortilla and sweet coffee. They have a wonderful garden where they grow corn, beans, squash, peppers and melons. We sat there just having a laid-back campo morning looking at the volcanoes in the distance. You may be surprised that I drank coffee, but you must understand that you cannot turn down anything anyone puts in your hand! Luckily it was really milky and not too strong.
After promising the profesora I’d be back for lunch, some kids and I grabbed bikes and took a single-track ride to another student’s home to pay a visit. Once we got there, I was promptly handed a plate of tortilla, cuajada, and another cup of coffee. I obediently ate and drank while everyone watched in silence! As we are sitting in the yard, one of the women of the house began preparing lunch. She grabbed a chicken by the head and with little effort proceeded to twirl it around swiftly. After about 5 turns, the neck was broken so she let it go. It was quite strange to watch a dead chicken running around like mad flapping its wings all over the place! Once that one was good and dead, she simply did the same thing with another one. They then cut off their heads and let the blood trickle down, which the dogs were glad to lick up. When all the blood had drained out, they dipped the headless chickens in boiling water to soften up the skin for plucking the feathers. The feather plucking was surprisingly easy. What struck me as odd were all the other chickens that were clucking around all the fallen feathers trying to eat them! A strange form of cannibalism, if you ask me.
The woman with the chickens brought one over to me so I could see a bite mark on its neck. She said that it had been bitten by a snake the night before, so they decided to kill it. I asked about the snake, and she shrugged it off, saying that her father killed it with a machete and they took it off to the woods. My student’s little brother suggested we go see it, so we took a five minute hike out into the wilds beyond their farm. The kid looked around for a while, and then brought it out. I guess my coffee buzz made me extra jumpy, but when I saw that thing I screamed and ran! I swear I had never seen a snake that big in my life. It was as thick as my leg and when we held it up it was much taller then me. They say it was a boa, and I believe them! It was beautiful, and it was quite sad to see it dead.
After that visit, we went on to four more houses where I was fed again. At around 12:30 we made it back to Keli’s house for lunch! Yes, I somehow stuffed it down. Luckily a chicken stole the tortilla from my lap so I didn’t have to deal with eating that! We sat there for a while until I remembered the lunch I promised I would eat at the profesora’s house! It must have been late afternoon by the time I got there, and they were all in hammocks and sitting around listening to the radio. She promptly served me a heaping bowl of chicken vegetable soup. By some miracle I ate most of it, and then two flies fell in the bowl (another miracle), saving me from having to finish it!
I had a wonderful day out there full of caring, giving and sweet people. They sent me home with tortillas, two heaping bags of cuajada and heaps of homemade candy called cajeta. They are all so simple and kind. Next time I visit I will come prepared with an empty stomach!
Clavo
Well, the bandages are finally off and the poor thing is hobbling around all over the place. He’s happy and energetic, and the limping doesn’t seem to bother him at all. His leg is definitely a bit deformed, but hey, he survived! When he is standing he only puts weight on his good leg, leaving the other one hanging in the air. People have taken to calling him gay because of how he stands. The kids’ favorite word for gay is gaytorade. I wonder why that one never caught on in the States!
Last Sunday we were returning home from a nice day at the beach when we came upon a chaotic parade in the streets. We found out it was in honor of St. Jeronimo, the saint of partying, drunkenness and debauchery. As with every Saint honoring parade, they had an image of him sitting on a bed of fake flowers that they were carrying above their heads. Usually the image of the saint is life sized, but this one was smaller then a barbie doll! This procession was also different in that every participant was loud, drunk and dancing. It was sure a sight! We followed them around for a while and eventually made our way home.
We were home for just 5 minutes when the parade of roughly 100 people made its way in front of our house. Right then and there a fight started between two notorious local enemies. Things quickly got out of control and before we knew it, about 4 fights were going on in various places in front of the house. It quickly turned into a mob scene with people running to get away, and even more people running to get in on the action! We watched the whole thing safe from behind the bars of our gate, but it was quite scary. Rocks bigger then my head were the main weapons, and we saw two people get carried away by friends. One pregnant woman got knocked by a rock in the head and had to be taken away in a tricycle taxi. It all died down after about 5 minutes, but it was definitely a scary thing to watch. Ironically, we had a new and impressionable volunteer who is still in training visiting us, and this was his first taste of life outside of his training town!
A Day in the Campo
Yesterday I spent the day visiting my students who attend one of my rural schools. I biked out there in the morning expecting to make some quick house visits and be back by lunch. Little did I know I would receive 4 lunches and make it home at 4:00! I rolled in to my student Keli’s house at around 8:00, and was promptly given a tour of the chickens, goats, ducks horses and cows. The countryside around here is so lush and green right now, and the day was perfect to be outside. We sat and talked with her mom inside her dirt-floor house for a while until we went to visit the teacher next door. I stayed there for an hour or so, talking politics with her husband while we had cuajada, (a local cheese that they make at home. Similar to goat cheese in flavor.) tortilla and sweet coffee. They have a wonderful garden where they grow corn, beans, squash, peppers and melons. We sat there just having a laid-back campo morning looking at the volcanoes in the distance. You may be surprised that I drank coffee, but you must understand that you cannot turn down anything anyone puts in your hand! Luckily it was really milky and not too strong.
After promising the profesora I’d be back for lunch, some kids and I grabbed bikes and took a single-track ride to another student’s home to pay a visit. Once we got there, I was promptly handed a plate of tortilla, cuajada, and another cup of coffee. I obediently ate and drank while everyone watched in silence! As we are sitting in the yard, one of the women of the house began preparing lunch. She grabbed a chicken by the head and with little effort proceeded to twirl it around swiftly. After about 5 turns, the neck was broken so she let it go. It was quite strange to watch a dead chicken running around like mad flapping its wings all over the place! Once that one was good and dead, she simply did the same thing with another one. They then cut off their heads and let the blood trickle down, which the dogs were glad to lick up. When all the blood had drained out, they dipped the headless chickens in boiling water to soften up the skin for plucking the feathers. The feather plucking was surprisingly easy. What struck me as odd were all the other chickens that were clucking around all the fallen feathers trying to eat them! A strange form of cannibalism, if you ask me.
The woman with the chickens brought one over to me so I could see a bite mark on its neck. She said that it had been bitten by a snake the night before, so they decided to kill it. I asked about the snake, and she shrugged it off, saying that her father killed it with a machete and they took it off to the woods. My student’s little brother suggested we go see it, so we took a five minute hike out into the wilds beyond their farm. The kid looked around for a while, and then brought it out. I guess my coffee buzz made me extra jumpy, but when I saw that thing I screamed and ran! I swear I had never seen a snake that big in my life. It was as thick as my leg and when we held it up it was much taller then me. They say it was a boa, and I believe them! It was beautiful, and it was quite sad to see it dead.
After that visit, we went on to four more houses where I was fed again. At around 12:30 we made it back to Keli’s house for lunch! Yes, I somehow stuffed it down. Luckily a chicken stole the tortilla from my lap so I didn’t have to deal with eating that! We sat there for a while until I remembered the lunch I promised I would eat at the profesora’s house! It must have been late afternoon by the time I got there, and they were all in hammocks and sitting around listening to the radio. She promptly served me a heaping bowl of chicken vegetable soup. By some miracle I ate most of it, and then two flies fell in the bowl (another miracle), saving me from having to finish it!
I had a wonderful day out there full of caring, giving and sweet people. They sent me home with tortillas, two heaping bags of cuajada and heaps of homemade candy called cajeta. They are all so simple and kind. Next time I visit I will come prepared with an empty stomach!
Clavo
Well, the bandages are finally off and the poor thing is hobbling around all over the place. He’s happy and energetic, and the limping doesn’t seem to bother him at all. His leg is definitely a bit deformed, but hey, he survived! When he is standing he only puts weight on his good leg, leaving the other one hanging in the air. People have taken to calling him gay because of how he stands. The kids’ favorite word for gay is gaytorade. I wonder why that one never caught on in the States!
-Brenna
posted by Mwiebe at 9:54 AM
3 Comments:
Hi Mas, Hi Brenna!
Thanks for updating the blog. I love reading the descriptions of the daily life in Nica. I can't wait to see you guys. As always, I love you all and am so proud of you. Mom/Carol
Well said, Brenna. Thanks for updating! I hope you guys are enjoying the plush hotel in Leon! We'll see you really soon.
Brenna!!!! I miss you! I really wish I could go down there and visit you guys! You write so well on your blog I feel like I am there with you! My e-mail is hannahellwanger@gmail.com so e-mail me as soon as you can! Love you! Love you too Mas!!
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