Finally, some photos for those of you who´ve been following my blog... (they´re backwards, but who really cares...)
Las Brisas Waterfall
The Mural at the Lagartillo school finished
The Mural in progress
Monchito and Roniel at the Las Lajas Waterfall
This Sunday finds me again in Esteli, I came to buy coffee to take back to the states, to use the net and eat a quesillo (like a quesadilla but not only with cheese, but also cream and spicy onions...mmm). I had originally planned to leave Lagartillo for good this weekend, but I am returning to the community tomorrow for the rest of the week. My plan was to travel and see other places in Nicaragua, but there´s so much to do in Lagartillo (not to mention so many wonderful people to hang out with), that I don´t really feel like leaving. So I changed my plans and will probably stay there until next Saturday. What are plans for besides to change them anyways. If I had known how bad the bus ride today was going to be, I might not have come. But oh well, here I am. The bus was packed with people who had spent the holidays in the countryside around Lagartillo who are now returning back to their homes in Nicaragua´s cities. Usually, people get on and off throughout the trip, and I don´t usually have trouble finding a seat. But this time the bus was already full by the time I got on, and just got more crowded along the way. As usual, I got a nice coating of dust from the road along the way. One thing I don´t really understand, is that most people in Nicaragua put on their best clothes and seem all fresh when they get on the bus, only to sit in a cramped, dusty seat for hours, thus getting the clothes all dirty and sweaty. Oh well.
This last week in Lagartillo was full of all kinds of excitement. A group of young folks from Massachusetts who do some work supporting projects in Lagartillo arrived to spend a week painting a mural with the children of the community. Although I wasn´t really involved in organizing or managing the project in any way, it was really incredible to watch the process unfold. First, the kids (of all ages) made paintings on paper of things they think are important. The adults then used the drawings as an inspiration for the final project, the mural seemed to flow right from the kids work. There is really a lot of artistic talent in Lagartillo and I was amazed to see the final result. The mural is on one wall of the school and will be something the kids and the community can be proud of and hopefully expand on in the future. It made me want to do a mural in Hayward at Park School but the situation there is much more complicated and I would worry about the mural getting tagged up, something that won´t happen in Lagartillo. On New Year´s day, there was an inaguaration ceremony for the mural where people from the community spoke about the project and the cooperation between the sonrisas foundation (projectsonrisas.org) and Lagartillo. It´s always really inspring to go to a community event because so many people show up (and not just because of the food and the refrescos, I think) and participate in orchestrating the life of Lagartillo. There was a background comedy act that accompanied the much more serious ceremony, that of toddlers running wild and dogs fighting and chewing their fleas. At one point, three dogs were fighting, and one of the toddlers picked up a big piece of bamboo and whacked the dogs. These are not your pampered purebreads, as you might imagine.
December 31st is one of the most important days in Lagartillo. On that day in 1984, not long after the community´s foundation, the contras attacked, killing six people and forcing the families to flee along a difficult path 6 km to the nearby town of Achuapa. To commemorate th event, the community hosts a number of events. The first is the caminata, a reenactment of the route that the families of Lagartillo took to escape from the contras. About sixty of us went, including some children, along the sometimes difficult descent to Achuapa. It was sobering to think of having to flee from 200 armed militiamen with little children along an arduous path. The journey was not all doom and gloom, we ate some delicious fruits, homeade wheat bread and cheese along the way, and the kids swam in the stream. Our destination was the cemetary in Achuapa where the six heroes and martyrs of Lagartillo are buried. We had a small ceremony there where people spoke and sang some songs. Then, we crammed into the back of a pickup truck for the rough ride back up to Lagartillo. When I got back, we ate some breakfast, but I forgot to drink coffee and by the late afternoon, I had a rip roaring caffeine headache that distracted me from fully appreciating the days events. The main event of the 31st included a mass given by the padre from Achuapa (who has liberation theology tendencies), as well as speeches by some FSLN politicians and cultural performances including dancing, music and theatre. The theatre was the highlight of the day, the Grupo Capullo of Lagartillo (which includes both Jahaira and Juan Ramon, along with many others), presented a montage of short pieces touching on many controversial themes, especially gender relations in Lagartillo and the community.
Not long after began the rest of that very long day. Rejuvinated by a cup of the always delicious Lagartillo beans, I headed over to the house of Alcides (one of the language school teachers), to have some dinner with his family. Jahaira, Juan Ramon, Monchito and some others from Lagartillo went to Achuapa to the Evangelical Church for singing, I decided to stay in Lagartillo to celebrate the New Year in other, not so religious ways. After dinner, the evening unfolded into a wonderful night of sitting around while people played guitars and sang (many songs in Lagartillo have revolutionary themes), sipped rum and beer. I hung out with some different people, got to know new folks, danced a lot with some of the younger folks (the usual mix of reggaeton and cumbias), and managed to stay somewhat sane despite a large slug of the strong and not so delicious liquor called Caballito. We set off some fireworks and danced some more to bring in the new year, I ended up going to bed around one.
As usual, the morning began early with someone coming to the pulperia wanting to buy some bread. But everyone else slept in, and we didn´t end up getting up till 9 or 10, which is very late for Lagartillo. No one works on 1 de enero, and a bunch of us went to the Las Lajas waterfall (see photo above), to spend the first day 0f 2009 swimming and relaxing in the sun. Jahaira was kind enough to pack me a delicious lunch of platanos, frijoles and cuajada (the local cheese that is a staple of Lagartillo cuisine). I couldn´t have imagined a better way to spend the day.
Since then, I´ve been spending a little more time working out in the campo. Yomar (Juan Ramon´s younger brother) and I went to Juan Ramon´s bean field to harvest his crop (Juan Ramon is still recovering from his appendix removal). Picking beans is an activity best done in the early morning, when the chilly highland air makes work much easier. We listened to some rancheras on the portable radio, worked and chatted, nearly completing the harvest. We didn´t have the right equipment (a tarp, a bag and a horse) to thrash the beans, and ended up doing a little work yesterday, too. Yesterday we also spent some time just checking out the wonderful fruit trees and picking papayas, oranges and sweet lemons. Unfortunately, the avocadoes and mangos are a long ways off from being ripe, which gives me another reason to come back to Nicaragua and Lagartillo another time. We came back in time to make a trip to the Las Brisas waterfall, where we spent another relaxing afternoon swimming in the refreshingly cool water and playing around.
Sounds idyllic? Lagartillo is blessed with some spots of incredible beauty, including two waterfalls and a beautiful range of pine clad mountains behind. The community has hosted many foreigners throughout the year, including those of us who have come to study Spanish and learn the life of the campo. Now that I´ve been there three weeks, I am comfortable around many people there, and if Jahaira and Juan Ramon aren´t around, I can go to any number of houses to sit and chat (and sometimes drink coffee), with any number of people. Despite the constant ebb and flow of extranjeros, most people in Lagartillo are willing to chat and get to know you, but it takes a little effort. There are so many interesting people in the community with all kinds of experiences that it´s wonderful just to hang out and chat. The antics of the children always provide entertainment and amusement. I´ve also found my Spanish has progressed enough to joke around with people (I don´t get the jokes half the time, but it´s not like that doesn´t happen to me in English) and have found that we share a similar sense of humor. Unlike many other places that recieve foreign visitors, Lagartillo is not commercialized. The small pulperia serves the community and does not especially cater to foreigners. I think there is an unspoken understanding among locals and visitors that foreigners are not to go to a house and pay for a meal, for example, or a cup of coffee. The lifestyle in Lagartillo also remains primarily one of subsistence agriculture, with much of the labor done without the help of mechanized tools (picking beans, for example). Most families raise corn, beans and sorghum and keep cattle to provide the third stample of Lagartillo food, cuajada cheese. Many also have fruit trees and chickens, and some grow hard shell squash. Most of the food grown in Lagartillo is consumed in the community, which means that the people don´t make much money from their agriculture. This way of life has it´s benefits and it´s problems, and I spoke with Fermin, the father of Juan Ramon, Yomar, among others, at length about the community´s agriculture while we milked cows and repaired fencing this morning (more like he worked while I watched and occasionally pitched in when he needed my help). But I am rambling on and need to eat a quesillo soon and buy some syrup to go with the pancake mix I bought earlier at the super.
At this point, I have gotten used to Nicaraguan life and am feeling content and comfortable here. I like the sense of familiarity I have in Lagartillo and Esteli, as well (its nice to come here for a night or two now and then). The downside of that is that it will make coming back to the states a little harder (especially dealing with a chilly house). But I´d rather have it that way than be unhappy here and thinking about leaving early, a though which crossed my mind during some of the down times I´ve had here. Being abroad is not all excitement and wonder, and can be challenging at times. But that´s pretty cliched. I have also realized that I would much rather stay in Lagartillo among people I know than spend a week traveling alone and staying in hotels. The community is small but there is much more to experience there. I must admit that I´d really like to spend a couple more months here, and I contemplate future plans to return to Central America, Nicaragua and Lagartillo. One thing I look forward to back in the states (besides eating food with more spice and seasoning) is speaking Spanish with folks at Park and practicing all the stuff I´m trying to learn here. This week, I decided not to take classes in Lagartillo. I´ve really enjoyed the language school, but can´t fit much more into my brain at this point (I spent pretty much all of November cramming for the GRE), and want to just kick back with a flexible schedule.
I may or may not post again when I am in Leon and at the Las Penitas beach next week, but thanks to all of you who´ve been reading and especially I´ve enjoyed reading your comments. Best wishes for 2009!
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