Wednesday, May 14, 2008

a little update for those who might still read this blog….

Well, we’re now in the 4th month of school and all of my students are supposed to have the ideas for their businesses. The key word is “supposed to” as some of them are still changing groups every week and complaining that there is “nothing” or there are “no new ideas”. I don’t feel too sorry for them since they’ve now had almost 4 months to decide on the idea for their business. But then again, thinking outside the box is not something they’re encouraged to do in the schools here, so I can understand their frustration. Soon we will be working on setting prices and marketing strategies…hopefully it will get done before the mid-semester break in July.

About a month ago I decided I wanted to look for a new house. So, after doing a lot of asking around I was able to find a new house to rent. Although I’m paying a lot more to live in this house, it’s worth it. It came practically fully furnished…couch, chairs, table, dishes, even a microwave! I also now have an inside bathroom with a shower, sink and a toilet that actually flushes. Plus out back I have a cute little garden with all kinds of flowers. Another good thing is that I usually have water during the day (5 am-5 pm) instead of waiting around all day for the water to come. I’ll try to post pictures soon. It’s quite an upgrade from my previous house!

Practically every town in Nicaragua has an annual celebration in honor of the local saint’s birthday called fiestas patronales. Condega’s fiestas patronales started this week and will last until almost the end of May. Already last week the “carnival” was up and running, which consists of four rides (yes, 4 rides, nothing compared to Blues Amusement!), a bunch of beer tents and a bull ring for (drunken) bull riding. There are processions (parades) throughout the next two weeks as well as a local food and artisan fair in the park. To end the festivities, there is a hípico, or horse parade, next Saturday followed by a big (drunken) party in the street with a concert by the Mokuanes, a very popular Nicaraguan group…think The Rumbles for you Nebraskans. These fiestas are obviously very important and therefore Wednesday, Thursday and Friday have been declared holidays which means no school or work for me. Considering the importance of “drinking” for this special celebration, I may be spending a lot more time inside in order to avoid the bolos, a.k.a. drunk men that will be found either harassing every woman that passes by or if I’m lucky, passed out on the street corners.

Nicaragua has been suffering a national transportation strike for ten days now. This means NO transportation from city to city. The only operating forms of public transportation are local taxis within individual cities. Apparently the transportation unions are asking the government to subsidize the gas prices. Unfortunately the government hasn’t been quick to meet the demands of the unions and a week and a half later we are still without bus service. Now, my town has pretty much everything I need except for one minor detail…there is no bank. So, yesterday, since I was down to about C$100 ($5) and not knowing when this strike is going to end, I hooked up a ride to Esteli in the city’s trash truck (minus the trash) for my friend Ashley and I! This was a 1st for me but it actually worked out good, we were able to run our errands and got a free ride. I´m hoping this ends soon though...

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