Nueva Vida
The past two days have been really action packed. Today we visited Masaya, a town to the east of us, and a volcano. I didn't have the energy or time to update yesterday so I will go ahead and cover that tonight. Of course, you can always reference Sarah's blog any time to get more information and another perspective.
So yesterday was a work day and our first trip to Nueva Vida. Nueva Vida is the neighborhood where the clinic is located. The "city" I am living in is called Ciudad Sandino, and is about 75,000 strong. The only reason I put city in quotations is due to the fact that we seem to live on the outskirts. I have yet to draw a mental map of my surroundings, but if I ever get around to do it, I will hope to try and post a picture of where I think I am. Let's back up a bit. Our morning started with a talk with the vice-mayor of Ciudad Sandino, Namo. (Nicas call their politicans by first name. All the posters and press around here beg you to vote for "Daniel" or "Eduardo") Namo was incredibly nice and very open about the status of Ciudad Sandino and Nueva Vida. Anyway, Ciudad Sandino is an incredibly poor town, with a tax base of nearly $0. Nueva Vida is the poorest barrio of this town, so we can understand just how poor these people are. Nueva Vida is also the place that was created after Hurricane Mitch from the tents of the displaced Nicas. The interesting part is that even though Nueva Vida is economically poor, the housing is regarded as some of the best. This is because Nueva Vida was primarily constructed through international aid. T|his is not to say the neighborhood is nice or looks nice, it definitely has its fair share of tin huts and the streets are all dirt. But Ciudad Sandino and Nueva Vida have sidewalks. This is because in an area with so many pedestrians, the officials decided to use international funding for sidewalks rather than paved roads. It makes sense here.
Pulling through Nueva Vida (our old bus was broken down so they pulled us the back of a tractor to Nueva Vida) was a strange feeling. The people were so excited to see us (the hokey chela parade) waving and running next to our trailer. When we got to the clinic, children came from every direction laughing and jumping.
"Que pasa!?"
"Como te llamas?"
"Cuando terminado?"
"Puede jugando conmigo?"
We were at the clinic to paint the section that had just been built. It was hot and the paint was very noxious. Business was going on as usual at the clinic so we were working around the patients and doctors. It was very interesting to say the least. I got to see the herb garden as well.As far as I can tell, I have 5 raised beds each about 20-30 feet long to work with. They had some random things growing right now, aloe vera, oregano and some wildflowers. Painting took all day long. |The children never went away, often showing up right next to you with a paintbrush and a smile. "Me ayudate. Quiero jugando." At the end of the day Sarah and I were cleaning up trays and brushes and a very pretty girl named Brianda came and helped. Without very many words, we were done cleaning in no time. The sense of community of Nueva Vida is incredible and I really cannot wait until I can be there on a regular basis.
Hopefully Sarah and I will soon be able to figure out how to post some pictures of our surroundings. The delegation leaves on Tuesday and we start our orientation and work assignments on Wednesday. The next delegation will not be around until the end of February. In the meantime, we have a lot of spanish to learn and a lot of Nicas to meet.
Roll call of JHC-CDCA staff that I have met:
Kathleen
Mike
Sarah (not wimmer, here Sarah wimmer is refered to as Swimmer)
Kathy
Pat
Emily
Rogelio
Joseau (Cabeza)
Pedro
Bella the spider monkey
Vocabulary time (in time I will start to write some of my sentences in Spanish so you can learn along/ You know, Dora the Explorer style):
brocha - brush (like paint brush)
pintar - to paint
polvo - dusty
hierba - grass
apoyar - to support
cosechar - harvest
okay, that is it for tonight! hasta manana!
-alyse
So yesterday was a work day and our first trip to Nueva Vida. Nueva Vida is the neighborhood where the clinic is located. The "city" I am living in is called Ciudad Sandino, and is about 75,000 strong. The only reason I put city in quotations is due to the fact that we seem to live on the outskirts. I have yet to draw a mental map of my surroundings, but if I ever get around to do it, I will hope to try and post a picture of where I think I am. Let's back up a bit. Our morning started with a talk with the vice-mayor of Ciudad Sandino, Namo. (Nicas call their politicans by first name. All the posters and press around here beg you to vote for "Daniel" or "Eduardo") Namo was incredibly nice and very open about the status of Ciudad Sandino and Nueva Vida. Anyway, Ciudad Sandino is an incredibly poor town, with a tax base of nearly $0. Nueva Vida is the poorest barrio of this town, so we can understand just how poor these people are. Nueva Vida is also the place that was created after Hurricane Mitch from the tents of the displaced Nicas. The interesting part is that even though Nueva Vida is economically poor, the housing is regarded as some of the best. This is because Nueva Vida was primarily constructed through international aid. T|his is not to say the neighborhood is nice or looks nice, it definitely has its fair share of tin huts and the streets are all dirt. But Ciudad Sandino and Nueva Vida have sidewalks. This is because in an area with so many pedestrians, the officials decided to use international funding for sidewalks rather than paved roads. It makes sense here.
Pulling through Nueva Vida (our old bus was broken down so they pulled us the back of a tractor to Nueva Vida) was a strange feeling. The people were so excited to see us (the hokey chela parade) waving and running next to our trailer. When we got to the clinic, children came from every direction laughing and jumping.
"Que pasa!?"
"Como te llamas?"
"Cuando terminado?"
"Puede jugando conmigo?"
We were at the clinic to paint the section that had just been built. It was hot and the paint was very noxious. Business was going on as usual at the clinic so we were working around the patients and doctors. It was very interesting to say the least. I got to see the herb garden as well.As far as I can tell, I have 5 raised beds each about 20-30 feet long to work with. They had some random things growing right now, aloe vera, oregano and some wildflowers. Painting took all day long. |The children never went away, often showing up right next to you with a paintbrush and a smile. "Me ayudate. Quiero jugando." At the end of the day Sarah and I were cleaning up trays and brushes and a very pretty girl named Brianda came and helped. Without very many words, we were done cleaning in no time. The sense of community of Nueva Vida is incredible and I really cannot wait until I can be there on a regular basis.
Hopefully Sarah and I will soon be able to figure out how to post some pictures of our surroundings. The delegation leaves on Tuesday and we start our orientation and work assignments on Wednesday. The next delegation will not be around until the end of February. In the meantime, we have a lot of spanish to learn and a lot of Nicas to meet.
Roll call of JHC-CDCA staff that I have met:
Kathleen
Mike
Sarah (not wimmer, here Sarah wimmer is refered to as Swimmer)
Kathy
Pat
Emily
Rogelio
Joseau (Cabeza)
Pedro
Bella the spider monkey
Vocabulary time (in time I will start to write some of my sentences in Spanish so you can learn along/ You know, Dora the Explorer style):
brocha - brush (like paint brush)
pintar - to paint
polvo - dusty
hierba - grass
apoyar - to support
cosechar - harvest
okay, that is it for tonight! hasta manana!
-alyse
Labels: Nica, Nueva Vida
- Alyse - 8:43 PM
2 Comments:
Dear Alyse, January 16, 2007, Your 80* sound nice as it is -12* here this morning with the wind chill. The ground and trees are covered in ice and then snow on top. Lew and I are fine tho, staying in accept for taking care of the alpacas. Your time there sounds very interesing. We enjoy reading your blog. You are in our prayers. Aunt Rita
Dear Alyse, I'm enjoying reading about you and Sarah. Please tell her hello. We are "iced in" but loving in. We can actually get down the lane in the truck in 4 wheel drive low. It looks like the surface has been finished with a zamboni. You're in our thoughts and prayers. Buck just got a call to sub in a 2nd grade classroom--should be an adventure for him. Love Barb
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