Nicaragua, Day 4: to the back of beyond (and back)

Hiya Loveygirl,

Sorry for the curtailed entry yesterday. This is actually quite funny--here at this internet cafe, you sign on for a certain amount of time and then when it's done, you're done--the computer logs you off automatically, even if you haven't posted your blog entry. Last night five of us (from the tour) came in and logged on at about the same time, so as the two-minute and one-minute warnings flashed on our screens there were various exclamations of panic. It's kinda funny in retrospect.

OK, let's see, I think I should talk about today first, in case I run out of time again, because otherwise I'll just get farther and farther behind.

But first a few responses to your (Loopy's) comment... what were the compañeras wearing?? THAT's your question??? What am I going to do with you?? ;-) Sofia was wearing a louse blouse and light or white jeans; Jamila was wearing an embroidered peasant blouse and jeans, and Juanita was wearing a brownish suit (I think she had just come from some other meeting); Sonia was wearing a red blouse and some necklaces. It's pretty boring. Jeans appear to be considered fairly dressy here.

I took pictures, so I think I'll skip the clothing descriptions from now on, if that's okay with you.

And... I didn't eat anything interesting yesterday, and neither did anyone else--lunch was a rather nondescript buffet (all I can remember is beans, boiled vegetables and a fried banana, although--wait, yes, I also had a lumpy lump of beef), and dinner was pizza for everyone (except me; I had a quarter of a boiled chicken). Today I made up for it though (more on that later).

I think I miss you more today than I have in past days because I thought about you constantly and took pictures just for you, about five times as much as I have up to now. I took photos of everyone's lunch and dinner and also of lots of cute baby animals (but most of those didn't come out because we were driving fast on a bumpy road, more on that later).

And I tried to take lots of photos of people (note to others: I almost never take people photos--I tend more toward architecture and peeling paint--but Loopy much prefers people-photos). And I talked about you a lot at dinner. I miss you and wish you were here... I´m having a good time but I just miss hearing your voice.

OK, so, on with the report. So, last night we stayed at the Hotel Coloniàl in Leòn, which is gorgeous--huge high-ceilinged lobby, courtyard with palm trees, potted palms around the edges, rocking chairs everywhere. For breakfast we had what we always have--a sort of omelette, beans-and-rice, and fruit (¡long live the fruit!)--today it was watermelon and pineapple. Yum.

Then we set off to the office of the Comité para Mujeres Rurales (Committee for Rural Women). This too was built round a courtyard (it's a common feature here just as in Mexico), but in this courtyard was a garden of rose bushes and other lovely plants, along with a green cage containing two green birds. (I bent down to look at them and take some photos and they were very angry and scolded me until I went away.) I'm getting used to the fact that everything isn't so shiny and new as it is in the states, so that I can enjoy the beauty of a space like that without taking so much note of any shabbiness around the edges.

The next thing I noticed after the birds and garden was the educational posters around the walls (we had to wait here for a few minutes so I had time to notice things)--for example, there was one showing a cartoon series of symptoms that, if you experience them while pregnant, are serious and should send you to the hospital (one of the cartoons was a bit gruesome, but I thought it would be a very useful poster to have around!).

There were also some stickers from the Network of Women Against Violence that we'd visited yesterday, saying things like, "the next time he raises his hand to you let it be in salute/greeting," and "2000 reasons to live with out violence: sì se puede!" All this made it feel like a very positive space.

Loopy, you talked about the trip reviving me; it's partly the trip, partly the whole revolution thing (although we are learning about all kinds of flaws in the revolution, but nothing's perfect and I enjoy learning about the reality--all the better to do it better next time), but a lot of it is just being around real feminists. The women we are meeting are just incredible.

Shoot, I´m running out of time again!!! Twenty minutes left! Arg!!!

So ANYWAY, the woman we were waiting for arrived and we all climbed into two big shiny American pickup trucks for an hour's drive out into the country (they said it would be too rough for our bus). About twenty plastic chairs were also loaded into one of the trucks.

We drove north from Leòn for about twenty minutes, then turned off the highway onto a dirt (mud) road that was actually quite well-maintained, hard-packed and only occasionally gullied or rutted. It probably would have been too rough for the bus, but it really wasn't bad at all.

We took this road west for another forty minutes or so, passing homes cobbled together of corrugated tin and similar materials, and people walking along the road (on the way back we passed quite a few children coming from school). We also passed carts pulled by mules (or small horses, I can't always tell the difference) and lots of chickens, pigs and piglets wandering along the sides of the roads. Many of the small and medium-sized pigs had long pieces of wood attached to their necks, sticking up, to prevent them from going through fences and eating people's crops.

Finally we arrived at a low stucco building with a deep veranda, which turned out to be a store selling chips, candy, and I don't know what else because I couldn't really see inside. The meeting was held in the shade of the veranda; the occasional store patrons slipped past us to the window.

Some women met us there and welcomed us, while three hand-lettered signs on the wall warmly greeted us, thanked us for coming and for our (WCCN's) support of the project in their community. The men who had driven the trucks began setting out the plastic chairs while a few women hurried off "to tell everyone you're here."

We sat down and listened to an introduction from the woman who had traveled with us from Leòn, while women of every age, size, and shape started to appear from every direction and take their seats in the plastic chairs.

As the women walked up in twos and threes, they would call out loudly, "¡Buenos días!" regardless of what was going on among those already assembled. The guidebook said that it's the custom to greet any group in any room you enter, and this has definitely been true. It's a nice custom, I think--it feels very friendly.

Anyway, each woman introduced herself and explained the nature of her work with the project. Many were learning to read, the majority had been taught how to supplement their family's diet by planting small vegetable gardens outside their homes, and some were also raising goats, whose milk and meat greatly reduced malnutrition throughout the community.

They also have a program of "defensoras," defenders, who are trained to take care of any women who come to them after being beaten, raped, or otherwise suffering violence. They accompany the women to the women's police stations (another successful achievement of the Network of Women Against Violence) and help them seek medical and legal assistance.

One of the first women to arrive and take her seat was remarkably like a bulldog... her features were all small and pinched toward the center of her face, and she was short and stocky. I couldn't help thinking that she was remarkably ugly. But when the women introduced themselves and she said she was a defensora, I was struck by how great it would have been, at a certain time in my life, to have been able to go to someone like her for help. With that solid-looking grandmother at my side, I would have felt safe and like nobody could hurt me anymore. I was really overwhelmed with warm appreciation, and even moved to say something along these lines in the self-introduction (well, not the part about how she looks like a bulldog--you know what I mean), even though it made my hands start shaking.

Oh, shoot, our time is up. Tomorrow I will try to go to the cafe instead of sleeping in the afternoon!

I will try to write more tomorrow aboutthe rest of this meeting (including the snake!) and the meeting in the afternoon, including the woman who got her start as a feminist going to women's meetings with her grandmother. And the food! I had an interesting lunch AND an interesting dinner! I can't wait to tell you lovey!

I miss you so much! These little notes in the evening aren't enough. I wish I could call you but it doesn't seem like there's a way to do it here... I tried yesterday. Oh well. I'll be home in a week... I love you!!!

xoxo
me