Nicaragua Day 6: mountains and rain

So, today was pleasant but mostly it was more of the same, so I can catch up a little on previous days.

You asked how much time I buy--it's not always that, it's that I can't walk back to the hotel by myself at night, so when others want to go, I have to go. Also it takes a while to get logged on and read your comment, and I also write stuff and delete it if it's coming out too boring, so it takes a long time to make a good entry.

I came over early today in the hopes of catching you on instant messaging, but no such luck. :-(

So going back to day 3, one of the things I meant to say was that I was surprised and impressed that both the first two meetings (with Sofia Montenegro and the Network of Women Against Violence) included mention of struggle around sexual orientation and the right of choice in sexuality.

Another thing I wanted to add to Day 3 was that Sonia Agurto, the sociologist who studies land reform, said some interesting things about the Sandinista program. They didn't initially take land away from all large land holders, only from Somoza and his allies.

All this land was given to state-run collective farms, which didn't work out for the same reasons they didn't work out in Cuba or the Soviet Union. She mentioned that when the Sandinistas were first in power and were considering what to do with the land, some French comrades argued that they couldn't transition directly from feudalism to socialism, that they would have to go through capitalism in between; those kinds of arguments based on Marxist teleology don't make a lot of sense to me (perhaps due to my ignorance), but I asked if they had considered other models, such as individual farms that sell produce to the state for distribution, etc. She answered in one word: "no."

There was a second wave of land confiscation, from large land holders, but this was considered "unjust" and in recent years they have been compensated. This annoyed me because I'm guessing they don't need the compensation, and the gov't can ill afford it (the police ride around on bicycles, for chrissakes).

(We are in a different internet place today and the teenagish girl sitting at the desk is playing goopy love ballads, particularly "unchained melody" over and over. Arg... I like that song but it's beginning to really get on my nerves!)

At the end of Day 3 we drove out of Managua, enjoying the vistas of lakes and volcanoes. I never really realized how many volcanoes there are here! They are everywhere--there's usually at least one visible at any time, often two or three. It's like the imagined landscapes of other planets. And they look just like they do in books--gently curved cones with a hole on top. Some of them are even smoking! I remember being fascinated by volcanoes at a certain period in my life--they're
kind of cool and scary.

Apparently, more scary than cool if you actually live near a live one. The ones here do erupt occasionally, mostly just ash, but the worst disaster in recent years was that when Hurricane Mitch came through--it sat over Honduras for a week and rained like crazy here, and the crater of one of the volcanoes filled up with water til the
wall of the crater collapsed, creating a huge avalanche of mud and water that swept away more than three thousand people, their homes, etc etc. It nearly destroyed many of the organizations we're visiting, since the state had withdrawn from many social supports and the NGO's didn't have the resources to compensate.

Anyway, about 1 hour out of Managua we had to stop the bus because it was overheating. We all got out and I took a bunch of pictures of trees.

After about ten minutes we got back on but a half hour later, the bus died altogether. You asked how we were rescued--well, it was easy, sort of--the bus driver, Juan Pablo, called his dad (the owner of the bus company) on his cell phone, and someone drove out with another bus.

But of course, they had to come from Managua, so there was quite a wait. I wanted to get a walk in so four of us walked down a little side road for ten or twenty minutes and then came back. Along the side road, on one side, were a series of brick and tile factories (and by "factories," I mean large open spaces where clay was being shaped with wooden forms and then fired in handmade kilns with piles and piles of
firewood--very interesting but low-tech methods).

On the other side were a lot of small homes built from corrugated tin and, of course, bricks and tiles. People sat in the yard and children, dogs and chickens wandered about. Some of the homes had little flower gardens and looked quite cheerful; others less so. Most of the people wore what should accurately be described as rags. It was our first glimpse of the rural poverty that we've been encountering for the past days. I wish I'd felt it would be okay to take photos, but I didn't feel right.

It takes so long to write this stuff out... it's time for dinner now already. :-( I might come back later but I'm feeling pretty tired today so I might just get an early night.

I love you baby... I'm glad I'll be home soon. Big kisses, mwah mwah mwah.

Oh, and I can't help being gleeful that you have trouble going to bed when I'm not around. This makes me feel less crazy for having the same problem when you're gone. It's very different to be the person left behind isn't it... not that I would be happy if you were miserable, but you don't sound miserable, just sleepy. But.... come with me next time!!!!!!

Love love love
me