Actual Conversation

This is an actual conversation I was part of. Managua has an earthquake like clockwork every 35-40 years. The last one was in 1972 and destroyed 90% of the city.

MY HOST MOTHER: I would really like to build a second floor onto this house.

NEIGHBOR WHO IS CONTRACTOR: Well, you're better off waiting a couple of years until the next earthquake. If you build now it will just fall down and most likely kill you.

MY HOST MOTHER: You make a good point.

NEIGHBOR WHO IS CONTRACTOR: At least if you build after the earthquake it will last you about 35 years.

(GENERAL AGREEMENT FROM THOSE LISTENING IN ON CONVERSATION)

Managua, the Venice of Central America

The only problem is that Managua lacks most of the charm Venice posesses and at least with Venice you are expecting water.

Anyone out there who has spent time in another country during rainy season knows that after days and days of rain, the sun cannot come out soon enough. I am writing to you now as the sun has come out after several days of crazy weather and hard rain. Managua, unfortunately, was not built with a great deal of urban planning in mind. Along with being built exactly on a faultline, it is also where all the water drains to from a fairly susbtancial watershed. It floods a lot. Very quickly.

Strange things happen during rainy season. Your definition of 'soaked' changes from more or less wet to completely drenched. You triple plastic bag everything. You wear shorter skirts with the mentality that at least there is less fabric to get wet. You become irrationally jealous of people with cars who drive by completely dry, not a hair out of place. You don't even notice less than a foot of flooding. Everything you own molds... earrings, your wooden hangers, your bedsheets, etc.

At first, you are very sensitive about smelling like mildew, but once you get on the bus and realize everyone has the same fragrance, you accept the inevitable.

Government of Canada Taking Cues from Yzma

In a world where you can do just about everything over the internet, applying for my overseas ballot was a bit of a shock to my system. First you have to fill out a form to show that you are eligible to to vote and send it to Canada. The government then sends you a ballot, and you fill it out and send it back. In case any of you are unaquainted with Nicaraguan mail, it is not the fastest mailing system in the world (although not nearly as bad a other mail systems I've sent stuff from). The ballot itself was complicated too since it has to be put inside an evelope, that needs to be put inside another envolope, that needs to be put inside another envolope**. All of these envelopes had sealed themselves by the time I got them, making my ballot look incredibly tampered with. I wonder if after all that trouble my ballot was even counted considering it looked like someone hacked it open with a saw. I must admit I went into a bit of a depression following the Canadian election considering how little policies were explained and the cheap shots between parties. Alas, my favorite politician, Stephane Dion, has stepped down as leader of the Liberal Party. I console myself by listening to Jacques Brel.

** I'll turn him into a flee. A harmless little flee. Then I'll put that flee in a box. And I'll put that box in another box. Then I'll mail that box to myself. And when it arrives. A HA HA HA HA!!! I'LL SMASH IT WITH A HAMMER.

My Job...

So it occured to me that I have been here a month and not told most people about my blog, or what I actually do for my job. Even though I have had the best intentions about sending out email updates I must confess that working 11 hour days does not leave a lot of time for communication. So here it goes... I work for MEDA (Mennonite Economic Development Associates) an organization based out of Canada that works in about 15 countries around the world. They have an office in Nicaragua and run microfinance projects as well as an agricultural development project called PRODUMER. PRODUMER is a project that works with sesame seed farmers to present them with better technology, cropping methods, market access and financing. It has been running for 6 years so far and will be ending in March 2009. My job is to write a report that evaluates the gender component of the project by the end of January 2009. So far I have been working crazy long hours on a bunch of different things, one of which is the semi annual report that has to be handed in by the end of October. Everybody knows that interns work ridiculous hours for little pay, so I feel like my expectations have been met in that area. So far I am enjoying my job but have had no opportunities to get out into the field and actually speak to farmers, who are located in three different departments (same as provinces) along the Pacific coast. I have become very well aquainted with one Central/South American phenomenon know as "The Meeting That Will Not End" aka a "reunion" in Spanish. As much as I love to have a good chat with a cooperative president, 8 hours is excessive. While there are many things I really like about Central American culture, these unlimited meetings are killer. Especially when you have several in a row.

Pictures: In the office with fellow interns (please do not look too closely at the Us Magazine that I am reading... I work really hard, I swear). Also, a shot of my office from the outside.