Halfway Mark!

Liz & Nate enjoying the waterfall and beauty in Malacatoya.

On the 22^nd of March, we hit our halfway mark for our time here in Nicaragua with MCC!!  It’s hard to believe that we have been here in Nicaragua for 1 year and 6 months!  In some ways it feels like we’ve been here forever and this is just our life now, and in other ways I feel like the time has gone by so fast!  It’s weird how time can go so slow in the moment sometimes, yet feel so fast overall!

We have in many ways become accustomed to our lives here in Nicaragua and things feel generally normal but mundane would never describe it!  We live with no daily routines (expect maybe for making coffee every morning).  Our travels keep us moving—from visits to communities and trips to Managua, our weeks and months are filled.  It’s exhausting sometimes, packing, unpacking, repacking and repeat.  I guess we find some kind of routine in all of this, at least we know what we need to take where and what we can do without.     

It has been quite the journey indeed, and family and friends keep reminding me of this!  What was once our norms in the states, feels so foreign and far away to me now.  The norms that we have been accustomed to in Nicaragua probably seem so unnatural and foreign to our family and friends in the states.  All the things or foods we once needed and couldn’t live without are now rarely thought of as we prepare our meals.  It is interesting to see how this process has evolved from foreign to familiar. 

Additionally, it’s been interesting to observe how we have changed our expectations, ideas and ideals, and our outlook over the last year and a half.  There are stages and seasons to the process as we became accustomed to our lives in Nicaragua.  Adjusting to daily frustrations (big and small), finding patience when the timing is not what you expected, going to plan b, c, or d when plans are not working out, encountering the little joys that daily life can unveil if you look for it, sitting and chatting with the unexpected visitors that appear at our door as we are trying to leave, seeing the genuine smiles of individuals as you pass, and listening to people’s life stories as they open up to you.

All of these things we have experienced here have impacted us in some small or large way.  It is these experiences that we draw from as we try to make sense of the absurdity, chaos, and challenges that we are presented with.  At times, it seems impossible to make sense of situations, specifically relating to poverty.  I see signs of poverty all around me, yet I don’t know how to change any of it.  It becomes numbing in ways because there is no sense to it.  Yet we try to draw on the positive experiences and interactions we’ve had with individuals in the communities where we work.  We try to see change not in drastic numbers and sweeping line graphs, but rather in small steps—steps that are being taken in the right direction towards positive change.  Yes, there are setbacks; yes, we sometimes feel like we’re not moving at all; but if the general direction is moving forward, then that is all we can ask for:  small, positive steps towards growth and change.

Mango Season

On Wednesday, Cassie, Kevin (MCC friends) and I collected 168 mangoes from the MCC roof and yard!!  It was crazy!!  Cassie was up on the roof throwing them down to Kevin, and Kevin was throwing them to me to take inside.  It was quite the exciting scene!  I made granola, mango muffins, and mango sauce.  For the mango sauce, I boiled down 40 mangoes (without the peel) with two cups of water and it cooked for close to three hours.  Then I squeezed all the good juice off of the mango pits, I felt like I was "milking mangoes," which resulted in a thick mango concentrate!  No sugar added!   All natural and so delicious!!  Now we can eat it on pancakes, fruit slushies, mango lassies, and add it to curries...  The options are endless!  When we stay in the MCC office, we can hear them falling on the zinc roof all night long, it's sometimes quite loud and startling!  Every morning I wake up and go the back yard to see how many mangoes I will discover.  It's like easter egg hunting!  These particular mangoes are called Mango Rosas, which are one of my favorite varieties.  I never knew how many varieties of mangoes existed, and my goal is try them all!  I love mango season!!

Five Days in the Highlands!

Last week we finally got away from "our norm" for some adventures in Matagalpa - the highlands!  It started on Saturday morning at 6 am with a phone call from a friend, Irene.  She lives in Potreritos, one of the communities we work in.  She wanted to travel with us to Matagalpa, since she had never been, to visit some friends for an overnight.  So Irene got us going and on the road earlier then we would have on a Saturday morning, but I appreciated the the travel time with her!   

We had Saturday and Sunday to ourselves - to walk around the city, sit in the central park and people-watch, we found some new cafés, and eat delicious food (handmade pizzas and ravioli from our favorite Italian restaurant in town)!  It was great to relax and take it easy! 

On Monday, three other MCC'ers (David a Nicaraguan from our team, Miriam a Canadian from the Mexico team, and Patrocinio a Bolivian on the Bolivian team) all met up with us for a learning tour.  We went further north to communities outside of San Ramon to see agriculture projects of one MCC's partner.  It was interesting to hear what worked and didn't work for people, and what people were experimenting with on their own.  Bunny projects didn't go so well, but goats were thriving!  The scenery and drive was gorgeous!  Mountains and hills, green and lush, a stark comparison to dry Teustepe right now! 

Drinking coffee in El Tuma.

Tuesday we drove even further to communities outside of El Tuma.  There we visited a site run by a NGO, Christian Medical Action (AMC).  Our friend, Beth, used to work for AMC but finished her term in January.  They have been working with land banks in where the organization buys an area of land and parcels it off into smaller plots to then sell to individuals without land.  They have 10 years (interest-free) to pay off their debt of $1500 for 3 manzanas~5.5 acres of land.  There are strings attached, they can't be owners of other land (in the beginning), they aren't allowed to burn the land or cut down trees (no slash and burn, which is what most do), they are not allowed to use chemicals (or only in small amounts in the beginning), they need to grow a diverse array of crops, and they need to live on the land.  It was really fascinating to meet with the 17 partners that are apart of this particular land bank.  Some had paid off their debt in five years and bought additional land, others where working to pay off their 
debt in the eighth year of the project.  These people were so inspirational to me!  They talked about how it was really challenging in the beginning to not use lots of chemicals, and that the soil wasn't good, and their neighbors would make fun of them and ask why they weren't burning their fields.  These individuals had perseverance to carry on and learn new techniques that in the end resulted in good yields and was environmentally friendly.  To see the transformation in these people's lives was incredible and so encouraging!  It was a great day talking with them, having dialogue, and walking around and seeing their parcels of land!  We saw many shade-grown coffee trees flowering, cacao pods on the tree (where chocolate comes from), chomped on some fresh sugarcane (very juicy, my hands were all sticky afterwards), slid around on some muddy paths, saw 70 boxes of beehives that they were learning to care for, and learned so much in the process!  Definitely my highlight, visiting this project!    

Beans growing in Malacatoya.

Wednesday we were in a community, Malacatoya, where our organization, AsoFénix, is working.  There has been more rain up north then usual, so it rained a good bit in the morning when we arrived.  We took the time to talk to one community leader, Orlando, for a bit and drank a cup of his coffee from the December harvest.  We geared up (in rubber roots), and hiked to the hydro-electric water turbine that powers the community of 40 houses with electricity.  It was SO MUDDY and I was sliding all over the place, it was quite comical to everyone around.  One of my community journalists, Elicelda, accompanied us throughout the day.  She was amused by my inability to walk in mud as she easily hopped over areas and avoided deep areas.  We learned more about the system, saw a beautiful waterfall and were quite muddy by the end!  Later we toured Orlando's fields of passion fruit on trellises, red beans, and coffee.  It was so beautiful and the landscape was hilly and green!


We returned home on Wednesday evening and were completely exhausted, plus I was started to get a cold from the climate change from cold to hot!  It was a great experience and we learned a lot.  I really appreciated getting to know Miriam and Patrocinio more.  They are great people and we had some wonderful exchanges of experiences.  We hope to pass on some of this knowledge in our work with community members.  

Patrocinio, David, Miriam, Liz & Nate