My mom and sister have been here visiting for a few days and we've been doing all kinds of fun stuff. Yesterday we made a trip to the Laguna de Apoyo and Dora posed for some good pictures. Here's one and we'll post more later.
Starting this past Monday, most taxis and buses in the country have been on strike to protest the rising prices of gas. Since very few people have cars of their own, most rely on taxis or buses to do any travelling, even to work or school. Additionally, there have been road blockages that have prevented commercial trucks and private vehichles from travelling from one department to another; apparently over 100 people have been arrested for protesting and business losses are already estimated at millions of dollars.
For our part, the Peace Corps has been keeping a close eye on the situation; we're all required to stay in our sites, though we couldn't really go anywhere if we wanted to--all the busses from Masaya to other cities have stopped running, and only a few taxis remain in the city.
Fortunately, Paul has his bike to go to school and I can walk briskly to mine in about 20 minutes. Many of the other teachers at our schools live in nearby towns or cities and just have to stay home.
It is nice having a lot less traffic on the streets in Masaya, but it's been a big hassle to be unable to take the city bus to school. Business also seem to be running out of some items due to delayed deliveries, so we hope this all gets worked out soon, especially before we get visitors next week!
Here is an article with a little more information:
Nicaraguan taxi and bus drivers that transport an estimated 1.5 million people a day went on strike yesterday saying they won't start up their engines again until the government sits down to negotiate a solution to skyrocketing gas prices, the highest in Central America.
Trucks drivers were also on strike, paralyzing the economy.
The strike comes as international crude oil prices topped a record $120 a barrel this week.
“There's been no response from the president of the republic to end the strike,” said Vidal Almendárez, president of the Federation of Taxi Drivers. “There have been attempts to negotiate locally, but we're telling them negotiations have to happen here in the capital.”
The federation, which represents an estimated 15,000 taxi drivers nationwide, began the strike along with the National Transportation Coordinator and the Interurban Transportation Directorate yesterday, which represent regional bus drivers.
The only bus drivers that have kept the motors running were those on urban Managua routes, which receive a subsidized gas price that is about half the market price for gas in Nicaragua, which was more than 90 córdobas a gallon this week ($4.70).
Almendárez said the rest of the country's bus and taxi drivers want a deal similar to Managua buses, and want the government to sit down with driver union leaders to find a solution.
The government says it has offered to sell the cooperatives gasoline at cost – for a savings of roughly 6 córdobas ($0.30) less. But as of 6 p.m. yesterday evening, no agreement had been reached.
“We seek an alternative in which the price of gasoline is frozen so we can have a reasonable price for users. People aren't able to pay these prices,” Almendárez told The Nica Times.
Keep your fingers crossed that it all ends soon! Read more...
A year ago yesterday I posted about having made it to Nicaragua safely after such a long wait. That seems like such a long time ago, especially when measured in Nica time. Since then we've lived separately with two host families, survived a rainy season, figured out how to get around, and learned where to buy everything we need. That all happened before we even became volunteers. Then we had to leave our host families and move in with a new one while we looked for our own house.
We have worked pretty hard in the schools, but we won't get angry if it seems like all we do is celebrate, though. There were times when it felt like we were missing class for all the wrong reasons. We have seen all kinds of animals running the spectrum from wild all the way to domestic. We've traveled to the mountains twice--the second time almost resulting in divorce or murder, whichever was most convenient.
We entertained visitors and made a comeback, then had summer camp in January.
We since started school again, learned to laugh about what now seems normal to us, and have learned to party the Nica way.
Our Nica 44 TEFL group began with 20 trainees, but five are no longer here. Certainly we, and probably the other 15 remaining volunteers as well, are excited to begin year two of our time here.
It's really appropriate that we mark one year in Nicaragua with a four-day weekend from school. We've already enjoyed a really delicious lunch in Granada with Dora who loves riding on the bus. I think later we'll relax in our hammocks, have Holly's favorite meal, and maybe even stay up until ten o'clock.
My counterpart's daughter had her 1-year birthday last Saturday, and Holly and I went to her piñata, which turned out to be really fun. Romel and his family have become pretty close friends to us in Masaya, so it was nice to be there. While a piñata is the general name for a kid's birthday party, it's also the beloved candy-filled punching bag. We had both. The theme was Strawberry Shortcake and as soon as Rosita Fresita hit the ground, it was total madness.
I tried everything to turn this video around, but I failed. So, if you want to watch it, please tilt your head 90 degrees clockwise or your computer 90 degrees counterclockwise.
There were also many failed attempts to get Natalia to smile while the photographer was there:
But finally after the paid photographer left, we got a good shot of her being cute:
And balloon fights:
Today my classes were canceled in the afternoon, so I decided to be productive and headed to the market after dropping Holly off in the park on her way to school (it turned out her classes were canceled, too, but for a different reason). The best part about going to the market at this time of the year has definitely been the really good avocados and not the stinky fish and meat section which unfortunately never goes out of season. Avocados disappeared right after we moved to Masaya, so we never really had the chance to make guacamole, but I’ve been making up for that in the last month or so ever since they’ve been available in the market.
Avocados
Onion
Jalepeño
Limes
Cilantro
Tomato (optional)
Egg (optional)
Guacamole by itself isn’t really a Nicaraguan recipe, but everyone here eats it with hard-boiled egg mixed in, so as weird-tasting as it sounds, that's the only change you need to make to create authentic Nica Guacamole.
Finally, mix everything up and you have the finished product—heat up some tortillas, or better yet, buy a couple of hot ones from your neighbor, and enjoy.
Protip: If you put some guacamole on your tortilla and then top it with gallo pinto it’s a pretty great combination.
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