Hoyos - Holes

Spanish word of the day: Hoyos

The ride here was, expectedly, filled with holes. Not figuratively, but literally—filled with holes. The approximately 80 mile drive from Managua to San Juan del Sur took about two and a half hours because of a nauseating need to avoid the many potholes that plagued the road. Even the Pan American highway was at times stricken with potholes. But such is the expected condition; Nicaragua is, after all, a third world country. (The first picture is of the cab ride with Marc Anthony, David, David's surfboard, and I) Nonetheless, Marc Anthony (the cab driver), David (another American who is here in San Juan del Sur for several months) and I reached our destination with plenty of time for dinner.

My family is spectacular(ly large)! I knew ahead of time that my homestay father (or grandfather of types), a man who is referred to simply as “El Pajaro Loco”, is very nice and friendly and will undoubtedly take care of and watch out for me. His family of seven children and twenty grandchildren is well represented in the house at any point during the day. And, a man of my heart, I’ve found that after only three days, he sometimes doesn’t wear a shirt to meals. Most importantly, he said to me (and David, since we are both sharing a room for the time being) the proverbial “mi casa es tu casa” and announced that for the time I was in San Juan del Sur, he would make sure that I was in good hands. I have felt nothing but warmth from a family that, by American standards has little and perhaps more shockingly, by Nicaraguan standards is moderately well-off.

Despite this outpouring of hospitality, the language barrier is humbling. I am barely getting by with the amount of Español that I know and can understand and I realize that perhaps the most important thing that I do in the next two weeks, is improve my Spanish as much as possible. Only then will I even be able to begin the process of understanding this community enough to help. It will be frustrating not having a plan and goals yet, but I think it will be important for me to simply work on understanding San Juan del Sur, its people, and their issues before setting my expectations for these next few months.

So, what have I been doing for the past three days? I have been meeting people and trying to find out the different components of this project which I have come to help with. I have, for a short time, latched onto a group from Boston College (the second picture is of Jason and Eric, from BC, and David and I) who is helping Fidel Pavon, the master builder who physically constructs the water filters at his workshop, to build filters. This involves assembling the three large portions of the steel molds, mixing and pouring the concrete into the molds, waiting a day, and then freeing the concrete containers from the shells. Getting to Fidel’s house has been made simple by El Pajaro Loco and his son, Felix, because they have lent us (David and I) their bikes to make the 4 kilometer trip. I am looking forward to continuing to learn about the filters and to see how they are brought into the rural communities in “El Campo”.

It is interesting to see the subtle but still present influence of Russia. Following the Sandinista Revolution, the new government which took power was more left than America liked. In addition, although the preceding Somoza dictatorship was oppressive and corrupt, it was allied with the U.S. This pushed the new revolutionary government to ally itself with Russia, possibly out of similar politics and definitely out of a need to survive. One of Felix’s first questions to David and I was, “Do you speak Russian?” since David’s last name (Golichowski—it’s actually Polish) sounds Russian. Following our initial conversation, we learned that Felix fought for the Sandinista forces in 1982 -1983 and then went to train the Russian Naval Academy from 1986-1990. In addition, another of El Pajaro Loco’s grandchildren is named Nadiaste (I think that’s how it’s spelled) which I was told immediately is Russian. Es muy interesante.