Life on the Island
(hmm.. it looks like the last post didn't actually get posted because my connection broke before it could go up... so you get two posts)
(Moreover, the server I spent so much time moving everything to just before I left got compromised yesterday. I don't know when it will be back up. In the meantime, my email, photo album, and mailing lists are down. Good thing I hosted this blog elsewhere. )
(Some pictures here! Sorry, they'll be presented a little more prettily when the server's back up)
Friends,
I'm in the house of the Álvarez family, in Tagüizapa. Marí, 5 years old, is trying to ask me something, but I don't know what it is. She's been standing next to the desk for a good long time, staring at me and asking questions very quietly. It's her room and bed I've taken over for the next three nights. She seems to really like me being here, though.
We're really close to getting an antenna mast up at Finca Magdalena, the first feat of the project. I think. So it was with a little regret that I left, but I'd already made the arrangements to stay here. I don't entirely understand the cultural norms involved, but it's important that I stay a little while with the family. It's a nice place they have, well built, nice furniture and all, and the family really is sweet, but this is not a useful place to be working out of at this point.
I've just taken to learning the names of various bugs. They come from Nahualt (NA-wal, sp?), the native language here, and seem to be recombinations of the same sounds. It's even harder because everyone seems to call them something else. I've heard three names for firefly (of which there are many these days). I'll try to put up a picture of a gigantic cuchón that showed up at the Finca a few days ago.
Thus far in my life, the practical things I've needed I've only had to turn to whatever institution I was in. The process was usually easy to figure out. Coming here, I can feel myself learning the basic skills that most people learn in the "Real World", working, leading, or navigating through more difficult living conditions. How to get things done when there isn't someone there who is paid to help you get things done. This confirms for me that this is the right place for me now.
Poco a poco is my refrain. Bit by bit, I'm learning, growing, progressing, learning to navigate the terrain. Seattle seems far away. The meanings and references of life there are so foreign to me as I talk to people on ancient buses, the sky all kinds of sweetness as we bump down the road at sunset. This is the character of my days.
I have an address now, should you feel moved to send me writings. You can even send small parcels, if you don't risking their disappearance. It takes letters 1-3 weeks to arrive (we'll see), and about the same for us to get to Rivas to check the mail. Here's the address:
Hope all's well in Seattle. Wish me cool weather,
(Moreover, the server I spent so much time moving everything to just before I left got compromised yesterday. I don't know when it will be back up. In the meantime, my email, photo album, and mailing lists are down. Good thing I hosted this blog elsewhere. )
(Some pictures here! Sorry, they'll be presented a little more prettily when the server's back up)
Friends,
I'm in the house of the Álvarez family, in Tagüizapa. Marí, 5 years old, is trying to ask me something, but I don't know what it is. She's been standing next to the desk for a good long time, staring at me and asking questions very quietly. It's her room and bed I've taken over for the next three nights. She seems to really like me being here, though.
We're really close to getting an antenna mast up at Finca Magdalena, the first feat of the project. I think. So it was with a little regret that I left, but I'd already made the arrangements to stay here. I don't entirely understand the cultural norms involved, but it's important that I stay a little while with the family. It's a nice place they have, well built, nice furniture and all, and the family really is sweet, but this is not a useful place to be working out of at this point.
I've just taken to learning the names of various bugs. They come from Nahualt (NA-wal, sp?), the native language here, and seem to be recombinations of the same sounds. It's even harder because everyone seems to call them something else. I've heard three names for firefly (of which there are many these days). I'll try to put up a picture of a gigantic cuchón that showed up at the Finca a few days ago.
Thus far in my life, the practical things I've needed I've only had to turn to whatever institution I was in. The process was usually easy to figure out. Coming here, I can feel myself learning the basic skills that most people learn in the "Real World", working, leading, or navigating through more difficult living conditions. How to get things done when there isn't someone there who is paid to help you get things done. This confirms for me that this is the right place for me now.
Poco a poco is my refrain. Bit by bit, I'm learning, growing, progressing, learning to navigate the terrain. Seattle seems far away. The meanings and references of life there are so foreign to me as I talk to people on ancient buses, the sky all kinds of sweetness as we bump down the road at sunset. This is the character of my days.
I have an address now, should you feel moved to send me writings. You can even send small parcels, if you don't risking their disappearance. It takes letters 1-3 weeks to arrive (we'll see), and about the same for us to get to Rivas to check the mail. Here's the address:
Peter Abrahamsen
c/o Asosación Islas Hermanas
Apartado Postal #36
Correos de Nicaragua
Rivas, NICARAGUA
Hope all's well in Seattle. Wish me cool weather,
posted by Peter Abrahamsen at 10/14/2004 11:02:00 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home