Ortega Comes To Town
First, it appears that my server is back in functioning order. Many thanks to the Clark brothers for their work. On a side note, if anyone knows of a fault-tolerant, mirroring network filesystem for ~3 nodes on different networks--basically, Coda, but hopefully more lightweight--let me know. We have Plans.
So, today was kinda going to be a big day. I called a meeting for 3 o'clock with some people Manuél knows who are interested in computers and all. Basically, they've all learned something about computers, but don't have any equipment to practice on, nor employment in the field. I wanted to talk to them about the possibility of starting a telecenter (think coöperative internet café) at some point in the future, and what it would look like.
At two o'clock, however, a chopper landed in the field by the health clinic (this is Altagracia, now) and out came the Secretary of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN), Daniel Ortega. The main street swelled with people running to the spectacle. You understand running just doesn't happen that often here. A parade of trucks and buses had come into town a few hours earlier, including a bunch of folks on a plantain truck from the Coop. Carlos Diaz Cajina (CDC, the coop that runs Finca Magdalena, where I live). It's campaign time for the elections in all municipalities of Nicaragua, and Bernabé Lopez is running for an advisory position in the municipality of Altagracia.
It was sometimes hard to see for all the FSLN flags everywhere. I cursed myself for leaving my camera in Balgüe. It was hot as hell in the sun, but we stood there listening to various functionaries and candidates, and this MC who really only knew how to shout slogans, and he wasn't very good at getting us into it.
Finally, Daniel got up and spoke. He talked about vaguely socialistic things and tried to get the people from poorer, more under-served communities excited. Altagracia often votes for the FSLN, probably because it's a poorer area. He talked about the importance of the constitution, created under his rule, and the importance of the rights it endows upon citizens. He didn't really talk about what they are, but they were certainly part of "Democracy", and Democracy was understood in terms of.. umm.. socialistic ideas. At least, that's what I got out of it. That and a hat.
I got to the meeting an hour late, which I thought was perfectly fine considering the circumstances, although I'm not sure the sentiment was shared. One guy had already left, which left only Manuél and two friends of his, one woman he'd worked with and another he taught for a while. I'm not sure how useful the meeting was, but we decided to come every week and I'll teach a little something about networking. We'll see how it goes.
Well, that was a day. No water until evening in Tagüizapa today.
So, today was kinda going to be a big day. I called a meeting for 3 o'clock with some people Manuél knows who are interested in computers and all. Basically, they've all learned something about computers, but don't have any equipment to practice on, nor employment in the field. I wanted to talk to them about the possibility of starting a telecenter (think coöperative internet café) at some point in the future, and what it would look like.
At two o'clock, however, a chopper landed in the field by the health clinic (this is Altagracia, now) and out came the Secretary of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN), Daniel Ortega. The main street swelled with people running to the spectacle. You understand running just doesn't happen that often here. A parade of trucks and buses had come into town a few hours earlier, including a bunch of folks on a plantain truck from the Coop. Carlos Diaz Cajina (CDC, the coop that runs Finca Magdalena, where I live). It's campaign time for the elections in all municipalities of Nicaragua, and Bernabé Lopez is running for an advisory position in the municipality of Altagracia.
It was sometimes hard to see for all the FSLN flags everywhere. I cursed myself for leaving my camera in Balgüe. It was hot as hell in the sun, but we stood there listening to various functionaries and candidates, and this MC who really only knew how to shout slogans, and he wasn't very good at getting us into it.
Finally, Daniel got up and spoke. He talked about vaguely socialistic things and tried to get the people from poorer, more under-served communities excited. Altagracia often votes for the FSLN, probably because it's a poorer area. He talked about the importance of the constitution, created under his rule, and the importance of the rights it endows upon citizens. He didn't really talk about what they are, but they were certainly part of "Democracy", and Democracy was understood in terms of.. umm.. socialistic ideas. At least, that's what I got out of it. That and a hat.
I got to the meeting an hour late, which I thought was perfectly fine considering the circumstances, although I'm not sure the sentiment was shared. One guy had already left, which left only Manuél and two friends of his, one woman he'd worked with and another he taught for a while. I'm not sure how useful the meeting was, but we decided to come every week and I'll teach a little something about networking. We'll see how it goes.
Well, that was a day. No water until evening in Tagüizapa today.
posted by Peter Abrahamsen at 10/15/2004 09:42:00 PM
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