Nicaragua

The Casket That Keeps On Giving

“Come and see this,” Mario said shortly after we arrived at his in-laws’ house in El Higueral, Nicaragua. He led us toward the back door, through which we could see several pigs and a handful of chickens poking around in the mud. Then he pointed at a large object looming in the darkness behind the door: a beautifully decorated wooden casket.

It turns out that about 15 years ago, a doctor told Ofelia, the elderly mother of our former host mom Esterlina, that she was about to die and that she should start putting things in order. The first thing she and her husband did was purchase a casket, which they would store behind the door until it was needed. A neighbor passed away before Ofelia could use it, however, and they used her casket and replaced it with another. And so it went for 15 years; someone in the town would die and use the casket and that family would replace it. Ofelia’s still alive and getting around very well in her old age, but the casket’s still waiting there in case she (or anyone else in town) needs it.

Beasts Galore

 

Many differences exist between our apartment in Costa Rica and the Rivas family’s house in Nicaragua, but perhaps the most striking is the amount of animals that walk in and out of their house on a regular basis. The family’s chickens, for some reason or another, are fed inside the house from a plate of grain on the floor. 

So hungry chickens of all shapes and sizes just wander through the living room, in the front door and out the back. Their designated egg-laying spot is a corner of Ofelia and Chico’s bedroom and self-satisfied hens run out of the room all day long, clucking loudly for all to hear. Stray dogs also make their way through the front door, sniffing around for any scraps they can find. At one point, the 200-pound family pig also nudged the door open, but they drew the line there and locked the door in its face.

It’s a Small World After All

Upon mentioning to her sister that Kevin and I are from Alaska, Esterlina discovered that another Alaskan also frequents the small village of El Higueral, Nicaragua. It just so happens that this particular Alaskan, Espen Haugen, is no stranger to us – he and I were classmates in middle school.

Espen is a well-known figure in the community, working with his organization called PRE (Proyecto Renovación Escolar) building schools in communities that need them as well as working on other community-based projects. He was unfortunately out of town while we were visiting, but we heard many good things about him and his work in the community. Keep up the good work, Espen!

50 and Counting

Esterlina’s parents, Ofelia and Francisco (Chico), are celebrating 50 years of marriage today. All of their nine children, along with hundreds of friends and neighbors, will be joining them for what will probably be the town’s biggest shindig in history. For the last week, the mountain of vegetables ready to be chopped and cooked took up approximately a quarter of the living room floor, while a tower of 2-liter soda bottles lined the wall. All of that, along with the two large unsuspecting pigs outside will keep their guests busy all afternoon.

Ofelia and Chico live in a small house surrounded by the homes of three of their children. On a daily basis, this happy couple interacts with five of their children and their spouses, six grandchildren, and a great-granddaughter. Ofelia’s 79-year-old brother also lives with them. They are absolutely surrounded by family day in and day out.

Kevin and I asked Ofelia at one point how many grandchildren she had in total. “Oh, not very many,” she said. Then she started to name them all, one by one, as I counted on my fingers. By the time I had reached 16, she lost count and said, “So you see, there aren’t very many.”

Baseball Mania

Nicaraguans and Kevin share a similar passion: baseball. Unlike in Costa Rica, where the game is practically unknown, it’s Nicaragua’s favorite pastime. Kevin was able to play at least a little bit every day with the neighbor kids and by the end of the first day told me that he could live in Nicaragua, no problem.

Like Ticos with soccer, Nicaraguans learn to play baseball at a very young age. Kevin was impressed by the skills and knowledge of the game he encountered in everyone he played with. He played a game with a motley crew of neighbors on our second day there, out on a cow manure-splattered field with leafy tree branches as bases. None of that mattered, though, because everyone was hungry to play some ball.

On our fourth day in town, Kevin was playing catch with a couple of boys and their filthy mud-covered ball in the middle of the dirt road when a teenager carrying a grain sack interrupted their game. “Look,” he said to Kevin in English, “pero no te asustes.” (But don’t get scared.) Then he pulled out a six-foot long boa constrictor on a leash (an improvised string tied around the base of its head) and asked if anyone wanted to pet it. By now an experienced snake charmer, Kevin didn’t hesitate in taking the snake and giving it a good belly rub. The kid was on his way to try to sell the snake to the town’s natural healer.

El Higueral recently formed an adult baseball league and Kevin got to watch their inaugural game with that giddy, glazed over look he always gets when watching the Indians play. He said the team could definitely compete with his adult league team back home, but I said those Alaskans wouldn’t stand a chance. The baseball players were joined in the outfield by several cows, chickens, a sow and her piglets, and a love-struck stallion that nearly ran over the left fielder on its way to meet a mare. It wasn’t exactly like sitting in a stadium back in the States, but after nine months of baseball starvation, Kevin was perfectly content.

Crab Soup

According to our new Nicaraguan friends, their country’s coastline is famous for being one of the best surfing areas in the world. We visited the ocean several times during our trip, and although we didn’t surf, we did enjoy the beautiful beaches, rocky cliffs and warm Pacific water. 

Our most memorable beach experience happened at about nine o’clock at night. Alvaro, Esterlina’s oldest brother, decided to take a few of us crabbing Nicaraguan-style. So we loaded up some plastic bags and headlamps and drove to the beach at night. After walking about a kilometer through dense jungle in the darkness, crossing muddy swamps and avoiding prickly trees, we made it to the ocean. The low tide exposed kilometers of rocky coastline dotted with small brown crabs.

Mario taught Kevin and me the most effective crab grabbing technique and how to identify the right kind of crab, and then we were set loose on the rocks. More similar to clam digging than Alaska-style crabbing, this crabbing adventure lasted hours as we climbed around on barnacle and urchin-encrusted rocks, grabbing crab after crab and shoving them into our plastic bags.

The following morning, there were plenty of crabs for everyone to have a large bowl of crab soup for breakfast!

Coming Home

The night before we left, we attended our first Nicaraguan-style Evangelical church service with the entire family. It was loud, joyful, and full of songs and clapping. The church itself is a large half-built brick structure with nothing inside but two rows of benches, a lectern and an electric keyboard. We went to support Mario, who gave the sermon that night – his very first in what we predict will be many years of preaching. He did a fantastic job and it was fun to witness it.

We awoke to the booming 4 a.m. church service the next morning, just in time to grab some coffee and rosquillas (little crunchy bread rings, a Nicaraguan staple), and catch the yellow school bus to Rivas, the nearest large city two hours away. In Rivas we rode a traditional tricycle-style taxi (the driver pedals behind you as you sit in a little cart in front) to our bus stop. There we hopped on a Tica Bus that took us across the border and all the way to San José, Costa Rica.

Now we’re home again and preparing for our next international adventure – NYC 2011!