After receiving emails from Kevin and Curt asking about the state of affairs in Nicaragua after their presidential elections, I decided to write a blog entry about my general impressions. The election took place November 5 and featured four major candidates. Historically, Nicaraguan political parties have been of two types, liberal and conservative. These are not to be confused with the political parties of the United States, however. Liberals in Latin American politics are essentially neo-liberals, following a tradition that dates back to 18th century enlightenment Europe and the laissez faire economics of Adam Smith. The conservatives represent a group which we no longer have in the United States, something that you might call royalist. It has a strong continuity with the ancien regime in Europe before the French Revolution. Another important issue in Latin America is the relationship between the church and state. Liberals have traditionally been anti-clerical, whereas the conservatives tend to use the church as a political instrument.
With this context in mind, let´s look at the current political situation in Nicaragua. The liberals are represented by two parties, the PLC and the ALN. The current president, Enrique Bolaños, is a member of the PLC. It, however, has been racked with corruption, and a new liberal party, the ALN, arose as an alternative. The ALN´s candidate, Eduardo Montealegre, was the finance minister of the past two PLC administrations, but due to internal strife, wasn´t allowed to run for the presidency in their party. Of all the candiates, he has received the greatest support from the United States government for this election.
The other two major parties the FSLN and the MRS. Both of them are Sandinistas, the group that overthrew the Somoza dictatorship in 1979 and ruled Nicaragua for the next decade. Because of their socialist tendencies, the United States funded the Contra War to depose them. Daniel Ortega was the president during this tumultuous period, but he gave up power in 1990 when he lost a democratic election. Since then, he has run for the presidency in each subsequent election, and he has lost each time. He is a determined man.
Having lost the last three elections, Ortega tried a new tactic this time. He ran on a platform ‘reconciliation and peace,’ and he mended rifts with his former enemies, the Contras. In fact, he chose Jaime Morales, the former leader of the Contras, to be his running mate! Ortega also smoothed things over with another major political power, the Catholic Church, with whom he had serious friction in the 1980´s. Clearly, a lot has changed since the Sandinistas have been out of power. They have become a lot more moderate, and a lot more willing to work with opposition to find acceptable compromises, thus maintaining peace during a turbulent period.
But like the liberals, the Sandinistas were not fully united either. There are many Sandinistas who do not like Daniel Ortega, and they are upset that he continues to run for president every election, rather than stepping aside and letting others take charge. Thus they formed another Sandinista party, the MRS, and chose as their candidate the beloved former mayor of Managua, a man named Herty. Unfortunately, he suffered a heart attack and died this summer, effectively ending their chances of gaining the presidency.
In the weeks before the election, the favorites were the ALN´s Montealegre and the FSLN´s Ortega, but neither had a decisive advantage. When the elections took place, everyone waited with baited breath for the outcome. To keep things calm, the sale of alcohol was prohibited and the discos were closed. Lots of election officials were present, including those from the United States and Europe, to insure that no one would manipulate the outcome.
Everyone voted on Sunday, November 5, but the results would not be official until Tuesday. On Sunday night, it was clear that Ortega had surged to an early lead, and the Sandinistas started partying like it was 1979. I woke up at 5am on Monday to some explosions that sounded like gunshots. I poked my head out the window to see if all hell had broken loose, but what I found was the neighborhood kids shooting fireworks and waving Sandanista flags. Nevertheless, the election was far from decided.
On Tuesday, I traveled to my new home of Matagalpa, where everyone was eagerly awaiting the official announcement. Knowing that I was in a Sandinista stronghold, I put on my Sandinista t-shirt with the expectation that it would generate some entertaining discussion. It wasn´t two minutes before a guy pulled me into a bar and started buying me drinks—‘A friend of the Frente is a friend of mine,’ he said. Then we watched on television as the results were announced. The winner was Daniel Ortega! The town went crazy, and my new friends and I jumped into a pickup truck to zoom around town in a spontaneous victory parade. It was surreal. I was watching history unfold before my eyes. The only event in my memory that I could compare this to was watching television coverage of the fall of the Berlin Wall of 1989. But being in Nicaragua in person made this moment much more vivid. Nicaragua has hope again! It brings tears to my eyes to reflect on this moment.
What can we expect from El Frente Sandinista in the next five years? Their general political philosophy is a social-democratic, mixed economy, probably most similar to that of Scandinavia. They aim to provide better social services for the poor and promise not to nationalize anyone´s private property or business. This comes at a good time, because every since the Sandinistas lost power in 1980, illiteracy has been climbing, health care has become deplorable, and chronic unemployment is decimating communities and families.
Can the Sandinistas follow through on their promises? We´ll have to wait and see. However, they already had a significant degree of success in the 1980´s, especially considering that the United States was doing everything possible, including violating International Law, to destroy them. Hopefully the U.S. has learned its lesson in Iraq and will not try to manipulate Nicaraguan politics this time around. Now if only there were a presidential candidate in the United States who ran on a platform of ‘reconciliation and peace’ in 2008, THAT would be someone I could vote for!
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Report from the island of Ometepe
Just after moving to my new home in Matagalpa, I had the opportunity to do some traveling with two friends from the States, Kelly and Erinn. Kelly is easy to distinguish because she has the best laugh in the Northern Hemisphere—her only rival is Dean’s friend Michelle, from New Zealand. I’d give just about anything to see those two girls in the same room together. Will it happen someday? I’m sure of it. When Dean gets married (hypothetically speaking), I will do everything in my power to make sure that both are in attendance. Then we’ll have a laugh-off, and it will be the event of the century.
Kelly is best friends with Erinn. They are so tight that I sometimes confuse their names, much like others did when I lived with Luke Hartley (some suspected we were a gay couple) or when I lived with Nick (we were self-described Siamese twins). My connection with the girls is that Erinn’s boyfriend is Todd, Todd went to high school with Nick, and Nick introduced me to Kelly when she moved to the Bay Area. The fact that Todd, Erinn, Kelly, and I are all in Central America at the same time is quite remarkable. It certainly helped that Todd has a job with the State Department in Honduras and that I withdrew from graduate school for a semester, but nevertheless, the timing was uncanny.
Now, to the travels. We met up in Masaya and headed the next day to San Juan del Sur, world famous for its surfing. In all my time in Nicaragua, I had yet to go to the beach, so it was really nice to float around in the ocean and cool off. I also liked the fact that we could stay in a beach-front hotel for four dollars a night. But the real highlight of our time was when Erinn and Kelly treated each other to grilled lobster, fine wine, and for dessert, banana splits. It was truly an Epicurean delight.
Next we went to the island of Ometepe, located in a gigantic lake, the largest in Central America. The island is composed of two volcanoes, Concepción and Maderas. Of course, since they were there, we had to climb them. We chose Maderas, and we were not disappointed. It had rain forest, cloud forest, howler monkeys, birds, and to every girl’s delight, chocolate growing on trees. I had never see monkeys in the wild before, so I turned to Kelly, a real animal lover, and told her, "It feels like we are at the zoo!" She didn’t find it nearly as funny as I did. To be honest, what I liked even better than watching the monkeys was watching Kelly watch the monkeys. It was like watching a girl eat chocolate—it’s way better than if I eat it myself, because I just can’t appreciate it as much. Anyway, besides the great wildlife, the climb itself was formidable, and it took us nearly five hours to get to the top. But we were rewarded with a beautiful crater lake, and though we were surprised by the two feet of mud beneath the water, it made for a refreshing swim. Getting down was no small feat either. By the end of the hike, I was totally shredded, operating in survival mode, and my legs hurt for a week. I loved it.
Part of what had made my legs so tired was that the day before the hike, I went on a ridiculous bike ride. We had been staying in the town of Altagracia, and there was no ATM in sight. We heard rumors that there was one in Moyogalpa, about thirty kilometers away. Taking the bus there would be about an hour each way, and we had had plenty of bus traveling already. So I volunteered to ride a bike over there and withdraw some money for Kelly. Under ordinary circumstances, it would have been a breeze, but in this case, I needed to get back in time to catch the last bus to the other side of the island, where we would start our volcano hike. So I took off at breakneck speed, or at least as fast as I could go on the rickety bike I had borrowed from a kid off the street. I quickly discovered that the shifters didn’t work, which meant that I had to stand up on all the hills, much like Nick on his BMX. While it was fine for about the first fifteen minutes, after a while I thought my legs would explode. The other trouble was that the bottom bracket was either seriously loose or cracked, which meant that every pedal stroke uphill sounded like a dying animal. Nevertheless, I made it to my destination in good time. Dripping with sweat under the scorching tropical sun, I rode up to the bank security guard and asked him where the ATM was. Quite earnestly, he replied, "There are no ATMs on the island." Quite dumbfounded, I continued to prod, hoping that I could somehow conjure one if I asked the right question. Then he told me, "Well, we actually do have one, but it’s brand new and doesn’t have any money in it." He was right. There, in a small, air-conditioned room was the machine, lifeless and inert.
Still searching for answers, I realized that I had biked five minutes past my point of no return, the time I thought necessary to get back to Altagracia and catch the bus. So I quickly chugged a bottle of orange Fanta and set off in the direction that I had come. The last thing I wanted was to come back empty-handed AND miss the bus. Miraculously, the rear shifter started working, so I didn’t have to stand up on the hills on the way back. I didn’t check my watch at all while cycling because it wouldn’t make me go any faster, so when I got back to Altagracia, I had no idea if I was late. I found the girls eating lunch in the shade with a rather bemused expression on their faces. "What time is it?" I asked. "It’s 1:52, you’re twenty-two minutes late, and the bus already left," Erinn responded. Waiting for the effect to register, after a long pause, she added, "But don’t worry, there’s another bus coming at 2:30." Thus concluded my one and only bike ride in Nicaragua.
Kelly is best friends with Erinn. They are so tight that I sometimes confuse their names, much like others did when I lived with Luke Hartley (some suspected we were a gay couple) or when I lived with Nick (we were self-described Siamese twins). My connection with the girls is that Erinn’s boyfriend is Todd, Todd went to high school with Nick, and Nick introduced me to Kelly when she moved to the Bay Area. The fact that Todd, Erinn, Kelly, and I are all in Central America at the same time is quite remarkable. It certainly helped that Todd has a job with the State Department in Honduras and that I withdrew from graduate school for a semester, but nevertheless, the timing was uncanny.
Now, to the travels. We met up in Masaya and headed the next day to San Juan del Sur, world famous for its surfing. In all my time in Nicaragua, I had yet to go to the beach, so it was really nice to float around in the ocean and cool off. I also liked the fact that we could stay in a beach-front hotel for four dollars a night. But the real highlight of our time was when Erinn and Kelly treated each other to grilled lobster, fine wine, and for dessert, banana splits. It was truly an Epicurean delight.
Next we went to the island of Ometepe, located in a gigantic lake, the largest in Central America. The island is composed of two volcanoes, Concepción and Maderas. Of course, since they were there, we had to climb them. We chose Maderas, and we were not disappointed. It had rain forest, cloud forest, howler monkeys, birds, and to every girl’s delight, chocolate growing on trees. I had never see monkeys in the wild before, so I turned to Kelly, a real animal lover, and told her, "It feels like we are at the zoo!" She didn’t find it nearly as funny as I did. To be honest, what I liked even better than watching the monkeys was watching Kelly watch the monkeys. It was like watching a girl eat chocolate—it’s way better than if I eat it myself, because I just can’t appreciate it as much. Anyway, besides the great wildlife, the climb itself was formidable, and it took us nearly five hours to get to the top. But we were rewarded with a beautiful crater lake, and though we were surprised by the two feet of mud beneath the water, it made for a refreshing swim. Getting down was no small feat either. By the end of the hike, I was totally shredded, operating in survival mode, and my legs hurt for a week. I loved it.
Part of what had made my legs so tired was that the day before the hike, I went on a ridiculous bike ride. We had been staying in the town of Altagracia, and there was no ATM in sight. We heard rumors that there was one in Moyogalpa, about thirty kilometers away. Taking the bus there would be about an hour each way, and we had had plenty of bus traveling already. So I volunteered to ride a bike over there and withdraw some money for Kelly. Under ordinary circumstances, it would have been a breeze, but in this case, I needed to get back in time to catch the last bus to the other side of the island, where we would start our volcano hike. So I took off at breakneck speed, or at least as fast as I could go on the rickety bike I had borrowed from a kid off the street. I quickly discovered that the shifters didn’t work, which meant that I had to stand up on all the hills, much like Nick on his BMX. While it was fine for about the first fifteen minutes, after a while I thought my legs would explode. The other trouble was that the bottom bracket was either seriously loose or cracked, which meant that every pedal stroke uphill sounded like a dying animal. Nevertheless, I made it to my destination in good time. Dripping with sweat under the scorching tropical sun, I rode up to the bank security guard and asked him where the ATM was. Quite earnestly, he replied, "There are no ATMs on the island." Quite dumbfounded, I continued to prod, hoping that I could somehow conjure one if I asked the right question. Then he told me, "Well, we actually do have one, but it’s brand new and doesn’t have any money in it." He was right. There, in a small, air-conditioned room was the machine, lifeless and inert.
Still searching for answers, I realized that I had biked five minutes past my point of no return, the time I thought necessary to get back to Altagracia and catch the bus. So I quickly chugged a bottle of orange Fanta and set off in the direction that I had come. The last thing I wanted was to come back empty-handed AND miss the bus. Miraculously, the rear shifter started working, so I didn’t have to stand up on the hills on the way back. I didn’t check my watch at all while cycling because it wouldn’t make me go any faster, so when I got back to Altagracia, I had no idea if I was late. I found the girls eating lunch in the shade with a rather bemused expression on their faces. "What time is it?" I asked. "It’s 1:52, you’re twenty-two minutes late, and the bus already left," Erinn responded. Waiting for the effect to register, after a long pause, she added, "But don’t worry, there’s another bus coming at 2:30." Thus concluded my one and only bike ride in Nicaragua.
Friday, November 03, 2006
Wrapping up in Siuna
In a couple of days, just after the Nicaraguan presidential election, I will be leaving Siuna and heading to the town of Matagalpa, where I might live until Christmas. This represents a change of plans, as I had originally intended to spend all my time in Siuna. However, things rarely go as we expect them to, and in my case, the professors that I have been working with just don’t have enough time to commit to my classes. That should come as no surprise—they are just as busy as professors in our country. But for me, without that work, there is little point for me to remain in Siuna. In the past week, I wrote up a comprehensive document in regards to teaching English here, so when the next teacher comes, they’ll know what to expect and how to best carry out the classes.
Upon reflection, I have enjoyed a number of things during my time in Siuna. Here’s a few:
1. Throwing food scraps out the kitchen window
2. Riding in the back of pickups
3. Watching thunderstorms and listening to the rain hitting the tin roofs
4. Watching cowboys drive cattle past our house
5. Using the airstrip as a soccer field (when planes aren’t landing)
6. Nigaraguan beer
7. Laying in a hammock on a hot day
A couple of weeks ago, I went back to the United States for my sister’s wedding. It was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed seeing my relatives and my parents’ old friends. Also tremendously entertaining was my ten-year high school reunion. What made it especially exciting was that all my best friends came back for it, with the exception being Eiji, who lives in Japan. We had a good turnout overall, and it was neat to see how my classmates had changed over the past ten years. A delightful surprise was that all the old social cliques had disappeared, and all of us were able to talk to each other with mutual respect and admiration. Unfortunately, many of the more socially marginalized students from the high school days did not come back. Too bad, because I’m sure they would have been some of the most interesting people to talk to.
One incident of culture shock that I did not expect was in seeing Memphis girls again. My high school classmates had all married girls that looked like models, and when we went out for drinks in a trendy part of town, I thought we had stepped into a professional photo shoot. Perhaps I have simply been living in Berkeley for too long, but it still struck me as odd. Why do girls try so hard to be sexy?
On the flip side, one might ask, Why do guys spend so much time watching sports? I can’t believe how many baseball playoff games I watched in October, both in Nicaragua and in Memphis. At one point, I think I saw seven games in three days here in Siuna. Now to be fair, my beloved Cardinals were in the playoffs, and I had to watch all the other games in order to see who the Cardinals might be playing in the next round. So I watched the Tigers vs. Yankees, the A’s vs. Twins, the Mets vs. Dodgers, and the Cardinals vs. Padres. Once the Cardinals advanced to the next round, I was glued to the television as they played seven games against the Mets. Watching Adam Wainright strike out Carlos Beltran to advance to the World Series was an unforgettable moment.
Against the Tigers in the World Series, the Cardinals were probably the biggest underdogs in decades. Many people wondered if the Cardinals were even going to win one game. That made it even sweeter to watch them demolish the Tigers, taking four of five. It was sweet vindication for getting swept by the Red Sox in 2004. Also, I had been waiting for the Cardinals to win the World Series championship since 1985, the year I began collecting baseball cards. To be honest, I still don’t really believe they won, so I’m going to watch tapes of the World Series over Christmas break, just to make sure.
Now that I’m back in Nicaragua, what am I up to for the next six weeks? I’ll be living in the town of Matagalpa, which is a trendy town nestled in some beautiful mountains. The weather is cool, and the outdoor possibilities are endless. If any of you want to visit between now and December 20, I’d love to see you! It’s super cheap to live here (I spend about seven dollars a day for food and housing), the only significant cost would be an airplane ticket (i.e. $550 roundtrip from San Francisco to Managua). Let me know if you are interested in coming, and we’ll make it happen!
In the meantime, I’m going to be helping develop local tourism in Matagalpa. You know when I wrote to you with my idea about starting a mountain bike company down here? Well, I found a group that did! They’re called Matagalpa Tours, and you can check them out on their website, http://www.matagalpatours.com This is a very unexplored part of Nicaragua, so it’s perfect for the adventurous types.
That’s all for now. I miss you guys!
Upon reflection, I have enjoyed a number of things during my time in Siuna. Here’s a few:
1. Throwing food scraps out the kitchen window
2. Riding in the back of pickups
3. Watching thunderstorms and listening to the rain hitting the tin roofs
4. Watching cowboys drive cattle past our house
5. Using the airstrip as a soccer field (when planes aren’t landing)
6. Nigaraguan beer
7. Laying in a hammock on a hot day
A couple of weeks ago, I went back to the United States for my sister’s wedding. It was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed seeing my relatives and my parents’ old friends. Also tremendously entertaining was my ten-year high school reunion. What made it especially exciting was that all my best friends came back for it, with the exception being Eiji, who lives in Japan. We had a good turnout overall, and it was neat to see how my classmates had changed over the past ten years. A delightful surprise was that all the old social cliques had disappeared, and all of us were able to talk to each other with mutual respect and admiration. Unfortunately, many of the more socially marginalized students from the high school days did not come back. Too bad, because I’m sure they would have been some of the most interesting people to talk to.
One incident of culture shock that I did not expect was in seeing Memphis girls again. My high school classmates had all married girls that looked like models, and when we went out for drinks in a trendy part of town, I thought we had stepped into a professional photo shoot. Perhaps I have simply been living in Berkeley for too long, but it still struck me as odd. Why do girls try so hard to be sexy?
On the flip side, one might ask, Why do guys spend so much time watching sports? I can’t believe how many baseball playoff games I watched in October, both in Nicaragua and in Memphis. At one point, I think I saw seven games in three days here in Siuna. Now to be fair, my beloved Cardinals were in the playoffs, and I had to watch all the other games in order to see who the Cardinals might be playing in the next round. So I watched the Tigers vs. Yankees, the A’s vs. Twins, the Mets vs. Dodgers, and the Cardinals vs. Padres. Once the Cardinals advanced to the next round, I was glued to the television as they played seven games against the Mets. Watching Adam Wainright strike out Carlos Beltran to advance to the World Series was an unforgettable moment.
Against the Tigers in the World Series, the Cardinals were probably the biggest underdogs in decades. Many people wondered if the Cardinals were even going to win one game. That made it even sweeter to watch them demolish the Tigers, taking four of five. It was sweet vindication for getting swept by the Red Sox in 2004. Also, I had been waiting for the Cardinals to win the World Series championship since 1985, the year I began collecting baseball cards. To be honest, I still don’t really believe they won, so I’m going to watch tapes of the World Series over Christmas break, just to make sure.
Now that I’m back in Nicaragua, what am I up to for the next six weeks? I’ll be living in the town of Matagalpa, which is a trendy town nestled in some beautiful mountains. The weather is cool, and the outdoor possibilities are endless. If any of you want to visit between now and December 20, I’d love to see you! It’s super cheap to live here (I spend about seven dollars a day for food and housing), the only significant cost would be an airplane ticket (i.e. $550 roundtrip from San Francisco to Managua). Let me know if you are interested in coming, and we’ll make it happen!
In the meantime, I’m going to be helping develop local tourism in Matagalpa. You know when I wrote to you with my idea about starting a mountain bike company down here? Well, I found a group that did! They’re called Matagalpa Tours, and you can check them out on their website, http://www.matagalpatours.com This is a very unexplored part of Nicaragua, so it’s perfect for the adventurous types.
That’s all for now. I miss you guys!
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