Singing for The Virgin

An Altar to the Virgin Mary, built outside this home 

Hundreds of people were dashing about in the street to get in lines. Statues of the Virgin were in the front rooms and patios of many houses surrounded by caroling children.December 7^th in the Catholic calendar marks the Conception of the Virgin Mary. In Nicaragua, homes open their doors to waves of singing families to honor the Holy Mother. If you’ve wanted to get a good example of how much Roman Catholics from Latin America venerate Mary, you’ll never find a bigger show than Purisima night.

Last year, I was living in a very Protestant town at the time of the celebrations, so I never really got the chance to see how big a party it was.

Kathya and her family went all out in
getting gifts to give away to the carolers.

Preparations began months in advance. My fiancé’s family home is one of about a dozen houses that host the events in her tiny Carazo town. Everywhere up until the date, her parents were buying huge amounts of small plastic containers and filling them with candy and small toys. An entire room in her house was being occupied by the volume of Purisima gifts.
The days before had little celebrations in some houses. One night we went to one and a traditional Fireworks Bull was lit. The game is that someone runs with the bull trying to get sparks on the others. Children, mainly boys, run up to try and get as close as possible before having to run away from the rampaging fire beast.
Finally the day came. My mom flew in from home the night before, so she was able to share in the big event. We spent the morning preparing the last bits of the decorations and adorning the Virgin’s altar in patio. By night fall, the children had come in from all over and outside of the town. They would come in in groups to sing in front of the statue and afterwards they would shout, “Quien causa tanta alegría?” To which all would yell, including my mom, “La Concepción de María!”

I thought it was odd that people were receiving tons of cups, so I asked Kathya why they use them. She explained that the tradition began in the city of Leon. There, the people used to hand out gifts in tiny colored baskets. Some places still hold onto this basket tradition.

“We buy the cups because it’s more economic.” Kathya said. “They are also very useful in the house. The people really like them.”

Finally, the night won over the festive singing and the people migrated back to their homes. I’ve heard a lot of volunteers refer to Purissima as the combination of Halloween and Christmas.
Personally, I saw something that deserves to be in a category on its own. It was much more about religion than Halloween and very ritualistic compared Christmas. Purisima is a purely Nica celebration, and not one to be missed.

ECO Camp - July 2012

English Creates Opportunities (ECO) Camp was created by the U.S. Embassy for rural Nicaraguan kids who otherwise wouldn't be able to afford a weeklong camp studying English. For several months we promoted the camp and designed classes.

Half of the counselors at the ECO Camp were Peace Corps Volunteers and the other half were Nicaraguan teachers. This made it more similar to the normal classes that I teach in my service.  

U.S. Embassy events are much more student-oriented, though, trying to give more opportunities to Nicaraguan youth as well as improve relations between the two countries.  So few Nicaraguan children have ever experienced a camp setting. So when their week was complete, there were so many tears.

The Counselors of ECO Camp 

July 2012

Classes were divided into a few categories:

• Environmental Studies - learning about the problems of pollution and littering. They learned about biodiversity and ecosystems.
• Cultural Studies - primarily talked about cultural diversity, comparing aspects of countries around the world with the U.S. and Nicaragua
• Civics - comparing the structures of American and Nicaraguan governments. 

Another favorite activity was the Reading Club. We sat in rocking chairs on the patio and took turns reading paragraphs from Tom Sawyer in English. Then, as a group, we discussed different aspects each evening.

I taught the American Civics class, We talked about elections and held one of our own! The students campaigned for the office of President, created platforms about real Nicaraguan issues, and then everyone voted. It was lots of fun for everyone! The kids loved it!

I got really good reviews, which leads me to believe I was on the right track!!

I loved being part of this camp and would really like to try to help create more camps like this for the Nicaraguan youth. They were so excited to learn and experience everything we had to offer. 

It was an enormously gratifying experience!

Paradise at Montelimar

I had heard a lot of things about Montelimar. Nicaraguans refer to it as a mystical place almost on the scale of some biblical Promised Land. I decided it was time to find out.

It was in the middle of September, and I thought that that would be the best place to take my girlfriend, Kathya, for our anniversary. I saved up and borrowed a sum of 3,600 cordobas to pay for us both. That isn’t counting the 500 cordobas I needed to get to her house from my site and back. So overall this was already going to be a pricey trip.

We took buses north from Carazo to El Crucero and waited in the windy highlands for about an hour for a bus to Pochomil. We took it all the way to our stop and switched to Pedi-Cab for another 20 minutes before arriving at the giant Barceló hotel.

The first thing you notice as you enter is just how manicured everything is. This might be an effect of being a Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV) for almost a year, but it did take me aback. The Barceló is more than a nice hotel in Granada. It really is something totally different from the whole Nicaraguan experience.

After check-in, Kathya and I headed for the bungalo that I had reserved. The bed stole the show for me. It was enormous, about three meters wide and almost as long. Crashing into its soft white clouds for pillows was a brief euphoric moment. We helped ourselves to the icy beverages in the minibar before changing into swimsuits and walking out to the pool.

As far as fun in the sun goes, Montelimar is pretty normal for a resort. There’s water volleyball and basketball. Some of the workers teach aerobics or dance classes by the pool. A few ping pong and billards tables and even a giant chess board can be found. There was a terrible mini-golf course that was made of concrete only. Someone forgot that without the grass, what’s to stop the ball form just rolling around forever.

The food brought things back up. Although it says on the website that there are 4 restaurants, two serve mainly snacks like hotdogs or nachos. One is only open to guests that stay for more than three nights, but the food is supposed to be divine. But the fourth restaurant is the real meat of Montelimar! FABULOUS!!! Kathya and I gorged on the huge line of diverse delicacies to the point of pure gluttony.

Lounging by the pool, sipping rum drinks and laughing about the past year would have been enough of anniversary for us, but it didn’t stop there. As the sun went down, so began the shows. We went to the theater in time for the crowd warm-up of trivia. We managed to pull off a huge victory with a prize, a two liter bottle of vodka. Not too shabby!

The night heated up as we watched a dance performance of “country” music. It was more of a Kumbaya in cowgirl outfits but whatever. It was still fun, especially after all those house drinks.

After we had had enough, Kathya and I caught a ride on the Montelimar express, a tractor-driven train that makes moving around the resort much easier. We both curled up together one last time in that heavenly bed and drifted off too sleep.