Jack Pine? Dunno.

Here is another picture from Tisey. A windblown pine that was right at the top of the ridge. It reminded me right off of some Group of Seven paintings you might have seen.

Tisey.

Its full name is 'Reserva Natural Tisey Estanzuela'.

Estelí, I might have mentioned, is nestled in a mountain valley at an altitude of about 2750 feet in north western Nicaragua. All around us are mountain peaks and ridges, many of which are home to natural areas where tourists and locals can go to enjoy walking in very steep forested areas such as Tisey. Another, which I hope to go to next week if possible, is called Miraflor.

Fourteen of us headed out at about 1 in the afternoon, for the 45 minute road trip to Tisey. I rode with six other men of various ages in the back of a pickup truck, which is a very common means of transportation all over this country. I am not a big one for this particular mode of transportation, but I managed to enjoy it this time by mostly keeping my mind off the inexorable laws of physics. Anyway, after a short trip on a highway, a slightly longer one on a cobbled road several kilometers long, and an even longer one on a very bad dirt track (longer in time, but much shorter in distance), we arrived at the park, which is actually a farm decked out with a small 'hotel' -- really not much more than a bunkhouse and outdoor eating area, though they do have a 'bridal suite'.

The bridal suite is an isolated cabin, with nothing more than a single small room containing a very large bed, and no decorations of any kind. It's clean and solid, and isolated, and costs three times what you would pay for a bunk in the main 'hotel'. Incidentally, that bunk would cost you about 50 córdobas, or roughly four dollars canadian.

When I called this a farm, you probably thought about cows, barns, and fields of corn or something of the sort. What you should have thought of was cows (yes), sugarcane, and a thick forest of fruit trees of various kinds, all growing together. The cattle, incidentally, were longhorns.

They also had some small patches of cabbage, which the cattle were in when we were there, and a large greenhouse where they grow plants for sale to visitors. It's quite an operation, billed as ecotourism.

Our main interest in going was to climb the side of the ridge to the top, where there is a very impressive lookout. From one side you can clearly see Estelí laid out before you. Imagine being in an airplane looking down. In the other direction is a range of volcanic mountains, including 4 live volcanoes visible from where we were. Two were smoking actively, and gave quite a show. Unfortunately, I couldn't get a decent picture of them, since they were so far away.

To give you an idea of how high we were, from our location, we could see lake Managua, and we were told that with a telescope you can see Managua from there, but to get to Estelí­ from Managua is over two hours by bus, and we are significantly north of the lake, too. It's also a good hour and a half by bus from the pacific coast, but we could see the ocean from our vantage point: a glimmer of light on the far horizon as the sun went down.

It was cold and windy up there, too, but still I managed to get sunburned. The cold mixed with the tropical environment meant the somewhat surrealistic sight (for me) of pine trees with cactus growing beneath them. Kinda cool.

hmmm... four generations!

I just realised that I'm staying in a four-generation family. Bosco is my age or a bit younger, so it's hard to imagine him as a grandfather. Nevertheless, his 18 year-old daughter gave birth a couple of months ago, so he is. His Mother is probably about seventy or so, but I can't really tell and would not dare to ask. So there you have it: Doña Rosario, Bosco, Seylma and Daniela. All wonderful people and great hosts.

Incidentally, doña is a title. Literally 'lady', it's a title of respect given to older women, particularly in their own homes, but also elsewhere. Basically, I have the impression that I should call all older women 'doña', and I do -- but I haven't yet figured out when to drop 'doña' in favour of 'Señora'. Eventually, I suppose I will.

Christmas in Nicaragua

Estelí, Nicaragua
Originally uploaded by Sbmoot.

It's Christmas eve in Nicaragua (and, I suppose, elsewhere too). My host family -- Bosco, his mother Doña Rosario, his two daughters Seylma and Daniela, and Seylma's daughter Jaime -are getting ready for the big midnight celebration. Mostly this means preparing food. Vegetables are being chopped,chicken is being shredded and cooked, and of course, the rice and beans are being prepared for the pot.

We'll have a small meal at six this evening, but the main meal will be at midnight. There will also be backyard fireworks of the kind that used to be used in Canada before they became illegal, and a certain amount of rum. This is the city, after all, where drinking isn't seen in quite the negative light it is in the country, though drinking to excess is still strongly frowned upon in general.

We'll just have a little rum, probably mixed with something after the first toast.

Based on my observations from last year, there won't be a gift exchange, but there will be a lot of well-wishing, and family members (along with many friends) will stop by during the evening to wish everyone a feliz navidad.

Tomorrow, the streets of Estelí will be rolled up -- that is, everything will be closed but the church and maybe one or two of the little shops with owners more eager than most to make a sale. There will, however, be a hymn sing later in the week, and a religious procession through the streets of Estelí­ with the sanctified Host held aloft in a special, very ornate ... well, I suppose you'd have to call it a 'host holder', though I'm sure it has a better name than that. I really must ask.

Here we have a picture of Estelí­, taken at about 1 PM on Friday, December 24, 2004. Feliz Navidad, everyone.

Estelí. What a town

It's a little wild west around the edges, and it's got a bit of edge that says 'look at me! I'm important!' (and in some ways Estelí is important), but overall, Estelí­ is a nice little city.

There are almost no buildings over 2 stories, and of course the largest structure in town is a church. People live in the city, but some of them work as cowboys just out of town, so of course they ride their horses down the streets and park them outside their houses. Because the city is trying to attract tourists, some come, though the infrastructure isn't great. Salespeople line their wares -- some very, very tacky -- along the curb, while others hawk them to you as you sit innocently on the park bench (I was offered a hammock, a watch, and to have my hiking boots shined).

The sidewalks are filled with commerce - so much so that you have to walk on the street sometimes, which is a way to take your life in your hands. The drivers don't necessarily care that you're there.

Back during the revolutionary war, in the 1970s, Estelí­ was bombed to rubble by the dictator, Somoza, and when Estelí­ fell to the Sandinista Front (FSLN), Somoza fled, leaving Managua open to the new government. Then, during the Contra War of the 80s, Esteli­ was a frequent target of the USA's guerrilla force (the Contras), not so much for attacks as a source of fighters -- young people were pressed into service in the Contra brigades whether they wanted to fight for them or not. This was not helped by the fact that the FSLN, in power at the time, brought in compulsory military service in the early 80s, mainly because of the contra threat. Even so, Estelí is a loyal revolutionary town to this day.

But today, commerce, not war, is the name of the game. There is a lot of poverty, like everywhere in Nicaragua, but people are fighting as best they can, and Estelí is also full of social organizations trying to change things for the better. It's still a very left-wing city, in its way.

I ran across an impromptu tourist trap near the cathedral. The fellow wanted me to buy his tacky little plaster animals, but all I did was take this picture. They weren't really my kind of thing anyway, but they were picturesque enough from the right angle. Maybe this is that angle. Or maybe not. The horse in the background, all shrunk down by perspective, is real.

Niquinohomo -- birthplace of Sandino

So, now I have to test this blog software to see whether I can post a
message and a photo together by email. Hopefully, this will turn out
to be as easy as I have been led to believe.

The picture was taken by Gonzalo Duarte. It is of the statue of General
Sandino, which can be found at a main crossroads of the town of
Niquinohomo, Nicaragua. On the left is the Nicaragua flag. On the right
is the black and red flag of the Sandinista Liberation Front (FSLN).

carnation

carnation
Originally uploaded by Sbmoot.

This is really just a test, to see whether this picture will appear in the blog. After all, a big part of the point of this is to be able to upload some pictures instead of just sending text. The picture is a detail from a mural in a playground in Estelí, Nicaragua, where I'm about to spend three weeks learning Spanish (again!). If this works, I'll be able to upload the occasional picture for the parents and friends of the group to see while the students of the Champlain St-Lambert Nicaragua Brigade are in Managua / Niquinohomo / Las Crucitas.