Some reading recommendations...

I have read a good amount of books since I got to Corinto. Peace Corps Volunteers have a great informal book exchange system going so I almost always have a supply of recommended books to be reading. Whenever we get together we usually bring a book or two we have just read and trade with others. Since most Peace Corps volunteers in Nicaragua dont have TVs (although most Nicaraguans do) we end up doing a lot of reading! Anyways, since its the Christmas season and people are thinking about what they want to give or recieve I thought Id put down the books that Ive read in Corinto for some ideas. I honestly liked all of the books Ive read except one.

Here are the books Ive read, in order of when I read them (and yes, I do keep a list):

The Blood of Brothers by Stephen Kinzer
This is a book about the war here in Nicaragua during the 1980s between the Sandinistas and the Contras (aka U.S. Government). Its a really good read for anyone that is thinking about visiting me or is curious what exactly happened here in Nicaragua during the 80s.

The Best American Non-Required Reading 2006 by Various Authors
This was a gift to me before I left for Nicaragua and I really enjoyed it. Editors pick out random reading material such as newspaper articles, short stories, graduation speeches or blog entries and compile them into this book. The 2006 edition was great and Im sure the 2007 edition would be just as good. Its great as a book to just pick up and read whenever, you dont need to read them in order.

Confessions of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins
This book is really interesting for anyone interested in international politics, especially U.S. work in developing countries. It is the true story of a guy who says he ended up screwing over a lot of developing countries while working for the U.S. government all in the name of helping developing countries. Im not sure I believe everything in the book, but nonetheless it is a very interesting read.

Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
This was also a gift before I left. It took a while to get into but turned into some of the best writing and storytelling I have ever read in a novel. Its such a unique story thats written in a wierd style but I would definitly recommend it to anyone interested in something a little different.

Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder
The best book that Ive read here. It is the story of a Harvard doctor that opens a clinic in rural Haiti. It is very well written and the story solidified my desire to get a Masters in Public Health and work in international public health when I am done with Peace Corps.

Lost in Transmission by Jonathan Harley
Ive been told this book is out of print, but if you can find it, its definitly worth the read. Its about an Australian journalist that gets posted to the Indian subcontinent in 2000. As the events of 9/11 unfold he is assigned to Afghanistan and other countries in the area. He weaves the current news stories of the day with his own struggle as a person adapting to living and working in India and Afghanistan. Since its written by an Australian, it also offers a different perspective on those events.

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
Ive been told there is a movie from this book. The book, although a bit depressing it is a very well written and well informed novel about an Indian family that has moved to the United States. Maybe I just like all the books that are about foreigners adapting in a new country, but the story and characters are very real which make this a very interesting read.

Naked by David Sedaris
A typical David Sedaris book with different disconnected stories about his life growing up. It is definitly funny and an easy read. Its a good beach or brainless book, but it doesnt have a lot of meat to it.

Dreams of my Father by Barack Obama
This is the first book by Obama before he hit the national political stage. For that exact reason it is a compelling book. His words are not glossed over by fears of how it might affect his campaigns. He talks candidly about his views, angers and drug use. I feel like I got an idea of how he thinks which is an important thing to know about a presidential candidate. And besides all that, his story of growing up is just plain interesting with a Kenyan father and a Kansan mother and growing up in Hawaii, Indonesia and L.A.

The Things they Carried by Tim OBrien
I had wanted to read this book for a while and Im glad I finally did. It is about the Vietnam war. OBrien is a very skilled writer and writes this book not as a continuous story but different fragments of one big complicated story. OBrien is a Vietnam veteran and I feel like I got a better idea the experience as a young man in war and now as an older man struggling with his memories. Its a quick read and I definitely recommend it.

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Housseini
This is the second book by the author of The Kite Runner. I cant say if this was better or worse than the Kite Runner but its woth the read. It follows the story of two women in Afghanistan and the impossible lives that they are leading. It gives good insight into the history of Afghanistan although much of the story is very depressing.

The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
Since I work trying to convince Nicaraguan adolescents to live healthily, I thought that this book was very useful. It describes the phenomenon of how trends or behaviors change. It is very anecdotal so its an easy read and the information is valuable to anyone, no matter where you work or live.

Hawaii by James Michner
This book was 1034 pages so its a bit of a time investment. That being said, I am super glad I read it. Michner writes historical novels that are full histories of a region. In this case he starts in Hawaii with how the volcanoes were formed, moving to the story of the first inhabitants of the islands and how they got there. The majority of the story involves the missionaries and other immigrants that came to the islands over the years between the early 1800s and 1900s and how they shaped the history of the islands. I read the first half of this book, set it down for a couple of weeks and then read the second half. Its a committment but well worth it.

The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
Anyone that lives in Chicago should read this book. It is the true story of a serial murderer in Chicago during the time of the worlds fair in Chicago. I have lived in the Chicago area my whole life but didnt really know anything about the worlds fair or this murderer. They both are fascinating stories. Larson did tons of research and writes this book like a novel using dialogues from the real life diaries of the people in the book.

All I really Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten by Robert Fulghum
This was the one book I didnt really like. A little corny for me. But I read it because I picked it up to see what it was about and when I realized it was crap, I was on page 50. The book only had 190 pages so I thought, what the hell, Ill just finish it. And thats how it got on this list, but I dont recommend it. Unless of course you like corny, which some people do and thats ok...

Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone by J.K. Rowling
I had never read a Harry Potter book nor seen a movie so I felt like I was finally in the loop on pop culture. Everyone knows about this book so Ill just say, if youve been avoiding Harry Potter, dont, you should read this, its a fun read.

Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger
I hear that this is a popular TV show in the States now. But I guarantee the book is better. It follows a west Texas football team through a season in the 80s. It talks about race, economics and the dynamics of a football team. A good read that kind of made me want to play high school sports again.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
Ditto.

The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger
Ive never seen the movie but the book was great. Apparently the commercial fishing industry is really interesting and I never knew! It is a very interesting story of a boat lost at sea but it also give info on storm systems, rescue operations, the fishing industry, and the ocean.

The Kalahari Typing School for Men by Alexander McCall Smith
Quick easy fun read. Its about a womens detective agency in Africa and small simple stories that result. It is a book series but you dont need to read them in order.

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
Im not going to lie, I borrowed this book because it had the word elephant in the title and I love elephants. It doesnt have much to do with elephants but the story is still great. It is about an old man in a nursing home who is recalling his memories as a young orphaned man working with a travelling circus. The world of a travelling circus in the 1930s is really fascinating and the author definitely did her work finding out all the details about that life. This is one of my very recommended books.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson
If you want to know what using all sorts of crazy drugs is like but dont actually want to use them, just read this book. It is written as one big trip in Las Vegas in the 70s. I enjoyed reading it but Im not sure everyone would.

The Firm by John Grisham
A page turner. Somehow Ive never read this extremely popular book but Im glad I did! Ive read other Grisham books and he always knows how to weave together a great story. Also recommended, but everyone has probably already read it!

Anyways, those are my recommendations for Xmas gifts. Im trying to be in the christmas spirit here, but 90 degree weather makes it tough. But Im not complaining, Im worried about the freezing cold when I get home! See everyone soon!

La Griteria

One of the biggest celebrations of the year just took place yesterday, December 7th. They call this day La Griteria, or in my crudely translated Spanish, The Shouting. It celebrates the Virgin Mary on the day before the religious holiday celebrating the Conception of the Virgin Mary on December 8th.

I had been waiting to see what this holiday was like for a long time. For the past 3 months Nicas have been telling me, ´Youve never been here for the Griteria, its so alegre, so alegre. Its so happy´. I figured it was a good holiday, but its hard to get excited about a holiday that youve never seen and isn´t part of your tradition growing up. My neighbors and co-workers were anxiously awaiting this day but I was indifferent; I was just happy I was getting a half day off work to do some long needed clothes washing. But, after participating last night, I think this holiday won me over.

The holiday is similar to Halloween except that it celebrates the Virgin Mary instead of all things freaky and devilish. But the main idea is that kids and adults go around ´shouting´ to peoples houses that have an altar of the Virgin Mary set up and yell ´Quien causa tanta alegria? ´ which means, Who causes so much happiness? Then the person inside the house responds with ´La Concepcion de Maria´ or The Conception of the Virgin Mary. Then the people visiting the house start singing various songs praising the glory and sanctity of the Virgin Mary. As the visitors are singing, the people inside the house hand out presents to the people singing. These gifts can be anything such as candy, juices, laundry detergent, matches, whistles, plates, buckets, ice cream, firecrackers, or balloons. Really anything goes, and it obviously usually depends on how much money the family has. When a family gives out plates or buckets or ice cream there is usually a huge crowd outside the house, everyone shouting and singing. It can get kind of crazy!

I think I like it better than Halloween for a the folloing reasons. First, everyone participates, not just kids. Second, its not just candy, its random stuff. I received a hand sewn matchbox holder to hang on my wall, I never even knew they existed, and now I have one. What a nice surprise! Third, the timing of the holiday couldnt be better. Families giving out presents to whoever comes to their door all in the name of the Virgin Mary, it put me in the Christmas spirit!

Here is a website that talks a little bit more about the traditions of the holiday:
http://www.vianica.com/go/specials/8-december-celebrations-nicaragua.html

And here is a passage I found that apparently explains the history of the holiday:

The story goes that Bishop Monseñor Isidro Augusto Oviedo y Reyes made a promise to the Virgin Mary as he sought her protection from the violent eruptions of the Cerro Negro volcano in Leon, Nicaragua that occured from late July and early August of 1947. The volcano had been sending rivers of lava down its slopes and raining sand and ash down upon the streets of Leon with increasing fury for weeks. For her protection of the city, he promised that Leonesas would celebrate her assumption with city-wide processions every year on this day.

This celebration of penitence is also referred to as “Purísima de Penitencia” or “Virgin Mary of Penitence.” This particular day is unique to Leon while the rest of the nation (and Leon again) celebrates the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary on December 7th.

Here are some pictures of the La Griteria in Corinto:

The altar of the Virgin Mary a family friend put up.


Kids shouting and singing to the altar.


You cant see this well, but it is the central park in Corinto, complete with Xmas tree and Xmas lights.


Here are the family friends kids in front of the xmas tree. I went with them to go ´shouting´ as they call it.



This is one of the houses that gave out plates so there was a crowd in front.


Thats all I have for right now. Ill be heading home in less than 2 weeks, I hope to see people then!

The pics finally...

I finally got some of the pictures loaded.



This is a pic of some youth group kids putting an HIV awareness poster on the back of the buses that go between Corinto and the big city, Chinandega. As I have mentioned before these buses are old school buses from the U.S. Unfortunately this one is not painted interestingly, some of them are painted really bright colors with cool designs.



This was during the pool tournement. I was teaching them how HIV is transmitted. The girl with me is someone that works with me, otherwise you probably wouldnt see any and women in the picture.



The guy who just shot the cue ball is the eventual champion.



Me with the champion and owner of the Billiards hall. The champion won about 15 dollars and a soccer ball.

December 1st

December 1^st was a lot of things for me this year.

I completed eight months living in Corinto on December 1^st. Since I have a 24 month commitment here, I am a third of the way done. Time is flying by, a little too fast if you ask me.

December 1^st was also the day my $50 monthly rent on my house was due. Not super important, but noteworthy.

It was also the start of December, the month that I go home to visit my friends and family in the States. It was the first day that this trip felt close and when I thought about it I got a very excited/anxious feeling in my stomach.

And, as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the health sector, December 1^st also meant that it was Dia Mundial Contra SIDA, or World AIDS Day. We as health volunteers are encouraged to organize our own activities or help with the organization of community activities on this day. Since my community is in an area of Nicaragua with a high incidence rate of HIV/AIDS, we have a Municipal Commission for the Fight Against AIDS. The main organizers of this committee are myself, my counterpart (who works at the health center in Corinto), and another Nicaraguan who is the head of a human rights NGO. The three of us are supported by representatives or volunteers from local schools, the Red Cross and other NGOs.

We organized three different events throughout the whole day. From 10am – 3pm we had informative booths with information in front of the supermarket, bus stop and in the central park. Members of my youth groups and members of the Commission were in charge of manning these booths. It was pretty successful because we got the information distributed but a lot of people were really embarrassed to approach the booths and take the information. So, the resourceful youth group members took the brochures and went in search of people, passing them out to taxi drivers and people who passed by but didn’t stop at the booth.

Then at 3pm, I planned a pool tournament at one of the local pool halls. One of the new focuses of the Peace Corps health program in Nicaragua is targeting men to encourage safe sex and healthy practices. Seems obvious right? But, in a strained health system like Nicaraguan, the country-wide health focus immediately goes to women and children, the most vulnerable. Since Peace Corps works directly with the Nicaraguan health system, our focus used to also be on women and children. Men get their health information from their friends or not at all and they rarely ever see a doctor except for emergency situations. Peace Corps still has a big focus on women, children and adolescent but we are also trying to go to where the men are and educate them on things like HIV/AIDS. Pool halls are pretty much exclusively the domain of men and most women are afraid to go in them. Men go there to drink and play pool for 5 cents a game.

The pool tournament was an idea that I learned in my Peace Corps training and it goes something like this. Sixteen participants in a single elimination tournament and after the first round I give a 10 minute talk on what HIV is and how it is transmitted. Then the guys play the second round and afterwards I give a 10 minute talk on how to prevent contracting HIV. They play the third round then I give a talk on the correct uses of a condom and passed out condoms to the players. Condom use is not common here and many men have never touched a condom let alone used one even though they have very questionable sexual practices. At that point they play the championship game and after a player sinks a ball, they have to answer a question based on the talks that I gave. If they get it wrong the ball comes out and is put back on the table. If they get it right they continue. These questions reinforce the information for the players and also for the audience that has gathered to watch the championship. Our tournament had 16 participants and about 25 onlookers that couldn’t help but also learn about HIV and its prevention. I was a little nervous about going in and doing this tournament because the guys that go to billiards halls (especially in a port town like Corinto) are usually pretty rough around the edges. I was going to be this clean cut gringo walking in and interrupting their good time. But the reality was that the guys gave me respect and really enjoyed the tournament. I had a great time doing it and hope to do the tournament in other billiards halls around Corinto in the next couple of months.

The third activity was a movie in the central park about HIV. A Nicaraguan NGO made a soap opera series (as you may know, Latinos LOVE their telenovelas) about social issues such as HIV, teenage pregnancy, violence and other important issues. So we showed an episode of that series that was about HIV. There is rarely “something to do” out of the norm in Corinto so we got a pretty good audience for it.

I think it ended up being a really good day and in the end everything came together. We had big problems in the beginning with organization. We had a truck organized to pick up the materials and drop them off at their respective places at 8am. The truck arrived at 10:45am. We told the people who were helping us to arrive at 9am. They started trickling in at around 10:15. You always hear about working with other cultures and how they aren’t punctual and you think, ¨if someone shows up to a meeting 30 minutes late, it’s not that big of a deal.¨ But it starts to get really difficult to work with people when you depend on them for a big event and they aren’t responsible about it. I would say that this is the biggest challenge I have here. Not just people being late, but people not taking their commitments seriously. Anyways, in the end all the events turned out great. But between the hours of 8am and 11am, I wanted to pull my hair out and scream because it seemed like our entire event was going to fall flat on its face. The Nicaraguans I was working with were also frustrated but not as worried as I was. I guess they are just more used to working like that. Although, all in all, it was a great work day.

I tried to post more pictures but I could only get a few to work. Here is one of some of the participants in the tournament listening to my talk. I´ll try to post more pictures later.

Pics

This is one more pic I could load. They are some of my youth group kids with a representative from the red cross. They are manning a table in front of the fire station which also happens to be where the bus stop is