Happy Holidays

I hope everyone has been enjoying the holidays! In Nicaragua, Christmas is pretty much celebrated by everyone, since the majority of people are either Catholic or Evangelical Christian. Christmas Eve is the big night - people spend time with family, go to mass, and eat and drink the night away until the wee hours of the morning. I wouldn't really say it's that much different from any other day, since family is always over visiting, just factor more food into the equation. We made nacatamales, a traditional nicaraguan food, made of corn mass, a bunch of spices, tomatoes, and meat (mine were veggie), wrapped tightly in a banana leaf and boiled for several hours. Other than basking in the holiday spirit and visiting with neighbors, not much has been new. I went to a nearby river yesterday and went swimming with the family of a volunteer's boyfriend, so that was fun. We brought a bunch of food and made a big soup right on the water's edge. I've also gone to a friend's farm, which basically whenever anyone invites you to their farm, it's like they're inviting you to a party. They killed some chickens (sad but very common here to kill the animal fresh from the farm) and made a soup (Nicas like their soup). I like that my town has a mix of nice mountain views and a tranquil environment with a more developed center. It's nice to mix it up. So overall, the last week or so hasn't been too productive work-wise since pretty much everyone has been on vacation, but at least it's been an interesting cultural experience. I'm making plans to talk to the new mayor after new years about maybe getting an eco/agro-ecotourism project going in town, since I was reading about similar projects in other small towns in my Lonely Planet travel book. I think it would be a good boost for the local economy, since many people are unemployed, and also a good way to capitalize on the beautiful environment that surrounds the town (and maybe provide an incentive not to litter it with trash). I also at some point in my service want to do a trash-burning awareness campaign, since despite the weekly trash collection in town, people continue to burn their trash just out of habit. There is some teacher-training that's going on mid-January in which I will most likely be participating. Until then, I'm just continuing to visit with teachers and will hopefully begin to plan for the upcoming school year.

Have a happy new year, all! To a great 2009...