...at least I won't die of hunger (Nicaraguan saying)

I have heard this saying several times during my three months in Nicaragua, and though it might not be the happiest of sayings at least there is a silver lining in the clouds. Though as my journey into Nicaraguan life and culture deepens, some light has been shed on these words through the increasingly darkening sky. Since I have been here the price of beans, one of the three staples, has skyrocketed. Rising from 8 cords (40 cents) a pound to over 20 (little over a dollar) with no plateau insight. Now granted for most of you reading this the price might not seem that bad, but than again we have to look at all factors. First of all, rice which is another staple food has nearly doubled in price over the last year. Second, it is not only food that has risen in price, in the last 8 months almost all products found on the shelves of stores, or in the hot, dusty clamor of a busy market has at the least gone up 30-40%, with most having doubled. Now we citizens of the world are all used to inflation, so let us delve deeper into the storm. Currently the minimum basic salary to live off of (includes food, rent, transportation to and from a job, etc) is around 3500 -4000 cords a month (roughly around 200 dollars or so). Well that actually seems quite doable, I mean if you made only 5 dollars an hour at your job working 40 hours a week, heck you would have more than enough. In fact you would be living in the lap of luxury. As I have heard form various people that most people make around 80 cents to 1 dollar a day, translating to about 2500 cords a month. Now I'm not talking street vendors, beggars, and all those people with out an education (because with an education you can reach the stars), public school teachers earn this, low level civil employees and so on. So this begs the question, how do you make up the extra money. Second job would probably go along way, but sadly to say you don't have that option. About 30-40% of Nicaraguans are unemployed, out of the remaining 60-70%, 70% of those are underemployed. So most of the people that are working won't make that full dollar a day, and because of the lack of finding full time first jobs find a second job is out of the question. This underemployment is fairly even spread throughout the social ladder (except the very wealthy), causing most college grads (even lawyers and doctors, though they have a slight advantage) to have a hard time finding full time work.

So what does all this mean to my recently turned 30 year old mind. That life can be a bit rough down here.....to say the least. Nicaraguans are generally overlooked by the world because they are not starving in the streets (at least not yet) like they are in Africa, or killing each other in civil wars. But I am happy to report that Nicaraguans are a smart, kind, and infinitely resourceful group of people. One small family can not survive here on their own, but with the help of relatives and neighbors they can all work together to get by and even thrive. Nicaraguans can also make businesses out of anything. Whether it be washing windows at stoplights, selling anything and everything on buses (towels, food, pop rocks, and even Spyrographs), to repairing anything to keep working forever, to sadly (for me and them) begging on the street.

So I keep coming back to my role here in Nicaragua, trying to think what I can do in the face of such odds. Well, to be honest, nothing at all. In Jesus time people lived and died and suffered and rejoiced just like those around me. And what did He do, He lived and died and suffered and rejoiced with them. But through His life he changed them and helped them and I believe they impacted Him too. So as I sit here working on my plan for the following three years, I find I can only offer Jesus to these people through myself, my life, my actions, my culture, and my gifts that He has given. And I pray that I will be changed to be more like those I serve who live life simply, sharing time and resources with any in need, and of course rice, beans, tortilla, and a nice sweet cup of coffee with plenty of milk and sugar.

A Long December

We had a busy December, but also had the opportunity to relax the last week. We went to a beach down south in Nicaragua called San Juan del Sur. We spent time reading, swimming, body surfing, searching tide pools and hiking. We had some friends from MCC join us for part of the time, we really enjoyed ourselves. We spent New Year's eve in a town up north called Matagalpa with the other MCC volunteers. There is an MCC family that lives there and we spent time playing games and eating great deserts until we felt sick (a true North American holiday tradition). Another US tradition we did not miss out on was seeing the ball drop on TV.

You may be asking yourself, what does a traditional Nicaraguan Christmas and New Year's look like? I am glad you asked. In Nicaragua it is more common to celebrate Christmas the night of the 24th and although we did not get to celebrate with a nican family, we have been told what is normal. Normally family's get together and eat a lot of food, specifically a food called relleno (chicken, butter, oil, raisins, vegetables, bread, salt). This may not sound good, but we have been told be a North American that it is good. Often gifts are exchanged as in the states, but it depends on the family situation. For New Years it is very common for people to make an effigy of the past year and then burn it New Year's Eve. They take old clothes and stuff it with newspaper and it ends up looking like a person. Unfortunately, we did not actually get to take part in this New Year's tradition, but there is always next year. However, we did get to take part in the another New Year's Eve tradition staying up until midnight and watching all the fireworks being lit. Everyone buys fireworks and waits until midnight to light them and then they go off for 15-30 min, it is impossible to sleep until they are done.

We started back at Viva Spanish School on the 2nd and we will be taking classes the month of January. We will be living with other MCC volunteers in Managua for this month. We will start looking for a house of our own this month in the area we are going to live.