The month of December in Nicaragua is one that is infamous for not getting much done. When I returned from Waspam, in November even before Thanksgiving, I was shocked to see the streets and shopping centers already decorated for Christmas! Just like in the U.S., the commercial side of Christmas seems to come way t0o early. In December everything was red, green, and illuminated. And the end of Nov. and beginning of Dec. are also filled with images of the Virgin Mary as Nicaraguans get ready to celebrate a tradition that is PURELY nicaraguan: the Purisima and the Griteria. The Purisima is the celebration of the conception of Jesus by the Holy Spirit and the Griteria (which in English means "shouting") is sort of the culminating event of the celebration of the Purisima. For a whole week, approx. Dec. 1st - Dec. 8th, many of those who profess the Catholic faith in some way construct altars in their homes or in their businesses to the Virgin. They then hold what I assume are sort of vigils where those who construct altars invite family, friends, and neighbors to sing songs about the Virgin, pray, and eat good food. I didn't participate in a Purisima but I DID participate in the Griteria! The Griteria is Dec. 7th and is sort of a combination of Halloween and Christmas caroling. On the evening of the Griteria, you will see the streets of Managua filled with mothers, fathers, and children all walking with empty sacks and backpacks at to their destinations and returning home around 10pm or midnight, arms and bags filled with goodies. I participated in the Griteria with the family I stayed with in my first few in the country. We "shouted" in the neighborhood where the husband of the family grew up and where his parents still live. A little after 6pm, we started our route with song books in hand and at each house sung our hearts out the the Virgin and were rewarded with sweets, tupperware, fruit, and other grab bag gifts. After the first two houses, I had already partially memorized a couple of the songs. After singing a few songs at the altar of a house, we would always end by saying (in call and response format): "Quien causa tanta alegria? La concepcion de Maria!" (meaning: Who causes so much happiness? The conception of the Virgin Mary!) Between the 6 or 7 people in our griteria group, our bags filled up quickly and so we dropped off our collection of goodies at the grandparent's house and went back out for more about 4 times! You can see a couple of photos of some of the Virgin Mary altars (one even on the back of the bus!) at my Picasa Photos page. ( After eating a late dinner of fresh, hot nacatamales (traditional nicaraguan food) I was beat and we returned home with all of our griteria loot.
Work at the office in December was focused on what I am doing now which is helping Belinda coordinate the volunteer program at AMC. We're working with another organization here in Managua called CEPAD to organize all the details for the first volunteer team of the year which will arrive at the end of February. Belinda has been teaching me a lot about all the details and the time it takes to prepare to receive volunteers here. The goal is to be prepared and prepared well so that the volunteers have are able to focus on their objectives of their time here in Nicaragua and we continue to build relationships through volunteer visits.
We also were preparing to send off to 2 Nicaraguan volunteers to Norway! They will be participating in an exchange program called Communication for Change through Norwegian Church Aid. It is an amazing program that uses cultural exchange and cross-cultural interaction as a means for improving understanding between cultures in the global North and South. The Nicaraguans will be staying in Norway for 3 months in a folk school (a pseudo-university experience kind of like a gap year for Norwegians) and participating in an extensive program with other Norwegians and representatives of the program from Kenya and Madagascar.
This year was the first time I have celebrated Christmas away from my family and outside of Ohio, but I must say despite missing home, all of our special family Christmas traditions, and especially missing my family, I had a wonderful time. December 24th is the more important day here, as opposed to the 25th and is usually celebrated with family and plenty of fireworks and good food and drink. At midnight is when most of the fireworks go off, many families wait to eat together until midnight, and it is usually when people exchange gifts. I spent part of the 24th and 25th here with Belinda and her family in both Diriamba (a small town about 45 minutes outside of Managua) and with my house mates and our friends. On Christmas day, I went to a church service at a Catholic Church near my house. The services in Catholic churches are sometimes hard for me because I haven't memorized all the things that people say, but the message of the priest that was preaching that day was wonderful. It moved me and reminded me of my reason for being here: I see the face of God in all those around me. After church, I went to Belinda's house for an incredibly tasty Christmas lunch. Homemade food and good company filled my Christmas in Nicaragua with love, joy, and peace.
The very end of December took me to the beach twice! First I went to a beach with my boyfriend, Abel, and his sister's family called Quisala about 2 hours outside of Managua. I got a little burnt from the scorching Nicaraguan sun, but thoroughly enjoyed the ocean and its waves. After a night of celebrations for New Year's Eve similar in some ways to what I experienced on Christmas Eve, my house mates and some friends spent a day at the Laguna de Apoyo. It is a lake or lagoon inside a volcanic crater. The scenery is gorgeous and it was nice to be able to swim in fresh water as opposed to salt water.
The long vacation I had over the holidays ended at the beginning of January and I hit the ground running again at AMC with work. Besides my duties in the office in terms of the volunteer program, I may be helping now to start a donor's database to help AMC organize their fundraising efforts. It will be a long and tedious process to construct it but will be a very important tool for AMC's future. Also, I am working on writing an article and creating a video of pictures to document my time in Waspam. I want to share my experience there with others in a variety of ways so that maybe what I have learned does not just stop with me. Until next time...
