Here comes the classic apology for not blogging in over a month. I know I always say things have been busy, but this month that is definitely no lie. I've spent more than half of the month away from campus. A few weeks ago we spent five days on the road for the Conservation and Human Rights ecology course, and we just now returned from a week long trip to Nicaragua (hence the blog title). I was talking with my dearly missed Linnea a few weeks ago about my lack of blogging inspiration, and she made the very astute observation that, now that I've been here for over 4 months, there just aren't as many new and crazy things to blog about - life is just normal now, I live here. However, lucky you after this month of travels, I now have lots of new and exciting things to say! Since I just got back about 12 hours ago from Nica, I'll focus in on that trip for this blog post.
So, last Saturday all the students, Lindy, Dinorah, Bean and I loaded up in a microbus and headed north to the border. Now, I'm not sure if the States' media has even covered it, but there is a bit of a border dispute going on between Nica and CR at the moment, regarding the San Juan River. Therefore it was with some trepidation that we approached the border, amongst rumors that it was closed. Thankfully however, the rumors were unfounded and we got across without any problems. Most stressful part of the trip done:check! (I get very stressed out about border crossings for some reason).
Bean and I have spent the last few months organizing this trip with the help of our dear friend (and Nicaraguan host father) Freddy. He was doing the prep work in Nica while we helped him with details and scheduling from here. We organized this trip to look very CASPy, meaning lectures morning noon and night, with some museum visits and concerts thrown in to shake things up a little. It was an exhausting week, but a wonderful week.
A few highlights: visiting historic Managua and the Sandino museum (always a highlight for me! Someday I'll blog about Sandino's story, because it is very impacting); visiting the Matagalpa region during the peak of the coffee harvest (felt like being home in Honduras again!); visiting the US Embassy in Nicaragua (the best embassy experience I've ever had - super stimulating conversation! no wonder I was a poli sci major...); and staying once again at the home of our friends Freddy and Leo, and getting to be there for the 2 year birthday celebration of their adorable son whom I love. Good times. Also, for Thanksgiving our group and a few close Nica friends had a lovely dinner out in which we did the classic going around the table and saying something you're thankful for, in spanish of course. A wonderful Thanksgiving evening was rounded off with attending a Carlos Mejia-Godoy concert. He is an extremely famous Nica musician known for his protest songs during the wars of the 80s. He has composed over 400 pieces, including the Campesino Mass used by Ecclesiastical Base Communities for the last 20-30 years. This blog title comes from one of his most popular songs, more or less a love song to Nicaragua.
I mentioned that we visited the Matagalpa region. We went to visit an agricultural coop that is supported by a Nica organization called PAC (Associación de Pueblos en Acción Comunitaria or-losely translated-People for Community Action), which is an organization supported by the US organization World Relief. This coop supports local farmers growing coffee, cacao, tarrot root, and other veggies. While the cacao products and some of the coffee of this coop is not yet Fair Trade Certified (check out these links if you don't know what I'm talking about: http://www.fairtrade.net/ ,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairtrade_certification) the workers are definitely benefiting from working together in this coop style (and they are in the process of becoming Fair Trade certified). I've always been one to try to purchase fair trade coffee and even chocolate if I can, but if that isn't possible, buy Ritter Sport chocolate. It may be a bit more expensive, but it is amazing and happens to buy some of their cacao from this little Matagalpa cooperative. By buying Ritter Sport chocolate, you are supporting my friends in Nicaragua.
Also, most of you have probably noticed that in the last few years Starbucks has come up with its own equivalent to Fair Trade Certification, rather than using the internationally recognized Fair Trade certification. Now, I often have mixed feelings regarding Starbucks: torn between liking them for being really good to their employees and giving great health benefits, yet not liking that they are a big corporation that seems to be taking over the world, liking that they seem to try to be doing something better for the environment, yet not liking them for making up their own fair trade cert instead of using that which is already known and recognized.
I have recently trusted Starbucks much less for making up their own certification - I've wondered if that means that they aren't living up to the standars of real Fair Trade. However, this week I found my answer. According to the farmers we met with in Matagalpa, there is really no difference betweeen the Starbucks fair trade, and the recognized Fair Trade Certification. They told me that the Starbucks standards are essentially the same, mandating how much coffee pickers will make a day (no less than $5), that no one can work outside the 8am-5pm range, and that children/youth cannot work during school hours. So all of this is to say that I suppose I now have a little bit more respect for Starbucks, and just thought I'd let you all know that their own certification seems to be legitimate. In case you were interested.
It is always hard for me to leave Nicaragua. I often feel that I am too comfortable in Costa Rica, that I am spoiled by being able to drink the water and often flush the toilet paper. Its just so "easy" in comparison to what it would be like to live in Nicaragua. Not that I'm saying I don't work really hard here in CR, or that I don't appreciate the comforts I have access to, it is just always a struggle for me. When I was in Laos in January, I talked with a friend who had lived there for many years about how she always asked God to make her uncomfortable - how that it was in those situations that she really had to lean on him and let him lead her. Sometimes I feel that I am not uncomfortable enough here in CR, but that I definitely would be in Nica. There is just something really special to me about the Nicaraguan people, their history and hope for the future. Maybe I am just linked to them because of the history of our nations and their interactions, but I think it is something deeper, something betweeen me and the people I meet there. Don't get me wrong, I love Costa Rica and am really enjoying my work here and the people I meet, I just hope that someday I might be able to call Nicaragua home, even for a little while, because that is always what it feels like in my heart.
