Saturday, May 24, 2008

Back from Monkey Point and Punta de Aguila

Bonboy lowering the turbine

The Aguirre family

David, Julie, and Lillian, one of Monkey Point's
community operators

Lillian's family


Rama boy in the Punta de Aguila school- these kids were awesome!

Got back on Tuesday morning from our first trip to Monkey Point and Punta de Aguila. Naturally, I've got lots of bug bites and some minor stomach issues, but overall am feeling great and anxious to get back to the communities. Bluefields is an interesting city and its a good time to be here considering the month of May is when they celebrate the May Pole festivities, said to be the best parties all year. However, its still a city, and while here I'm usually spending most of the day sitting in the blueEnergy office in front of a computer. Not my favorite thing to do. Getting up at dawn in Monkey Point, eating fresh tortillas and gallo pinto made with coconut milk, swimming in the Caribbean Sea, hauling buckets of water from the spring and wells, playing with kids and puppies, chatting with locals about their lives, the war, their families, their interest or lack thereof in blueEnergy's projects, playing soccer on the beach, attending crazy town meetings in which communal decisions are made on pigs, drugs, and who can live in the community and who can't, is all just so much more fun and interesting. I'm definitely missing life in Monkey Point, and am disappointed that we won't be going back for at least two weeks. However, we have a lot to do here as far as preparing ourselves and materials to take back to the communities to teach about energy, get the energy commission organized, hold meetings to find out what the community actually wants from the next step of the blueEnergy project (batteries, minigrids?), teach on water, health, and sanitation, as well as English. Ambitious, yes, and that's just the beginning. Next week we'll be going through training with the Ministry of Education's Yo Si Puedo system, an adult literacy education program that originated in Cuba. The program is already being implemented in Monkey Point at night in the blueEnergy-powered school with adults, but we're hoping to get more community members involved (very few are literate or have above a 3rd grade education if any), maybe teach a second class each night, and give private lessons to one of our community operators who is smart, motivated, trustworthy, and very capable of becoming a leader in the community and specifically with the energy project, but lacks the reading and writing skills to be given the responsibilities that we'd like to give her. So we're going to have a very busy two weeks preparing here in Bluefields, as there is a lot we'll be doing during our two months in Monkey Point. And that's not even taking into consideration Punta de Aguila.
I'm hoping to make the trek down the beach and through the bush to the Rama community of Punta de Aguila once a week or so while we're living in MP in order to begin the process of getting blueEnergy's project back up and running there. Communication has been a huge problem with this community where bE actually installed their first turbine, as it is an indigenous community that is accustomed to missionaries coming and going, but doesn't have a lot of experience with development projects that are ongoing. While its a settled community, people are constantly coming and going between the community and Bluefields or the community and the bush, so you never know when you arrive who you will find there, and if you plan to hold a meeting with the leaders as we did, you can't necessarily expect them to show up because our notion of making a plan is much different than theirs. I don't think blueEnergy has extremely high hopes of what can get down in Punta de Aguila over the next few months, but it would be helpful if David and I could make attempts to show up in the community and meet with leaders, help the energy commission to get reorganized, and just get people talking again about the energy project, find out who's interested, what next steps should be taken (if any), etc. Also, this week I attended a couple workshops on the Rama Language Project, and told the Punta de Aguila schoolteacher that I am interested in helping him to teach Rama in the school. Actually, it was more like once I expressed interest in the language a few weeks ago during the community operator training, he has been pushing me to attend these workshops, start learning the language (which I have been doing!), and to help him teach. During the bE community operator training, he said that one of the main things that PA wants to use the energy for is to have light in the school at night to teach Rama. Of course I find this fascinating and exciting, and extremely reminiscent of my time in the Moseten village of Inicua in Bolivia back in 2002 when I was working to get the community motivated to begin teaching their language again, to take pride in it, to not lose it. Well Colette, the mother of the bE directors Mathias and Guillaume, has been working on this project for over 20 years and now has materials that can be used to teach the Rama language. She too has been encouraging me to get involved in teaching the language, helping to build the Rama dictionary, and doing what I can to contribute to the language revitalization movement during my short time here. So while I don't expect to have much free time while I'm living in Monkey Point in June and July, I'm hoping to spend a couple of days every week or so in Punta de Aguila helping to support both the energy commission and the revitalization of the Rama language through teaching in the school to both children and adults, and collecting words, pictures, and ethnographic notes to add to the dictionary. Those two projects can and should go hand in hand.
I know I can't get too high of hopes for what can be done in just June and July, because really that's no time at all, but there is so much that I can do and that I want to do. Of course one important part of being in the communities is going to be just being. Sitting and talking with people, or just sitting and listening. Going fishing, going into the bush, cooking, playing with children. I can't get any "work" done without integrating into the community and participating in all those kinds of activities first, and throughout the entire time that I'm there.
For now, time to try and enjoy Bluefields. On Tuesday night David and I went out to what is probably the nicest restaurant in town where we ate lobster and prawns and drank Flor de Cana (tastiest rum in the world). It was quite the treat after Monkey Point, where hadn't even had the luxury of sitting down to eat together at a table. Not that I really minded that, but it was definitely fun to treat ourselves and really splurge. Although the food and drinks only cost around $30, that was definitely a huge splurge for Bluefields. It was worth it.
On Thursday we had our first night out, although David and I didn't last past 12:30 at the club. It was fun, but we've become so used to going to bed early and getting up early since living in Costa Rica, and are so content with that lifestyle, that its just hard to stay out late. My stomach issues don't make it any easier. The hour or so we spent at the club was definitely worth it though. The place, Four Brothers, is basically just a tin shack with a bar and a DJ blasting reggae and all kinds of Caribbean jams through very poor quality speakers. The place wasn't too full as it was still early and only Thursday, but the locals there seemed to be having a blast. All of the dancing was everything I'd heard I should expect in Bluefields- simulated sex. And this wasn't the kind of fast hip-gyrating sort of dancing that I've seen in other places. This was even more erotic because it was so slow. No wonder there are so many teenage mothers, even the kids do this kind of dancing! I'm looking forward to attending some of the May Pole festivities during the next couple of weeks and seeing how all of that goes down. Supposedly the parties are going to get better and better and then climax with the best one on the 30th. We'll see if David and I can stay out past 1 am for some of these. I think we'd better try.


Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Rama Cay






On Sunday David and I went along with Colette, the linguist and mother of blueEnergy who has been working with the Rama people on documenting and revitalizing their language since the 1980s, to Rama Cay.

The island is a fascinating place. There are over 1200 people on this tiny island, which was once actually two very tiny islands that were eventually connected as people dumped oyster shells between them over many years during the times of the British colonization. There are not many Rama speakers left on the island at all, despite the dense population of Rama people. Colette is hoping to get a new generation of teachers on the island interested in teaching the Rama language to the school children.

We watched Colette's slideshow homage to Miss Nora, a Rama woman who was one of the main speakers that worked with her in the 80s, played with the children, enjoyed the breeze on the north side of the island, and watched a bit of softball on the most beautiful softball field I've ever seen! I also learned quite a bit about the tragedy of the Rama, so similar to what has been happening to indigenous people all over the planet for centuries. Like every rainforest and every culture, the Rama territory has been plundered since colonization, and is now threatened by corporations involved in timber extraction, agribusiness, oil pipelines and dry canals. Yes, dry canals! There is currently a lot of talk about a huge project to build a dry canal from Monkey Point (where I'll be living, located in Rama territory), with railroad tracks, a highway, and an oil pipeline connecting it to the Pacific Coast of Nicaragua. Crazy, huh? The Rama and Creole populations of the Rama territory are currently working on an extremely important demarcation project where they are going to be making an official map of their territory which will give them greater leverage against the government, corporations, and development projects that are funding things like the dry canal. Its an interesting time to be here, to say the least. I'll be learning a lot more while I'm in Monkey Point and Punta de Aguila.

Bluefields, Nicaragua


David and I arrived in Bluefields, Nicaragua Monday morning last week after a long haul from San Jose on buses and boats. I've been sweating ever since.

This city built on a lagoon connected to the Caribbean Sea is a fascinating mix of cultures and languages, influenced by both the Spanish and British in the colonial days, hugely impacted by the war in the 1980s, with a large indigenous population remaining and a predominant Creole (afro-descendant) culture as well. Here at the blueEnergy office we are a team of about 11 volunteers from France and the US, with Nicaraguan staff, both Creole and Mestizo. So it is a crazy mix of French, English, Creole, and Spanish being spoken. My new favorite French word (one of about 4 that I know!) is pomme du terre (not sure on spelling) which is the fancy word for potato (yes there is a fancy word and a colloquial word) and actually translates to apple of the earth. I love it! It reminds me of Pablo Neruda's poem, Ode to the Potato, and I think its beautiful!
So David and I arrived just in time for a week of operator training, which was basically capacity building for the community operators of blueEnergy's wind/solar systems in the four communities where they're currently working. We were there to learn along with them and start getting to know the blueEnergy people, workshop, and systems. It was a great opportunity to meet and get to know people from the communities where I'll be spending most of the summer, and to learn about how the systems actually work. One week ago I knew literally nothing about electricity, how a wind turbine creates it, how to do maintenance on batteries, or anything of the sort. After 5 days in the classroom and workshop I am no pro, but I am much more confident in my understanding of how electricity and particularly how renewable energy systems (wind and solar) work. And the people from the communities are awesome! I spent the week speaking Spanish, learning how to speak and understand Creole (English with some Spanish words mixed in spoken with a crazy accent and very different grammatical rules than the ones we know), and learning some words in Rama and Moskito, two of the local indigenous languages.
We're currently preparing for the first trip to Monkey Point, the community where David and I will spend most of the summer. This trip is just 10 days, which we'll spend helping conduct a survey on community organization and women's participation, and just getting to know the community. Then we'll come back to Bluefields for a week or 2 to prepare for a 2 month stay in Monkey Point (and to enjoy the May Pole festivities- crazy booty shaking, loud music, and fun increasing until the end of the month). Monkey Point is a few hours south on the coast, in Rama territory. Basically I'm going to be very out of touch throughout most of the summer. While in Monkey Point David and I will be helping to organize the energy commission, teaching adult literacy in the blueEnergy-powered school at night, teaching school kids about how the wind turbines work and the basics of energy and electricity, observing and documenting the community's use of the energy systems, helping with basic maintenance and operation, and brainstorming with the community on the potential future uses of the energy once families are able to purchase their own batteries with the help of a local micro-credit organization.
I'm also hoping to spend at least a few weeks in the nearby community of Punta de Aguila, which is a small Rama community that is hoping to use the electricity to teach the Rama language in the schools. The mother of the two directors of blueEnergy is a French linguist who has been working with the Rama to preserve and revitalize their language since the 1980s. She's going to be providing me with some materials to take to Punta de Aguila. I'm hoping to work with the local teacher to start teaching basic Rama to adults and children, and I'd also like to work on a dictionary that Colette (the linguist) has started, adding more words as well as ethnographic information. It's going to be exciting!

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Boren Fellowship: I'm going to Brazil!

I found out last week that I have been awarded a Boren Fellowship, which will pay for me to study Portuguese when I return to DC next year and then spend 9 months in Brazil studying the sugarcane ethanol industry and its social and environmental impacts. I will be mainly in Brasilia and Recife, as well as some of the rural sugarcane-growing regions around Recife in the northeast. I'm a bit surprised and of course overwhelmingly excited about getting to travel to Brazil- and have it paid for!!! This will mean that I won't actually graduate with my MA until spring 2010, as I have to be a graduate student during the entire time of the fellowship. It will definitely be worth it.

Monday, May 5, 2008

Monteverde with Mom




My mom came out for a week spent bird-watching and relaxing. First at my house in the foothills outside San Jose, where we saw oropendulas, blue-crowned mot mots, a toucan, and at least a dozen other species of birds in just two days! Then to the cloud forest of Monteverde, where we had several quetzal sightings! We had an amazing time hiking on our own in the Santa Elena Reserve (where we didn't see too much because we don't exactly have trained eyes, but did enjoy hanging out with the mostly domesticated peccary), going for a night hike in the Eternal Children's Forest (we saw sleeping birds- who's ever seen a bird sleeping??- tarantulas, frogs, and lots of interesting bugs), and then going on an excellent guided hike through the Monteverde Reserve where we spotted quetzals and many other beautiful birds, howler monkeys, a tarantula, a snake, and others. Overall it was a great trip. We were lucky to have a beautiful house to ourselves in Monteverde in which David, Mom, and I cooked delicious dinners, played hearts, sipped on wine, and observed the local birds and bugs. Unfortunately the end of the trip was quite rushed as David and I were taking off for Nicaragua the same day my mom was leaving for the US. We all made it to our destinations safely, and are now all very busy. The week relaxing and hiking around El Rodeo and Monteverde was an excellent vacation for us all.

Swimming hole

Swimming hole
Nate, David, and me at the local swimming hole

Climbing

Climbing
David climbing at the swimming hole near our house. This is the location of my first rock-climbing lesson.

Beautiful Miraflor

Beautiful Miraflor
a home in Miraflor with the nature reserve and mountains beyond

Waterfall jumping!

Waterfall jumping!
sweet swimming hole in Miraflor

Catching chicharras in Miraflor

Catching chicharras in Miraflor
We spent half the day in Miraflor catching bugs in the trees with this awesome kid

Parasite tree in Miraflor, Nicaragua

Parasite tree in Miraflor, Nicaragua
this parasite killed the tree inside it over 200 years ago, now you can climb it inside and out, as David and these Nicaraguan kids

Sunset

Sunset
sunset at Las Penitas, Nicaragua

Howler monkeys

Howler monkeys
a family of howler monkeys on Omotepe

Omotepe

Omotepe
Concepcion, one of the volcanos that makes up the island of Omotepe in Lake Nicaragua

In the jungle...

In the jungle...
with Nathan and Crystal (visiting from Michigan) in the jungles of Claudio Barillo National Park

Hammock time

Hammock time
Crazy photo of Andrea and me hanging out in the hammock at my house

Charging in Dominical

Charging in Dominical
After getting worked I went after some of these smaller waves which turned out to be a lot of fun

Gotta love waterproof cameras

Gotta love waterproof cameras
taking surfing pics in the water at Dominical

Attempting backside in Dominical

Attempting backside in Dominical
I'm attempting to work on my backside here in Costa Rica

The "Cool Bus"

The "Cool Bus"
Chilling in the Cool Bus in Dominical

La Selva Biological Station

La Selva Biological Station
Venturing into the jungle

Ladro Ladies!

Ladro Ladies!
In Manuel Antonio with Andrea and Sheena

David and Lynn Manuel Antonio

David and Lynn Manuel Antonio
David and me hiking (and swimming) though Manuel Antonio National Park

Volcan Poaz

Volcan Poaz
Posing with the smoking crater of the beautiful Poaz

Cute huh?

Cute huh?
David and me having a couple of beers at a surfers bar in Playa Hermosa

Surfing accident #1

Surfing accident #1
A minor bruise from getting Sheena's leash caught around my arm while she was learning to surf at Jaco

Surfing accident #2

Surfing accident #2
2 days after the incident in Jaco I broke my board in half trying to surf at low tide in Manuel Antonio

Surfing Playa Cocles

Surfing Playa Cocles
my first time out surfing in Costa Rica. I was pretty pumped