Hiking, baseball and bagging groceries
Hello again!
From the title of this blog, that does not include teaching, you could probably guess that the political situation has not improved too much here over the past couple of weeks. We went two whole weeks without having any classes from Monday the 4th until the 18th. Thankfully, gas prices and food prices are now more or less back to normal as most trucks coming from Managua are taking a detour in order to avoid the roadblocks. Despite this, there has still been a lot of violence in other parts of the country with several people losing their lives daily at these roadblocks that have become the sites of small battles between the national police and the people who oppose the government. Although the school is quite removed from this violence, Fray Carlos thought that it would be wise to refrain from having classes until things become a little more stable. In addition to this shortage of gas and food that we had last week, on last Thursday the group people protesting the presidency called for a national strike, so on this day virtually no stores were opened and very little public transportation was running. Luckily classes were able to start up again this past Monday, so I was able to at least teach a few days. And, to reiterate what I stated in my previous blogs, I am safe in this part of the country because all of the violence is closer to the capital, Managua, which is about seventy miles to the north.
But despite these protests and the difficulty that this country has had in functioning with any kind of normalcy in these weeks, I've been able to have some really memorable and meaningful experiences. On last Monday, my host brother, Daniel, and I climbed some of the mountains that are right next to our house in Tola. Before the political tension began in April, these trails were frequently visited by tourists, but because of the current situation, Daniel and I were the only two people there who were enjoying the amazing views.
Then, on last Wednesday, I went to the high school to help the secretary make photocopies for the midterm exams that started two days ago. While at the school, one of the teachers invited me to play in a softball game that afternoon between the teachers at Santo Domingo and the professors of the local Dominican College.
We played two seven inning games, and we lost the first game 5-4, and won the second game 4-1 thanks to the stellar pitching of my host dad, José Ramón (with the white shirt to my right in the photo below). I was told that this was quite the upset considering that the other team practices every week and most of the teachers at Santo Domingo hadn't played in years.
I feel extremely privileged to have shared in this experience with these people because I think it says something remarkable about the resilience of the Nicaraguan people that they can still put time aside to have fun and play despite the tension that has plagued the country over the psat two months. For example, I think that if there was ever a similarly tense situation in the United States, I would probably have a lot of anxiety and have no desire to get together with my friends and play a sport. These twenty men, however, were able to come together and play ball in the face of the bleak future of this country. This is certainly something that I can learn from these twenty men that got together and played baseball that afternoon. No matter how grave any problem may seem, I always need to share, be present, and have fun with those around me and not close myself off with anxiety.
Then, on Friday and Saturday I didn't have any activities planned, so I asked Fray Fernando (pictured below weighing chicken) if there was anything that he needed help with. He told me that I could help him in the store that is owned by the Dominican Friars. So I spent a few hours each of these days weighing raw chicken and bagging groceries. While talking with Fernando afterwards, he told me that while he was studying theologians such as St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas in the seminary, he could never have imagined that he would have ended up working at a market during the first years of his priesthood. I also thought similarly that I could never have imagined that rather than teaching English at Santo Domingo that I would be helping bag groceries during my Smith Fellowship.
Lastly, I wanted to share with you some wisdom that my host dad, José Ramón, shared with me regarding the current situation in Nicaragua. He told me that the vast majority of Nicaraguans do not want to resort to violence. They are a peaceful people that have lived in a country that was extremely safe and peaceful until April. Perhaps the majority of people don't support President Ortega, but they would never kill because of their discontent. Rather it is only those who are on the extremes, those that are such fanatics of the president or those that hate him so much for much, that they dehumanize and kill others as a result of their ideologies. José Ramón is really active in his Christian faith, so his advice for these people who kill others is to go back to the peace that Jesus always embodied in the Gospels in which he taught to love one's enemies. José Ramón believes that if these two sides who are killing each other are able to first love each other, then they will be unable to kill, and dialogue, rather than violence, will be the only possible resolution to the current conflict.
Please keep praying for peace in Nicaragua.
Thanks for reading! Until next time,
Jack
From the title of this blog, that does not include teaching, you could probably guess that the political situation has not improved too much here over the past couple of weeks. We went two whole weeks without having any classes from Monday the 4th until the 18th. Thankfully, gas prices and food prices are now more or less back to normal as most trucks coming from Managua are taking a detour in order to avoid the roadblocks. Despite this, there has still been a lot of violence in other parts of the country with several people losing their lives daily at these roadblocks that have become the sites of small battles between the national police and the people who oppose the government. Although the school is quite removed from this violence, Fray Carlos thought that it would be wise to refrain from having classes until things become a little more stable. In addition to this shortage of gas and food that we had last week, on last Thursday the group people protesting the presidency called for a national strike, so on this day virtually no stores were opened and very little public transportation was running. Luckily classes were able to start up again this past Monday, so I was able to at least teach a few days. And, to reiterate what I stated in my previous blogs, I am safe in this part of the country because all of the violence is closer to the capital, Managua, which is about seventy miles to the north.
But despite these protests and the difficulty that this country has had in functioning with any kind of normalcy in these weeks, I've been able to have some really memorable and meaningful experiences. On last Monday, my host brother, Daniel, and I climbed some of the mountains that are right next to our house in Tola. Before the political tension began in April, these trails were frequently visited by tourists, but because of the current situation, Daniel and I were the only two people there who were enjoying the amazing views.
Then, on last Wednesday, I went to the high school to help the secretary make photocopies for the midterm exams that started two days ago. While at the school, one of the teachers invited me to play in a softball game that afternoon between the teachers at Santo Domingo and the professors of the local Dominican College.
We played two seven inning games, and we lost the first game 5-4, and won the second game 4-1 thanks to the stellar pitching of my host dad, José Ramón (with the white shirt to my right in the photo below). I was told that this was quite the upset considering that the other team practices every week and most of the teachers at Santo Domingo hadn't played in years.
I feel extremely privileged to have shared in this experience with these people because I think it says something remarkable about the resilience of the Nicaraguan people that they can still put time aside to have fun and play despite the tension that has plagued the country over the psat two months. For example, I think that if there was ever a similarly tense situation in the United States, I would probably have a lot of anxiety and have no desire to get together with my friends and play a sport. These twenty men, however, were able to come together and play ball in the face of the bleak future of this country. This is certainly something that I can learn from these twenty men that got together and played baseball that afternoon. No matter how grave any problem may seem, I always need to share, be present, and have fun with those around me and not close myself off with anxiety.
Then, on Friday and Saturday I didn't have any activities planned, so I asked Fray Fernando (pictured below weighing chicken) if there was anything that he needed help with. He told me that I could help him in the store that is owned by the Dominican Friars. So I spent a few hours each of these days weighing raw chicken and bagging groceries. While talking with Fernando afterwards, he told me that while he was studying theologians such as St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas in the seminary, he could never have imagined that he would have ended up working at a market during the first years of his priesthood. I also thought similarly that I could never have imagined that rather than teaching English at Santo Domingo that I would be helping bag groceries during my Smith Fellowship.
Lastly, I wanted to share with you some wisdom that my host dad, José Ramón, shared with me regarding the current situation in Nicaragua. He told me that the vast majority of Nicaraguans do not want to resort to violence. They are a peaceful people that have lived in a country that was extremely safe and peaceful until April. Perhaps the majority of people don't support President Ortega, but they would never kill because of their discontent. Rather it is only those who are on the extremes, those that are such fanatics of the president or those that hate him so much for much, that they dehumanize and kill others as a result of their ideologies. José Ramón is really active in his Christian faith, so his advice for these people who kill others is to go back to the peace that Jesus always embodied in the Gospels in which he taught to love one's enemies. José Ramón believes that if these two sides who are killing each other are able to first love each other, then they will be unable to kill, and dialogue, rather than violence, will be the only possible resolution to the current conflict.
Please keep praying for peace in Nicaragua.
Thanks for reading! Until next time,
Jack
Hi Jack! I loved reading through your blog posts - thanks for writing about your experience. It is encouraging to see people enjoying being together and having fun in spite of the political tensions. And it is so true that often people with extreme views cause problems, and most people want to live reasonably and in peace. And are open to the wisdom of the idea of loving one another - treating everyone with respect. So glad you are spending time with some wise people!
ReplyDeleteGreat to hear of your experiences!
ReplyDeleteYour host family sounds wonderful -
Julie