Simmons GSLIS: Dispatches from the Field

At the beginning of the 2nd week, I have made some plans for workshops: today I gave one on best practices for the Refererence Interview to 7 librarians. We decided to have a weekly librarian meeting, and future subjects will cover: searching databases; what are blogs?; and other subjects we decide on. I will also give 2 workshops to a class (32 students) of students studying The History of the Arab World -- and we will cover at least the Encyclopedia of Islam, digitally.

At the end of the first week, I feel that I am beginning to know my colleagues here and their various tasks. They are all serious workers. I've spent an hour a day on the Reference Desk with Said, a colleague, and I'm sharing "best practises" of this job. I am working on a survey for students, and Monday I'll give a workshop for all those involved in Reference.
Imagine that today, the end of the first week, there is a snow storm in Ifrane, Morocco -- we are in the mountains, where the King has a palace. It is quite amazing to look out the window of my very elegant office and see a thick blanket of snow!
I continue to make contacts and to make plans to travel this weekend. Hopefully once out of Ifrane, there will be no snow.

First days in Ifrane I have met with the Director Prof. Lotfi and his staff. All are extremely cordial, and the lines of communication are formally open. My projects include: creating a student questionnaire for feedback; share my reference knowledge with librarians here on databases and the steps involved in a formal Reference Interview. I will also look into the possibility of creating a bibliography of works to be purchased to support a Portuguese Studies department at the University.
I've signed up for 3 courses, the first of which starts at 8 AM: Basic Arabic; History of the Arab World; and Arab Literature. I look forward to this! even if it will be only 6 weeks.
Communication on the campus is Arabic and French, and some English as there are also some American students. All courses are in English.
The library is magnificent -- all wood inside. It looks out on the Mosque. The atmosphere at the University is very positive, and people could not possibly be more cordial and helpful and interested in learning from me.

My first impression is that they have a good system set up, but that Reference is a weak point in library services. The Director is the first to admit this.

I have now several projects that the library wants to follow with my lead. They are the ones mentioned in the first paragraph. After meeting with head of Reference, and the head of ommunication within the Library, I will conduct a workshop for Reference librarians next week. I will also work on a document to be used for faculty outreach. I will, also, attend my 3 classes and work on learning the Arabic langauge.

As the week ends, I realize that the Mohammad VI library shares some of the same problems as Mugar at BU. It's hard to get faculty and students in for instruction workshops. Outreach is perhaps a better tactic -- either going to offices of faculty, to show them on their computer, or putting on something like an Open House in the library. One student attend a workshop. Many had signed up. I've created a student survey, which will be examined on Monday and then made available electronically on Monday. On verra.......

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On January 20 I travelled to Ifrane, Morocco which is a small University town just south of Fez. I will be spending 6 weeks in the Mohammad VI Library, at the University Al Akhawayn. on a Fulbright scholarship Hopefully it will be a mutually beneficial experience: for me, so I can expand my poor knowledge of the Arab world, literature, and culture; and for the library where I hope to share my knowledge of libraries and all the facets that make up my work at Boston University, in Mugar Library. I am the Modern Foreign Language & Linguistics Bibliographer, as well as the Communications Bibliographer.

On day 2 I spent time with all members of the library: the Director, Professor Lotfi, has many plans for me. I will also be taking 3 courses here (in English, as most of the University offers classes in English): Basic Arabic; History of the Arab World; and Arab Literature. My projects for the library will include the following: create a student survey to ascertain possible changes that are needed; share my reference knowledge with librarians here on databases and the steps involved starting with a Reference Interview and all along the way. I will also look into the possibility of suggesting works for a possible Portuguese Studies department at the University.

more later......

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On Thursday, after a well-timed dose of antibiotics improved my health situation a bit, I took the opportunity to visit Rosa Aguilar, the current president of the Nicaraguan national library association, at her office in Managua. I was interested both in seeing her library and in interviewing her for the video project.

There is no classification system for books. Instead they are arranged on the shelves by broad category (Engineering, Environment, Urban Planning, etc.) and then within the categories by accession numbers. Rosa said this system was adopted from one being used in Cuba when the library was first started. The library has a searchable electronic catalog (baso de dato) which makes it easier to find books.

The archival material was clearly an area of concern for Rosa -- she repeatedly noted how the conditions weren't optimum for preservation or intellectual control. But she also showed me a "before" picture, with massive piles of boxes chucked in a remote corner of the ministry. Apparently for a decade there had been virtually no staff to manage the archives. So, in comparison, the current situation is much better -- if not perfect.

Despite its relatively innovative digitization program, there were also signs of resource constraints. For example, the library is currently having trouble with its server, and is waiting for funding to upgrade it. Rosa indicated that the only online copy of the archive was currently located on the one PC used for scanning. She said they had backups, and pointed to tapes and CDs in the credenza behind her desk. But there are currently no offsite backups -- she said they have not been able to buy sufficient tapes to do this as of yet. There was also no functioning Internet in her office when I was there -- she indicated that the ministry needed to work on upgrading its network, but had not done so yet.

The library is not immune to the sorts of disasters that can strike libraries anywhere in the world. She showed me video of the staff frantically sweeping water away from the flooded stacks after someone left a tap on overnight elsewhere in the building. Luckily, the water was not deep enough to reach the first shelves, but all the same, it was a reminder of the importance of disaster planning.

After the library tour, I sat down with Rosa for around 45 minutes and talked to her about libraries in Nicaragua and the importance of what Jane has been doing to promote public lending libraries. She has many good ideas, and her voice will be a valuable addition to the video project.

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Jane left earlier today to meet some friends in Matagalpa. Since I’m on intestinally-imposed house arrest, I’m staying in the house of Susan Bursey. She is a Texan by birth who has lived and worked in Central America for decades, and she and her son John have just sold Nicaragua’s largest Internet provider (which they founded) to foreign investors.

During the campaign, Ortega claimed to have changed – he was a moderate: no longer hostile to foreign investment and no longer interested in sudden, drastic changes to the country’s economic system. But tonight’s inauguration raised doubts. Just the list of invited guests raises eyebrows – prominent on the rostrum were Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, Evo Morales of Bolivia, and a representative of Castro’s regime in Cuba. The United States was notably absent. Clearly the new Nicaraguan government has cast its lot with the recently-formed, extreme leftist (and generally anti-US) bloc of Latin American countries led by Chavez.

The inauguration itself started hours late, and was somewhat disorganized. There was a moment of confusion when Ortega suddenly announced that he would not speak at the gathering of foreign dignitaries, and instead would proceed directly to the Plaza Juan Paul, where crowds of Nicaraguans had gathered. All of the TV stations promptly cut to file footage – presumably while they rushed to prepare their camera crews at the second venue.

Stylistically, the ceremonies seemed to borrow a bit from Germany in the 30’s and Argentina in the 40’s. They featured goose-stepping soldiers, copious waving Sandinista flags, and the militaristic-sounding Sandinista anthem. They also featured a glowing introductory speech from the first lady about how her husband would be the salvation of Nicaragua, and a great deal of nationalistic rhetoric about “¡Nicaragua Libre!,” a revolutionary term that has seen little use during recent administrations. Chavez took the platform to proclaim undying friendship between Venezuela and Nicaragua, and in his speech Ortega repeatedly praised his leftist counterparts elsewhere in Latin America.

With regard to policy, the most notable were his intent to align the country with Venezuela’s free trade zone (most likely rather than the US-propsed CAFTA) and his intention to develop “a plan” to deal with the privatized (and admittedly dysfunctional) electrical infrastructure. It seems that nationalization may be in the works.

The fact that Ortega had managed to win the presidency with barely 35% of the popular vote was not mentioned, and post-speech commentary centered mostly on the fact that corrupt former president Alberto Aleman (who is supposedly under house arrest) had attended the ceremony. There was little discussion of specific policy aspects of Ortega’s address – possibly because TV stations fear retaliation if they take too critical a stance.

As she watched the coverage, Susan shook her head. The timing of the sale of her business was a coincidence, but she seemed glad she had done it. She predicts a 25% drop in real estate prices tomorrow as investors get cold feet about land holdings in Nicaragua (after all, when they took power in the 80s, the Sandinistas initiated a massive program of land redistribution.) While foreign investment in Nicaragua sometimes highlights the inequities present in society, it also brings millions of desperately-needed dollars and thousands of jobs into the economy. If Ortega scares away these investors, it seems likely that the country’s poor will suffer the most.

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On Tuesday, I went out with the Movil in the morning, filming some more video, including an interview with one of the parents. School was out, so the teacher wasn’t there. But after I mentioned to Julio wanting to interview her for the video, we stopped by her house.

The plan was to leave for Managua Tuesday afternoon to do a few more interviews in Managua (including one with Rosa Aguilar, the head of the Nicaraguan library association.) But just as we were leaving, I started to feel queasy, and by dinnertime in Managua I was feeling weak and feverish. We were staying at the house of one of Jane’s friends, since all hotel rooms were booked up for the presidential inauguration, and I took the opportunity to go to bed early. I felt a bit better in the morning. But I soon realized that my case of what I’ll politely call “Somoza’s Revenge” had not dissipated. So we postponed the interview and my planned sojourn to Leon and another library up north, and I instead spent the day resting, working on Jane’s website, and staring out at the distant lake through the hazy sky of Managua.

Hopefully tomorrow the cramps and associated other symptoms will dissipate and I’ll be able to move on with life. But in the meantime Jane’s friend Susan is proving an incredible host – I’m very grateful!

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After the long day working on the website on Sunday, I took Monday morning off, rented a bike, and headed for Playa Marsella. The trip was somewhat less adventurous that my last attempt with Victoria in August, but still memorable. I managed to find my way to the pretty easily (perhaps my Spanish has improved to the point where I can understand directions.)

Of course, it wouldn't be a bicycle trip in Nicaragua without some sort of mechanical problem. I thought I was doing well when my bike actually had two tires that held air and more-or-less functional brakes and gears. But my faith was shattered when, halfway back, a pedal came off. Sigh. So I began walking, and when an SUV pulling a trailer full of dirt blew by me on the dusty road, I thumbed a ride. There were two men driving. The more talkative of the two was Nicaraguan businessman who spoke passable English and owned a buffet in Rivas (the nearest city of any size to San Juan.) The pair let me off near town, and I limped back with my crippled bicycle, stopping for a cerveza near the beachfront.

After all this, I took a quick shower and ran across town to the Casa Computadoras, the computer lab set up by the Por Fin project (which has now merged with the library.) The lab features a motley assortment of laptop and desktop machines in a tiny room attached to the house of Susan Watson, the organization's founder. She has also set up solar panels, batteries, and an inverter that power the lab when the electricity goes out. She is hoping to eventually use a similar method to put computers in countryside schools. I took the opportunity to film an interview with Susan and with her head Nicaraguan computer instructor Edwina. The two told me about the training programs have developed over the last five years, and how they hope the library will help them expand their computer literacy efforts in the town and, more importantly, in the countryside.

When I was done with the interview, I dashed back across town to Jane’s house, where she was having a dinner for David Gullette and his group of undergrads from Simmons. Jane knows how to throw a party -- the main dish was Nicaraguan lobster tails. After dinner we watched “Carla’s Song,” a moving drama about a Scottish bus driver who falls in love with a Sandinista woman from Nicaragua during the Contra war, and returns to Nicaragua with her. Not a happy movie, but fascinating all the same.

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Sunday was a full day of work on the new web sites for the library and HJH program -- after a trip to church, that is. Shortly after I got up in the morning, I heard the warning bell for the mass at the Catholic church across the street from the library. I hadn’t actually graced the door of a church in San Juan del Sur, so I decided to give it a try.

The church in San Juan del Sur is a large building with a yellow exterior, a red domed steeple, and an interior constructed primarily of timber. It has church window-shaped openings with shutters that open to allow the breeze to flow through, and at the front there are ornate figures representing Jesus, Mary, etc.

I walked in just a few minutes late, and sat down amidst a fairly full house. The mass was somewhat familiar from my staunch Lutheran upbringing, but being slightly different and in Spanish, I had a lot of trouble picking up the responses being uttered by the congregation. So I mostly followed along mutely while as the service progressed. The homily given by the priest focused on the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist -- I was able to pick up the gist of it, if not all of the details. At the end of the service, the priest took time to let the congregation know about the VOSH (Volunteer Optometric Services to Humanity) group which is here running a clinic. (He also said a personal thanks to them in Engish: “I love you, and I love the work you do.”)

The VOSH folks have taken the town by storm. Jane’s hotel is full to the brim with students from UC Berkeley who are volunteering with the group, and David Gullette’s Simmons group has also been working at the eye clinic. Even the Biblioteca has gotten involved.

To understand why, one must first consider the weak communications infrastructure in place in rural Nicaragua. In most of the communities served by the Movil, there is no newspaper delivery, no landline phone service, no Internet, and even no electricity. Postal service exists, but according to one of the hotel staffers, few people get letters. Communication tends to happen most frequently by word of mouth, or by various other makeshift means.

One very interesting example of makeshift communication are the sound trucks run by “Vado Publicidad.” The company has a fleet of loudspeaker-equipped vehicles that cruise the town and countryside blaring announcements in a unique singsong cadence. It is possible to pay them to make announcements – Jane has done this on occasion to publicize events. But clearly relying on a hired sound truck is not the most efficient way to provide reliable and effective publicity.

As an organization focused on offering personalized, appropriate information services with a presence at least once a month in 27 rural communities, the library is in a unique position to serve as an information conduit for the campesinos.

In the case of the eye clinic, librarians Heidy and Ruth have spent much of their time over the last few days working to ensure that groups of campesinos in remote villages are able to take advantage of the free clinic. They have formulated announcements, driven to the communities in the library’s truck, and used their existing relationships with the residents to spread the word about the clinic. (They also formulated a message to be announced by Vado Publicado – the invoice below shows that the announcement was made in 9 communities.

The librarians then coordinated transportation services to bring rural residents into the clinic and helped walk them through the process once they arrived in town. This is the type of "above and beyond" public service that make the library a crucial part of its community. And it’s not an anomaly – the Movil frequently helps with transportation to and from its communities in response to various needs. (When we were out with the project last week, we carried a child with severe asthma and her mother back to town with us to visit the public clinic.)

The unique relationship of the library with the rural communities points toward interesting opportunies for new information services. For example, the possibility of adding a solar-powered electronic communication network to the library's services. The addition of Por Fin to the library's portfolio is an exciting step in this direction. Jane and I just had a late-night brainstorming session about the information network idea, and I’m hoping to pursue it further.

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In the beginning, Jane Mirandette’s Biblioteca Movil was decidedly low tech. Indeed, this has been part of the reason for its success. As previously discussed on this blog, relying on a computerized checkout system is difficult in this land of erratic (or no) electricity. The simplicity of the Library in a Box protocol has allowed it to expand rapidly without the headaches that would be generated by supporting a massive technology infrastructure.

But technology remains extremely important to the future of the library. Although it is able to provide basic information services without using computers, it has also begun developing programs that enhance access to computers and the Internet. Nicaraguans throughout the country need access to these powerful new information resources, or they risk being forever stuck on the wrong side of the “digital divide.”

The library staff is firmly on board with the new emphasis on technology in addition to traditional printed information resources. While discussing the future of the library during our video interviews earlier this week, the staff of the library repeatedly mentioned the importance of Internet access and training in fulfilling the library’s mission.

Mirandette is aware of this need and has actively been taking steps to advance the technology component of the library’s programming. In November, the Biblioteca Movil founded a library in the Escuela San Miguel, a trade school in Cardenes that provides English and computer classes. After an arrangement to receive six donated laptops for technology classes in the library fell through, Mirandette united with Por Fin (At Last), another organization in San Juan del Sur which had developed a small computer lab and training program. The Por Fin project is now working with the Biblioteca Movil to provide technology training and services to the 27 rural communities where library services are currently being offered. The library will begin bringing computers out to the countryside in February after schools return from summer vacation.

Together, the Por Fin and the Biblioteca Movil offer a blockbuster combination of technology and information expertise – and they are hoping to capitalize on this synergy. They recently applied for an “Access to Learning” award from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which is designed to support the expansion of technology access outside of the United States.

I spent a couple of hours last night chatting with Susan Watson, the director of the Por Fin program. Susan is an American, but like Jane she is unpaid and has hired local Nicaraguans to staff the organization.

Frustrated by the frequent power problems at the 12-computer lab near the library, Por Fin has also built a solar powered battery system capable of driving most of the machines. The machines currently do not have Internet access, so the organization has cut a deal to allow students who complete the basic coursework at the center to access the Internet at a nearby Internet café. Students will soon be able to use newly-Internet-enabled computers in the Biblioteca itself, and the eventual plan is to provide Internet access in the computer lab.

Courses are offered in the lab six days per week on a variety of computer-related topics. Some are taught by paid instructors, and other instructors are technology students who have agreed to teach in return for access to the computer lab. I am hoping to sit in on a class on Monday, and can then report more on how this works.

Just as the Biblioteca Movil has led the way in providing free and access to printed information resources for all Nicaraguans, it is now moving forward to provide equal access to electronic information. The technology component of the library’s programming is an important new frontier for library services here in Central America.

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After spending the morning wrestling with CMSimple, a basic open-source content management system I’m deploying for Jane’s website, I took the afternoon off and headed for the beach here in town. I spent a couple hours bobbing amidst the waves and relaxing on the beach. While swimming I struck up a short conversation with a fellow beachgoer. He was from Guatemala, but had lived with his family in San Juan del Sur for the last year. When he found out that I was a librarian, he noted that he was an avid reader, and proudly noted that he had brought a massive collection of novellas with him from Guatemala. I asked if he had used the library in town, and he said no, but that he would likely do so when he was done with his existing book collection – he has a special interest in books on art.

After absorbing enough sun to annoy my pasty colleagues back in Boston, I left the beach and decided to hike up to the cross before returning home. The cross is a large steel structure planted at the top of a massive hill overlooking the harbor. It offers an unbelievable panoramic view of the town and the surrounding coast. I climbed the hill, stopping occasionally to dig pebbles out of my Crocs. I reached the top just in time to watch the sun disappear over the horizon. I then headed back to town, stopping to buy a Fresca from one of the beer stands along the beachfront.

When I stopped into the hotel, Jane was busily checking in a massive group of Optometry students from UC Berkeley, who are here to do volunteer work. (Prior to SJDS they had been in Costa Rica and Granada) Jane agreed that we would try to get going on web stuff after dinner. So in the meantime, I headed up to her house to take a shower. On the way, however, I was sidetracked by the sound of a brass band playing on a front porch. Intrigued, I stopped to listen to the percussion-rich music. All of a sudden, someone handed me a candle in a wax paper luminaria, and next thing I knew I had been sucked into a procession in honor of the Dia de los Reyes Magos (The day of the three kings.)

For those who slept their way through Sunday School, January sixth commemorates the visit of the three kings (also known as wise men) to the baby Jesus, who by then had already popped up on the imperial Roman radar as a threat. In our particular processional, the role of the kings was played by 30 or 40 enthusiastic kids, all decked out in their finest approximation of what a well-appointed king would have worn in 3 BCE. (One child even had a plastic bottle labeled “Myrh.”) I recognized one of the children as a regular at the library.

The kings were accompanied by three baby goats, presumably representing the camels the kings allegedly rode to find the messiah. In our case, it was clear from the weaving and foot dragging that one of the goats had not entirely bought into the quest. Nevertheless, once each participant had a lit candle, the procession moved forward, led by two men with tiki torches and backed by the steady racket of the brass band. We marched a large circuit about a block out from the city’s main park as residents watched from their front porches.

Having just returned from my hike and afternoon at the beach, I didn’t stick around too long after we returned to the starting point. But the band kept playing, and when I left the kings (stripped of their finery) were being served dessert.

Later on I walked by the church and saw a huge crowd gathered outside watching a lifesize Spongebob Squarepants on stage. Another part of the celebration, this time involving children who had had their first communion in December.

Travel serendipity at its best.

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Promoting the library to visitors
Originally uploaded by D-.

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IMG_6456.JPG
Originally uploaded by D-.

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There are currently two other groups from Simmons College here in San Juan del Sur. One, from the school of health studies, is here working with medical clinics in San Juan and the surrounding countryside.

The other is a service learning class led by Simmons English professor David Gullette. This class has been traveling around learning about a variety of health and human services-oriented activities in the area. I’ve tagged along with this group for a few of their activities. Yesterday morning they went out to a local school with the Movil project. The school itself had Massachusetts connections – it was built by the Newton/San Juan Sister Cities project, and was named after David Gullette himself. School is not currently in session, but the Movil project is making special runs for kids to check out books over the break. Because we had such a large number of volunteers, we also did a number of other activities with the kids – reading “The Little Engine that Could,” playing Frisbee and catch, blowing bubbles, etc.

The Simmons group has also spent some time with the “Appropriate Technologies Workshop” which is funded in part by the Newton/San Juan project and is run locally by Fidel Pavon. The workshop has two primary “products” – EcoStoves, which allow people to cook without filling their houses with wood smoke, and BioSan BioSand Filters, which allow the filtering of well water on a small scale. The workshop has also been involved in the installation of new wells and water pumps, and the creation of composting toilets.

The general philosophy of “appropriate technologies is that solutions deployed in a community must be adapted to the needs of that community. To take an example from our previous experiences in Nicaragua, there is little point in deploying a computerized library automation system in a location that lacks electricity half of the time. Jane’s card-based checkout system is an example of an appropriate technology, because it is adapted for the real-world needs of a community.

Yesterday, I went out with the group and spent the afternoon helping produce BioSand filters. The filters themselves are cast from concrete, and are then filled with gravel and sand. Once they are filled with water, a protective layer of bacteria and algae form on top of the sand, eating the parasites in the water (“animalitos,” or little animals, as Gullette calls them in Spanish).

We spent the afternoon painting the outside of the filters a brilliant blue, and sifting soil scraped from a local streambed into 55-gallon drums to produce the fine sand needed for the top layers of the filters.

There have been some interesting discussions within Gullette’s group about the use of these “appropriate” technologies. There is no question that, when used, they can offer health benefits to local residents. But in some cases the filters lie idle after being installed. This led one student to question whether the technologies were really that appropriate if they weren’t always being adopted.

The group asked Fidel about this during our trip yesterday afternoon. He gave several answers, with the simplest being a Nicaraguan saying “La costumbre es la ley” – the custom is the law. Many Nicaraguans, especially those of older generations in the campo, are inherently conservative, and are not quick to adopt new ideas and technologies. But he said that, in general, when individuals or communities purchase their own filters or stoves, they tend to use them intensively. When the units are donated or purchased by a school or institution, they tend to be used sporadically. Jane has found similar things with activities conducted with the library. Outsiders, no matter how well-intentioned, can’t force new ideas or technologies on a community that doesn’t see the need for them.

This is a key point for those involved in development projects anywhere. Local involvement and support in the decision making process is crucial. Outsiders can be helpful in providing new ideas and resources, but ultimately local decision-making and control are extremely important. Without this, the projects are unlikely to reflect the true needs of the community, and are likely wasted effort.

After we finished working with the filters, we accompanied Fidel on a trip to a small community deep in the countryside. Currently several households are sharing a single bucket well. We listened to Fidel pitch the idea of a communal pump and tank that would allow the households to share the pumping effort and then have running water to their houses. While Fidel's workshop, Simmons students, and the Newton/San Juan project would likely help out with implementation on this project, it was made clear that this was a communal effort, and that the households involved would need to make the decision, do much of the work, etc. This was not to be a workshop effort assisted by the community -- it was to be a community effort assisted by the workshop.

Fidel Pavon's involvement is crucial. He was raised in a campesino family in the countryside, and he understands the land and its people in ways an outsider never can. And he is a natural-born engineer, devising solutions to problems he sees in the real world.

The lessons of local involvement and support for development projects are as important for libraries as they are for wells and water filters. Without local involvement at all levels, a library becomes a useless apendage to the community, not an institution at its heart.

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I left the hotel in Miami around 8 AM, and by 10 I was on board an Airbus 380 headed for Managua. I spent most of the flight immersed in David Gullette’s “Gaspar! A Spanish Poet/Priest in the Nicaraguan Revolution" It’s a fantastic read – more on that later.

After arriving in Managua, paying my $5 visa fee, retrieving my bags, and clearing customs, I still had an hour or so to kill before meeting up with the other Boston folks I was riding to SJDS with. So I took the opportunity to pick up some Cordobas from an ATM and purchase a very low-cost cell phone that works in Nicaragua. The phone cost roughly $17, with around $5 in prepaid calling included. I also grabbed lunch at the food court consisting of pescado frito (fried fish), gallo pinto (Nicaraguan red beans and rice), ensalata de lechuga (tossed salad), y plantanos (in this case, carmelized in sugar, although they can be prepared in many ways.)

Around 1 PM I met up with the rest of the Colleges of the Fenway folks with whom I was hitching a ride to San Juan del Sur. These included:

• Simmons English professor David Gullette, who is leading a class of around 8 students on a service learning trip.
• A group from the Simmons school of Health Sciences, which will be working with clinics here in Nicaragua
• Wentworth professor Jerry Hopcroft and his wife. In addition to a vacation, Jerry is back in country to pursue the Wentworth bridge project, which has been repeatedly delayed. (More on this later.)

Simmons Professor David Gullette.

Gullette proved an entertaining tour guide on the 2+ hour drive from Managua. He detoured down the main street of Tipitapa (site of one of the libraries we visited last time), stopped at an Esso for snacks, made another stop to buy honey from a woman who sells honey in recycled coke and liquor bottles. (I picked up a tequila bottle of honey for a few dollars.) He also pointed out various other sites – especially the multiple volcanoes and myriad nurseries around Catarina.

Despite the rumors we heard last summer that the road from Rivas to San Juan del Sur would be fixed “after the rainy season,” it is still a bone-jarring ride – drivers must swerve between potholes and piles of loose rocks, while looking out for others doing the same. David says that kids sometimes can be found by the side of the road with shovels, pointing to the potholes they just filled in and holding out their hands for “propinas.” Amazingly, we did come across an actual road crew with a steam roller on one section – but there was little visible improvement.

When we arrived in San Juan we piled out of the mini busses in the main park in front of the church. We were met by the man whose family I stayed with briefly on my last visit – fondly nicknamed “Crazy Bird (Pajero Loco)” and who I’ve since learned (from David’s book) was a confidant of Gaspar, the local priest killed in the revolt against the Soomoza dictatorship.

Once my luggage arrived – including the large suitcase full of craft supplies and other items for the library, I set off up the street toward Jane’s hotel. I stopped into the lobby, and said hi to Mike, Jane’s business partner, Patricio, and Juan, two of her other employees. I was just pulling out my laptop to find Jane’s cell phone number when she walked in with Edwin, our driver for much of the last trip. We greeted each other warmly, and I set to work unpacking the suitcase of supplies. (Unfortunately, the few candy canes I had ill-advisedly tossed in the suitcase had shattered in transit, and I had to spend some time wiping peppermint bits off of each item in the case.)

Jane informed me that the library staff Christmas party was being held at a restaurant on the waterfront, and invited me to attend. I gladly accepted the offer, and after a bit more unpacking I headed for Inez – which I later realized was the same restaurant we ate at on our last first night in SJDS last August.

Biblioteca Movil staff Christmas party

Jane had also invited three other visitors to the party: Maxine Shaw and her Cuban-American husband -- long time veterans of the Brookline-Quezalguaque sister city project, and Jenina, one of two full-time librarian in the massive new library built by that project The trio had come to San Juan to observe Jane’s library (especially the movil project) in action and look for ideas that could be applied to the library in Quezalguaque. (More about this library later – in fact, I’m now hoping to pay it a visit before I leave Nicaragua.)

The staff party included everyone associated with the library and their families. Most participants were familiar faces (Ruth, Heidy, Nelly, Julio, Ricardo, Edwin, etc.) There has been a bit of turnover on the staff, though, so there were a few new faces as well.

After a fine meal (I had Brocheta Mixta – or mixed kabobs of pork, chicken, and fish), we moved on to the “regalos” or presents. Jane gave gifts to each of her staffers and their children, and then the staff gave secret santa gifts to each other – offering testimonials about the person they had picked.

I also gave some of the librarians framed photos that we had taken last visit, and Jane and her staff gave me a hammock and a card signed by the group.

After dinner, I returned to the hotel, where Jane, Ruth, Richard, and the Quezalguaque crew sat and talked for a while.

Tomorrow Jane is off to Managua for some medical tests, and I’m hoping to visit the library, talk more with Jenina from the Quezalguaque library, begin developing plans for the video I’m going to shoot, and perhaps work some on the web site tasks.

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This was my first time in Miami, so after settling into my hotel room, I took a walk to explore. The hotel turned out to be located in the town of Coral Gables, a satellite in the South Florida sprawl around the city of Miami.

My hotel is located near the “Miracle Mile,” a strip of small shops in the heart of the Coral Gables central business district. It was originally developed by George and Rebyl Zain just after World War II – at least according to a historical marker I found. I walked up and down both sides of this strip, gazing into the shop windows and admiring the fountains and tropical plantings.

Miami straddles the border between Anglo America and Latin America. Newspaper boxes on each corner offer both The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald. Many of the conversations I were in Spanish rather than English, and one young child admiring shop window displays switched effortlessly back and forth depending on whether he was addressing his brother or his parents. The Barnes & Noble has row after row of Spanish titles – and even a small Spanish “bargain books” section. A pretty big change from the three linear feet of Spanish books at Porter Square Books.

I picked up a copy of Angela’s Ashes in Spanish for $4.98 to donate to Jane’s library. The guy in front of me in line spoke Spanish to the cashier. The cashier then addressed me in English. Apparently, even though I was buying a Spanish-language book, I don’t look the part of a native speaker. Or, more likely, it’s considered polite to address a customer in English until they reply in Spanish. The guy behind me was buying a book about Nicaragua, and the cashier asked him about it in English. When he replied that he had lived there, the cashier switched over to rapid fire Spanish.

Off to Managua tomorrow morning, American Airlines permitting…

Posted by David Dwiggins at 11:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

After celebrating a friend’s 30th birthday with a weekend ski trip in Maine, I spent my New Year’s Eve packing for Nicaragua. (What better way to prep for a trip to the equator than by sliding down a snow-covered mountain?)

After a french toast breakfast with a few friends, I then headed for Logan, lugging my gear plus an extra suitcase filled to the brim with art supplies, books, photos, and various other materials destined for the SJDS Biblioteca Movil.

My flight from Boston to Miami arrived an hour late, and by the time I made it off the plane the connecting flight to Managua was already in the air. So, courtesy of American Airlines, I’m now spending a night (sans luggage) at the beautiful Coral Gables hotel here in Florida. American also chipped in a voucher for dinner – but unfortunately the hotel restauarant wasn’t open on New Years Day. So I used the voucher to pick up a cold ham sandwich and a nutrigrain bar from the hotel’s tiny convenience store. Yum.

While I was waiting in line to change my ticket at the airport, I met Eben Forbes, who was also making the trek from Boston to Managua. Forbes is the field director of the Norwalk (Ct.) – Nagarote Sister City Project. This project is similar to the Newton-San Juan project, but is unique in that it has the full-time director position in country. Eben was hired for the job earlier this year after answering an ad on idealist.org.

His wife works with the UN and is currently stationed in Laos, but will be moving to Nicaragua to join him in a few months.

Naragote is further north in Nicaragua than I’ve yet been. I’ve been considering a side trip to the Spanish colonial city of Leon, and if I’m in the area Eben invited me to stop by Naragote. He is very interested in library project, and I’m also going to provide him with some more information on that. (We’re at the same hotel tonight, and are booked on the same flight to Managua tomorrow – so we’ll probably see each other again.)

I’m planning to catch a ride down to San Juan del Sur tomorrow with another group from Simmons that is coincidentally going to the town at the same time with Professor David Gullette. After a few last minute e-mails and phone calls with David, it looks like this plan will still work even though I won’t be arriving in Managua until tomorrow.

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