Daily life in Sabana Grande

As all of you are aware, I’m not a sociologist, a psychologist nor a social scientist of any type, so. what follows are observations by a gringo with a bit over 2 weeks total experience in Nicaragua and a limited (to say the least!) ability to follow nuances of the language.  With that disclaimer, here are some observations.

Day to day life in Sabana Grande is challenging, if not plain hard.  This is not an easy place for the weak, the infirm or the old—I don’t think it would be possible to exist here is a wheelchair and very difficult with crutches or any mobility impairment.  I can witness some of this difficulty by observing the husband in my household , who manages with a crutch as a result of a landmine injury from the Contra war.  His solution is to get around by horse.  This is definitely not a place where one aspires to live long enough to become impaired.

The primary streets are dirt/gravel and often have large rocks sticking up or large ruts left from the rainy season; typically they have fords instead of bridges.  Secondary streets are similar, but are often about the width of a narrow driveway.  Tertiary streets are essentially ditches and not even passable by 4-wheel drive.  The streets are generally lined with undergrowth and/or hedges of some sort and there are almost always chickens everywhere.  When walking and not really paying attention, I am often startled when a chicken pops out or there is sudden rustling at the roadside.  Apparently chickens must have a decent homing instinct because they wander everywhere during the day.

A typical primary street passable by car or truck.  Usually much rougher than typical rural gravel roads in the US.

A secondary street that is much narrower, but still very passable by car (although two cars meeting can be a problem).

Another secondary street, but with ruts left over from the rainy season.  These streets generally require 4WD when it rains.

For reference, here is a picture from last May showing what I call a secondary street in the rain.

A tertiary "street."  The scale might not be apparent, but the gully right in the middle is about 5 feet deep.  These streets often require mountain bikes to be carried.  (Looks like a good civil engr. design project.)

There is also, of course, la Carretera Panamericana which is a well-paved 2-lane road with considerable traffic, though certainly not congested.  Vehicles range from ox carts (usually on the shoulders), to horses, bicycles, cars, buses and semis.  From observation, solid yellow lines mean absolutely nothing.  What is a bit frightening is that many pedestrians and cyclists are on this road at night without lights or even reflectors. 

La Carretera Panamericana--The Pan-American Highway.  Shown is a local bus (i.e., chicken bus) typically loaded.  These are usually old US school buses, although often painted much more creatively.  Note the considerable pedestrian traffic.

Evidence that pedestrians are sometimes victims.  Just as in the US, small memorials are erected along the highway at the location of fatalities.

For the vast majority (my house being an exception), water must be carried and pumped by hand from a common well generally within one-quarter mile, but sometimes considerably farther.  The path is often up/down relatively steep paths.  The water is carried on the head in 5-gallon buckets, apparently always by women.  I've seen many women walking with water balanced on their heads, but have not yet seen how they get 40 lbs of water up onto the head and back down again without losing it all.  This water is for everything:  drinking, washing, bathing, pets/livestock and cooking.  From personal experience at a well, pumping 5 gallons is a job in itself, then add the walk after that and it is a significant effort.  The pumps are a simple rotating crank-type, not like the typical reciprocating rural or state park pumps in the US.  The crank moves a rope strung with spaced ceramic balls in a tube about the ID of the balls’ OD.  The water is carried up between each pair of balls.  It is a simple system and easily repaired if something goes wrong.  Well depth seems to vary from 50-150 ft.

stubs

Example of a typical well installation.  The local community building is in the background.

Most of the wells and other improvement projects (including latrines, but I'll focus on them in a later post!) are funded by foreign governments or NGOs, among them the European Union, Spain, Netherlands, Canada, the US, Oxfam, Mennonite groups, etc.  Some projects also include Nicaraguan government or municipal funding.  Each project includes a large sign making sure credit for the project is appropriately given.  These signs seem to be permanent and some are 15 or more years old, dating back to the time just after thecontra war.  Today, the well water is generally safe, as long as you have immunity to the particular microbes, so foreigners are typically advised to drink only bottled water.  (Bottled water is provided as part of my volunteer fees.)

One of many signs advertising the donors and beneficiaries of various development projects.  This one is financed by the city of Valencia (Spain, I assume), the agent was a group called Valencians for Nicaragua and execution was by the Instituto de Promocion Humano.  This particular sign is only about 3 years old.

Any major shopping must be done in Ocotal and involves a one-half hour bus ride plus a 25-30 minute walk each way on each end.  For small items, there are “pulperias” scattered about, which are essentially small stores run out of living rooms.  (In fact, my house is a very limited example because you can recharge minutes on cell phones or modems.) 

An example of a pulperia.  It looks very much like a house, but there are usually a few signs (often soft drinks, candy, or cell phone) and sometimes a split door (Dutch door).  This one is actually about 30-40 m off of a main street, so you need to be aware that it's there to find it.

You need to know which is the appropriate pulparia for a specific item as they don't all carry the same items.  They will often be a 15-20 minute walk each way.  In addition, local women walk door to door with a few eggs, or tomatoes or other fruits and vegetables from home plots for sale.  Since doors are never closed, they often simply walk in and sit down to chat for a bit, and then either close a sale or simply get up and leave after whatever is deemed an appropriate time.  Some items, such as bread, may be delivered more formally by men.  The bread man at my house is over 60 and rides his mountain bike about 40 miles per day delivering bread.  The bike is outfitted with a large cardboard box to carry the bread, which is protected by a plastic sheet in the rainy season. There are also, of course, numerous bars scattered throughout the countryside and it is not uncommon to see men passed out along the streets (from the night before) as late as 14:00.

Tomas, the bread man with his bike.  I've seen him riding on the highway and he moves pretty well on a good surface.  His day starts so early that it's completely dark.  He has no light but does wear a reflective vest.

For women, the day is mostly spent in the kitchen, around the wash basin, carrying water or gathering firewood (the women associated with the solar projects being notable exceptions as they are involved in the development of a coop-type business and each has one or more roles in that enterprise).  The day starts before dawn (around 5-5:30) and generally doesn’t end until 21:00 or later.  Their kitchens have open-fire stoves, generally without chimneys.  Smoke escapes either through tile roofs or windows.  The health is one of the motivations for the development of solar cookers, the other being prevention of deforestation.  In addition, Grupo Fenix works on the introduction of more efficient wood and charcoal burning stoves with proper venting and the making of charcoal from agricultural waste.

A traditional kitchen in the house I stayed in last May.  Although the stove is really quite beautiful, it is not very healthy.  Note no chimney and the slotted windows for smoke (the cracks in the tile roof are not visible, but you can see how black the beams and rafters are).  Since May, this room was coated with what's called tierra blanca and is much brighter now.  Also note the ubiquitous coffee grinder on the post to the right and the water supply (bucket) of water under the counter on the left.

Two boys carrying firewood.  Two sisters and their mother are ahead of them with similar loads..

For the men, life is perhaps physically even harder, as most are in some form of agricultural work, which is all done by hand or on foot behind teams of oxen.  This includes plowing, planting, harvesting, threshing, etc.

Plowing with an ox-team.  The plow is a sharpened stick with no steel tip.  (This was actually taken in May when I was here.  January is dry season, so planting is not going on now.)

Cows (and a couple of burros) heading up to the mountain to graze for the day.  This is right across from my house.

This is some sort of threshing stand and I believe this field is a relative of sorghum.  In any case, the grain is put in the high enclosure and the farmer stands on the lower platform (behind the bush) and beats the grain with some kind of flail.  I haven't been up-close to see what the construction details are.

They also tend fruit and coffee trees and there are small herds of cattle driven down the streets each day on the way to or from grazing land.  However, the advantage for the men is that darkness falls at about 18:00 throughout the year, so farm work stops at about that time.  They therefore have time to sit, socialize or watch TV while dinner is served by the women.  In my house, the TV is dominated by sports, but telenovelas are quite popular as well.

One thing that stands out here when one first arrives is the amount of litter and trash that is everywhere.  (I remember that this was even worse in Yucatan, perhaps because Mexico is more prosperous and can afford more junk?)  One very common item that confused me at first is what looked like small plastic bow ties.  I discovered these are the bags in which snacks are sold on buses;  they are tied rather than using twists or tape.  One major contributor to the trash problem is that there is no trash collection in rural areas.  Cities and towns generally have some collection, but dumps are often just that:  an open dump with no land-fill coverage of the trash.  Therefore, even trash that is disposed of properly by individuals may end up scattered across the countryside.  I collect my trash and take it with me to Ocotal, where there is a legitimate landfill with some modest recycling.  One of the first times I walked along the Pan-American Highway, my thought was that someone needed to adopt the road like we do in the states.  However on reflection, I realized that people here work so hard just to live that there is very little energy left over for other things, such as aesthetics.  On a more positive note, there is some movement to develop better solid waste management and recycling in urban areas, but it has not reached the countryside as of yet.  This may also be changing, at least in Sabana Grande, as a new volunteer just arrived with the goal of working towards developing a viable model for trash collection here.