chavez: "capitalism is savage" (a gringo amidst mass nicaraguanese)

January 12

Here I am, morning of my 3rd day in Nica- I really haven't had a moment to write! I arrived on the 10th around noon, and made it through customs without a second glance (I must not have struck them as a Miami drug dealer). Danielo (the bus driver from the choir tour) picked me up from the airport and we had a jolly little reunion, it was awesome to see a familiar face! We basically talked the whole way to the Fabretto center in Managua... well I have to admit Danielo did go off for about 10 minutes on a rant about how much he detests Ortega (I think I maybe understood 10% of what he was trying to tell me). Other than that, we had a great conversation and he even remarked on my Spanish (which is hilarious because I haven't practiced at all). Managua was absolutely going crazy that afternoon with the innaguration of recently elected Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega (yes, the same one from the 80's). The airport was packed, and apparently the plane next to the one I came on had the President of Mexico on board. All the sidewalks and buses were crammed with people, most of whom carried Sandenista or Nicaraguan flags and wore pink (yes, bright flamingo pink) FSLN hats. The traffic was incredible! We finally arrived at the Fabretto center just as the ESL training finished for the day. James, one of the JVI (Jesuit Volunteer International) volunteers I met last trip, was there to greet me (another familiar face!). I met Silvio (our teacher) and the two other women in the class, Carmen and Marjorie (from Esteli). James asked me if I wanted to go to the innaguration that evening with him and his roomates (I believe his direct question was "Well, do you like doing things spur of the moment?".... what kind of a silly question is that?). I decided to drop off my bags at the Provadenic (ironically, the same hotel I stayed at with the choir last December) and went with James to the JV's house to meet the other roomates.
We waited for a bus for about 15 minutes before having to basically stuff ourselves on a completely packed public pus. We went as near to the celebration as we could possibly get. I've never been on a more packed bus, it was crazy! Every time I moved I felt like I was on top of another person. After we got off the bus, we followed the flow of the crowd for about a mile before reaching a standstill about 300 yards from the satge. We had all heard that the festivities were supposed to start at 3 or 4 PM but in reality nothing happened until atleast 6 or 7 (welcome to Nicaraguan time!). This meant we were standing in the sun for a good three hours before the innaguration INSIDE the national assembly even started (which they were nice enough to broadcast live on a big-screen projector). While we waited, we stood around and chatted and I took all sorts of pictures. It was actually really cool just to be in that environment, you could feel the buzz of excitement and hope in the air. The Nicaraguan people have such new-found faith in this man who completely screwed them over a mere 20 years ago. he truly is their hope, and has the capability to trun Nicaragua around, to make her a progressive nation, to help the poor. While we waited, James took about 20 minutes to catch Josh (one of his roomies) and I up on what he'd learned in the past three days of ESL classes. Seems like we really didn't miss too much, a lot of it seems like common sense but I'm not sure that I would have come up with all of it on my own. Finally, just as we were about ready to throw in the towel, the big screen lit up with a live scene of the happenings at the National Assembly, which entailed much ritual and many photo ops with various world leaders and dancing by Nicaraguan youth. This lasted for a good hour, until finally the various dignitaries began to fill the stage. The stage iteself was very impressive. It's a huge white concrete structure with a variety of colorful desighns on alternating columns... almost looks like someone very talented decided to graffiti it.
Ortega arrived to what must have been the 20th rendition of "Give Peace a Chance" in Spanish- the reggae/hip-hop version of course. The sky filled with raised flags of every Latin American nation (mainly Sandenista) and everybody sang. It was a moment I won't soon forget, a truly beautiful scene in a free country, a people filled with dreams of peace and hope for better lives. I hope Ortega can at least provide that. Ortega's wife (clad in a blue plastic visor, flower-print everywhere, and curly mane blowing wildly in the evening breeze) gave the first speech, after which more dancing and festivities filled the stage. Next, Chavez and Eva Morales both spoke. Chavez had a truly commanding presence- I was incredibly impressed by his ability to control the audience, each person seemed to hang on his every word. He also emphasized 'death to imperialism in North America' and roared 'capitalism is savage!' which I thought was extremely appropriate for the circumstances. However, for one of 6 gringos in a crowd of 200,000 it made me giggle and also made me a bit queasy at the same time. Morales was a less engaging speaker, but seemed sincere and grateful to be there. We honestly only stayed for the first 10 minutes of Ortega's speech, it seemed like half of the people there decided to have a mass exodus. I'd have felt bad if I hadn't been so exhausted that I felt like falling over. On the way out, there was a huge fireworks display and much hullabaloo. We caught a taxi and came back to the hotel, and I fell asleep right away. I don't think I've ever slep that hard! I definately needed it though. The next morning we woke up at 7 AM (because apparently people here like to wake up much too early and then sit around waiting rather than sleeping in a bit more) and I took my first bucket shower of the trip. We ate breakfast, and I took a nap before we were picked up for class. I read the newspaper on the way to Fabretto, which had some excellent pictures of the innaguration. How incredible to be a part of history! I can only hope it will be a great moment in history, not one that the Nicaraguans will regret.
Class was good- many of the things we learned were elementary/basic, but will provide a good foundation for me as an inexperienced teacher. We played a lot of little games, worked in groups, and giggled a lot. We had class for about 8 hours though, so by the end of it I was ready to be done! We came back to the hotel and ate dinner with Pastor John (who runs the Provadenic) and chatted with him about thier medical missions, his studies in psychology, and other things. After dinner, I read a few journals about early childhood ESL strategies and went to bed. Today, more class, then I figure out what the heck I'm going to do this weekend with nothing scheduled. I have a feeling I'll find something or other to keep me preoccupied...