The Stinky Girl Travels

The workshop with Felix and Flor was awesome! They started out with some fun icebreakers, like limbo, games with balloons, etc.  Everyone got to pick a colored sash to wear to enter "the party", then had to limbo in order to gain entrance. Some kids were embarrassed at first, but eventually everyone did it! Then they broke off into groups - Flor with the girls and Felix with the boys.  The girls wrote down phrases they have heard when being harassed in the street, as well as messages they would want to tell their harassers. This was really effective because it gave everyone a way to express their frustration - most of the time, girls don't react to verbal harassment on the street out of fear and/or embarrassment (or because it's easier and less time consuming to just keep walking than to confront someone), so this was an opportunity to raise their voice and express their sentiments!  The boys talked about things they have heard on the street as well, but also things t...

The project is called "No Más Acoso en Forma de Piropo...Campaña Contra el Acoso Sexual!"  These are the activities we have planned: November 8th:  Day-long workshop with the group Colectivo de Zanquistas (stilt walkers that perform in parades, but they also do workshops for kids). Felix and Flor, social workers/artists/siblings, facilitated the workshop, which consisted of fun icebreakers to get the kids energized and comfortable with each other, group discussions about verbal harassment, role playing, games, and a yummy lunch cooked by the moms. (I'll write a separate blog post about this workshop with more details and photos)  November 12th: Recording of Radio Vignette  We wrote a short 30 second show that involves a dialogue between five kids talking about street harassment, which we will be aired several times a day over the course of a month on the radio station "Cariñoso" November 14th & 15th: I will be making a presentation to university students of ...

So camioneta-riding is normally a crowded and fairly uncomfortable experience, but for public transportation around the whole city at a mere 4 cordobas (which is about 15 cents), it's hard to complain. In fact, the discomfort is part of the charm. It's kind of fun to hop onto the back of the truck and hang onto the overhead bar, the truck bumping and swaying as it makes sharp turns and sudden stops.  But today I had a particularly memorable experience riding the beloved camioneta, and by memorable, I mean so incredibly uncomfortable and crazy that it was absolutely hilarious!  The camioneta was already filled to absolute maximum capacity, with people spilling out...but I was desperate. Ingrid and I were meeting with someone at el terminal in 10 minutes, and not wanting to wait another 15-20 minutes for the next truck, I decided to hop on. The conductor managed to find an microscopic space for me to stand - a space on the outside ledge only big enough for me to place one foot (...

So one of the fun things I've been doing lately is helping teach an English class at the local art school Xuchialt!  The class is part of the Access Program, a two year English course sponsored by the US Embassy, in which about 26 high school kids from the entire city are chosen to participate free of expense. The program is supposed to be pretty effective, because after two years, most students come out speaking English fairly fluently.  I've been helping by giving some culture lessons, which is really fun! I recently had to teach about symbols of the United States, which, to be honest, was as much of a lesson for me while researching it as it was for them. I also talked about the seasons, since Autumn and Spring technically don't exist here in Nicaragua.  I also help with general pronunciation, because it's beneficial for the students to hear English spoken by a native speaker, and sometimes answer random questions about what people actually say in the states vs. what...

This weekend, we had our first Amigos excursion to the beautiful city of Granada and a relaxing beach hostel at Laguna de Apoyo. Although I was sick during the entire trip, I still enjoyed it and had a great time thanks to a lot of ibuprofen and cold medicine!  Here are some beautiful views of Granada that I took from the top of La Iglesia de Merced:       The main cathedral  La Iglesia de Merced:  You can climb to the top of this tower, which is where I took the photos from! It's an amazing view of the city.  Inside the main cathedral in Granada:  Street view of the cathedral:  Horse-drawn carts sponsored by "Claro" and "Movistar", the two phone companies in Nicaragua:     Granada definitely has a more touristy vibe than León  Funny story: while walking down the street in Granada, a boy selling bracelets started to follow us. As we kept walking, he suddenly came up to me and began flirting with me. He asked me my name, to...

As you all know, it has been a trying experience for me to deal with street harassment on a daily basis. It varies - some days, I am confident enough to deflect these comments and keep my head held high. Other days, my confidence deflates and I begin to sink into a hole of anger and frustration, obsessing over ways I could have reacted, things I could have said that I didn't have the courage to.... I even began seriously considering carrying a rock with me and tossing it menacingly into the air as I walked to work, just to get those teenage boys to stop bothering me on my way to work.  Fortunately, there's a better way to deal with this than carrying around rocks. After sharing my experiences with Ingrid at Mpowering People, we had the idea of doing a project with the communities to combat this issue. This definitely wasn't something unique to my experience - it is a problem local women have to deal with every single day too.  During our meeting last Thursday, the mothers o...

I think grocery shopping in other countries is such a neat way to experience another culture!  Although most people buy the bulk of their food at the markets since the produce is generally fresher and more economical, people do go to the grocery stores, or "supers", for more specialty items that you can't find at the markets, such as pancake mix, dairy products like yogurt and non-local cheeses, etc.  The largest grocery store in León is Union, located in the center of the city. Here's some pictures of what I bought!  Chimichurri, chile sauce, and salsa. The chimichurri goes really well with the fried fish my host family makes!  I haven't tried this yet, but if it's anything like real dulce de leche, it should be fantastically delicious.  Because sometimes you just need some gelatin in your life  I was so excited to find that they have Gouda, amongst other cheeses such as parmesan, mozzarella, and American yellow slices Healthy whole grain apple and cinnamo...