NOTES FROM THE NORTH: A NICARAGUAN CHRONICLE - AND BEYOND
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NOTES FROM THE NORTH: A NICARAGUAN CHRONICLE - AND BEYOND
Notes fromt eh North: A Nicaraguan Chronicle - and Beyond
Notes fromt eh North: A Nicaraguan Chronicle - and Beyond
This group is a collection of righteous cats--family and friends, or in the words of Dave Eggers, "The lattice that we are either a part of or apart from...the lattice is my people, collective youth, people like me, hearts ripe, brains aglow." To this lattice, Josue Berman sends semi-regular missives from the field. The group began during his Peace Corps service in Nicaragua, and continues to follow him throughout his journeys. He still writes and publishes about Nicaragua, but the road is long and varied; so sit back as he logs his adventures and gives you a glimpse. Como siempre, NicaDayzed y tranquilo como Camilo. Yeah.
Subject: On Turning 30, plus Spring Fever and a political postcript
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Amigos Mios:
I'd like to start this special Spring Fever Edition of NicaDayz by announcing two New York area presentations of my Nicaragua slide show -- I will talk about traveling in the 'Land of Lakes and Volcanoes,' sing Nica folk music, answer questions, and sign copies of Moon Handbooks Nicaragua -- and raffle off some fine Nica rum and fair trade coffee. I would love to see you there! Please come by and say 'Hola:'
Tuesday, April 15, 7:30 pm, Huntington Station Barnes & Nobles
(Exit 49 on the LIE, north on Rte 110, just south of Rte 25)
Friday, April 18, 7:30 pm, Greenwich Village Barnes & Nobles
(Ave. of the Americas, at W. 8th St., 212-674-8780)
After-party at The Edge (I think)
Also, I've been improving my website and the links page now has a pretty thorough section on all things Nica: http://stonegrooves.net/links.html
***
And now . . .
Spring sprung quietly here in French Gulch and without much fanfare. The winter was pretty mild overall, then a rain shower triggered everything to suddenly and smoothly explode into bloom. The view of Main Street through the window behind my iBook has begun to change. The black, gnarled wintery branches are gone, shrouded now in carpets of buds and flowers: whites, pinks, reds, and yellows that meld into the evergreens as they run up the western slope of the Gulch.
This morning I sit on our south-facing, wrap-around porch, reading Anna Karenina and enjoying the last of the sun before a fast approaching storm rolls in to blow it out, driving me back inside to work on my computer. But not yet -- the front is still working its way across the sky and I sip coffee (from the Segovia Mountains in Nica) and read the following words several times over:
"Spring is the time for making plans and resolutions, and Levin, like a tree which in the spring-time does not yet know in which direction and in what manner its young shoots and twigs (still imprisoned in their buds) will develop, did not quite know what work on his beloved land he was going to take in hand, but he felt that his mind was full of the finest plans and resolutions."
I sense the low, firm buzz of a hummingbird and jerk my head up to see him hovering in front of my face; he winks at me and then zips across the street. This is the same creature that has appeared in front of my window every morning this month to sample the new redness of our shrubbery. He quickly comes back from yonder and I watch him work the flowers as I sit and ponder, my book face down in my lap now.
Like Tolstoy's Levin, I also have had a mind full of fine plans and resolutions -- some of them already in action, the rest rousing, jumbled and not at all clear in my mind. A large piece just clicked into place, as a very exciting summer job opportunity presented itself to me this week; I'll be fighting fires (actually, holding and igniting, re: 'using' fire) all over the west with a special National Park Service team through September. This is good and new and will briefly consume my life, but what comes after is not clear at all and, once again, I haven't the faintest idea where I'll be in a year.
Welcome to my seasonal world.
My roommate and partner in crime (among other things), Alicia, lives in this world as well, and we breathe through each extraordinary Northern California day even as so much uncertainty flutters about our heads, a cloud of invisible gnats to which we've both become quite accustomed.
The bright side of such an existence is that it makes for a fascinating, wide-reaching, and ever-changing perspective on the world, something that, during the 29 years and 360 days of my life, I've come to appreciate as exceedingly precious and rather difficult to attain. The downside is an occasional watery, lost feeling. Luckily, we know how to swim, Alicia and I, and in the meantime, it's spring in French Gulch and it's raining again now.
Paz and luz to you all,
Josue
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Story Source: Personal Web Page
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Nicaragua
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