Fieldwork Serendipity

I can't believe my good fortune. It's been only 3 days, and so much has happened in my favor...

For one thing, Gloria's sister, Norma, who was recently laid off from her job at the bank, has offered to travel with me when I leave Managua. How sweet is that!?!

Also, Gloria has several friends who are school teachers in many of the municipalities in which I may study this year. She's working on setting up interviews with them for me. I am really, really excited about this!

Last night Gloria took me over to her friend Fatima's house to talk to her and her husband about the local Citizen Power Council. Fatima is the block coordinator for the CPC, and she was able to provide me with a ton of information. Both she and her husband are die-hard Sandinistas, so it was a very interesting conversation indeed. She was very kind to me and said that she would gladly call me when she knows when the next meeting will be held. I'm thrilled that I will soon get to observe a meeting, as well as meet many other members of the CPC. What a great start, huh!?!

I have a couple more meetings set up for next week too. I'm going to stop by the Center for Global Education and visit my friend Juan Carlos on Monday. He's an incredible person, so kind, supportive and funny, and I can't wait to catch up with him. He's also very knowledgable about Nicaraguan politics, so he will also be a great resource for me.

I received confirmation about my meeting with CIASES (the Center for Research and Action in Social Education, which is the institute with whom I am affiliated) on Tuesday at 5:00 PM. Melba, the President, mentioned that she will be introducing me to everyone and familiarize me with the offices. (I'm hoping that this means that I will be able to share some workspace! We'll see...)

On Wednesday, I have a meeting with Mario Quintana of the Coordinadora Civil at 4:00 PM. Mario was one of the most helpful people that I met when I was here last year. He was the one who invited me to two different conferences and gave me tons of contacts. He was also the former president of one of the major teacher's unions.

Gloria, her youngest son Garry (20-years-old) and I may be going to see a documentary at one of the universities tonight. I think it's about the Contra War, in which the US was financing the opposition to the Sandinista regime in the 1980s. Hopefully they won't burn an American flag, right? :-) I'll practice the Canadian national anthem just in case.

Also, I just found out that there's an American nun who lives 10 paces away from Gloria and Ernesto's, directly in front of us, who has family in Bremerton, Washington! I was jumping rope in the garage this morning and she started talking to me in English, and I guess Gloria had told her a little about me. She and I have plans to really chat later on. It will be great to have an American friend, and a few extra prayers in my favor wouldn't hurt--not that I don't have a ton coming my way from home already. :-)

Gloria and I are going to visit the municipality of Granada on Sunday, so I will have many more pictures to share soon.

I hope you all are doing well! Thank you so much for all of your emails. They really touch my heart.