Festive Frijoles & Happy New Year !

Back to El campo......how lovely it was to be back ! We caught the bus up the mountain once again...knowing where to get off this time, & it was packed....standing room (or rather squashed room) only ! However, we got there & were greeted by some members of the family & shown to our room.

Christmas eve & we had a busy day ahead of us....a pig was slaughtered in the morning, rapidly turned to spare ribs & crackling by Marvin & his helpers & Lissa & helped with the making of the tortillas & nacatamales. These is the traditional Chritsmas fodder, made of maize ground up into a paste, filled with a bit of pork fat, meat & a wedge of potato, then wrapped in a banana leaf. this is then tied up with a vine into a little package, then cooked in boiling water for 2 hours ! All a bit of a faf really...for something that I don't consider to be that tasty !!

However, the kitchen was a very busy place that day !

In the evening, after having had a "shower" outside, we then proceeded to start celebrating. There was dancing & drinking of rum & the house was full of various members of the family from Sontule & Esteli. We also met the youngest of the clan, Rogelito who arrived in the afternoon.  Lissa & I then actually celebrated the coming of Christmas with a glass of rum at 5.00 pm (midnight in England!) & had the whole family gather round to toast everyone back in the UK !! Then when midnight came around (Sontule time) we all sat round the table & had a meal of nacatamales & sweet coffee! Not quite the same as roast turkey with all the trimmings, so we had to use our imagination somewhat !!!!

It was a fun night........and quite a drunken one........but it was great to be sharing it with such a wonderful family.

On the 25th, we awoke with delicate heads, and alas...... there was not a whiff of a G&T or champagne to get us kick started ! All a bit depressing really. Instead we helped make the tortillas & had a breakfast of...yes you've guessed it....rice & beans & a lump of cheese !!!! I tried to avoid the kitchen today as it was heaving with people, so we gave out our presents that we had bought the family. However, here in Nicaragua, it is considered rude to open the present in front of the person whom has given it you.....hence we had no idea whether they liked the gifts or not !!!

During the day it got worse, as we were invited to attend this "activity" at a house in a nearby community 2 hills away. Basically it was a religious thing, whereby the whole community turned up & listened to people giving thanks to God & the kids were given bags of goodies. We set off begrudingly at 2pm in the afternoon (it was about an hour away) but unfortunately (phew !) we arrived at the end of it....that cheered us up somewhat & we milled around outside in the sun & chatted to a few people. We all then walked back home where the evening was spent at Marlon & Mayra's house across the road drinking & dancing again...so it wasn´t all doom & gloom ! It was a fun evening with everyone on top form !

Boxing day is an alien concept in Nicaragua, so it was then slightly different as we went coffee picking for the day..... it was a cool morning as we set off, but it turned out to be a nice day after the initial pour down !!! Basically we were given our baskets & we worked in pairs stripping the red beans off the bushes. It was great fun as everyone was chatting & joking.....& I played the "hostess with the mostess" when I needed a break, so went round the troops with hot coffee ! We worked from 0830 till about 1530 then all the coffee that had been picked was measured out from the peoples personal sacks to find out how many "Buckets" each person had picked. The good pickers (Mayra & Evert) picked about 4 buckets a day......I on the other hand, had all my stolen by a certain cheeky monkey called Maynor !!! Actually, I donated my slim pickings to the kids ! They earn about 16 cordobas per bucket (just under a dollar $ !) so it's pretty tough going !

After all the beans were tallied up....the sacks were then hoisted onto the awaiting horses & taken back to the farm where they were washed & stripped of the outer covering. They were then laid out in the paddock to dry on plastic sheeting. Normally, if the sun is strong this process takes only a few hours, then the beans are ready to be roasted....which also takes a few hours over a hot sweaty stove !!!!! The beans must be continuously stirred too, to stop them from burning !

The following day, Lissa was sick with D&V so ended up spending the whole day in bed, whilst I went out & earned the beans again! Had awful "turkey sandwich" cravings all day...but managed to get through it by chatting & joking with Mayra, Rogelito, Evert & Maria Mercedez....great fun ! In fact,  I thought that Lissa was faking her illness,  so she didn't have to go out picking again !! That was..... until I felt rough that evening & spent the next day in bed too !!!!

After recovering & feeling much better after having spent a day resting in bed with tortillas & marmite !!....on the 29th Lissa, Evert & I headed off to El Rio once again. We hiked down the mountain & spent the day chilling out at the place we had visited before. It was a gorgeous day, really warm & the water perfect for swimming !! We then caught the bus back up to Sontule, where a Swiss girl (Beatrice) had arrived & was sharing our room. She was doing some work on her thesis up in Miraflor & was investigating the effects of natural disasters upon the local communities (among other things).

Anyway.......on the 30th....we arranged to do another horseride & off we set at 0900 with Evert on his stallion, Lissa on her steed &  me on of the slowest nags in the community !! It was actually quite funny, as he was soooo lazy & just wasn't into it at all !!! We did however have an AMAZING day & rode (well....I ambled !) through the most incredible scenery.....& we visited Everts mum & step father in another community & ate the most delicious chicken nacatamales !! They even had tomato in ...luxury !!!! All in all, a really perfect day & not quite so saddle sore this time !

New Years Eve was a busy day....for some ! Lissa & I actually tried to avoid the kitchen....well, you know that too many cooks spoil the broth etc !!!! & believe me, there were MANY cooks......the kitchen was manic...so we went for a walk, helped Mayra prepare some food in her kitchen & even managed to have a "Shower" to make ourselves look presentable for the evening. We had lunch over at Mayras with a group of people from Spain...they were visiting the area & had been horseriding.

The evening ended up being a bit of a blur ! We started drinking fairly early.....well Lissa & I DID have to celebrate the New Year in England too !!! It was fun though with more dancing, but then a fight broke out at about 2330 ! The music was switched off....& so Lissa, Melissa (this North American who lives up in Miraflor & is doing a Phd in migratory birds), Bea & myself continued the party on...by ourselves !!!!!! All a bit of a mess when it got to midnight...... cant honestly remember too much, except that I was (apparently!) out in the road shouting "Happy New Year" & trying to kiss everyone !!! I evtually got escorted back to my room by  where I sat on the edge of my bed for a while before crashing !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So..............January 1st 2007 !!!!! Wow...where did the last year go ? .......... & OUCH my head !!! Had the worlds worst hangover & felt extremely fragile for most of the day, which was a bit of a nightmare as about 300 people turned up at the house for a religious shindig with plenty of preaching & singing !!!!!!!!! Had to return to my "pit" for about 4 hours whilst this was all going on, then managed to get up for a spot of lunch...rice, beans, beef & tortillas...followed by a not so delicious rosquilla biscuit that we had helped make 2 days previously !

Lissa & I then escaped the hustle & bustle of the house & went to lie down in a nearby paddock until most of the crowds had dispersed ! Ah....relaxing ! In the evening...we had our last supper at the house & sat & chatted to Jane (An English girl living in Esteli but who was an English teacher up in Sontule years before & stayed!), Bea, Lucia & Rogelio.........quiet time well needed, then it was early to bed !!!!!!

The following morning......the fog had lifted from my head & I was able to pack my bag & get ready to leave...again ! We caught the 0830 bus back to Esteli after having said our goodbyes & Thankyou´s to the family.

A Christmas & New year to be remembered for a very long time...........!!!!!!!!!

Both Lissa & I feel some kind of pull to the place & once again felt sad leaving, but at least we have many incredible (& some of them were Incredulous !!) memories to last us a lifetime !!!!!!

Thankyou Sontule !!!!!