Yesterday was our first full day in Nicaragua, and it was definitely a full day. After leaving Universal Cyber, I walked around town some more. The town was bustling – on the beach I saw an intense soccer game, three guys working on the bottom of a beached boat, and some kids amusing themselves by throwing bait up in the air and watching the pelicans swoop down to catch it.
I also walked around other parts of town, including the market (I bought a snack with a $20 bill and finally got some Cordobas back in return.) Eventually I made my way over to the library. Despite my halting attempt to explain who I was and why the heck I was there – “Estoy uno de los bibliotecarios de los Estados Unidos, aqui con Jane a asistir con la biblioteca.” — the staff were extremely friendly, and they immediately made me feel at home. Jane, Denise, and Victoria all showed up shortly thereafter. (There was no planned meeting time – I’m learning that in Nicaragua, many meetings just kind of form spontaneously!)
The library was teeming with kids, and the staffers were busily engaging them in a variety of activities. I arrived in the middle of face painting in the library and football in the next to the Catholic church across the street. The library itself is quite small, and is divided into a number of rooms with whitewashed stucco walls. (I assume it started life as a house.) The walls of the rooms are lined with a wide variety of books – with a heavy emphasis on those intended for children. It’s clear how important the library can be for children here. We tend to take the availability of books and other reading materials for granted in the US, but here the biblioteca may be the only way a child will encounter books outside of school.
Denise led the children in reviewing numbers in English, and then moved on to having them read books to each other. (One of the books described Clifford the big red dog and his adventures in the snow, which requires a bit of imagination for children three degrees north of the equator.) Victoria also conducted an impromptu English-Spanish intercambio when she emptied the contents of her purse and got the kids to provide the words in Spanish. The end result was a notepad full of new words for both us and the kids!
Things wound down around 3, and Victoria and I headed for the town beach. Jane’s hotel and library are about a five-minute walk from the waterfront. When we got there, we were amazed by the warm water – a big change from the North Atlantic we grew up swimming in.
At 5:30 we returned to the library for a presentation of books purchased in Barcelona by la Fundacion A. Jean Bruegger. The foundation is a unique creation that came into being along with the Pelican Eyes housing development on one of the hills overlooking town. Jon Thompson, an American social worker who works for the foundation, explained that much of its funding comes from fees added to the closing costs of real estate deals. Nicaragua in general – and San Juan del Sur in particular – has experienced a real estate boom that mirrors that in the United States. While the cost of land is being driven partly by speculation, many expatriates are buying second homes or moving here full time. Thompson gave an example of a real estate agent agreeing to give one percent of his fee to the foundation if the buyer will match it. In this way, a social responsibility component can be added to the sale. Since some homes are now selling for $400,000, this can be a substantial amount of money – especially when the foundation fund a year of study by a local student at the university in Rivas for less than $1000.
The activities of the foundation are wide reaching – Thompson talked about a glossy magazine that is now being distributed locally, an activity program for senior citizens, donations of uniforms to local school children, and other activities.
There is a growing community of American expatriates in San Juan del Sur. While they come for a variety of reasons, there does seem to be an interest in helping the local area. (As Thompson points out, his sales pitch for the foundation is often based on enlightened self interest – having a good economy that supports local businesses, well educated children, etc. will all help preserve the value of an investment in property.) This means that San Juan del Sur may be in better shape than other areas of the country with less money flowing in from tourists and new residents.
After the ceremony, we adjourned up the street to a local restaurant where we dined on gazpacho, paella and sangria. The dinner also included several other “friends of Jane.” Lee, a former C-Span technician who just bought property (and a horse) nearby, is currently commuting between Washington and San Juan del Sur, but eventually hopes to set up an electronics business here. He is planning to help Jane with improving the technology available in the library (we’ve had some discussions on this.) Andrea, who used to manage commercial shipments to and from Central and South America, is now a teacher in a bilingual education program in Chicago, and hopes to help Jane with grant writing. Jack, a former US Airways flight attendant, is now enrolled in a graduate program in psychology in Colorado, and now comes here periodically to visit his mother, who lives outside of town. Clearly Jane is good at finding people with interests and skills and putting them to work locally!
After dinner, Denise, Victoria, Jack, Lee, and I headed out for a sedate Saturday night in San Juan del Sur. Word on the street is that some librarians and a couple of friends were seen drinking in a bar around 11 PM, dancing in a discoth?que around 1 AM, swimming in the ocean around 3 AM, and climbing up to the lighted cross overlooking the city around 4 AM. I have no idea how these silly rumors get started! 😉