Thursday, March 12, 2009

Matagalpa!

each city just gets better and better as i head north. i just spent about a week in Matagalpa and found it to be beautiful (again, surrounded by mountains) and inspiring and coffee-rific.

i took spanish classes during the mornings at a really progressive spanish school - it was a ¨safe zone¨ for people of any nationality, religion, and sexual orientation. as surprising as it may seem, that was the first i´d heard of anything like that in Nicaragua. my spanish classes as well turned out to be very ¨progressive¨ - we talked a lot about the government and women´s organizations in town and advocacy programs my teacher was a part of. it was so great! plus, my hip teacher has this pretty awesome tattoo that gets me to thinking...

anywho, after spanish classes i took day trips around the city. my first was an ¨easy hike¨ up a hill that overlooked the city. well, it was actually really hard but i made it and took this silly picture. then i hiked 15 minutes down (steep) and realized i forgot my camera up top. arg - so i went back and luckily it was still there. always check the area before departing, jenna. always.



another day i walked to the cemetaries. there were two right across from each other - the catholic one and the ¨foreigner¨ one (where they bury non-catholics, most of whom are from other countries). i took a picture of the awesome catholic one because their graves are so bright and happy. the protestant-foreigner one was lame.




also, i happened upon an awesome organization that makes dairy products and gives the profits (as well as some of the dairy) to kids with disabilities. it was awesome - i walked in to get some yogurt (a digestive mistake as it would later turn out) and then next thing i knew they dressed me up all fancy and fed me many, many samples of different cream cheeses and showed me how they made them. all were made with milk straight from the cow, and i have now discovered that my body is definitely a fan of pasteurization. sad.

mmm - my favorite part of Matagalpa was El Castillo de Cacao. A CASTLE OF CHOCOLATE! some crazy Dutch guys re-started chocolate production here (a good idea since there are so many cacao trees!) and decided to build a castle to do it in. it was a really simple place, actually, and these ladies are grinding the cacao old school style by hand. at the end of my private tour i received many samples of the chocolate and more local coffee. IT. WAS. INCREDIBLE.

my last trip was to a nearby coffee farm called Selva Negra. it was one of the original coffee plantations and production areas in Nicaragua, founded by some Germans back in the day. now it´s pretty much a bavarian feeling resort with hiking paths and cottages and some coffee plants. i just walked around a bit and enjoyed the fresh air. i´m saving my real coffee learnin´ for next week!



oh, and this adorable girl is your prize for reading to the end.

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