April 2021

This newsletter was sent via the City of Moscow on behalf of the Moscow Sister City Association. This newsletter was written by Moscow Sister City Association authors and may not necessarily reflect the views of the City of Moscow.

In this issue:

Semana Santa in Villa El Carmen
Maneuvering around the Ortega/Murillo government
Nicaraguans who want to talk with us
Old friends: Enrique and Begoñia

Nancy Mendoza, one of our scholarship students, is here swimming in the ocean: She also sent photos about Semana Santa celebrations through food.

1. Semana Santa in Villa El Carmen

Holy Week in Nicaragua is a holiday from Monday to Sunday, full of church services and trips to the Pacific beaches, which are a half-hour drive from the town. The larger cities have their own special celebrations like saints’ processions through the streets, each city with its own protective saint. Though Villa El Carmen has a large Catholic church, the religious energy in the area seems mostly evangelical Protestant, and evidently there are no religious parades there. In other place celebrations may be based on traditions of indigenous people or the Spanish colonial period.

A favorite Nicaraguan food, commonly eaten on Sundays and holidays like Holy Week, is the nacatamal.

Roberto Castillo sent this description of how it’s done:

"A nacatamal is made up of mostly corn masa and lard. This combination, cooked in a large batch over a wood fire, is the base for the nacatamal. It is ladled onto plantain leaves used for wrapping into large individual portions. The filling usually consists of annatto-seasoned pork meat, rice, slices of potatoes, bell peppers, tomatoes, and onions, olives, spearmint sprigs, and chile congo, a very small, egg-shaped chile. The masa and filling are then wrapped in the plantain leaves, tied with a string, and made into pillow-shaped bundles–nacatamales. They are then steamed or pressure-cooked for several hours. The entire process is very labor-intensive and it often requires preparation over two days; it may be necessary to involve the whole family to complete it."

Food scenes by Nancy Mendoza:

Various food stuffs being grilled together.

A young boy holding a pan of baked goods.

2. Maneuvering around the Ortega/Murillo government

The preceding newsletter described the law passed last October requiring anyone in Nicaragua who receives financial aid from abroad to register as a “foreign agent.” It seemed this new law would stop us from providing scholarship aid. However, consulting with other sister cities in the U.S. with Nicaraguan counterparts, we found that a couple of them have been sending funds through Western Union or similar avenues. So we have started doing the same.

Our funds are sent by an individual here to an individual there; no bank is involved nor is Moscow Sister City Association mentioned in the transaction. The recipients have to agree with this procedure in advance and send us a note saying that they accept the risk, if there should be one, that the government might find out and not be happy. So far everyone has accepted the risk.

3. Nicaraguans who want to talk with us

As of 4/14/2021 nineteen of our friends in the Villa El Carmen area have expressed the desire to talk or write to members of MSCA. They have provided information, which is in a directory we’ve compiled, about themselves and how to contact them through email, Messenger, or WhatsApp. Most of these communications would be individual, one-on-one, but group meetings are also possible though hard to schedule. The Spanish 3 class of Dina Espy at Moscow High School has accomplished a number of individual conversations with our Nica friends, and one group conversation in class, so far.

Anyone can participate. Here is an example from the directory, with contact details and some personal information. Here is an example:

María Yahosca Guido Espinoza

María Yahosca, 18 years old, is beginning her sophomore year studying medicine. She and Laura Gutiérrez (below) are our only scholarship students in medicine. In Nicaragua medical study begins in the freshman year. Yahosca’s English seems good; recently she wrote this in English describing herself:

“I love medicine, I like to listen to music, sing, read books; I like to contemplate the sea, the sunsets, the rain because for me they are magical things. I also like to play volleyball and spend time with my friends.”

Facebook name for Messenger: Yahosca Espinoza Guido
Telephone for WhatsApp: +505 8724 4579
Email: espinozaguidomaria12@gmail.com

If you would like to see the entire list, with suggestions for how to make contacts, please email me (dbarber@uidaho.edu) and I’ll send it to you. The group includes our main contacts in Villa El Carmen, Ana Julia Castillo, and Mario Mendoza. But most of them are in their late teens and early twenties. The youngest is fifteen.

4. Old friends: Enrique and Begoña

In the 1990s Enrique Díaz Martínez and his girlfriend and later wife Begoña lived in Moscow as graduate students. Encouraged by Mary Voxman and others, they were active in sister-city activities. They last visited Moscow in 2008. They live in Madrid, Spain with their two children.

Enrique, Begoña, Inés and Tomás (photo from 2014)

Enrique writes that he is ”working for the Spanish geological survey on geological heritage and geo-conservation, with tasks and chores in too many organizations, including both high level (Ministry of Environment and international scientific organizations) and grass-roots organizations (environmental, rural development, etc.).” Begoña was working for a consulting firm but lost that job through cuts during the pandemic. But she is just starting another job, working for the government as an inspector in workplace hazards.

Of their two children,Enrique writes, “Inés is 23, this year she finishes Conservation Biology at one of the universities of Madrid (UAM) and she is planning to go for graduate studies at Lund (Sweden). Tomás is 18 and this year he finishes secondary school. In June he will have his exams to access the university, though he keeps changing opinion about what he wants for higher education.”

Officers of Moscow Sister City Association;

Dave Barber, president; newsletter editor
Debbie McLaughlin, vice-president
Amy Garwood, secretary
Jim Reece, treasurer
Elisabeth Berlinger, board member
Lubia Cajas Cano, board member
Linda Christenson, board member
Aengus Kennedy, board member
Cindy Magnuson, board member
Susie Wiese, board member

Contact:

Dave Barber
dbarber@uidaho.edu
208-301-3342

MSCA Mailing Address:
PO Box 8367
Moscow, ID 83843