Que Tuani No ser Machista

Que Tuani no ser machista! is a campaign that I helped launch last Friday in San Ramon, a small rural town in the province of Matagalpa, near Matagalpa city. We left my house at 5 am, when the sun was already out, to head to the north of the country. Though I slept for most of the drive up, I was able to see the absolutely gorgeous countryside on the way back. Nicaragua is a unbelievably beautiful country, with pristine lakes, rolling hills, and lush countryside.

The event, a final launching of the campaign "Que tuani no ser machista", was a complete success. 200 kids from various towns within the Matagalpa province, or municipio as it's called, came out, many of whom walked 2 hours each way just to catch a bus to come to the event. There were various performances, of dance, music, and various speeches. Additionally, local news channels came out, and the event was on the 6 o'clock evening news! The campaign is a play on words, using the word, tuanis, which is the Costa Rican word for "cool". In Nicaragua, people generally don't pronounce their s's. So for example, "el bus" would be said in Nicaragua as "el bu". So, the campaign is saying "it is cool to not be sexist", while poking fun at the Nicaraguan dialect. Overall, it was great to see how the organization puts on events, and the impact that it has on both young men and women throughout the country.

In my spare time, I have begun to practice Capoeira Angola, which is a traditional Brazilian martial art/dance that was created by slaves and is still practiced today. I am not the martial arts type of person, nor am I much of a dancer, but my colleagues from work invited me, so last week I went to the class to check it out. It's not easy, especially the part where you have to stand on your head (the instructor is working with me one on one to get this down, I still haven't mastered it), but for the most part its manageable. After we complete the physical motions, we get together and play on various percussive instruments to learn the song that accompanies it. It's overall a very fun time, and a good workout. I even got a t-shirt out of it (unfortunately not for free), but it does make me look legit.

This week, it's been back to work, and then this weekend, well I'll let you know once it happens.

Stay tuned for more adventures from Nicaragua! (below is a picture from the internet of capoeira angola, to give you an idea of what it looks like)

-Alex