Today I went on an adventure!
It all started when we met two other volunteers here on the compound, Cassie and Sarah (hereafter referred to as "the other Sarah"). They invited us to make banana pancakes with them-- they were delicious, if decidedly unorthodox. Then they invited us to go with them to see the crowd at the Plaza.
Today is the anniversary of the success of the 1979 revolution, the date when the dictator Somoza finally left the country after more than four decades of rule. The current president and candidate for the election in November, Daniel Ortega, was scheduled to speak at the Plaza at 4 in the afternoon. We didn't leave until 3:50 so we figured we'd just catch a bus for the five-mile trip.
In retrospect, I can't believe I thought the dolmus trips in Turkey were crowded. This was by far the most jam-packed bus I'd ever been on. I heard the word "sardinas" (sardines) tossed around quite a few times, and the woman standing next to me said that if there's an accident, nothing will happen (because we were so crowded in). Incredibly, I saw a man in front of me holding a baby which was fast asleep!
The speech at the Plaza was somewhat underwhelming; we missed Ortega's speech and heard someone else talk about development, the environment, and the army for a while. I didn't have a great idea what was going on because the crowd was so distracting-- people sold food, talked loudly, even shot off fireworks.
We caught a cab back and took wonderfully refreshing (though cold) showers.
We're heading to a community tomorrow, so don't expect to hear from me until Saturday (or Sunday if I'm feeling particularly lazy).
Sorry for the repetition if you're following the GlobeMed blog as well (http://globemedatrhodes.wordpress.com/) but I think my version has a bit of a different flavor so they're both worth reading :)
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