Selva Negra a German oasis in the heart of Nicaragua

Brought to you by a couple of pure bred Minnesotans…

Carissa: Atmosphere – At first, stepping out of our crowded van here at Selva Negra we wondered what we had now been dropped off at, it appeared to be a mix between, Hansel and Gretel, Dirty Dancing (the original not Havana Nights), and the Secret Garden. It’s a pretty trippy change from the adobe houses and bucket showers of Sabana Grande, but I don’t want to start ranting so I’ll let Rose write for a bit. Rose what do you think of the living accommodations here?

Rose: Well Carissa, I’m glad you finally asked.  I’m staying in this HORRIBLE hotel room, with a stupid warm shower, a lonely double bed all to myself, and a roommate (with an awful haircut!).  But yea, I definitely agree with the fairy-like/secret garden feel here.  We’ve all resorted to frolicking cause walking any other way just… looks… weird.  Hard to explain I guess.  Would you agree?  And how do you like the food?  Most of it comes straight from Selva Negra itself which is pretty cool.  Oh! and fun fact: The coffee that’s grown here is sold at whole foods stores around the U.S.! k.. passin on the torch for a bit.

Carissa: First of all I believe you were the one who gave me a haircut, and I’m pretty sure I saw you journaling during our discussion today about how great my hair cut looks. But yes I would defiantly agree about the whole frolicking thing, it’s good that we’re leaving tomorrow because all of the frolicking up and down the hills here is starting to wear me out. I like the food, it is pretty normal hotel food, with a helping of gallo pinto for breakfast every day. Ours stomachs don’t always agree with what we eat, but when have our stomachs agreed with what we’ve eaten on this trip… I agree with Rose about the whole it’s cool to be able to see the veggies and animals that we are eating (I guess not all of us are eating the animals). Por ejemplo: the past couple days the brave few who are able to get out of bed around 5:40  (which is usually not Rose, but she came one day…) have gone down to help milk the dairy cows, a new experience for most of us. Oops Rose is giving me the evil eye from across our room… since you’re so impatient why don’t you tell these fine people about what we’ve been doing in our free time.

Rose:  Ooook, that wasn’t ‘the evil eye’, I was practicing my ‘lets dance’ eyes for tomorrow night, our last night in Nicaragua before we enter the Land of the Ticos... Costa Rica!  I guess I still have some practicing to do. Anyway, yes, I will tell you fine people all about our free time here:  Hiking in the rainforest, daily naps, playing/singing together, course readings, giggling, taxidermy on a dead bird that we found, you know… usual things.  There are some really sweet hiking trails around here.  They are named things like “Peter and Helen” and “The Cody Trail”.  The first day that we arrived here, one of the owners told us that the trails are named after innocent hikers who go off the beaten path and never show up again… then he casually requested that we leave our names in case we happen to go exploring. It has been really relaxing here, the sounds of howler monkeys, lots of cool birds, a couple of sloths, and a ton of frustrated geese have blessed us with their presence.  It has been nice to have a lot of unstructured time to get some serious stuff done, such as….. (Carissa? Tell all the ladies and gentlemen about our studies. Please.)

Carissa: You betcha we’re still truckin’ through our discussions and learning a lot along the way going through our four North West Earth Institute readers. But other than that people are starting to finish their books and give book reports, and work on their individual learning objectives, which for Rose means she walks around listening to Spanish songs on an iPod singing out loud (some songs she’s better at than others). For me I walk around at night looking like a crazy while trying to learn star constellations. Also we’ve been working on making a map of Selva Negra, which points out their sustainability efforts. So we’ve been tromping around the place asking everyone about what they’re doing, not an easy thing for some Minnesotans who don’t like to get involved in other people’s business. Hmm what else haven’t we told these people, why don’t you put in a word about something random, maybe like your new Latin lover…

Rose: He’s great, he speaks latin which is confusing.  Hmm… I’ve got nothing more about Selva Negra cause we are actually IN Costa Rica now, and I am trying this thing called ‘living in the moment’, which (sorry guys) is hard to do when writing about the past.  So.  I will leave You with a truly random and raw fact from our days on this lovely Costa Rican Island, Isla Chira: Little almost-harmless jelly fish like to hang out on the beaches where we swim, and I have officially peed on 2 different Jelly fish stings!  Who would’ve thought!  It is a wonderful cure, which I learned (another fun fact) from a Friends episode, when Joey pees on Monica’s back after a sting.  We are all Friends here.  It’s been great.  Thank You. Goodnight Wisconsin!

Over and out – Rose and Carissa

p.s. from Carissa: now that we’re back in the heat on the Island, remind me never to live in a hot climate, it’s just not working out for a warm-blooded Minnesotan.

Sabana Grande - Robert

Our C.E.L.L. group arrived in Sabana Grande, a poor, mountainous community in Nicaragua on January 16^th. To me this time here would be a staple in my experience abroad, and a true eye-opener to how most of the world lives outside of developed countries such as ours in the United States.  

There are so many things I will remember about our visit in Sabana Grande, but what I will remember the most are the people. They are absolutely amazing! In a place where most would feel completely depressed and/or possibly oppressed by poverty; I witnessed the exact opposite. I have never met so many people with the willingness to not only help their families, friends, and neighbors as much as humanly possible, but also complete strangers who happen to be living amongst their community for a short period of time. Not once did I hear any complaints from anyone regarding their daily jobs and duties which, most starting at 5 A.M. and some not returning until well after dark. It was very amazing to see the connection between friends and family and how much they rely on one another. I miss my host family dearly and cannot wait until the day I can walk the two miles from the Solar Center to their home again to give Mama Martinez a hug and eat her amazing frijoles and tortillas just one more time.

-Robert Cashion, C.E.L.L. 2011

From the country side to the resort

Today we saw monkeys! Real, live, wild monkeys jumping through the trees. Nothing like seeing them at the zoo haha. There were two black female monkeys up in the trees with a baby and they were really cool to see chilling up there and jumping around up in the tree canopy. On our first day here we were greeted by a sloth and her baby up in the tree!!

These two were chillin out in the trees right outside our rooms the first day!

They were entirely amazing to see! We have been able to hear the male monkeys in the distance howling like dogs. It reminded me of Lost! There are also wild boar species in the forest called "peccari" which i slightly hope we don't run into. At lease as far as i know there are no hungry Polar Bears...

Selva Negra was a slight culture shock upon arrival. We had been ling in poor rural Nicaragua for the last two weeks among the campensinos (country folk). We had been in individual home stays and each day spent a good chunk of time interacting with our families and the community. Our showers came from buckets, our bathrooms were outhouses, and our kitchens and food were made over smokey wood fired stoves. The families were strong and we all felt a strong sense of hospitality and community while we were there, our moms looking after us sunrise to sunset and even through the night if you were suffering though a sickness.

learning how to make tortillas: I was really bad at making tortillas but my sister, jeni was able to help me out! when i finally got someone successful we made some butterflies, stars, and hearts :)

 Sabana grande was a very real and beautiful example for us to understand nicaraguan countryside life.

Selva Negra is a German-Themed Resort so the facilities are entirely upscale from what we had experienced in Sabana Grande. Upon arriving i was confused and a bit dissapointed we wouldn't be surrounded by the natives and spanish speakers for the next 12 days. Seeing gringo's was odd and for some reason i missed the sense of simple living we had all experienced in our most recent homestays. There was so much design. buildings and plants were created not only for function but to look pretty. The past two weeks we had been living in an area where everything created was mostly for function. houses were built small and all parts were used efficiently. The yard was only dirt, fruit trees, and medicinal plants. nothing particularly pretty. the backyard was all rows of tomato plants supported by trip irrigation system. Here in Selva Negra All the plants were planted with reason and were attended to and were amazingly beautiful.

the amazingly designed gardens and cabanas at Selva Negra. You cant see here, but behind each one is a solar water heater.

there is an area of little cabana houses with huge windows and lovely green roofs. there is the most simple but gorgeous church enwoven with plants that for some reason reminds me of the chronicles of narnia.

The beautiful chapel at Selva Negra

 It looks like this place came right out of a storybook about faries, nymphs and mystical woodland creatures or it looks like the perfect place for a vogue photoshoot with its magnificent green plants and adorable wood tree swings.

Adding to the beauty of this place is the knowledge that most all the food we eat at the hotel resort restaurant is cultivated, grown, or raised here on the property. It is all fresh and local: the juices, the meat, the grains, the cheese, the vegetables and the coffee (which by the way you can find from here for sale at Whole Foods or Java Bean) The resort is like an ecosystem itself because there are so many processes and recycling of byproducts here. For example the waste from the restaurant goes to feed the pigs, and the gases from the biowaste go to the biodigestor where gas is collected to fuel the restaurant. We are currently working on a project for the nature center they plan to create where we are examining all positive environmental aspects of this fantastic sustainable system. We will be writing up and putting together a presentation to help visitors understand the system here in its relation to nature. We will be highlighting the definitions and ideas of sustainability, biomimicry and permaculture as it pertains to Selva Negra as well! Exciting stuff.

I've been here a month so far. That means we are one third through the program. Already I, as well as the others with me here on this program feel changed. First off, I've been drinking coffee every day and am coming to appreciate and really enjoy it (black with lots of sugar :) ). But reallyy, by experiencing the way these people get along without all the clutter, options, and distractions we face in US culture I have already been discussing with my "CELL-mates" ways we plan to change our lifestlyes when we return to the States. We've talked alot about living more simply and about taking time to reflect and for meditation. Also about organic farming and getting off the grid!. With 2 months left on the program and an extra month left for free travel, i'm really curious how much further my outlook as well as the outlook of others will continue to change!

falling off a wooden swingg

Its time for me to go off to lunch with the group now. Later we will continue our research around the resort, check in, have a discussion on our reading (future of food today), do some journaling, and catch up on todays episode "El Fantasma". Hasta Luegooooooooo :)

León / Spanish School

For 9 days, the CELL class had intensive Spanish Lessons at Dariana Spanish School in León, Nicaragua. For those of you who don't know about León:


León is a department (state) in northwestern Nicaragua (5,138 km²). It is also the second largest city in Nicaragua, after Managua. It was founded by the Spaniards as Santiago de los Caballeros de León and rivals Granada, Nicaragua, in the number of historic Spanish colonial homes and churches. As of 2005, the city had an estimated population of about 175,000 people which increases sharply during university season with many students coming from other Nicaraguan provinces. It is the capital and municipality of theLeón department.

León is located along the Río Chiquito (Chiquito River), some 90 km northwest of Managua, and some 18 km east of the Pacific Ocean coast. Although less populous than Managua, León has long been the intellectual center of the nation, with its university founded in1813. León is also an important industrial, agricultural (sugar cane, cattle, peanut, plantain, sorghum) and commercial center for Nicaragua.

A word from our students:

My alarm goes off at 5:15 am. I roll out of bed, already wearing my running clothes, and lace up my running shoes in the dark. I meet my host dad outside with his friend Dennis to go on our morning run. They were training for a half-marathon in Managua in March. We take off running the streets of León passing people saying “Adios”. The streets are almost empty except for the occasional woman carrying bread on her head or people sweeping their doorsteps. One morning we ran in to the nearby hills just outside the city dodging dogs and cow patties in the fields. We stopped at the top of this giant hill to watch the sun rise over León. There is no better way to explore a city!

 I am such a morning person, and I loved getting to know my host dad in this way. It was so cool that we shared our love of running. My host dad, Rafael, was also one of the Spanish teachers at the Dariana Spanish School we attended, so he spoke very clearly, and we were able to have a lot of great conversations about the war, life in León, the culture of running in Central America compared to America, and lots more – I probably would remember more if I wasn’t huffing for breath going up a hill having these conversations!

Another morning, we ran to the track at the nearby University where I had the chance to meet Walter, one of the best runners in Nicaragua. Later on that day, Walter brought around an UNAN Track Team’s running jersey for me to take home with me (UNAN is one of the National Universities in Nicaragua).

I would also get back just in time to shower and head to the Spanish school at 8 am. I was all ready to go after already having talked in Spanish for over an hour in the morning with my host dad! (Claire Naisby)

Leon and I didn’t get along very well, being from Minnesota where my body thrives on the coldness of winter. So in the middle of January when my body expects it to be at least below freezing and instead it gets 95 degree heat and some pretty crispy sunburn, let’s just say I wasn’t liking the heat too much. So much so that one of my phrases in Spanish class was ‘Esta ciudad es mas caliente que el infierno’ or for non-Spanish speakers ‘This city is hotter than hell.’ It wasn’t just the weather, I’m more of a country girl at heart so being around so many people who thought it was totally fine to throw their trash in the street or pee on the sidewalk just didn’t vibe with me. Leon actually isn’t that bad of a city, it was a nice place to start our adventures here in Central America, it had all the internet cafes that you would ever want, so I was able to keep in touch with my family and friends and yes my boyfriend, whenever we had a bit of free time. Leon also had some really sweet places to get a bite to eat or just hang out; Pan y Paz was a French bakery that many of us walked to during our break from Spanish class to get some juice or a chocolate croissant. Another place was Via Via was a good place in the afternoon to get some French fries, or freedom fries, and do homework; later at night they had live music and we would get a round of sodas, while we listened to songs like, Yo no se mañana. My best experience from Leon was actually from hiking up Cerro Negro, one of Nicaragua’s most active volcanoes and actually getting to go inside the crater of the volcano before boarding down the side of the volcano, think sledding, but with sand. But now where off at Sabana grande, where it is thankfully a lot cooler (Carissa Bodette).

Insights from Leon…

1.       I had to explain to my host family that I was a vegetarian that does not eat chicken and fish.  Apparently most “vegetarians” in Nicaragua do eat fish and chicken.

2.       Houses are very similar and it helps to have a really good sense of direction… I even walked past my house a couple of times.

3.       My homestay did not have hot water.  It wasn’t just broken…

4.       Sitting outside on the step of your house at night is a very common and an important thing to do if you want to get to know everyone of your neighbors.

5.       Girls and guys hung out separately most of the time unless they were paired off.

6.       After a week in Leon I got used to seeing trash everywhere and not thinking things were dirty just because there was trash.

7.       Warm milk and sugar is delicious in the morning.

8.       Put on SPF 50 every day.

9.       I love having the tradition of rest hours after lunch from the camp I go to in the summer being carried over to siesta every day of the year.

10.   When renting any equipment especially surfboards make sure you either sign a contract or take before and after pictures just in case the huge waves of the Pacific Ocean break the board.

11.   Families don’t eat every meal together.  My family never did and there were always at least two TV’s on at all times.  I guess if you have one you need to flaunt it!

(Jewelle Matheny)

My host mom told me about the war. She said she was 12 when it started. People were killed if they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. She slept under the table because the bombs were always going off. There was no light, no electricity, no food, no water. Her family drank the rain water that fell from the roof. The children attended school until the schools were separated. Nobody went outside when it got dark, ever. Many had fled Leon, while many were trapped. She explained to me that this is why Nicas do not want another war. After the war, the economy was really bad. There was a project to end illiteracy and my host mother participated. She explained that in order for her to graduate high school, she had to pick coffee (Mattie Erstad). 

CELL Sustainability Through Community

The Center for Ecological Living and Learning´s (CELL) Central America study abroad program is a life-changing experience for students who believe that they can make a difference in the world and who aren't afraid to try! During this CELL program, we will explore sustainability through community in two of the most diverse countries in the world: Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. We will get dirty hiking to the top of a volcano, and will help build solar cookers among other interesting activities. We will learn about the human and ecological issues facing this region of the world. In most places we will live in homestays with local families, and visit many communities striving to become more sustainable. We will roll up our shirt sleeves and learn experientially and through service to others. We will learn about imaginative solutions to global problems and what is being done today to solve these problems. We will join a team of committed people who are changing the world.

If you would like more information on our programs, you can visit our website a: (http://www.cellonline.org/), you can e-mail us at: info@cellonline.org, or you can call us at: +1.207.230.4025 (USA).