The program, scheduled for July 28-August 13, 2009, is intended primarily for Spanish teachers. Application is open, however, to graduate (and, occasionally, advanced undergraduate) students from Spanish and other disciplines who have a demonstrated ability in the use of the Spanish language and a need for this type of course.  Both native and non-native speakers of Spanish are invited to apply.

The two week program will be all inclusive with Casa Xalteva arranging for all housing, transport, and excursions.  Additionally, we are asking all of our Spanish instructors to participate in the program.  We are very excited to host this program!  For the curious, here is a brief description of one of the program’s seminars:

“In order to understand language, linguists collect data and categorize it. The value of the resulting insights depends, of course, on how they collect their data and how they categorize it. One particularly promising form of categorization is prototype theory, which was developed to explain human perception. Since language and perception develop simultaneously in humans, prototype theory has been applied successfully to linguistic analysis. In this course, we will study a number of applications of prototype theory to the description of Spanish phonology, morphology, syntax and lexicon. This theoretical framework will allow us to look at Spanish grammar in a new way—which will be valuable for all participants. Our approach will cast new light on such staples of Spanish instruction as pronouns, the “personal a,” consonant deletion, idioms, loan words, and many other areas of the curriculum.”

We submitted the application, along with a letter from co-founder Ken Carpenter, and then the student left Nicaragua.   On May 14th we received the great news that the foundation had decided to deliver a grant!

The projects being supported are:
1. Casa Electrical work
2. Children’s Library
3. Children’s activities

Again, a huge thank you to the Parochiele Charitas Instelling foundation for their support of Casa Xalteva!

Photo taken at "Bellas Artes" in Granda during Anna's interview

Anna  Branham is a University of New Mexico student attending Casa Xalteva as part of a Spring 2009 study abroad program.  As part of the program she had to fulfill and internship requirement. Anna investigated the evolution of Nicaraguan art.

As an art undergraduate at the University of New Mexico I decided to supplement my time in Nicaragua investigating the evolution of the art from this country by interviewing Nicaragua artists and people involved in organizing and supporting the arts in Nicaragua such as the managers of galleries and cultural centers. I have also been looking around every corner for inspiration for a mural which I am arranging to paint with a community leader from the states, Donna Tabor, as well as for a more modern piece I will complete once returning to the states. Even though it can be difficult and at times frustrating to recognize a cohesive modern art movement in an impoverished country that realities so heavily on the manufactured art made for tourist as income, I feel like I have gained valuable information, met some incredibly interesting people, and learned a lot about myself and the value of not letting uncomfortable circumstances get in the way of what I set out to achieve. Nicaragua might not be an internationalcenter for the arts, but it definitely houses many creative geniuses and world treasures.

Myranda at the Forensic Clinic

Myranda McGowan is a University of New Mexico student attending Casa Xalteva as part of a Spring 2009 study abroad program.  As part of the program she had to fulfill and internship requirement. She spent 1 week at the Forensic Clinic outside of Granada, Nicaragua and 1 week at the Office of Legal Medicine in Managua.

My first week: Clinica Forense (Forensic Clinic) outside Granada, Nicaragua…

I am sitting in the office of Dr. Hernandez when a young man walks in. He is here for a physical exam, evidence collection and then is on his way to prison. The doctor is to check his height, weight, blood pressure and pulse. After this he will collect blood and DNA swabs of the mouth and urethra to send to the lab for analyzing. Interestingly, this young male is a possible sex offender but he appears happy, friendly and attempts to speak to me when the doctor steps out. He is a little guy and has a warm, welcoming face. It makes me realize you can’t judge someone on the way they look or portray themselves externally.

This is the process I observe all week. They conduct physicals, approving people’s health for prison, conduct evidence collection on domestic violence, sexual abuse and victims of lesiones (injuries) from fighting. Lesiones are reported to be the most common case that walks in to this office on a weekly basis. The second and third most common cases are that of domestic violence and sexual abuse.

My second week: La Oficina de Medicina Legal (Office of Legal Medicine) in Managua

My first day I find myself suited up like I am headed to the moon. I am given scrubs, shoe covers, arm guards, gloves, an apron, mask and a face shield. I enter a small room that is freezing cold in comparison to the 94°F weather outside. I notice two metal tables in the middle of the room, one of which has the body of a deceased person on it. He was found in a water tank and an autopsy will be done to clarify the cause of death is drowning.

The doctor approaches the table and the external examination begins. The body is examined from head to toe for evidence of foul play. The Doctor takes photos of the face, scars and tattoos in hopes of someone recognizing something that will put a name to this lifeless face. Afterward the body is thoroughly cleaned and specimens are collected. At this point the body has been prepped for autopsy to begin.

During these two weeks I learned so much about the system of Nicaragua and how their justice and health system operate hand in hand. Many of the doctors have studied in other countries such as the United States, Spain and Germany but tell me they come back because they feel they need to serve their people. During these two weeks I was among truly talented, successful, intelligent, humble doctors. They allowed me to observe, and took interest in my want to learn about their system here in Nicaragua. An experience I will truly never forget

Casa de los Tres Mundos is a cultural center near Parque Central in Granada.  In addition to offering a number of workshops in the arts, they host many events every month including musical performances, international movies, lectures, and dance.   Check out their monthly schedule here!

UNM Student Zoe outside of Hijos del Maiz

In her words…

I did my internship in San Blas, a small rural village about 20 minutes by bus outside of Granada, Nicaragua. The village was very different from anything I had experienced or seen in Nicaragua. The community was very poor, most of the houses (or shacks) were constructed with pieces of metal and wood. The living conditions were very simple, but the people and my host family were incredibly warm, generous and caring. I wanted to focus on the education in Nicaragua so I worked in a preschool in the mornings and a public high school in the afternoons.

The preschool had been started by a NGO from Spain called Hijos Del Maiz. The organization started with only a soup kitchen to feed the children in the community once a day. Many families don’t have the money or resources to give their children the proper nutrition they need or to give them enough to eat. It eventually expanded into a preschool, computer classes for the community and also a clinic and a pharmacy. Hijos Del Maiz is a great organization which has helped the community of San Blas in many positive ways. In the afternoons I would go to the public high school and help the English teacher with her classes. The condition of the school was terrible, there were barely enough desks for all the students, the school was old and rundown. There were overwhelming differences between the education in Nicaragua and in the U.S.

My internship was fascinating and it taught me not only about Nicaragua´s education system, but also about the government and
politics, Nicaraguan culture, traditions, people and their way of life. I could not have picked a better internship, I was able to practice Spanish much more than I previously had, I was able to focus on my interests and I learned much more about Nicaragua.

A few weeks ago Casa Xalteva submitted an application to UNESCO to be approved to use its official logo for the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development.  Today, we received a notice telling us that we have been officially approved to use the logo!

In December 2002, resolution 57/254 on the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014) was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly and UNESCO was designated as lead agency for the promotion of the Decade.

The Decade aims to integrate the values inherent in sustainable development into all aspects of learning to encourage changes in behaviour which will enable a more viable and fairer society for everyone.

During this decade, education for sustainable development will contribute to preparing citizens better prepared to face the challenges of the present and the future, and decision-makers who will act responsibly to create a viable world. Thus, five kinds of fundamental learning will be enhanced: learning to know, learning to do, learning to be, learning to live together, and learning to transform oneself and society.

Los niños de casa xalteva y Robert.

Cada viernes por la mañana los niños del programa de Casa Xalteva tienen un desayuno especial, este desayuno especial lo reciven los niños que vienen cada dia y vienen puntual, el desayuno de hoy, lo patrocino un estudiante llamado ROBERT, y los niños con mucha alegria dijeron : GRACIAS  POR EL DESAYUNO ESPECIAL ¡¡¡

Y por primera vez el equipo de beisbol : Iguanas de Casa Xalteva participan en un campeonato, todos los chavalos estaban muy emocionados, disfrutando de su nuevo uniforme y el deseo de empezar el juego, al fin de la mañana las igunas perdieron sus dos primeros juegos, por nocaut pero aun asi ellos no estaban deprimidos,

quieren practicar y mejorarce para el proximo encuentro, ademas que el equipo con quien jugaron era la seleccion de granada, y chicos que en mis ojos tienen mas del limite de la edad de este campeonato.

Male UNM students marked to distinguish them from male inmates

University of New Mexico Students went to Granada’s Prison for one of their field trips.  Professor Christine Rack recaps it below…

“We went to the prison here is Granada yesterday. It was fascinating –the juveniles are housed with the adults (though 11 years ago the penal codedeclared that illegal) in a 4-state facility built for 400 and holding 850.  Carrie McCracken set it up with a local non-profit dedicated to preventing
delinquency and rehabilitation of the convicted kids. It was a scene
because a bunch (15) of teens were visiting (”dia de amistad”) and
performed some dances to entertain. I’m very sorry I didn’t have  videocam
permission–you have to imagine a bunch of kids trying to relate in a
cavernous 200-year old stone “hall” with an ancient, intermittently failing
PA system playing loud dance music to break-dancing choreographed
performance where the 14-15 year old girls were doing wildly sexualized
moves in front of a bunch of teen age boys, some convicted of
sexual assault??  One of the prisoners made a sermon-like speech about god’s
plan for each of them had been  ’saved’ from a
life of crime–apparently by jesus.”