Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Another Very Exciting Adventure, by Carol
Jim and I had a very exciting adventure yesterday.We were asked to be extras for a series being filmed in Nicaragua to raise awareness of sexual exploitation of women in Latin America. Our friend who invited us indicated that we would show up at the hotel where it was being filmed at 6:00 a.m., have breakfast in the background of the scene, and that was it! So .... we get up at 5:00 and just as we're ready to walk out the door the phone rings and we're told they won't start until 7:00. We get there at 7, and the cast and all the staff, or whatever they're called (probably about 50, or so, folks) are running around like chickens with their heads cut off, and they're serving breakfast for all of us. We don't start filming until about 9:00, by which time it's already hot enough to fry eggs on the sidewalk (real-feel yesterday was 106 degrees). I thought of Mike, my nephew who works as seconds in real Hollywood movies from time to time, all day yesterday, wondering how on earth he could love doing this as much as he does!!! At 11:00, as sweat was literally running down my LEGS, as well as back, chest, head etc., one of the sweet assistant directors apologized for the delays and I asked if she had some idea of how much longer it was going to take and she smiled and said they hoped to be thru at 4:00 that afternoon!!!! So, we sucked it up and repeated and repeated and repeated the scenes over and over again. They fed us well, all typica foods, and kept us in drinks, and there were globs of Conde Nest Traveler magazines, in English, so we made the best of it we could. A couple of our friends came in around 2:00 to add to the extras for a new scene (FINALLY a change), and that made the time go a little faster since we had friends to chat with in English. We actually had a bit of acting to do since we had to greet each other as if we were all meeting for dinner, then walk to a table, be seated, speak with the waiter, then mouth words as if we were in a conversation! This proved to be a bit difficult as the words we mouthed extemporaneously were designed to test the ability of each of us to NOT crack up:) Anyway, Samantha, the sweet ass't director, was almost right about the time we would finish, but it was more like 5:30 when we finally dragged our asses home!! When we got here we walked straight back to the pool, threw off our clothes and jumped into the 90 degree (honest) pool to try to cool off. I can tell you right now, neither fame nor fortune could tempt me to do that every day for a living!!!! I now have a much larger appreciation of Jennifer Anniston now that I see how hard she has to work for a living -- I'd whine too!!! BTW, before we left we found out that we actually get PAID for all this fun .... we walked away with 200 cordobas each, which is approximately $9.03 each :))))))))))) The scenes we shot yesterday will air in Nicaragua sometime in October, and the series appears in the Dominica Republic!
Monday, March 7, 2011
Of Parrots and Politicians
Along with the grackles, magpies, cranes and chicken-sized doves, Nicaragua is home to a extensive population of green parrots. They're everywhere. They particularly like to gather in Mango trees where they help themselves shamelessly to the booty at hand, with no regard whatsoever for the owner of the tree. It's not uncommon to see members of the local populous hurling rocks and sticks into the tree in an attempt to both dislodge a ripe mango and scare off the parrots.
Each is about the size of the average American crow and they are collectively a handsome lot, resplendent in their bright green suits. While casually watching them today from the back garden, it occurred to me that I was totally unaware of how to refer to a group of parrots. I know that quail form coveys, and a group of geese are a gaggle, but were parrots merely a flock?
Flock hardly seems accurate when describing this mass of feathered marauders so I took it upon myself to correctly concoct a term that better served the purpose. This required a careful review of the facts. Parrots will appear at any time during daylight hours, sweeping in from nowhere, hundreds at a time, bickering their heads off before disappearing into the nearest tree.
While there, the bickering continues, broken only briefly while everyone stops to catch their breath before a sub group breaks off, moves to another tree, and begins bickering again. Groups will infringe upon one another and the bickering quickly escalates to screaming.
Disputes seem to always go unsolved and as quickly as they arrived, they depart. In their wake, they usually leave a lot of birdshit. Henceforth, whenever I hear them coming, I will gleefully call out to my lovely wife, "Carol, here comes another congress of parrots."
Each is about the size of the average American crow and they are collectively a handsome lot, resplendent in their bright green suits. While casually watching them today from the back garden, it occurred to me that I was totally unaware of how to refer to a group of parrots. I know that quail form coveys, and a group of geese are a gaggle, but were parrots merely a flock?
Flock hardly seems accurate when describing this mass of feathered marauders so I took it upon myself to correctly concoct a term that better served the purpose. This required a careful review of the facts. Parrots will appear at any time during daylight hours, sweeping in from nowhere, hundreds at a time, bickering their heads off before disappearing into the nearest tree.
While there, the bickering continues, broken only briefly while everyone stops to catch their breath before a sub group breaks off, moves to another tree, and begins bickering again. Groups will infringe upon one another and the bickering quickly escalates to screaming.
Disputes seem to always go unsolved and as quickly as they arrived, they depart. In their wake, they usually leave a lot of birdshit. Henceforth, whenever I hear them coming, I will gleefully call out to my lovely wife, "Carol, here comes another congress of parrots."
Thursday, March 3, 2011
But it ain't paradise
Before we get carried away singing the praises of Granada, Nicaragua, do understand dear reader that this place, like any other place on this planet, has its' problems. Keep in mind that Nicaragua is considered to be the second poorest country in the Americas, behind only Haiti, and evidence of such is everywhere.
Behind many of the ancient and stately walls of this magnificent colonial city are shanties and shacks where families that number in the dozens dwell. Many continue to cook over wood fires as did their ancestors 200-300 years ago. The family shower is often a garden hose, the floor, hard-packed dirt, the latrine, a hole in the ground.
Grey water runs down the open gutters on many of the streets and standing water is everywhere, creating the perfect breeding environment for mosquitoes. And all of this grey water runs downhill, untreated, eventually into massive Lake Nicaragua.
And then, there's the litter. Granada has a garbage collecting system in place but it doesn't deal with the huge amounts of litter that seems to be everywhere. The local population has a rather cavalier attitude toward litter -- they will sweep the sidewalk in front of their homes out into the street and then leave it there. People of all ages can be seen discarding trash onto the ground rather than sticking it in their pockets for disposal at home. Even in the central park plaza -- the main tourist mecca -- trash cans sit empty while the ground is cluttered with all kinds of debris.
However, the saddest sight of all centers on a minority of children, some as young as six and seven years old, who have become addicted to glue sniffing. I'm told that parents are often the culprits because glue sniffing serves as an appetite suppressant. Rather than figuring out a way to feed these youngsters, glue from the local shoe factories is readily available and cheap -- cheaper apparently than the nation's staple, rice and beans. Too often as we wander about this unique old city, we find children propped up against walls with that vacant stare, and a baby food jar of glue tightly clutched in their hands.
The only conclusion that we can reach is that paradise is merely a state of mind. This is, without doubt, a fascinating place with its ornate old cathedrals and horse drawn carriages. But to our way of thinking, paradise wouldn't have so much horseshit in the streets.
Behind many of the ancient and stately walls of this magnificent colonial city are shanties and shacks where families that number in the dozens dwell. Many continue to cook over wood fires as did their ancestors 200-300 years ago. The family shower is often a garden hose, the floor, hard-packed dirt, the latrine, a hole in the ground.
Grey water runs down the open gutters on many of the streets and standing water is everywhere, creating the perfect breeding environment for mosquitoes. And all of this grey water runs downhill, untreated, eventually into massive Lake Nicaragua.
And then, there's the litter. Granada has a garbage collecting system in place but it doesn't deal with the huge amounts of litter that seems to be everywhere. The local population has a rather cavalier attitude toward litter -- they will sweep the sidewalk in front of their homes out into the street and then leave it there. People of all ages can be seen discarding trash onto the ground rather than sticking it in their pockets for disposal at home. Even in the central park plaza -- the main tourist mecca -- trash cans sit empty while the ground is cluttered with all kinds of debris.
However, the saddest sight of all centers on a minority of children, some as young as six and seven years old, who have become addicted to glue sniffing. I'm told that parents are often the culprits because glue sniffing serves as an appetite suppressant. Rather than figuring out a way to feed these youngsters, glue from the local shoe factories is readily available and cheap -- cheaper apparently than the nation's staple, rice and beans. Too often as we wander about this unique old city, we find children propped up against walls with that vacant stare, and a baby food jar of glue tightly clutched in their hands.
The only conclusion that we can reach is that paradise is merely a state of mind. This is, without doubt, a fascinating place with its ornate old cathedrals and horse drawn carriages. But to our way of thinking, paradise wouldn't have so much horseshit in the streets.
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