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Moon Nica 3 Living Abroad in Nicaragua 1 GoToNicaragua is the creation of Randall Wood and Joshua Berman, co-authors of Moon Handbooks Nicaragua and Moon Living Abroad In Nicaragua. It is a space for fellow Nicaphiles to come together, plan trips, ask questions, and share travel tips. Also check here for up-to-the-minute updates to our books.

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"LAND": Hard-hitting trailer for feature documentary on foreign development in Nicaragua
Written by Joshua Berman   
Thursday, 18 March 2010
land_film_nicaragua.jpgWow, it’s good to see someone taking this issue by the horns and giving it a good shake! Watch the LAND trailer from Canadian filmmaker Julian Pinder and Six Island Productions. The description reads:

“…American developers charge on, transforming jungle and beach into resorts, hotels, and gated communities. Unexpectedly, the former revolutionaries sweep back into power and re-claim the country. This modern day wild west erupts into a battle between former revolutionaries, angry locals, and foreign developers over the land beneath their feet. But progress marches on … Or does it?”

The trailer features everyone from Comandante Zero to Jimmy Carter to gringo developers and expats … this baby is going to ruffle some serious feathers on real-estate row in San Juan del Sur and Granada! It says the movie was short-listed for the Cannes Film Festival and will be released this summer 2010. Can’t wait….

Last Updated ( Thursday, 18 March 2010 )
 
Rest In Peace Salvador Cardenal, Nicaraguan poet, songwriter, musician
Written by Joshua Berman   
Wednesday, 10 March 2010
nicaragua_guitarist.jpgNicaragua has lost one of its most iconic poets, Salvador Cardenal, one-half of the famed Duo Guardabarranco. Salvador died this week from a blood vessel disease called cryoglobulinemia. He was a foundation in the Nicaraguan folk music scene, known throughout Latin America, and will be missed by many.

Enjoy the many videos, tributes, and interviews on his site: http://salvadorcardenal.com/

Last Updated ( Wednesday, 10 March 2010 )
 
New surfing directory for southwest Nicaragua
Written by Joshua Berman   
Friday, 19 February 2010
surfnica.jpgI just discovered www.sanjuansurf.com, a new website with a truly stunning assortment of images, and looks like quite a bit of practical information as well. Creator Sean Dennis says it is “basically a directly of info on the area for locals and tourists, and has daily photos of the surf and life around town, as well as all the events and night life.” I especially like this round-up of volunteering opportunities

in San Juan del Sur. Nice job, guys, felicidades!

Last Updated ( Friday, 19 February 2010 )
 
“Nicaragua is a place of wonders”: A Chat with Silvio Sirias, author of Meet Me Under the Ceiba
Written by Joshua Berman   
Thursday, 14 January 2010
meet-me-under-the-ceiba.jpgThere is not much fiction in the suggested readings section of Moon Nicaragua. It’s mostly history, memoir, and political analysis. That’s why Silvio Sirias’s books are such a breath of fresh air for Nicaphiles who love reading anything about “The Land of Lakes and Volcanoes.”

In his first novel, Bernardo and the Virgin (Northwestern University Press, 2007), Sirias takes the reader to the village of Cuapa, Chontales, in central Nicaragua. The book fictionalizes the story of a campesino to whom the Holy Virgin appeared in 1980 while providing a vivid slice of recent history through the eyes of everyday Nicas.

His latest book, Meet Me Under the Ceiba (Arte Publico Press, 2009, winner of the Chicano/Latino Literary Prize), is also a work of fiction. It takes place in the tiny twin villages of La Curva and Pio XII, in the hills south of the capital. Maybe I’m biased since I actually lived in Pio XII as a Peace Corps trainee in 1998 (as Sirias writes, “…very few people in Managua had even heard of this miserable little town”), and I can vouch for the book’s authenticity. Ceiba is based on a true crime that occurred in 1999, and on the intolerance of Nicaraguan culture to homosexuality. I wrote a short review of his book here, then had the opportunity to sit down with the author (he in Panama, where he teaches literature, and me in Colorado).

Enjoy:

JB: I’ve been to the places you’ve written about in your books and I’m amazed by your simple-yet-accurate portrayal of these communities and the characters. Is part of your goal with these books to give readers a true Nicaraguan experience by showing them the thousand little details that makes it such a unique country? Or is the setting always secondary to your narrative?

SS: My top priority when writing a novel is develop a strong plot—the storyline has to hold a reader’s interest from the opening sentence through the concluding one.  But I’m also convinced that a good tale must have interesting characters; and interesting characters require an interesting setting.  So, as you can see, the setting is a key ingredient in my fictional mosaic.  But I also want the reader to experience life in Nicaragua as vividly as possible.  As you well know, Josh, Nicaragua is a place of wonders.  Yet for me to take the reader there successfully story, character, setting, and cultural authenticity must each be dealt with meticulously, as well as lovingly.

 READ MORE->


Last Updated ( Thursday, 14 January 2010 )
Read more...
 
Novelist Silvio Sirias Coming to GoToNicaragua this Thursday....
Written by Joshua Berman   
Wednesday, 13 January 2010
silvio-and-palm.jpgNica-American Author Silvio Sirias is including GoToNicaragua.com in his blog tour this Thursday, January 14, 2010. I’ll post a review of Sirias’s latest novel Meet Me Under the Ceiba, a book which offers wonderful storytelling, plus a remarkably vivid portrait of small-town Nicaraguan life (which is good news for those of us on a constant Nica nostalgia kick). There is a reason LatinoStories.com just named him one of 2010’s Top Ten New Latino Authors to Watch (and Read). Stop by on Thursday....
 
[cross-posted on Tranquilo Traveler]
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 13 January 2010 )
 
TIME article on baseball diplomacy in Nicaragua
Written by Joshua Berman   
Tuesday, 29 December 2009

 I just saw Invictus, so sports-politics combo is on my mind. Here's a recent TIME magazine piece by Granada-based journalist Tim Rogers on a related subject: 

Can U.S. Baseball Diplomacy Get the Save in Nicaragua?

"I think the State Department is coming to realize, belatedly, that [baseball] can be a very effective tool in public diplomacy," Callahan told TIME. In the case of the U.S. and Nicaragua, he said, "of all the things that unite us, I think the great sport of baseball is the most important."

Last Updated ( Tuesday, 29 December 2009 )
 
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