Generally I only get to spend 3 or so weeks at a time in Nicaragua, but this time I'm here for nearly 3 months. While this trip will include a few weeks of strenuous and exhausting data collection, I worked hard to carve out a large chunk of time from my life in Chicago so that I would have time to really practice my signing and get my skill level from "sufficient" to "good." As you can imagine, it's very difficult to find people to practice Nicaraguan Sign Language with in Chicago! I've been signing daily and I'm certainly learning, though there's still room for improvement.
In terms of the general situation here in Nicaragua, it's election year here meaning you see Daniel Ortega's face on large billboards nearly every time you turn a corner. It's been a bit hard for me to gauge the satisfaction of Nicaraguans with Ortega's recent performance, but at least some people seem to think he's doing a very good job. Others, of course, point to the fact that his seeking another term is unconstitutional. I can report that I've only experienced one brief electricity cut, as opposed to the daily many hour long ones that have occurred on other trips, and we've had water all the time. So at least some things are working. 
In non-political news, we had a very brief earthquake about a week ago. It did no damage and caused no deaths, but it did get my attention. I hadn't been in one since I lived in California as a kid, but given that Managua is *right* on a fault, I was bound to feel one here eventually. I'm happy to report that I still had the instinct to go stand in a doorway/get under a table. So I guess all those elementary school earthquake drills worked!A major benefit of my being here longer is that I've actually had time to participate in some non-work activities. Like my first Nicaraguan baseball game. By far the most common game to see children playing in the street is baseball. As I love baseball, and Nicaragua loves baseball, and it's playoff season here, it seemed like high time that I attend a game.
The team from Managua is called the Bóer and they have exactly same logo as the Cleveland Indians. If anyone has ideas about the name I'd be very happy to hear them. The only Bóers I know about were Dutch people in South Africa. Anyway, the game was quite an experience. The Spanglish baseball terms made me smile (i.e. outs, strikes, and "bolas"). We got bleacher seats at the National Stadium which were 75 cents each. 
We were rather far away (I think next time I'll spring for a $4 seat), but the game was highly amusing anyway. Because we were in the bleachers the players were small (no jumbotron) and we couldn't hear the announcer, but luckily I know my baseball so I only occasionally had trouble following what was going on. The game was close until the 8th inning when the Bóer pulled ahead to win. And then one week later the Bóer won it all. Nicaraguan champions!
