Dia tipica

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Our alarm goes at 6am. Quite early really but as it’s pitch black at half past six each night so things starts early. For example, Yelba (the mother of our host family) starts her day by taking the days corn to the communities mill at 5am. Our first port of call, post latrine, is a wash at about 6:30am. The place for ablutions is a few paces from the back door in the shape of a small enclosed brick walled area. The view from there is tremendous looking across the lush surrounding hills. Washing equipment is a bucket of water and a pan (plus shampoo and soap of course). Nicaraguan’s are very smell conscious and Yelba often directs us to the shower with worrying enthusiasm. Breakfast - pineapple, melon, banana, a cup of the local coffee and a few biscuits - happens around 7am and after munching and washing up we head out at around 7:40am. The walk to the Centro Solar, project HQ, for a 8am start takes us along a series of dirt roads of varying muddiness as we are currently in the midst of the rainy season. What we do with our morning is very changeable especially as we have mostly spent the first month going through a huge learning curve to understand what we really should be doing here. The morning normally involves a mixture of Spanish study, preparing emails for either our marketing project or SEED communication, working on our marketing project, cutting solar cells, helping make a bench, gardening and general chitchat. Lunch is served at one of the houses in the community at about 12:30pm. This is the biggest meal of the day and will most likely involve something not too far removed from; rice, beans, tortilla, salad, chicken and avocado.

The afternoon of work has tended to start a bit before 2pm. If we do not get the bus to the nearby cities (Ocotal or Somoto) for internet we continue in much of a similar vein to the morning’s eclecticism of activities. At this time of year the day has its ubiquitous monumental downpour which if we’re lucky happens before the end of work (around 5pm) or if we’re unlucky whilst we’re wandering home. We’re home, hopefully dry, close to 5:30pm just as darkness is beginning to fall. If we’re still felling lively then we play some games with Angel and Scarleth (the children of our host family) if not we retire to quarters for a chill. Dinner is cooked for 7pm. Our host family have a television which is unfortunate as it pumps out a rather abysmal stream of ‘entertainment’. One soap that we’re subjected to every week night is ‘Traicion’ which interrupts our existence from 7 to 8pm. We normally grin and bear it until 7:30pm then make our excuses and disappear into the kitchen to wash up. After teeth cleaning we say goodnight to the world to get ready for sleep. Some reading and then our wind up lantern is turned off close to 8:30pm a short while after lights out for our host family.

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