Blogs from Estelí, Northern Highlands, Nicaragua, Central America Caribbean - page 5

Yaaaay Estelí! Went to the bank. Got my cash. Had them, finally, activate my debit card. I have to come BACK here in 8 days and pick it up. I was like, can´t you send it to me at my mail box in Somoto? And he was like, no, you have to pick it up here. Damn beauracracy. Not that I miiiiiind coming home to Estelí, but it gets expensive after a bit. Not much more to say to the general public. But here are some photos I´m going to print to add to my collection... ........ Sunday 14 December 9am Well, it's Sunday and time to get ready to head back to site. A fellow PCV is coming back to site with me and I am soooo excited to have a visitor and to debate ... read more

Leaving after three months of staying within the intricate community of Sabana Grande brought a strange mix of emotions. Bidding farewell to Yelba, our host family mother, was poignant. Yelba had been wonderful providing us a cosy home and going out of her way to look after us even to the lengths of staying with us for two days and nights in hospital whilst we enjoyed the delights of an intestinal infection. Mauro, who ran the solar panel workshop, it was also sad to leave. His phenomenal patience with our faltering Spanish is worthy of the highest acclaims. However, mixed with the emotion of leaving those great people that had helped us to acclimatise to a very different way of life was a distinct air of relief. Relief was probably not an emotion that we had ... read more

Oh, where to start? Just had Thanksgiving dinner here in Estelí with several Ag volunteers, mostly from Ag45, and four of us from Ag48, and our Country Director, George, and his wife. And it was lovely. Two turkeys, mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes, stuffing, gravy, corn, MIXED VEGETABLES, squash, and passion fruit frescos. Oh, and chocolate ice cream and 4 pies, two of pecan and two of apple. And it was glorious. There wasn´t a bean or a tortilla in site and there were such delicacies as green beans, carrots, and broccoli. And we have leftovers in our hotel room wrapped in tinfoil. And it cost each of us $10. So happy Thanksgiving. I have been trying to explain Thanksgiving to the people in my site. Telling them that it´s a day to think about what ... read more

okay, so this is not formatted as well on here as it was on micro word, but here is a brief rundown of what we have learned in the past 3 months of training.... NICA 48 AGRICULTURE TRAINING COMPETENCIES compiled by Molly Baade Ag 48 Nicaraguan Rural Cultural & Socio-Economic Context: • LACK OF FOOD DIVERSITY & DESNUTRICION: --basic grains: corn, beans, rice, and plenty of it! --limited vegetables or family gardens --refrescos loaded with sugar --vitamin deficiencies and malnutrition --“a tooth per child” & lack of weaning foods awareness --difficulty adapting to “new” products: marango, broccoli, spinach, etc • LIMITED NICARAGUAN INFRASTRUCTURE: --most products exported, packaged, and resold to Nicaraguans --tobacco, coffee, sugar cane cash crops primarily exported --migration from campo to cities, Costa Rica, USA for better work opportunities --defores... read more

When we landed in Managua bleary eyed nearly three months ago we had been told that we would be granted the normal 90 day visa. However, whilst in the bank changing money three weeks post arrival we made the unexpected discovery that our little piece of visa paper which had cheerfully been handed to us my an immigration official in the airport in fact stated that we had only 30 days. Having then made a hurried dash to the immigration office in Managua we were fortunately reassured that we did indeed have the all clear for 90 days and they had just run out of the correct visa papers in the airport when we landed. Anyhow all this meant that we needed to either pay some exorbitant fee to extend our stay beyond ninety days or ... read more