Michelle Trip Part 4

Fourth edition!  Bad news.  Apparently cigar factories are closed on Saturdays so alas, Michelle is not bringing fine Nicaraguan cigars back to the states with her.  Instead, what did we do yesterday?

MK: Had the laziest, most amazing day ever. We found our first back-packer-ish hostal/café and ate second breakfast AND lunch there, while watching How I Met Your Mother on their amazing high-speed internet. Pete helped me fill the Peace Corps stereotype – we both ordered granola with our fruit-filled yogurt (more probiotics!) and hummus. Mmmm. Then, off to Managua!

PS: Yup!  Saturday was also the final day to host political demonstrations so it was a mad house getting into Managua.  But thanks to the nicest bus driver and taxi driver in the entire country, we made it easily and safely to our hotel.

MK: For dinner we found a Chile’s equivalent that was the first place to play currently popular American music. We ate outside (and, though briefly, from our covered table I got to witness my first Nica rains of the whole trip!). We ate tasty nachos, steak fajitas and cheesecake for dessert. Not a plate of gallo pinto in sight!

PS: Well it’s now the unfortunate time where I feed Michelle one last time and take her back to the airport!  Safe travels novia!

Michelle Trip Part 3

This, our third team blog post, brings you dear readers to Thursday.  Or more commonly known as the Regional Business Plan Competition Day!  My three school districts and seven others participated.  What did you think of the other schools’ teams?

MK: I could barely even look at them, I was so emotionally invested in ‘our’ teams, which we had just selected over an intensive three days of competitions. However, there was definitely a range in quality, just like among the Pala, Yala and Condega teams. Although Pala did win ‘Best Business Plan’ none of your teams won first/second (and so will not be going to Nationals). Condega in particular was so sad – I was sad for them! Being a teacher is hard! Did you agree with the results?

Michelle becoming emotionally invested in just 4 days

PS: Unfortunately, yes.  None of my teams had revoluntionary ideas.  For example, one team that won created some sort of rechargeable car battery and the other made a kind of coffee, mocha beverage which was delicious.  But yeah, I’m not looking forward to Monday when I have to console my losing teams…But then Michelle and I moved our headquarters to Esteli.  How do you like Esteli thus far?

MK: It’s great! As a city, I don’t think it is my favorite we have visited – however, it does have the most beautiful church and we are staying in our most fachenta (pricey/upscale) hotel so far. It has hot water, poor quality internet and air conditioning that neither of us is entirely sure works. Living the Nica dream. Last night we had dinner at a Cuban restaurant where we were not one of two couples in the restaurant (a sign that people in Esteli have slightly more money to spend on amenities like eating out?). Great food and a nice ambiance (that ambiance being the second floor of the owner’s home).

PS: GREAT FOOD.  We both ate Cuban sandwiches and two Nicaraguan beers.  The good food continued into Friday morning where our hotel had a buffet breakfast!  I ate two helpings of ham, eggs, toast, gallo pinto plus some bananas, pineapple and a bowl of cereal.  Then with our first day off of work, Michelle and I hiked to a…

Michelle is visibly excited for a...

MK: WATERFALL! When we blogged about our earlier waterfall, I did not know that was a mere TRICKLE. (see photos!!) So our Moon Nicaragua guide described our 90-minute hike/walk as “an easy walk, but with lots of ups and downs.” Pete thinks this is a legitimate description, however, I would like to contest something that was about 70% uphill (an a 85-degree angle?) is not ‘easy’. Legs. Are. Still. Burning. However, lots of incredible views and jokes about the variety of farm-like we saw on the way made it doable. After paying 15 cords a piece at the waterfall entrance, and hiking down another fifteen minutes, I could hear it and knew I was about to see my first REAL waterfall.

Rocky?

Waterfall!

PS: Real waterfall indeed.  It was a 50 foot FREEZING cold cascada.  We took too many fotos to attach but here are some of the greatest.  After capturing the awesomeness on digital film, we braved the pool at the bottom of the waterfall.  It proved to be a very quick swim because we were clearly too spoiled with the hot water at the hotel.  After an awestruck hour at the cascada, we began the trek back to Esteli.  And how did we get home, Michelle the hypocrite??

MK: Jerk. Ok, so basically anytime Pete tells me that he has hitch-hiked to school, I get on my sassy soapbox and go off about the dangers, ending with the potential for a pack of hombres to drive my gringo boyfriend, and his pretty face, into the Nicaraguan wilds for some non-consensual love. However, today, after two hours hiking uphill to the waterfall, swimming through the powerful current generated by our cascada/salto and hiking halfway back, I was too tired to care. We flagged the first pick-up that drove by and hopped in the back for a bumpy, SAFE (ARE YOU HAPPY PETE?) ride back to the entrance.

PS: HAH, I win again!  Hitchhiking is perfectly safe under the correct desperate circumstances.  Which was good because I’m not sure if I could have put up with more “Caaaaaarry me, I’m sore” talk.  All tangents aside, lunch certainly made up off all of hard work didn’t it?

MK: This restaurant was the cutest of anywhere we have eaten so far, and prompted at least a fifteen minute tangent from me about how with $2000 (USD) I could move down here and open a similar spot. It was next to a ‘babbling brook’ (Moon’s words, not ours) and had the healthiest food we have eaten so far (banana smoothies, yogurt with granola, whole wheat bread with mystery-heaven jelly and with cheese/tomatoes/cucumbers). A nice break from the constant Nica-carbo-loading and a good chance to fatten Pete up.

Organic and delicious!

PS:  So yummy.  To continue our trend of tasty food, we drank wine and ate tapas (again!) at our hotel.  Then we went out for Chinese food.  There wasn’t a single Asian looking person there but the sweet and sour pork was great and they had Halloween decorations up.

MK: It is strange how eating on a patio at plastic lawn furniture with beach umbrellas seemed fairly classy/upscale.

PS: I know, right?  Well after breakfast I think we’re off to go tour a cigar factory.  Place your orders now!

MK: Also, Pete MIGHT come home ever so slightly earlier for Christmas. I’m starting a bombard-Pete-with-demands-for-his-presence-four-days-earlier campaign now. And….go!

PS: That was a nice shameless plug.  We’ll talk to you guys tomorrow!

Michelle Trip Part 2

So Michelle is taking Nicaragua by storm.  And as luck would have it, it was bring your novia to work day all week!

PS: So Monday – Thursday I had local and regional business plan competitions.  What’d ya think?

MK: I would be lying if I said that I didn’t initially think that attending four business competition plans would be a drag. However, I loved them! I got to meet all of Pete’s counterparts, saw three of the four high schools where he teaches, met huge groups of his students and even learned about costos fijos (fixed costs).

PS: Business is boring?  Hah!  Monday was Pala’s and my rural communities.  Which group was your favorite?

MK: The winner (that also got to go to Thursday’s regional competition) made clothes for Barbie dolls out of banana leaves. The outfits were actually very intricate and well-made (and foreshadowing…they won ‘Best Business Plan’ at the regional competition). There was also a group that made lamps out of primarily natural materials. Oh! And side note: I think the most dangerous thing I did Nicaragua was try food made by Pete’s students at these competitions (cheese, yogurt, marmalade…) – everything was tasty, and both our internal organs seem to be in working order for the moment…

Pedro with the winning team

 PS: I can’t help it, I’m hungry.  A couple other products were flowers made of string, earrings and clay wind charms.  The competitions went well after being postponed from my temporary minor sickness.  While you were there, you got to see my Nicaraguan home and family.  Thoughts?

MK: Your family is great! The children (namely, Maria Jose, the oldest daughter) can be a little hyperactive, but cute. Carmen (host mom) is really nice/cool, as are the many other family members that filtered in and out during my visit. As for your house – your house itself was pretty nice by Nicaraguan standards (meaning it has five rooms total), however it was smaller than I have been picturing all along. Also, Pete lives a little ways outside of Pala’s very tiny ‘downtown’ and we had to wind through a range of chicken/stray-dog filled dirt roads to arrive at his casa.

My host family

PS: Yup, I’m pretty lucky.  We ate lunch there (Indio Viejo a kind of chickeny paste thing–sounds gross but both of us liked it) and then wandered around a little.  Think you could live there for two years?

MK: No, I couldn’t Pete. You are so much braver and more rugged and hardcore than me. :P (maybe could, doubt I ever would – you get lots of mid-visit credit for living here!). 

Mirador in Palacaguina

PS:  You sass haha.  We visited the coffee cooperative (Michelle is bringing home gifts!) and the local restaurant.  I also introduced her to several people I know in the town and everyone was super excited to meet her.  After some quick shuteye (the foxes were much quieter this night), it was off to Condega’s competitions.  How’d it compare?

Power Girls and Profe Pedro

MK: Poor Pala, far superior. According to Profe Stephan, the quality of the presentations/business plans were better in Pala, but the products in Condega were much better. Also the competition was hosted in a big outdoor venue in the center of the high school (unlike the stifling hot classroom of Pala!) and Maria Christina (Pete’s Condega counterpart) hussled that competition along with an iron fist. We were in and out in three hours. The winning product was plastic curtains made by a team of girls (see photos!) – they were so incredibly excited to win; it was adorable. Other great products included mirrors decorated with patterns made out of pieces of broken glass bottles, greeting cards and a gas that could be used for your stovetop.

PS: Yeah I was impressed with all of my students but Condega really exceptional.  After the competition, we went to a tiny pre-Colombian ceramics museum and saw the downed contra airplane that was shot down.  Then it was off to the city of Somoto!  How was Somoto?

Look I'm a plane!

MK: Somoto was a lot nicer than Palacaguina, and even Condega (because, as Pete explained – it’s the Madriz department capital). Infinitely more paved roads and a few more options for hotels/dining, etc. I would say we definitely the most upscale (so far) in Somoto. We went to a place with really good pizza (a ten slice pizza with veggies/chorizo for seven dollars!) and also had an amazing chicken in mystery sauce. We didn’t really do any Somoto sightseeing – most of our sightseeing these two days was in Yalaguina.

PS:  Yup.  In Yala we had another business plan competition (the least impressive of the locals).  The winner was a clean burning stove which was kinda cool.  What’d we do after the competition?

MK: WATERFALL! I did not really have anything on my agenda for this trip, except for one thing. I wanted to see a waterfall, so we hiked up to check out Yala’s. We went with Jenny, the Yala health volunteer and Carol, the brand new (60+ years of age) Yala TEFL volunteer. Afterwards we went to lunch at a place filled with hanging hammocks, so I checked another Nica pastime off my list.

I also want to back up to the business competition. In Pala and Condega, to the students, I was never introduced as Pete’s novia – I was just the mysterious gringa all day. However, in Yala, Pete’s counterpart introduced me as the girlfriend and the class flipped out – there was catcalling, whistling, etc. for at least two minutes before Profe Stephan managed to regain control. It might be the funniest moment of the trip so far…

PS: I’m not sure why my students thought it was crazy that I had a novia…Michelle are you really that far out of my league?  Well that brings us up to midday Wednesday, any closing remarks?

MK: Nope! Off to breakfast :)

Michelle Trip Part 1

Good news, my guapa novia has arrived (her words, not mine)!  At the risk of being the most adorable couple ever, we decided to team blog about her trip.  Let’s begin!

Don Pedro: Soooooo, what do you think of my new home??

Guapa novia: Es un pais muy bonita. La gente es amable y generosa. (It’s a beautiful country and the people are nice/generous). I have literally been asked what I think about Nicaragua (and/or Palacaguina, Condega, etc.) more times than I can count. I was starting to run out of creative/new/interesting responses, so Pedro gave me his stock reply (see above). People smile when I say this…so far, so good.

Pedrito: You phrase stealer!  Well I’m glad we’re at least on the same page.  So the first night we stayed in Managua, how was it?

Michelle: A first-world bubble.

Livin' the high life

 Pedro the Explorer: No kidding.  We crashed at the Holiday Inn Convention Center which was off the hook nice (see photos below).  Air conditioning, hot water, full service restaurant, pool pretty much everything that I’ve been missing.  Your thoughts?

 

Gringa: We also had a non-third-world dinner at Galerias, a shopping with center with lots of upscale options for dinner, drinks and/or clubbing (we had tapas and sangria in honor of our mutual study abroad spot). I did not really feel like I was in Central America – they were dressed in clothes very unlike the ‘conservative’ outfits Pedro mandated that I pack and I saw a confusing amount of nice cars.

Pete: Indeed.  And for all of my concerned followers, Michelle was given the ambitious task of fattening me up.  Her crusade of force-feeding me anything that has calories has been enjoyable.  Sunday morning we ate bacon and it was AMAZING.  After we checked out of the hotel, we began the journey up north.  Did you enjoy Nicaragua’s very public transportation?

Look mom, I'm eating probiotics!

 MK: Ha – yes. We made the three hour journey to Condega in the standard school-bus filled with a combo of Nicaraguan music and the sweet sounds of the eighties. Little did I know that the 80s music would be my constant companion until I return State-side (seriously, I do not think I can hear ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ one more time). In Condega, we ate dinner at the Mexican restaurant and got ice cream at the shop off the main public square. Readers, when I say Mexican restaurant, though, try not to picture Front Street in Wheaton. We ate in plastic chairs in a one-room building off of a dirt road, and a citywide power outage imposed romantic lighting for at least ten minutes of the meal. I loved it, but certainly different from the US. Also, little did we know that was not the last power outage of the night…

 

PS: For sure.  After eating our eight tacos and drinking four beers (for less than $10 may I add) we returned to our cabanita.  Photos!

Me at the front door

Michelle on the path leading to the cabenita

To beat the English major to it, I think the best way to describe it is Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.  By day it was this quaint little cabin surrounded by rain forestry.  But by night.  Well, how did you sleep Michelle?

 

MK: Things got real. First, the power went out – unexpectedly at nine – and never came back. We had both been in the process of unpacking, so instead shoved all of our things off of the bed and went to sleep in the pitch black. Until, of course midnight. The next morning, I described our visitors as what the love-child of a bear/tiger/vulture mating might be. Pete less dramatically thought we had mice or iguanas. Either way, wildlife was scratching/clawing at our walls, running across the roof and (loudly) landing on the roof after what sounded like a running leap from a nearby tree. It didn’t help that this was all happening without power, in the pitch black. Quite frankly, it terrified me and with my adrenaline/heartbeat/over-active imagination all going at full-throttle there was no hope of anything more than about an hour of sleep the rest of the night. Pete (more accustomed to jungle animal noises) was brave, but still unable to sleep due to the combo of freaking-out-girlfriend and the sounds made by our own personal zoo. Pete, anything else to add before we unveil the identity of our visitors?

PS: Sure.  Thanks to living in a rural site during training, I’m used to roosters cawing, dogs fighting and buses honking at all hours.  This was something else entirely.  I didn’t have my beloved earplugs so I even struggled sleeping.  In short, Michelle (on this occasion) is not overreacting.  So when we’re checking out, the nice lady asked us how our stay was.  In true Nicaragua fashion I start by complimenting how nice the food was and how beautiful the scenery is.  As an afterthought I mention that throughout the night there were some noises.  And hotel lady calmly states that they were…

MK: ZORRITOS! (FOXES!) Yes, our first night in Condega we had FOXES clawing at our walls and running across our roof for HOURS. However, I guess we did forget to compliment the nice parts enough. After we made it through the terrifying fox-filled night, the place was gorgeous in the morning: jungle-like with lots of beautiful greenery everywhere, and we ate a delicious Nica breakfast both mornings in a tiki hut next to the pool.

PS: Indeed.  Well, we’re going to call it quits for now.  Some late afternoon cocktails are calling our names.  Tune in for part 2 tomorrow!

Business Formal

Now with my clean bill of health (white cell count is back to normal and no inflation!), I’ve been given permission to do other things besides eat and rest.  Cue Cocktail.  The Business Cocktail Party is put on to raise money for our national business plan competition.  We sell tickets to other volunteers (and Nicas with money to burn) in exchange for a ritzy night in the Holiday Inn Managua.  We also invite the Embassy and last year the Ambassador came.  $20 gets ya a nice dinner and dancing for 5 hours.  Plus rooms in the AWESOME Holiday Inn are only $60/night which is dirt cheap as well.  This year’s theme is Mascarade so my training group is printing out pictures of our faces and exchanging them!

After we wake up from a long night of “spreading the peace”, it will be Saturday.  Or maybe more commonly known as MICHELLE DAY!  Yup, my personal public relations specialist (and girlfriend) is coming to visit!  So get excited for some quality blog posts from a different perspective all next week!

I get knocked down but I get up again

In my previous post about my supermega fun Friday, I forgot to mention a couple things.  Frist of all, apparently there was a hurricane which rocked all of Central America.  This led to a rainstorm of EPIC proportions.  It is impossible to describe what it is like to be living under a zinc roof during a tropical storm.  All I can say is that it downpoured for a solid 18 hours.  There was so much rain that the bridge that I need to take to get to Managua is now inaccessible.  Therefore, it delayed my journey to the capital for one day and I’m now safely in Managua!

The other issue the rain caused was my business plan competition.  Or the lack thereof.  With copious amounts of rain, there was no way we could hold the competition.  So that too has been postponed until further notice.  My other school districts are scheduled to hold theirs on Friday, Monday and Tuesday.  Please feel free to do your anti-raindance so we can actually have one these competitions!

Health wise, I’m as good as a gringo with a weak stomach in a third world country can be!  I’m hungry, have energy and already gained several pounds back (we can thank Quiznos and Burger King for that).  I’ve been taking huge advantage of solid internet, American TV, air-conditioning and hot water.  Getting sick may be the most fun I’ve had yet!  Thanks for all of your concerns and I assure you I feel great.

Cocktail party on Friday, more details to come!