SchoePrints: You May Ask Yourself: How Did I Get Here?

A brief update, in honor of the Talking Heads, on what I have done so far at work!

The first few days in Nicaragua were tremendous. I got in, met the team, met my host family, and began to get a sense of what Granada is like. Granada is a quaint colonial town situated on Lake Nicaragua, the only fresh water lake in the world with sharks. What were the odds?! Lake Nicaragua has over 300 small islands that were formed when the volcano Mombacho erupted heaps of earth into the lake. Granada has some of the best preserved colonial buildings in the country and is a center of tourism and art in the region.

Before the summer interns (who I have been training all week) arrived I took the weekend to get familiar with the region I will be responsible for, Masaya. Masaya is full of rolling hills, sleeping volcanoes, and pastures of agricultural land. I will mainly be responsible for a series of villages called Los Pueblos Blancos. Los Pueblos Blancos are above Granada in the foothills of Mombacho. While there I visited some artisans from a town named San Juan del Oriente, and had lunch in Catarina a town that overlooks Laguna Apoyo, a lake formed by a volcanic crater.

While in Nicaragua I will be working primarily on two different projects. One focuses on selling highly beneficial goods to rural villages and towns that do not have access to traditional markets. These goods include water filters, eye glasses, seeds, solar lamps, and stoves. All of these sales are conducted through locally trained entrepreneurs who will eventually take over all operations from within Nicaragua. The second project goes in the opposite direction: I will be helping artisans from rural villages access competitive markets that will often be in more urban centers. These projects can be found here and here. If you're inspired, follow our blogs!

On Saturday I was able to meet one of the entrepreneurs I will be working with this year. Her name is, Herenia, and we clicked quickly. She said with my level of Spanish, and her confidence in correcting me, I would be fluent in three months! (Here's to hoping) Herenia and I met to discuss marketing for a sales campaign we will be conducting this week and then also met with a local Nicaraguan non-profit. This organization, named APAN, seeks to empower children to take ownership of their own lives by offering a range of activities, employment opportunities, and classes. They've been operating since 1994, and most impressively, say they have seen serious community wide results in a reduction of the effects of "Machisimo." In Nicaragua, and many Latin American countries, men simply do not respect women. This organization believes they can prove perceptions can change, if you just focus on a generation at a time. To date, that's the most exciting thing I've heard here.

On Sunday I spent the afternoon relaxing by walking around Granada, and by watching two local baseball teams play. My allegiance quickly went to the away team when I realized one of their outfielders was wearing a Philadelphia Flyers Prince of Wales Conference hat. Pretty sure it was felt as well. After, I met up with some work friends to explore Granada a little more. We discovered a beautiful terrace behind a hotel swimming pool. The bar there was named Bocadillo's. From there we took in the sunset as it bounced off the windows of the cathedral and threw shadows on the mustard colored walls. I enjoyed some American style tapas as well, eating very well done here!

This morning I took a series of buses, moto-taxis, and map inspired hikes to meet up with Herenia once again. Today we were looking to expand our reach into a new town. We met with a number of community leaders at a local school and explained the products we were hoping to offer their village. Though we were interrupted by a few first graders shouting "Gringito!" we sealed the deal! One for one with Herenia!

Tonight a few co-workers and I went to a benefit trivia night at a popular Granada bar, "Reilly's." Two culture points for Hufflepuff. Our team of work colleagues had a good time, as we took first place. No need for us to study up on Lovers, Words that end in "oo," Songs about Heartbreak, or Asian Foods! As excited as we were to win a free bottle of Nicaraguan rum, a famous export, we were more excited to meet all of the interesting people who are working on similar projects in and around Granada! Hopefully those friendships come with more stories and adventure!

Until next time!