Stop me before I volunteer again!: Happy New Year!

Bienvenidos to my Blog!

Hello Family, Friends, and Curious Readers,

Thanks for stopping in to see what I am up to. This is my first blog, and I hope not to bore you too much with the details of my life. But rather hope to offer you some insights into development work, the highs, the lows, and well the boring.

But before I move away for 27 months, let me give you a little information about myself before I lose a steady internet connection.

So after graduating from Boston College in 2005, I decided I wanted to learn Spanish and "save the world" so I moved to Cusco, Peru. I began by volunteering for The Center for Traditional Textiles of Cusco by researching and writing a small business plan for the organization. I continued to work with the organization until February of 2008, when I returned to the US to prepare for my move to Madrid, Spain for 15 months to study an International MBA at IE Business School. And now, after a year of searching for the perfect development job, and taking odd jobs in the meantime, I have joined the Peace Corps and am volunteering again. So wish me luck, and PLEASE someone stop me from volunteering again!

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Happy New Year!

If the last two weeks are any indication of how busy I will be in 2012, I'm glad I am currently on vacation to rest up for them. On December 31st, I headed to Esteli (another city in northern Nicaragua) to visit with two of my favorite Small Business Volunteers, Yessica and Carlos. They are one of the two married couples from my training group that are doing the Peace Corps together, and to be honest they are the two people who helped me survive training.

I arrived in Esteli after 2 hours of bus rides through fields and mountains to arrive at the nicest bus terminal in Nicaragua. I mean it. It was all enclosed, there were shops (selling the same things of course but lets not go too crazy) there were seats where you could sit while you waited for your bus, or in my case for Yessica and Carlos to pick me up, and a TV that had local business's advertisements. I almost felt like I was at the airport.

Yessica, Carlos, and Nena (their homestay family's dog) came to pick me up and we went back to their house. We made some lunch, I met the family, then we headed out to tour Esteli. Lots of places they wanted to show me were closed, since it was the 31st, but we were able to go shopping, I bought a new top for that night, and hit up the grocery store so I could buy some staples I can't get in Matagalpa without paying an arm and a leg for them (like pancake syrup!) We also visited MaxiPali which is like a Walmart but on a smaller scale (it is owned by Walmart too!)

Nicaraguans normally ring in the new year by constructing an effigy of an old man (which they call a viejo) and 5 minutes to midnight they light him on fire. It's to burn the old year, say good bye and move forward into the new year. I fully support that and while we did not actually make one ourselves we saw many of them being burned on the street. (pictures to follow)

Having burned the old year and welcomed the new one, we took off for Cigarzone (which is a pretty fancy club in Esteli) and danced the night away until we realized how late (or early) it was and headed home. It was a fun night overall. The next day, Jan. 1st, we really didn't do much before 2pm ( as you might have expected) but we did walk down the highway (because the buses were not running) and went to La Casita which is like an ecological park and cafe in one. They have whole wheat bread that they make on site, hummus, homemade cheeses, jams, drinks, and yogurt. It was a great snack and a great way to end my visit in Esteli. I headed back to Matagalpa the next day to get ready for my parent's, brother's, and uncle's visit to Nicaragua!