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!

Saturday, May 19, 2012

A ramble about my life in Nicaragua...

It's raining so hard right now, that I can barely hear the music I am playing. All I can hear is the beat, and I have decided all reggaeton songs are the same... I didn't even know that the song had changed until there was a lul in the rain.

Anywho, this has been a pretty calm weekend, I solo taught a class yesterday, the kids were surprisingly well behaved even though the teacher couldn't come because of a Dr.'s appointment. I then worked out (Yet another day of INSANITY) and then had a low key evening that ended in me going to bed at 8:30 because I was tired and bored.

I spent most of today cleaning, grading papers, and you guessed it, working out (yet another INSANITY routine). There was also a MYPYME fair going on here in Matagalpa (that translates to a micro-business fair). I had heard about it earlier in the week and had told my students that if they went this weekend and looked around, they could earn some extra credit. They had to find creative products and write a little paragraph about why they think they are creative. (I did say they could not use the traditional Nicaraguan fair staples like jewelry (which is every other booth) or cajetas (which are homemade sweets), or handicrafts. Honestly, I was not expecting to find much. But when I went today, I found several products that I thought were creative in terms of I hadn't seen anyone in Matagalpa making it. I even bought two items. First is a drink mix that has soy, ground Jicaro seeds, corn, and other ingredients in it. It tasted good, and I though would make a great example for my class to see. I also bought a home-made dressing with garlic, cilantro, vinegar, etc. Also another great example for my students. I had the pleasure of running into a few of them there and we all walked around together looking at things. It was a lot of fun, and I was excited that they were excited to be there and see these things.

I had plans to go out with friends tonight, but since it is raining cats and dogs outside, we called it off (which is what normally happens here if it's raining since most people don't have cars, or garages, etc). So it looks like another early night, but it's ok. I have my computer, chai tea, and some home-made guacamole. Doesn't get much better than this. Just one of the many reasons I love my job as a Peace Corps volunteer.

Have a great night, and keep making good choices!

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Far too long since I last posted, so I guess that means we are going to play catch-up...

It has been far too long since I last posted, and I realize that the last few posts have only been talking about my birthday celebrations. While I would like to let you all think that life here at PC Nicaragua is all party all the time, there is a considerable amount of work that does get done, and most recently, quite a few workshops that take place as well.

I was recently in Selva Negra (which is an eco-lodge here in Matagalpa) to receive a two day workshop with one of my counterpart teachers who is new to the course. All of the volunteers from SBD56 were there with one or more counterparts as well. We had a great time catching up, but more fun talking with teachers about their experiences, and learning together new ways of working/teaching the material better. It was also great to get to spend time with our counterparts away from life and all of its responsibilites, and really get to know the people we work side-by-side with. 

In addition to classes and the planning we do with counterpart teachers, all SBD PCVs also do some business advising for small businesses in our communities. This past weekend, we held a small business incubator for 22 small business owners that were nominated by fellow PCVs. I was lucky enough to take a lead role in organizing the event, and am happy to say that it was a success. Granted, it had a few glitches, but overall, the business owners had a great time, and I have some great ideas to make it that much better next year.

Next week, I will be giving a workshop to several teachers here in Matagalpa about upcoming topics in the curriculum that are especially difficult to teach, followed by a charla for the newest PC Nicaragua group SBD 59!  Bienvenidos! It has been a busy couple of weeks, and it looks like its just going to stay that way. But I feel productive and proud of what we are accomplishing, so that makes working long hours that much better!

So here are a bunch of pictures from all of the above mentioned activities. I know that what you all want to see anyways hahaha. Love you all and keep making good choices!

My homegirl Yessica and I

Fellow PCVs Presenting

Aleia, this girl is funny... seriously



Zacaragua and I

Good looking volunteers I say

Me and the Muelle de Los Buyes Boys

My Counterpart Alfredo and I
Michaela and I celebrating one year in country!

Biz Incubator hotel

Biz Incubator Intro

Business Presentations (I am taking notes hehe)


There was no cell signal, and yet people kept looking...

Working hard!



Kayro the dog! Reminded me of my puppy!

Erlinda a small business owner from El Sauce. I bought this pine needle basket from her!

Ricardo and I!

How beautiful right? Can't believe we are near Managua right?

The whole group!

Two of my admirers, too bad they were both too young haha.

More to come soon!!!!