My volunteer visit to Ocotal lasted from Sunday morning to Wednesday evening. They send us to visit a volunteer about one month into training for a few reasons: to see their work, how they have integrated into the community, side projects, life after training, and most importantly a well deserved break (we still had essays and journals to write along with a pack of questions to fill out during this so called break). Overall, the trip was informative and interesting encouraging me to plow through training because life definitely calms down and picks up once we get sworn in.
My trip north sounded far easier than it ended up being. My bus schedule changed when I got to the station and ended up taking 4 separate busses having to find 3 different bus stations during the mix up. Once we drove a little north, the populated and polluted streets were replaced with lush green mountains (hills) and the weather cooled down a bit. We got to watch Blue Crush 2 (classic) and experience a blown tire in the second lag.
Arriving in Ocotal, I met my Volunteer, Paul who has been in Nicaragua for about a year. He introduced me to a Health Volunteer I would be staying with who lives across the street from him. It was already late by the time I arrived so, the three of us chatted for a bit, ate dinner at the home I was staying at, had a quick bucket bath and went over to a bar in Ocotal to watch the Mavericks win in the Finals.
In the early morning, Paul and I hopped on a bus and went about 25 minutes north to meet with another volunteer and a farmer who Paul buys fresh coffee from. We went to the farm of this man and he showed us his home and farm that sits on the side of a mountain. Here is his driveway (dirt path on the right), oven, kitchen, and house: 
we did some weeding of the hundreds of sprouting coffee plants and made our way back for some lunch. That afternoon, Paul took me to another town where he had a meeting to meet with two ladies interested in improving their businesses. He gave a mini business lesson, fielded some questions, and tried to plant some seeds in these ladies’ minds. It was interesting to see how busy he was with such a variety of work. I can tell that he is a very active volunteer from all the projects he’s been involved in and the plans that he has. There was supposed to be another meeting regarding a community bank, but the bus arrived an hour late and by the time we got to the meeting location the man was not there.
Tuesday started with a high school entrepreneurship class in another town north of Ocotal. The class was loud with kids talking nonstop, students walking in and out at their will, and passing notes. However, Paul explained to me that the students do the work and actually have learned leaps and bounds. Paul had said that this was his best class. [His worst: He teaches at a private school where the kids have zero discipline and a general sense of entitlement which the teachers reinforce because they are scared the parents will take the kids out without paying. The teachers wouldn’t help Paul with the students and Paul couldn’t handle them all on his own, so he had a meeting with all the parents of the kids and told them to talk to their children and teach those punks some discipline.] I think that’s a wonderful story. Watching this class and teaching at my site has made teaching the thing I am definitely most excited for once finished with training.
Paul is a few years older than I and joined the Peace Corps after earning a law degree and becoming a lawyer. He was able to teach me about Nicaragua’s rich history and discuss with me the current political state of Nicaragua that is actually fascinating and shocking. Book recommendation: Blood of Brothers. We spent the afternoon talking until we had to go to a vocational school in a distant corner of Ocotal where 15 20-somethings were learning about business plans. Upon successful graduation from the vocational school and their newly instituted business program, graduates will be candidates to obtain loans to start new businesses of their own (financial loans are extremely difficult for aspiring entrepreneurs to come by in Nicaragua).
Traveling home, a few of us made a pit stop in the capital city to go to a mall, have some American food, and see Hangover 2 in a wonderful air conditioned theater. Yum.
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