#42 Cocktail Party

Long time no see boys

This past Friday night, the Small Business sector (my sector) had a 'Cocktail Party' fundraiser in the majestic Holiday Inn in Nicaragua’s Capital  to raise money for an annual National Entrepreneurship Competition. All sans one volunteer from the newest business group attended as did about 100 more Peace Corps volunteers and dozens more volunteers from other organizations and, of course, local Nicaraguans. It was great to see everyone in our group as we are especially close compared to the other PC groups before us.

The night kicked off with a delicious catered dinner, not even one flake of rice or a single bean, followed by a group of intense Nicaraguan dancers and musicians in bright costumes performing forcefully. Dinner was followed by raffles for dinners, hotel stays, and a trip to Panama. My luck has been off the charts recently and this night was no exception seeing as I luckily won the Panama trip (valued at $600). The only drawback was it was for one person, so I’m now looking for anyone to join me within the next three months, or I’ll be going solo. By the way, Panama is supposed to be very similar to the beautiful Miami, Florida but far cheaper. Any takers??? Seriously…

Winning my Panama trip!

The night continued with hours of dancing and late night pool parties enjoyed by an abundance of oversexed 20-somethings. Managua is the closest thing many volunteers get to being back at home in a modern culture, therefore the rest of the weekend consisted of enjoying the luxuries of life: unlimited wireless internet, clean bathrooms with hot and high pressure showers, carpeting and bare feet, relaxing by the pool, and, of course, the food (Quiznos, pizza, sushi, McDonald’s breakfast…)

Poolside :)

Sushi dinner mmm

Other stories since my last blog post include:

• A weekend with the other Island volunteers where we cooked some tasty curry dish for dinner and relaxed at the Ojo de Agua the following day. 
• Going out to the discos in my town with some friends and Frosting the locals (Same as ‘Icing’ but done with a Victoria Frost beer). 
• Some more successful English classes. 
• The usual combination of successful/failed/canceled high school business classes. And lastly, continued progress being made on the Marathon/Home Run Derby planning with my youth group – November 20, mark the calendar, see you there!

Ojo de Agua

Nica Frosting

My English class

The President of my youth group came back from a trip to the Capital – Managua – and explained with such passion and emotion how incredible new 3-D movies are. Not one of the other members in my youth group had seen one, and jaws were dropped as the President dramatically explained with entire body gestures as things flew towards him, scared him, and frankly amazed him. Mind you, I have met very few people here that have even been to a movie theater as the trip (Boat, bus, taxi, food, tickets…) can usually add up to a few weeks pay.