** Please feel free to comment! It tells me that people are reading this and makes me feel warm inside ; )

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

#55 Pleasure


Apart from the main business focus of my job, I have had the opportunity to travel and be a part of lots of interesting activities here on Ometepe. It is wonderful, literally every week is different with new and exciting adventures to look forward to. At the end of this week for Semana Santa (Easter break), I am going to a Caribbean island with two friends (Kyle - flying in from Chicago, and my PC friend Jake), some San Jaun del Sur partying, and 4 nights exploring Ometepe climbing volcanoes, riding bulls, sipping Tonyas on the beach, and the inevitable cockfight.

In mid February there was an Ultra-marathon on the island having runners run 25km, 50km, or 100km including the ascent and descent of the two large volcanoes that make up the island. I had no idea freaks like this existed and it was wild to see how fast these animals were able to complete the unthinkable. At the end, I explained to the organizers my interest in their race and, a few days later, they offered me the role of Director of Volunteers next year organizing all the logistics, nutritional needs, and volunteer manpower needed to manage the race. I gladly accepted.
Race Map... You can't see the change in elevation or road conditions, but trust me they both suck

These runners definitely aren't running for any great prize, the winners get these little trophies

My volunteer station for the day definitely could have been worse

Mango season has arrived so I get to eat mangos freshly picked from trees everyday. I have developed a deep addiction to mangoes and don’t leave the house without my dental floss in case I should stumble upon a mango tree, or be given a mango by anyone I may see.

There have been an abnormal number of baby horses in the area recently and I love it. If my camera charger wasn’t stuck in Connecticut, I would have photos to post right here.

My neighbor/friend and I took a drive to the Pacific beach (Playa Popoyo) last weekend to play in the waves and visit an old friend of his who used to live on Ometepe.
Veryyy nice beaches :)

That little speck is my buddy Alvaro

Here he is again but in turban mode

The English owner of the delicious Cornerhouse restaurant down the block took me with him to a Nica house on the beach to watch the butchering of a pig he had been fattening up for the past 8 months. We missed the death blow to the carotid, but got there in time to see the shaving, skinning, and butchering of the meat. 

La chanchita

Yes, that would be her tail

Action shot to the faceeee


Lovely photo with such a pleasant background

Even the skinny little pup gets a bite to eat

Wonderful photo with the women preparing the meat as the men slice it apart

This little girl couldn't stop staring

Job well done

An Australian couple on the other side of the island recently got their hands on some money donated for recreational activities for the kids in the rural area where they live. I accompanied them as they used the money to transport the children to the Ojo de Agua (a natural spring filled pool) and give swimming lessons to the kids – a crucial skill for those living on an island made up of volcanoes… It was such fun seeing how happy the kids were and being able to play with them for the morning hours.

My neighbor and I also took an uncomfortable and bumpy beyond belief ride around the whole southern volcano of the island ending up at a surprisingly developed and beautiful entrance to hike to a waterfull. We did the hike and have some poor quality photos from my ipod to prove it.


My sitemate organized an opportunity fair for the ten best students in senior year for each of the ten high schools on the island. The event was a HUGE success leaving all the kids talking about it for the weeks following. About a dozen university representatives showed up - career fair style – to talk to the students about the opportunities they offer. Several professionals from various fields (psychologist, bank manager, tourist expert, businessman, hotel owner) came to discuss their careers and answer questions. Lastly, a few representatives from organizations offering scholarships attended to explain the application process and the scholarships available to them. She has all the pics from this event and hasn’t posted them, but I will post them once they are uploaded!

#54 Business


Long overdue blog post here. First, business. Second, pleasure.
Aerial photo of Ometepe in Lake Nicaragua

Almost two months have passed since my high school entrepreneurship classes started up again and, during that time, lots of changes and events have taken place. Unfortunately, I do not have the stamina to go into depth for each and every change/event so I will briefly touch upon the highlights. 

Granada
Karaoke Bar in Granada
I am now teaching one school per week at one of four schools within a 30 minute bus ride. Classes did not start until about the third week after the school started because the schools did not know how many students would be attending, therefore could not make the (handmade) schedule with the correct number of sections in it until they did find out. Classes now continue week in and week out, with some far better than others.
The school system here is so ‘different’ (chaotic), from ours in the US that I find I can have several weeks where only 15% of my total time in the classroom would be considered productive. This is often very frustrating, but I have become much better at controlling my discontentment and have even begun accepting these misfortunes and not letting them bother me. In the schools, I have started acting as a second teacher to the math teachers finding a new and profound interest in mathematics, even offering extra help tutoring after classes.


Watermelons are cheap... Watermelon eating contests :)

Raffle to win the pig! 


Doing some business consulting
During the mornings, I continue to work with the Ruta Triangulo del Sur, a Casa Pellas (the richest family/business in Nicaragua) branch offering co-investments for tourism related businesses on Ometepe. I have helped make new menus for restaurants, teach business owners accounting methods, change several prices and pricing strategies of various businesses, and will be hosting business workshops/classes in the coming weeks to dozens of business owners. Working with this company, I am able to get to know the local business owners on the island and better understand the tourism industry that is growing so rapidly in Nicaragua. Plus, the guys I work with are a fun and entertaining trio teaching me new ‘vocab’ daily.
Meeting with a women's rural tourism group

Private tour of Ometepe's museum from the owner
The most recent, and by far most interesting and fun, is a new tourism project with an indigenous (more like rural) community on Ometepe. Two recent college graduates have been spending the past two/three months working with this community organizing tours, cooking classes, homestays, and several other offers - essentially opening a tourism business to benefit the community. One of their parents is a graphic designer and put together a beautiful brochure and is working on the final details of the website as we speak. The two of them, Cory and Sam, have to return this week to their seasonal jobs in Yellowstone National Park and have, thus, left this project in my hands at opening day. This community currently does not have running water nor electricity but expect to soon due to a donation from followers of Cory’s parent’s blog (blogging about being retired in Ometepe, Nicaragua). This project will, without a doubt, be a huge success and I feel lucky to be a witness to the tremendous positive effects this project will have on the community (running potable water, electricity, scholarships, nursery schools, community centers, etc…).

I attended a meeting this past week with the community members involved in the project as well as the project founders, Cory and Sam, and the community members were extremely receptive, delightful, and very interested in the services I plan to offer them.  My role will be to help the business aspects: quality control, customer service, organizing the employees, determining roles and responsibilities, management of finances, and assist with marketing techniques. The first group of travelers that were shown the new brochure immediately booked a tour and reported back saying it was one of the best experiences they had had thus far in Nicaragua. It is truly the ideal experience for a traveler of any kind – total cultural immersion embracing the native perspective. 

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

#53 A Very Happy Birthday Party


     My 24th birthday was unlike any birthday I’ve had to date. I had told a few friends, counterparts, and neighbors to come by to hang out, have a bite to eat, and a share a few drinks. I should have known better than to expect a ‘small get together’ and rather expect a full blown party at the hotel-type place where I live.
     I started the day off right with an early Skype session with some family back home and spent the rest of the day doing some business advising in the morning and teaching an entrepreneurship class to my favorite school during the afternoon (by the way, all teachers have favorite classes and students). After a successful and enjoyable workday, I went back home to chat with my sort-of-host-family about the party later that night.
Giddy all night :D
     The owner of the hotel (a Miss Chilo) and the two girls who work here full time had already bought a TON of food to cook for the big party I didn’t know was going to happen. I had already ordered a few pizzas from the tasty pizza place up the street to surprise some guests (pizza is pretty much a delicacy here due to it being so expensive compared to a nice dish of gallo pinto and fried cheese).
     Then came the hand-made Flor de Cana piñata (Nicaraguan rum), stereo and speakers, freshly baked cake with my name icing-ed on it, and, lastly, arrived all the guests with presents! I haven’t received presents for any holiday since my laser tag party in 5th grade, so I was ecstatic (and slightly guilty, feeling bad for collecting these presents).
My buddy Alvaro and me
     Counterparts (co-teachers) and their families, my English class students, neighbors, the guys I work with in the business consulting office, the ex-pat couple from the delicious Cornerhouse restaurant around the corner, and of course my PC sitemate Noelle all came to celebrate with me!
     Throughout the party, the food from the kitchen literally never stopped coming out. After the first chicken and rice dish and pizza, I was more than full, but little did I know that there would still be three more rounds of food to be served and cake and ice cream. After some mingling, we got down to business with the piñata. What an experience.
Legit killing it on the pinata/dance floor
     Music is played, loudly, and the batter is given half a broom handle and gets blindfolded. Someone yanks the piñata up or down with the sole intention to make the pathetic, blindfolded, and desperate batter look as much like a fool as possible. The audience participates yelling “Arriba (up),” “Abajo (down),” or “Baile (dance).” If the crowd yells to dance, you then must perform a quick solo dance and then get back to work. Seeing my (somewhat) little 7 year old neighbor dance during his turn will be in my PC memory bank forever. Almost everyone had the chance to give that tough piñata a proper beating and show off their smooth dance moves, but the piñata had its last stand when a grandma/neighbor (I think?) stepped up, did a little dance, took one clean swing and caused legit mayhem to ensue. The kids AND adults (especially the grandma tossing people out of her way) absolutely lost their minds when the candy exploded. You would have thought their lives depended on collecting this candy. Again, hilarious.
Kid's got moves
My wonderful sitemate joining in!
My English students
Delicious Cornerhouse owner, Gary, getting his turn. His dancing was an instant classic.

Age is irrelevant in the sport of Pinata. She had the final blow and then proceeded to elbow little kids out of her way on her candy hunt. Watch yourself around this woman.
Loving those dulces
Gettin' my freak on...
     But the party doesn’t stop there. Next came the dancing. I worked up quite a sweat using the little (only) real Latin dance moves I’ve been able to master and clearly a couple of spins for some flare on the dance floor. Everyone else enjoyed themselves dancing as well and soon it was time for the cake and birthday wishes. The Nicas sang their version of ‘Happy Birthday” which was nothing like ours and seemed to go on forever. Luckily for me, those awkward minutes when people are singing happy birthday to you and you don’t know what to do with yourself were caught on film, so maybe I’ll try posting that sometime soon.
"Felicidades Zac" birthday cake
     Then, we all ate the tasty birthday cake my neighbor had baked for me with a big tub of ice cream that one of my English students brought. We danced for sometime longer and then the party trickled down to me and the family. All in all, easily one of the best birthday parties I’ve ever had and far and away the most memorable. Looking forward to seeing how the 24th year of my life goes! :)