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A lot has happened and not much has happened in the past weeks since my last post.  The big news is that our little wind generator actually produced a bit of electricity on Thursday afternoon.  It was actually working on Tuesday, but WE (the ¨collective we¨which very much means ¨me¨) placed it on the side of the shed to drink a bit of coffee. A gust of wind came up and blew it over resulting in a busted blade.  We decided to redo the blade with a double thickness which I think will be much more stable in the long run.  The next steps are putting the foundation together, getting it into the air, and figuring out some way to control what little flow of electricity it produces.  The staff at the Solar Center seem pretty excited about it and we have definitely generated a bit of interest in the project.  Needless to say, I am pretty proud of the work we have done and we are doing.

The past weeks have also been a bit frustrating with the volunteering experience.  I have had the feeling that the work done will just sit around and not be continued or utilized.  This is especially true for the rain gage and weir (I still need to put that together).  I have had some other issues with the staff, the appearance of the center, the apparent stagnation of the mujeres (woman´s cooperative), etc.  However, after some long discussions with people within and external to the center, I am starting to feel like I am moving beyond the frustration and starting to understand what is going on a bit better now.  I think this is pretty true of the whole Nicaragua experience – many of the things that really bothered me at first have very little effect on me now (best example is dealing with the overcrowded busses and bus stations in general).

Nearly every weekend, we travel to some new part of Nicaragua. Last weekend, we went to Laguna de Apoyo which was pretty amazing place to relax.  It was very much needed after a very frustrating week.  This weekend, I am back in León (with a quick visit to the beach) for another extended weekend. I have added some new pictures of Sabana Grande (beginning on the 4th page), Laguna de Apoyo, and the wind generator.  After this weekend, I have only 3 more weekends (3.5 weeks total) left in Nicaragua.  Time is definitely flying past me.

The hot water shower at the hotel in Estelí. Finding a hot water shower in Nicaragua is a pretty rare thing. I managed to see a bit of a spark (inside the head) when trying to turn down the heat. Definitely a bit more exciting than I like my showers to be.

The other yikes:

• Spanish school: 4 weeks, done
• Christmas/New Year Holiday travel: 2 weeks, done
• Solar Culture Class: 2 weeks, done
• Volunteering with Grupo Fenix: 8 weeks, 2 weeks complete.

I have just completed the 10th week of my 16-week journey to Nicaragua. It is crazy how fast the time is passing by.

The projects we have taken on are now starting to move. At times, it has been a pretty slow process – hard to get an email reply to questions, hard to get approval, hard to find anything, running in circles, etc. However, our first wind sock should be in place by Tuesday, the rain gage has 4 days of data (recording 1 mm precipitation), we finally found a motor for the wind generator in Estelí (where I am now for the next couple hours), and the anemometer and data logger are on their way up from Managua. I really expect we´ll see some concrete progress in the next week or two.

The internet is slightly better here in Estelí than in Ocotal and I have finally been able to post some more pictures from the Solar Center (where I work) and the Sabana Grande (where I live) region.

Every night at 7:00, immediately after the evening news, my family (along with most everyone else that has a TV) sits down to watch a TV Novela (soap opera) titled, ¨Sin Senos No Hay Paraíso.¨ This translates to ¨without boobs, there is no paradise.´   No more commentary needed…

The next chapter of the of the Grupo Fenix experience has now begun – volunteering.

This week, the first of eight, was spent trying to figure out what we are exactly going to be doing here. In the original planning, I thought we would be learning how to build and then be installing solar panels in the community that we live in. However, this turns out not to be the case and we so we have spent the week researching various ideas of what we can do, what we are really interested in, what we can afford (we have no budget either), and trying to incorporate that into what the community needs.

Our first idea was to build a hybrid wind/solar battery charging station at the center. I was very excited about this idea for about exactly one day. After talking with a few people, it became very apparent this idea with not very feasible on a number of levels. I think that one of my biggest challenges in working here is overcoming my zero experience base to drawn upon. After doing a bit more research, I think we have a plan that will be pretty challenging. Our plan is to 1) build a cheap (hopefully around $150) wind generator that can be used by the community using parts readily available in the community (pvc pipes for blades, etc.); 2) define the wind resource using low budget method (homemade wind socks is a possibility); and 3) define the water resource on a low budget. The hope is that the wind and water resource projects will continue beyond the stay here by the new student research team that occassional shows up at the center. I am excited to really start working on all these projects early next week.

One pretty cool thing we did this week was help install a solar powered water pump in a nearby town. I really like learning and seeing the possibilities available. I have a number of ideas that I think would work well in Fairbanks.

This week has been a bit rough on me health wise. I have been here about 8-9 weeks now and I have been pretty paranoid about the foods I eat. However, on Sunday night I let my guard down. Not exactly road side chicken, but I ate a steak with a cream sauce. Tasting good, I forgot that refrigeration systems do not exist in many places here. Sunday night I was feeling it in the middle of the night and the process of the food exiting my system was not nearly as pleasant as when I was eating it. Having learned from the road side chicken experience (resulting in days of a bathroom that glowed a florescent lime green color in Manzanillo), I immediately took some drugs to stop the flow. So this experience was not nearly as bad as the last one. I also managed to catch a bit of a cold this week. Both pretty minor on the whole.

I am still having problems finding an internet cafe to post my pictures.  I have a few posted here – still about 20 that I want to post sometime, but painfully slow right now.   Hopefully soon.

UPDATE:  A couple weeks ago, Mareike struck gold and managed to get $150 from Grupo Fenix for our project.  We are at about $200 for the wind generator now, so this really is a big help to us.

That is the average number of times per day I manage to bang my head, fall into a hole, and eat gallo pinto (rice and beans).

The people here are quite short and most of the homes are custom made with low doorways and adobe bricks. The combination of short people, custom houses, and me constantly walking with my head down has resulted in me uttering ´shit, that hurt´ many times. However, having my head down does not explain why I continually manage to fall into holes in the road or trip over very obvious rocks. One night, I managed to find a hole, turn around to see what had just happened to me, and then proptly walk (hard) into a barbed wire fence resulting in big scratches on my stomach, arm, and leg. I think either the gallo pinto is starting to effect me in ways I had not considered or I am just spending a bit too much time in ´La La Land´.

Last week we finished the Solar Energy / Culture class put on by Grupo Fenix. The class ended up being fairly disappointing and frustrating on a number of different levels. The class was divided into three basic parts – solar energy instruction, the culture of the community where we are staying, and activities outside the community. The community definitely bent over backward for us and the outside activities (day trips) were also really nice, but the solar energy part was more than a bit rough. From talking with other people, I think we ended up with just a bit of bad luck and/or timing as many other people have had many many good things to say about the group and Grupo Fenix. This week, we start the real volunteering. I still believe that working with the people at the solar center will be a really good experience and I am excited about this chapter of the journey. Even with all the bad from the week, I still built a small solar panel from scratch and helped with a very simple solar power installation at a home. That in itself I think is pretty cool.

Following the class, we spent a long weekend at the beach community of Las Piñitas, near Leon and adjacent to the beach that we were at a few weeks ago. Once again, the beach did not disappoint – lots of sun, sand, swimming, good food, long walks, few people, a number of naps, and a kayak trip into a wilderness preserve.

I tried to post some pictures, but finding an internet connection with decent speed to upload pictures is going to be a challenge. I will try again later this week.

I am now in Savana Grande, located about 20 km south of Octotal and about 40 km south of Honduras.  It is a very small little village that will never be located on a map.  The community here is by far, with no doubt, the most friendly, warm, and caring people I have ever met.  I think the only way I can really describe it is to imagine a town of 2000 people, with each person being a clone of Norma – really (no exageration or sarcasm).

My family is also pretty amazing. We spend a lot of time talking (only spanish) and laughing.  My spanish is good enough to communicate, but at times it takes a while for me and them to understand.  It will definitely get better with time and I will begin taking spanish lessons again in 2 weeks (only 6 hours per week, but it is needed).   The food has been really good, especially the coffee and fresh fruit I get every morning.  I also had the most amazing avacado a few nights ago as well. 

The past week plus has been spent in a Solar-Culture class learning about the community, solar power basics, organic foods, etc.  The class ends this upcoming week and the real volunteering begins the following week.  There have been some logistical & communication issues with the class that have been a little frustrating, but not very surprising. I am really looking forward to the training part ending the real volunteering part to begin.  At this point, I really think it will be a very good experience.

I think I will have time to post some pictures later this week or next weekend.

Hasta luego.

Yesterday we took a break from Managua and spent the day in Leon and then traveled 20 minutes to Poneloya Beach. These two places combined with the Pearl Cayes last week make 3 places in a row that I would like to visit again. Leon is a really nice city, centered on a church and city park, a nice bit of culture, many colors, and very friendly people.

Poneloya Beach is nice hidden treasure of a beach. Not many people, big waves, wide open sand. Perfect.

I could easily see myself spending much more time at any of these places. Another very very good day.

Pictures are posted here.

I guess I have to admit it, although I do not want to, that I am now 40 years old. The 40th one is one I think I will remember for quite a while though. After leaving La Fortuna, we traveled north back into Nicaragua to Pearl Lagoon. The travel was quite long as the infrastructure is very limited and included an 8.5 hour bus ride to El Rama, and 2 boat rides (with waiting for the 2nd boat made for another complete day of travel).

The 2nd boat ride was pretty amusing as the boat kept on breaking down. We were the last boat to Pearl Lagoon from Bluefields, so there was not a lot of help to be found either. On the boat was a live chicken and a very funny family. After the fourth or fifth time the boat broken down (along with the sun setting), the family kept eying the chicken and making comments about having dinner. The family (along with all the people in Pearl Lagoon ) speak Creole – a mix of Spanish, English, and a bit of this and that – all spoken with a Jamaican rhythm and tone (sometimes I am able to understand most things spoken, other times absolutely nothing) – which made for a lot of laughs. The 2nd part of the boat trip became a bit choppy which was also a bit unfortunate for one of the family members that had very large boobs that were jiggling uncontrollably. A few jokes and comments made for some more good laughs.

On Tuesday, we walked to the town of Awas (located about 30 minutes away by foot). The people in the town speak Miskito. There are only two villages in which the people speak the language – maybe 100 people total. The town was pretty nice, but we met one pretty annoying person, so we left a bit earlier than planned.

For my birthday, we got on a boat and went the the Pearl Cayes. A very tiny set of islands about an hour from Pearl Lagoon in the Carribean Sea. We spent most of the time on an island that takes about 10-15 minutes to completely walk around. Upon arrival, the guide said ´ Welcome to paradise.´ – it does not get much more true. A lot of time was spent in the sun, swimming, snorkling, eating fresh shrimp, and fishing, all at a very slow and relaxed pace. New Year´s Eve is celebrated much differently there as well with most people going to church and singing Christmas songs with wild enthusiasm. Midnight came and went with all people still singing in the church. However, after church, there was a huge dance for the community that lasted ´until the sun comes .´ Needless to say, I did not attend the dance.

Yesterday was another long long travel day back to Managua. It started out at 3:30 a.m. to catch a 4 a.m. bus back to El Rama. However, the bus driver was out partying (really – as we found out later) celebrating New Years and failed to show up at the bus. After waiting for an hour, we were told that it was not very safe for us to be there alone and that we should wait for the bus at our hostel (and the bus would blow the horn telling us that he was ready to go). Well the bus driver showed up and left without blowing the horn leaving us. Many people were commenting that ´he did not blow his horn .´ In retrospect, I am glad we did not get on the bus with a drunk guy (along with being the only ones on the bus). After realizing our bus was gone and the next bus did not leave for 24 hours, we wandered to the dock to see if a boat was leaving – the response was, ¨Mon, this is a holiday. There ain´t no boats coming today. Sit back and relax.¨ (that is paraphrasing). On the way out, a person said that a boat was coming (just by chance) and that we should hurry and get our luggage. We made the boat and then immediately caught another back to El Rama. Then we took a long and scary 5 hour drive in taxi (costing only $30 (US)) back to Managua. I was not so sure I was going to survive the taxi – a few too many tire squeals going around highway corners and a few times the brakes had to be slammed immediately before slamming into a speed bump – ´I did not see that one coming´. I was very happy and a bit frazzled upon reaching Managua.

We are in Managua for the weekend and are to begin the volunteering on Monday. I have posted a few pictures of this last bit of travel here.

I hope everyone had a safe and good new year celebration!