Mercado Oriental

With most management from MEDA Nicaragua in Canada for annual meetings I thought I was in for a light week - Veronica had given me enough work to keep me tied up for the week but not BUSY. This all changed when I received a call from Aldo (with whom I had been working with on a funding proposal for Oiko Credit) regarding the earliest opportunity to visit some of our clients.

Up to now, most of the work I’ve been given has confined me to both my computer and the office. So, the task of organizing a client visit as the final step in the funding process was a welcome challenge. After arranging all the details we set out on a Thursday morning to visit 3 clients from our Ciudad Jardin Branch. Before moving on I should quickly describe the area that the Ciudad Jardin Branch serves: Mercado Oriental or simply Oriental. Oriental is, by area, the largest market in all of Central America and can only be described as an enormous maze where anything, I mean ANYTHING can be purchased. Not only is its size intimidating, the numerous warnings offered by the office staff prior to leaving were also a cause for (minor) concern. “Don’t carry too much money”, “Take off your watch”, “Keep it attached to your wrist and in your pocket unless you are using it” is the answer I received after inquiring about taking my camera. Clearly, all this information was a little unnerving. That was until our guide and acting Manager of the branch, Oscar, showed up. He assured me that his ability to talk street Spanish and his knowledge of Oriental would provide safety at all times. He wasn’t lying. He followed the Oiko Credit representative, Miriam, and I, guiding us by simply saying “left”, “right” and “stop”. His directions led us flawlessly to what seemed like the far reaches of Oriental to a client of ours selling spices. Saying our goodbyes we made our way out of the chaos that is Oriental to the house of a client who makes piñatas for birthday and other events. The final visit was to a client who recently purchased a large truck in order to transport pork from Northern Nicaragua to Managua where she processes it for sale in the various markets. I’m happy to report that I made it out of Oriental both alive and with all articles that I entered with.

Semana Santa, the most important of all holidays in Nicaragua is this weekend. Essentially, the entire country shuts down and heads to the beach for the weekend. I’m off to my friend, Jaime’s, house for 4 days of fun in the sun San Juan del Sure style. I’ll report back next week.

Happy Easter!!!!

Feliz Cumpleanos!!!!!

The Big 2-8.

Facebook is wonderful for many reasons – keeping in touch with friends, finding those you once thought were long lost and so on. However, in certain circumstances, it can also be a stark reminder of just how old you’re becoming and how fast the years actually DO fly by. Just the other day for example, I was once again reminded of my increasing age when I received a Facebook message to ‘confirm your attendance for the Campbell Collegiate Class of ’98 10 year High School Reunion’. Now, I could sit here and freak out or adhere to the advice of one friend who advised me on approaching the age of 30 that ’30 s the new 20’ or listen to another friend who likes to point out that ‘you’re 18 with 10 years of experience’. Since both of these options are superior to losing my marbles, I’m choosing to follow both pieces of advice and see where they take me.

As it turns out my roommate, Kiki, celebrates her birthday 1 day prior to mine on the 14th of February. Due to this rather convenient circumstance, we decided to throw a joint birthday party at our house last Thursday. The party turned out really well as most of our Gringo (foreign) friends, some local friends, and even some co-workers showed up to assist in the celebration. The party included snacks, a kitchen that turned into the dance floor and some unexpected, but very welcome live music performed by our friend John. Thanks to everyone for coming.

Work has been humming along quite smoothly and has been picking up once again. On the MiCredito side of the business I’ve been helping Veronica prepare financial statements and grant proposals for the past couple of months. One, very interesting, project we’ve been working on revolves around Micro Leasing and the feasibility of adopting the practice here at MiCredito. It’s all very interesting stuff and today Veronica and I are meeting with someone from HSBC who has a lot of experience in the field. What’s even more interesting is that if this project is given the go-ahead it will allow MiCredito to work with Prodemur (Keith’s operation). That said, when Veronica hasn’t needed me, I’ve been helping Keith and Ben in the development of a sensitivity analysis that analyzes how farmers would benefit under such a scheme.

Before I sign off I should quickly mention that I’ll be fortunate enough to attend my very first live Boxing experience on Friday. As many of you know, boxing along with baseball are the two most popular sports in Nicaragua. Why I feel so fortunate to be attending the fights on Friday is because the newest in a long line of elite Nicaraguan Boxers, Roman “El Chocolate” Gonzalez, is fighting in the main event. I’ll keep you posted.

Hasta el proximo!

Marsh

Superbowl Sunday

There are days when I miss home, and there are days when I don’t. There are times when the reasons I miss home are apparent - perogie and cabbage roll withdrawal - and times when the reasons are unclear. On the other hand, there are times when it is crystal clear why I don’t miss home such as the day when it was -55 in Regina and +30 here in Managua. Or, when my family and friends have to pump themselves up to step outside in order to start their vehicles all while I’m contemplating if now is a good time to cool off in the pool of to catch a few more rays. So, you see, these are the strenuous decisions I have to make on a daily basis. Moving on….

In order to grow and expand Micredito has been on the lookout lately for new funds which has increased my workload substantially. My boss, Veronica, or as I like to call her Superwoman, has been educating me on the ins and outs of Microfinance management. To be honest, I sometimes wonder how she handles all that is on her plate. Not only is she commanding the Micredito ship -- along with Co-captain Junior and first mate Octavio --, she’s also taking English classes before and after work, putting up with my relentless questioning and on top of all this, she’s a mother and wife. Wow! ‘When does she sleep?’ is the question I most often ask myself. I’m extremely grateful to be learning the ropes under someone as intelligent, dedicated and as sweet as Veronica. There is no way to put a value on what I’ve been able to learn and accomplish both personally and professionally working with this Management group.

Something very bizarre happened on Sunday. As you all know this past Sunday was the all-important Superbowl XLII, but what you don’t all know is why it was bizarre. Let me explain. After watching numerous Superbowls from the comfort of my own or a friend’s home (comfort being defined as in a home with a heater while it’s a million below zero outside) it was truly unusual to find myself watching the game outside, on a patio and wearing shorts. My body simply had no idea how to react. After years of conditioning by means of indoor nacho eating my body began to reject anything it was used to doing inside that I was now doing outside. It was completely bizarre. That said, the game was fabulous, one of the best in recent memory – truly a “David and Goliath” type situation with David conquering the heavily favoured goliath. Furthermore, I’ll have to give my fellow intern and Giants superfan, Scott props for the big win on Sunday. First my Riders and now your G-men, what’s next???????

Misadventures in Managua

Misadventures in Managua,

Noel, a friend of Shannon’s, was in Managua for a quick 48 hour stint before returning to his job as a teacher in Honduras. To try to maximize his Nicaraguan experience we decided we’d rent a car and treat him to a tour of Nicaragua. We plotted our course: Masaya, Mombacho (A volcano), Laguna de Apoyo and finally ending with dinner in Grenada. On the surface it seems rather ambitious, but everything in relatively close in Nicaragua. First stop Masaya. Should be no problem, right? Wrong. There are very few highways in Nicaragua and, the one we were taking leads us to all 4 locations. Arriving to Masaya was a piece of cake or, as they say in Nicaragua ‘pan hecho’, navigating Masaya’s one way streets…not so much. The purpose of stopping in Masaya was so that Noel could check out the cool, little market located in the center of the city. Now, finding the market should have been easy enough since I had been taken (the key word being taken) there on a number of occasions. Anyhow, after searching, unsuccessfully, for the better part of a half hour and driving the WRONG way down a one way street we concluded that getting to Mombacho ASAP was the best idea. As we were leaving Masaya we looked to our left and out jumped the market we spent the last half hour searching for.

After (finally) finding the exit out of Masaya and receiving directions from a handful of people we were off to scale Mombacho. At one point, lost again, we took a wrong turn into a small town and proceeded to get more directions, except this time our question was greeted with chuckles as we were WAY off the beaten path. We pulled a quick 180 and reached Mombacho only to discover that the next transport to the top wasn’t for a couple of hours, totally throwing a wrench into our (ambitious) plans. But wait, a stroke of good luck. One of the park employees was heading up the mountain in his pickup and offered to take us up if we wanted to sit in the back of his truck. Deal. Sweet, we’re back on schedule. (I should probably mention that the path up the Volcano is steep; I’m talking 60 degrees steep. Needless to say, we held on for dear life.) Unfortunately, our good luck quickly evaporated into a dense mist that instantly covered the entire peak of the volcano. We ventured out onto the path to see if we could, in fact see. We couldn’t. The mist was so thick it was limiting our visibility to the point that Noel thought we “have reached the end of the world”. Normally, on a clear day, you’d be able to see just how beautiful Nicaragua is. The view offered of Grenada and all its islands is fantastic from the peak. All we saw was white. Considering we had to wait an hour for the next transport we scrapped the lagoon idea and decided to salvage what was left of the day by spending it in Grenada.

Without a hiccup we arrived in Grenada where we ran into a couple of friends. Thankfully, Noel was able to capture some (mist free) photographs before we sat down for a nice meal. The drive home was surprisingly easy, not a single turn to make. I wish I could say that we took a different high than the one that confused us on the way up, it wasn’t. I’m hoping I’ve learned from my mistakes because I’ll be making the same trip this weekend.

Prospero Ano!!!!

Whoa, it has been a while since my last post. My excuse this time around is my Christmas holidays included a break from both work and blog writing. So, I was fortunate enough to spend the holidays with my family in Canada, and what a wonderful time it was. However, I’ve been back in Nicaragua for a couple of days now, and I’ve got to say that the heat of Managua is a welcome change from the deep freeze of Regina. While in Regina, the majority of my time was spent eating, talking, reading and trying my best to stay warm through a combination of warm clothing and heavy blankets. That said, even the cold of Regina wasn’t strong enough to even slightly dampen the holiday cheer that accompanies friends and family during that time of year. Some highlights include:
1)My Father’s cooking which included perogies and my grandma’s amazing cabbage roll (without a doubt the best in the world).
2)My mom’s consistent pampering of me the entire time I was home. I’m seriously considering leaving home for the sole purpose of coming home for holidays based on the treatment I received the previous 12 days.
3)Walking in the door to my cat and wondering how it’s possible that he’s gained MORE weight. I’m calling Guiness, we must have a record on our hands.
4)The relief of landing in Regina after a stressful day of flying which included making both of my connecting flights by the slimmest of margins (my luggage wasn’t as fortunate, arriving the next evening). Yes, that was me sprinting to my gate in the Houston airport, belt in one hand, the other keeping my pants from falling. You’ve got to love tight security and even tighter connecting times.
5) Seeing my wonderful family and outstanding friends.

I never thought that 12 days could fly by so quickly until I woke up one morning at it was Wednesday the 3rd of January. Woke up around 4am to make my 6:30 flight out of Regina and did my best to mentally prepare myself for the long, 16 hour day of airports and airplanes that lied ahead. It’s such a bizarre sensation when you wake up one morning in a dry, arctic like climate only to go to bed that night in a climate where the temperature rarely, if ever drops below 20 degrees. Time and space seem out of whack and my body usually needs a few days to adjust.

Well, it’s back to the grind tomorrow. I’m looking forward to seeing what’s in store for the New Year. I’m hopeful that my plate will be as full for the next three months as it was for the previous 4. As things as shaping up it looks like my plate will overflowing with work, taking Spanish classes and teaching English ones. In addition, I’ve made it my resolution to see more of Nicaragua, especially the North as I’ve heard so many wonderful things.

All the best in the year to come!

P.S. I can hear Mariachis outside my house. I’m totally going to check out the party!

San Juan del Sur

San Juan del Sur!!!!

Work has picked up quite a bit lately due to the approaching holiday season and upcoming funding proposal deadlines. Specifically, the past two weeks have been filled with assisting Veronica complete various requirements for funds that MiCredito is applying for. It has been quite some time since I’ve had the pleasure of pouring over financial statements and, needless to say, it took a while before I got back in the groove. Thanks should be given to my co-worker, Miguel, who helped tremendously throughout the process.

Moving from work to pleasure, I spent last weekend in beautiful San Juan del Sur in the most incredible hotel you can imagine, called Pelican Eyes. Such a hotel would normally be wayyyyyyyy out of my income bracket, but in the country where everything is cheap, 5 star hotels are affordable even to interns. We had our own cabin which was perched on top of a mountain, overlooking the bay of San Juan del Sur. The hotel included three amazing pools, also overlooking the bay, from which you can catch the most amazing sunsets imaginable. Before moving on with my description of San Juan del Sur I feel it’s necessary to describe what it’s like driving on Nicaraguan highways. Based on the recommendation of many, we rented a small SUV since we were told that ‘the highway from Rivas to San Juan is not fit for cars’. Thank god we adhered to the advice as it was like driving on the moon. This along with the fact that driving in Nicaragua is similar to battle made for an interesting driving experience. I know feel as though I’m fit to drive in any country in almost any situation. Getting back to our time in San Juan, we spent the first day on the main beach, eating drinking and most importantly, relaxing. Our second day started with a wonderful breakfast that included none other than, eggs benedict – my favorite. Satisfied, we began to ask around about some of the beautiful secluded beaches we’ve heard so much about. I should point out here that it’s amazing how accurately Nicaraguans are able to draw maps and give direction from memory. We settled on Playa Marsella (see photo) which is located about 45 minutes from San Juan del Sur. Following the day of sun and ocean, we raced back to the hotel in order to catch one more sunset, we weren’t disappointed.

I believe I’ve mentioned the popularity of Raggaeton in Nicaragua. If I haven’t let me just say that it rules the airwaves. Short on content most of the time, it’s never short on fun. Anyhow, a group of went to the first night of the Raggaeton Festival here in Managua. Being the first night, the big artists hadn’t shown up, but it was still a blast. Photos will soon follow.

Happy Holidays!

Highlights

Today marks exactly 3 months in Nicaragua. It also marks the expiration of my visa. – I should probably take care of that. Whoa, it’s truly incomprehensible how fast time has passed and all credit goes to a wonderful posting, a fantastic country and amazing people around me at all times. That said, I’m going to quickly rattle off a short highlight list of the first 3 months in Nicaragua:
5) Caballo Vayo (spelling?) This Nicaraguan dish consists of tender, marinated pieces of pork, chicken and beef; tortillas and various condiments are provided. The real fun begins by testing out different combinations of meat and condiments.
4) Laguna de Apoyo (See Photo): Ever watched ‘The Blue Lagoon’? Well, if you have or haven’t trapped inside a volcanic crater, on the outskirts of Masaya lies a carbon copy with incredibly warm, clear, blue water.
3) My upcoming weekend getaways to San Juan del Sur and The Corn Islands. Google them. Enough said.
2) The People: The warmth and friendliness offered by Nicaraguans is something I’ve never found in all my travels. Always willing to lend a hand, get you on your way and constantly looking out for you safety, the people of Nicaragua are second to none.
1) Managua: When I told people that I got an internship in Managua, the reactions I received ranged from ‘Managua? Why?’ to ‘The only reason I spent time in Managua was to make my way to Grenada’. However, I’ve learned to love this city, the people and the country. The city is incredibly green, the people are incredibly warm and the culture is something to be seen.
Congrats to Shannon who was able to pull off the final semester of her MA while working….in a foreign country!!!!!! I have no idea how she did it. I’m proud of you Shannon!!!!!