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