Archive for the ‘’ Category
May 29, 2009
Howdy All,
Like the title so cleverly suggests, Nathan and I made a nice weekend trip to Honduras. Travling out-of-country wasn´t something that really occurred to me last summer, but since we are so close it was like why not?
So! First we went up to Ocotal - where we always use the internet – and then from there went to la frontera, or the border, which is called Las Manos. Nathan went over this part in pretty good detail in his blog, so the only thing I´ll say is that it was a hassle and somewhat confusing. I think the strangest part was simply that we were going into unfamiliar territory and just had no idea what to do.
From Las Manos we hopped on a direct bus to Tegucigalpa. Now, when I say ¨direct¨, I mean that the bus may stop for half-an-hour here or there somewhat on the way to it´s destination. This is pretty different from the ¨express¨ buses in Nicaragua, which are more or less actually express. On this route, I was planning to sleep (we had woken up quite early and traveled a good distance), but I was not able to because the scenery was so striking. It is a good deal different than Nicaragua. I can´t believe I´m saying this, but it actually reminded me of Switzerland (for those who don´t know, I did a cycling through the Alps trip several years ago). It was mountainous and green, but not exactly jungl-y. The south was a pine-tree region, whereas north of the capital city was a bit more lush.
Tegicugalpa. Definitely a large, central american city which encompasses everything that a central american city by definition encompasses. It was large, full of traffic, dirty and free-spirited. It was also a lot larger, cleaner and mour mountainous than Managua in Nicaragua though. I actually liked Tegucigalpa a good bit, it´s certainly very interesting. It is also more Americanized such that it had Pizza Hut, Burger King, Dunkin´ Donuts, and so on.
From there we took a bus to Comayagua, which is about 2 hours north of Tegucigalpa. Comayagua is an old Spanish Colonial town that used to be the capital of Honduras. The conservatives wanted Comayagua as the capital, while the liberals wanted Tegucigalpa, so they switched back and forth for a while. In the end they stuck with Teguc. However, Comayagua is gorgeous, and I was shocked that there were not more tourist. We couldn´t even find a hostel to stay in, so we stayed in a hotel (which was still relatively inexpensive, yet really nice. We had A/C!). We spent the days touring around, treating ourselves to some Honduran and American food, and then tried a few bars in the evenings. The atmosphere was definitely friendly and tropical, as all the bars were essentially open-aired.
There is a US military base close to Comayagua, so up to 500 US military personnel take to Comayagua in the weekends and evenings, so we crossed paths with a few. We also talked to a few other tourists in town, one of whom was biking down from Mexico to Panama. He expects to stop by the Solar Center in a few days time, so we shall see each other again! Small world.
Early Monday morning we made the trek back to Nicaragua. The bus ride from Comayagua was… fun. We had a driver who seemed like he had just taken 14 energy shots. He layed on the horn and yelled at passerbys at the top of his voice, in a genial way. It was like experiencing the game Crazy Taxi in real life.
On the way back we met yet another adventurer, Katherine from Canada. She had just graduated and was backpacking by herself. She was grateful she had us to get her through the complexity and strangeness of the border. The Solar Center is on a main road, so we get a lot of travelers there as well. David always gets emails from people asking if they can stay at his place. Just the other week we met a Swiss man who biked up from Buenos Aires, Argentian, South America. It took him two-and-a-half years to get here, and he casually explained that he was working his way up to Alaska, and ¨then I might go into Asia and down into Oceania.¨ Wow! My first thought is: where do you get the time and money to do this?? It was inspiring because I want to do bike trips, althought they probably would not be nearly that long haha.
This past week has been a successful work week at the Solar Center. I have achieved the temperatures I need for the autoclave on more than one occassion, which is great news. I am now testing the complete system, with water and pressure.
Wednesday was the mother´s day fiesta, which I remembered from last year as being a lot of fun. All the children prepared dances, skits and games to put on for their mothers in the solar center. Afterwards there was food and dancing, which was a lot of fun.
Now it is Friday and we are in Ocotal for a work fair. Basically, the Solar Center workers are here marketing their products, such as the panels and solar box cookers. Maybe next year we will be ready to market the solar autoclave here as well!
That being said, I am off to the fair. I have no idea what is going on this weekend, but I´m sure it will be something great. Until next time!
-Daniel
May 25, 2009
As last week was coming to the end the question became what we were going to do over the weekend. After some discussion and inquiring of locals we decided to head up to Honduras. The border of Honduras and Nicaragua is only about 1 hour and half away from where I am in Nicaragua. So although going to another country sounds like a journey the trip there was not bad at all. So, let´s talk about crossing borders. It is a very interesting process as you can imagine. At the border between Nicaragua and Honduras there was literally a rope across the road. Here lied the first obstacle for travelers. As we walked around the rope we were confronted by border control. They looked at our passports and then told use that it costs a dollar to cross the border. Next we continued to walk forward until we were called to an immigration hut (I would compare it to a ticket booth for a movie theater). We were waved to the first window and again told to present our passports. After a thorough inspection of our identification we had to pay a 40 Cordobas for a processing fee. Then we were directed to the next ¨ticket booth¨. This one as indicated by a sign was Honduran. Again at this booth our passports were inspected and information was taken. And yet again we were charged a fee. This time it was an entrance fee of 60 Limpiras (the currency of Honduras). All I can say is doing conversions of three different currencies can really take a toll on the brain. After this final fee we were allowed to walk about 20 feet until we were yet again called over to another booth. And the point of this booth…was to prevent the spread of the Swine Flu. We were asked our ages, departure city and destination. But by far my favorite question was ¨Tiene Gripe¨ or in English ¨do you have the flu¨. There was no temperature check or mouth swabs only this question. Hence this question alone was protecting the Hondurans from the Swine Flu.
That covers my border experience (pretty simple huh). Once in the country Dan and I headed to Comayagua. Comayagua is one of the largest cities in Honduras and has unique Spanish colonial architecture. The city was beautiful and had a great central park in front of a central church. While in the city for Saturday the 23rd and Sunday the 24th, we explored the streets. We found several cool restaurants and stores. My favorite part was going to a local museum. The museum went through the history of the city of Comayagua. It started with ancient civilization and ended with the current day. I learned that Comayagua has Spanish colonial architecture because of the Spanish inhabitance of the city some years prior. Overall the city was wonderful and I can’t believe that it doesn’t draw more tourists.
Monday, we head back to Nicaragua and did the whole border thing again (just backwards). One thing that was different though was that on the bus to the border Dan and I meet a girl traveler from Canada, Katherine. I would say that she was about 25 and she clearly looked like the free spirited adventurous type. She had been traveling Central America now for about 4 months by herself! The fact that people can do this amazes me. So far on my trip I have encounter 4 people (including Katherine) that have spent months and one years traveling Central America on their own. The fact that they are strong and adventurous enough to just leave everything back home and explore fascinates me. I am beginning to notice that they all have very similar personality types. All of them are outgoing and friendly. They all have a love for simplicity and for health. And most intriguing is that each one of them when asked what they are doing after Central America answer ¨Going home and saving for my next international trip¨. These are some really cool people I am getting to meet. Talking with them really sheds light on a different perspective of life and a different living philosophy.
And that puts me here typing on this computer in Nicaragua,
Nat-tan
May 20, 2009
It has only been a few days since I’ve blogged last, but a lot has happened work-wise. On Sunday Nathan and I went to Esteli for the day, which is a larger, more tourist-y town halfway between here and the capital of Managua, about 2 hours south. There we saw the really nice, Spanish chapel (we even observed a mass going on at that time!) and toured around the central park. There we bought bracelets, something I have been keeping my eye out for for awhile now. That afternoon we went to one of the nicer restaurants for something different (which still only ended up being about $7.80 in the end). The meal was excellent, though simple. We each tried some Nicaraguan beer and got toasted sandwiches, and it was one of the best sandwiches I had in a long time.
Monday I got right back into testing. However, the first real rainstorm of the season occurred over the night, and the rest of the day was very cloudy and overcast, on the verge of raining, through the day. While one test was performed, it was less than desirable. Instead, I spent the morning repairing the DaqPRO that has been broken for awhile. In the end I got most of the thermocouples working (which are used to measure temperatures in a very specific area), which is good news because I can then use them in future testing, whereas previously I had only been using one. With this I can gain more temperature readings, which will help me to see if the autoclave is reaching the temperatures we need.
I spent Monday afternoon talking with David Smith, the new Grupo Fenix Volunteer Coordinator (aka the new Amanda). He is in charge of keeping track of all the volunteers and making them aware of what needs to be done. I roped him into a meeting with Nathan to find out what it is that we could do in our down time, such as on overcast days where testing is useless or even during testing whereby I can leave the system running while I go do something else productive. In the end, after about 2 hours of discussion, the three of us came up with a working list of things that need to be done, and what it is that Nathan and I could each do. I even made a short list of ideas of what Erin and Maria could do when they come.
With this in mind, we went home that night to digest what we learned and to come up with a plan of attack for the next month. That evening I also beat my niece, Skarleth in Scottish Speed three times (a card game; a Scottish-version of Speed that we learned from Roberto last summer). Then she taught me a game that was like Rummy but that I did not understand, and she beat me three times. What goes around comes around, eh?
Tuesday I ran some tests on the autoclave, but it was proving difficult because the daq needed to be charged. This was unfortunate because it was a good, sunny day. However, this allowed me to share my plan of attack with Nathan, then get started. Actually, Tuesday was a productive day: I built/repaired fan blades for a windmill that had broken a few weeks ago. Apparently one of the blades flew off, and so we took it down and I rebuilt the fan portion. Repairing it was somewhat easy, but balancing it was very difficult and time-consuming. Balancing helps to prevent that the blades spin evenly, reducing vibration and thus reducing wear by bounds. In the end, I did this by using squares to situate a screwdriver in a vice straight up, then try to balance the fan-blade system on the tip of the screwdriver. Whenever necessary, I would make adjustments to the blades to redistribute weight. Several hours later, I attached the blades to the generator and windmill stand, then we stood it up. I watched with pride as it was generating electricity as soon as we put it up!
That was before lunch. After lunch I charged the daq a bit more (it could not be charged during lunch because they shut the solar generator off to preserve power), and so I got to work on the hut meant to be a snack stand by the road. The idea of this hut is to propel the Solar Restaurant forward and help get things moving (while it is being built and money being generated for it) by having a place to sell solar-cooked food by the road and a place for customers to sit. When we arrived they had a small structure built out of large sticks (built by Mitch, another volunteer who has been here for several months that we saw for the first week; he now works with Suni Solar in Managua). Now they just need a new driving force to keep that project going. Well, that driving force is me. So, I ordered the palms necessary to build the roof and I am going to buy rope here in Ocotal. Other than that, all that really needs to be done is prep the area (such as cut the grass) and get the people motivated to start cooking. I asked Nathan to go up to the cooks and seriously plan out the agenda for the restaurant, such as who is going to cook what and when, as well as to help work out pricing for the foods. I hope to have this built by the end of next week, and so two weeks from now they could be selling!
Today, Wednesday the 20th, has been an excellent day for testing. It has been sunny and nearly cloudless all day. I worked on the daq and autoclave first thing this morning, and then have since just let the test run. I have meanwhile been making technical notes left and right, as well as excitedly watching the results of testing. I have also organized and reviewed the data from the last few days of testing.
Today marks one week until Tim and Jim arrive, who will be working with Suni Solar in Managua. We are excited for their arrival and plan to either go see them in Managua or have them come up here for next weekend. Meanwhile, this weekend we thing we may go up to Honduras! Honduras is only about half an hour from where we are now, and it is so easy to get there. So, I would like to take this opportunity to include Honduras on my list of place to have traveled. We think we may stay in Tegucigalpa for a night, but we are debating whether we want to travel further up north to the nicer, prettier areas instead. Somewhere up north, near Guatemala, is a city that is an incredibly ancient Mayan city and it is supposed to be gorgeous. Traveling through Guatemala, I would also be on the lookout for any Salud del Sol potentials, but I don’t necessarily consider this a business trip.
The idea of going up to Honduras for two days also makes me want to go down to Costa Rica for a few days as well, which is in the other direction but also very close and easy to get to. It is funny, traveling out-of-country is something that didn’t really occur to me last summer, but I have already seen much of the in-country stuff, so I think changing it up this year is a great idea. Once again, this would help me expand my list of countries that I know.
Anyway, that brings you up to speed on what I have been doing! Things are going great and we are having a lot of fun of course. Nevertheless, we are very excited for when other volunteers will be coming; Mary is a volunteer from New York who has been here before and supposedly comes to Sabana Grande on the 1st of June. Having people come in always keeps things happening and makes the trip fun and interesting.
So, if you want to come visit, you should!
Oh, and to sum up the title of the blog, it has finally started raining. However, in the traditional tropical sense: it rains really, really hard, every day, but only for a few hours at a time, if that. Truly, I like it. It is refreshing and fun, so long as you are not caught in it and ruin your camera (ahem, Matteo).
-Daniel
May 20, 2009
Last Sunday, the 17th of May, Dan and I headed down to Esteli. Esteli is a larger city in Nicaragua that is a center of some tourism. The downtown area of the city is built around a beautiful Catholic church and a central park area. The Church’s traditional architecture included rounded towers and a white exterior. The interior of the church was filled with large columns and wonderfully crafted pews, chairs and tables. Radiating from the central park and church were a variety of shops and restaurant. Dan and I went to the local internet café and then proceeded to check out some local shops. I found a sweet bracelet that I ended up buying for 10 Cordobas which is equivalent to .50 cents. I knotted the bracelet on my wrist and thought that when I go home it will be a nice reminder of everything that I will experience here in Nicaragua. Dan and I ate at a very nice restaurant in Esteli and had sandwiches (which I have not tasted for a week, god it was good). After lunch it was time to head back to Sabana Grande. I loved Esteli and hope that later in my trip I will get to revisit the city.
Monday marked the start of one of my big business projects here in Nicaragua. (Side note: last week the volunteer coordinator and I submitted the grant application for an environmental restaurant in The Solar Center, so keep your fingers crossed that we get it!) Now, I am constructing a catalog for all the sustainable products and services that The Solar Center provides. The Solar Center is a spot for the innovation of renewable technology and vends renewable products to the public. The catalog is one step that they are taking to better market their business and raise local awareness of The Solar Center. I am planning to complete the catalog within two weeks because at the end of May there is a business fair in the city of Ocatol. The hope is that we will be able to distribute the catalog there.
So this entire week I have been working on the catalog. I am first writing it in English and we will later translate it to Spanish. This task is rather difficult because the solar center currently has no formal list of their products and services. I am doing a lot of investigating about what is actually provided and then I have to write up descriptions for the different products. The descriptions are tricky because many of the products utilize technologies that I do not fully understand. So currently I would say the status of the catalog is 1/3 completed. I hope that once completed that the catalog can be a great resource that the solar center can use and eventually update.
Nat-tan David
May 17, 2009
Testing is underway with the autoclave. There have been only intermittent periods of strong sun, but what else is new here? I have done only preliminary testing on the autoclave so far, meaning that I am only temperature testing at the moment. First I tested the autoclave just by using the thermocouple already installed by the team at UD and placing it into the modified solar box cooker. Then I painted the autoclave black and performed the same test again.
This week has been crazy, busy and a lot of fun. The ETHOS Breakout students have been enjoying their week in Sabana Grande, and most of their schedule has occupied me as well. As I shared last time, I went to Somoto Canyon and Ocotal with them, and this week I have attending a history class and several solar panel workshops with them. We also played a large soccer game after work on Monday with the locals, and Tuesday we played Ultimate Frisbee with them. Early Wednesday morning we woke up at 5am to hike up a mountain before breakfast because our schedule was so packed. I spent a good part of Wednesday aiding them in the installation of new solar panels and in two houses, taking them off the grid and hooking their lights up to the solar power. In the evenings we have been just talking together, listening to good tunes and playing cards. Thursday afternoon was their despedida, or good-bye fiesta, which was a lot of fun of course. They did a “cultural exchange”, where the Nicaraguans made them dance and be all awkward, and the Dayton students made them play a game and do a butts and guts exercise class and be all awkward. Unfortunately, the students left Friday morning, and so things are compartively lonely now, but this also means that I can finally get a breather!
Friday May 15th was my birthday!
I think that, despite how much I love to travel, this is the first time I have ever been in another country for my birthday. I’m not quite sure what is going to happen today, other than the fact that it is quince de Mayo, and so it is a big day in terms of celebrating some patron saints day. There are masses in the morning and fiestas in the evening. We´re just going to pretend that the fiesta is actually for me.
So now it is Nathan and I left until the other volunteers come. Today, Sunday, we are in Esteli, a town 2 hours south of us, just to sight-see for a day. Saturday I spent reading my books (I just finished a great English science fiction classic, Viriconium) studying Spanish and relaxing. Nathan and I also went for a very long walk, further down the path through Sabana Grande than I´ve ever gone before. I really liked the area that we saw; it was more lush, but it was also much more remote.
This week I plan to get a lot done with Autoclave testing. In my downtime, during testing, I will be repairing a wind generator that broke. It was a gift from a previous volunteer, and apparently it broke just a few days before we arrived. I will be keeping my eye out for other projects too, but I also hope to teach some basic testing and researching classes to the young´uns here.
I think that is a lot said in a few words, and now it is time for lunch! Nathan and I are going to check out some of the nice churches and scenic areas of Esteli afterwards, then probably head home. We are anxious for other volunteers to arrive, and I simply cannot wait to go back to Leon and Granada. Those were some gorgeous, fun places.
Hasta la proxima vez,
-Daniel
May 17, 2009
So here I am sitting in my mosquito net on my bed reflecting on what has transpired in the last couple of days. To be honest so much has happened that I don’t think I can remember it all. So let me start with Friday May 15th.
Friday was a sad day. I have not mentioned this before but a group of about 12 Dayton students were here for a two week summer breakout in Nicaragua. So for the first week I have been here, I have been hanging with them and participating in their group activities. Friday was the day that the group left Nicaragua to fly back home. I had made some great friends in the group and it was hard to see them go. It was especially difficult because once their bus pulled out I realized that I was now one of only two English speaking Americans in Sabana Grande. That day was basically a reality check for me. Not having the group form Dayton here makes my Spanish communication even more imperative. I have been practicing my Spanish a lot in the last couple of days and feel like I have improved some.
Later Friday, I went with Dan to Ocatol a nearby city. The city has the Internet, banks and tons of stores. I hit up the bank for some Cordobas and proceeded to the internet café. There I was finally able to communicate with you all and post the blog that I had written before. Next, we ate dinner at a nice little restaurant. We meet the volunteer coordinator, David, at the restaurant. David lives in Ocatol so we checked out his place (which I thought was very nice). After that we hopped on a crowded bus and headed back to Sabana Grande.
But wait the day is not done yet. The Catholic Church was having a fiesta that night for the day of the town’s patron saint and we were invited. Dan, David, and I attended the fiesta and let me tell you ‘it was banging’. The party was tons of fun and all the teens from the community were there. I loved the espanol musica that they played. My favorite is called regatone. I would most closely compare it to US hip/hop. So to say the least it was a blast. It is interesting here no one dances along or in groups. Everyone dances with a partner and they usual hold hands while doing what I would call a salsa step. (Side note: I just killed a bug on my computer screen, sick).
On Saturday, I began my day by sleeping in late (I really needed some sleep after my long week). I really didn’t do anything that exciting till that night. I went to church with my host mom. So you may think church sounds boring well let me tell you something church is incredible interesting when you go to a Nicaraguan Evangelical Mass. The first interesting thing is that men sit on one side of the church and women on the other. The music they played I really liked and the whole congregation really got into the it. The church was full of energy and people were yelling “Amen”, “Alleluia”, and “Gloria Dios”. To say the least the whole experience was very interesting.
So that catches you up to my present. Which is me sitting in bed killing bugs on my computer screen. Thank you all for taking the time to hear about what I am doing. I hope that you find my experiences interesting.
Nat-tan David
May 15, 2009
I made it. I am in Nicaragua. On Friday morning at about 11:30am, I arrived at the airport in Managua. From the airport Dan (another student volunteer form the University of Dayton) and I took a taxi to Grupo Fenix. This is the organization that we will be working for over the summer. To be honest the entire ride from the airport to Grupo Fenix my stomach was in knots. Now I am in the minority. I could barely understand the taxi driver and felt like I had very little control over what was happening. I have taken communication in the United States for granted. In Nicaragua conveying even the simplest things can be a struggle. The other reason that my stomach was in knots was the fact that I could not believe the condition of Managua. The city is packed full of people. Houses are small and don’t look to be very sturdy. As we drove down the streets of Managua we nearly hit numerous people who were vending food and water in the middle of busy roads. In addition, the air was thick with smoke and pollution. In one word I would describe my initial experience as overwhelming.
After spending a little time at Grupo Fenix, we continued our trip to Sabana Grande. We took a bus and arrived in Sabana Grande, a small rural village, 4 hours later. Once in the village it was time to venture to my host family’s house. My family lives up on a beautiful mountain. Their small house is surrounded by a variety of fruit trees and plants. I love the house. Now let me talk about my host family members. For starters they don’t know any English. Yes that is right none. But no worries they are the sweets people on the earth. They are very understanding of my broken Spanish and my attempted sign language. There are 5 children, I think 6 adults, 2 dogs and several chickens at the house. My mom’s name is Heilda. She is a great cook and very concerned about my wellbeing. Yesterday after I ate cream with dinner I was not allowed to take a shower (bucket shower) because she didn’t want me to get a stomachache???? I have no idea why but she is looking out for my health. Later I will go more in depth about the other members of the family. They all are amazing though. I know I will learn a lot from all of them.
So I just got a briefing from the volunteer coordinator, David, about what I will be doing this summer. The first thing that I will be working on is writing a grant (in English thank god) for renewable energy use and innovation. I am writing the grant about the Mujeras Solares’s idea to create a green restaurant. The green restaurant will use solar cookers to cook food and utilize wind and solar energy. After the grant I will be working on making a brochure for the Mujeras Solares’ products (including various solar cookers and various solar panels). Then I will be working on costing one of the products and trying to come up with more efficient ways to produce it. So that is what I know I will be doing so far. I think it should keep me busy for quite a while.
I have one final thing. I played futbol yesterday (soccer for you North Americans). I can’t say that my skills even compare to the Nicaraguans. Even the kids are very good. So the exciting end to this story is that I fell and scrapped up my knee. You see the fields here are not like soccer fields in America. The ground was pure rocks and dirt. So I got scrapped pretty good but no worries my host family took care of me.
It has been only a few days and I already have experienced so much. I can’t even imagine how much I will learn and just how I will grow this summer. I hope everything in well en los Estados Unidos!
Nathan David
Pronunciation in Nicaragua (Nat-tan)
May 11, 2009
Hi All!
So, like the title so suggestively and cleverly implies, I am alive and well in Nicaragua! I write this from internet cafe called Xiam Internet in the town of Ocotal, 20 minutes north of Sabana Grande, the village where we are working and residing. It is now about 85 degrees out and sunny and has been ever since we got here, and the shops are kicking with locals and visitors.
The past few days have been no less than a whirlwind of adventure. Nathan and I arrived at the international airport in Managua Friday morning at about 11:15am Managua time (two hours behind New York), and, unlike last year, there was no one there to meet us. There are two new volunteer coordinators, Bruno from France and David from Canada who both live here in Nicaragua, and they were busy with the other University of Dayton ETHOS breakout students already here. So, they forgot about us. But, it´s like I tell everyone who comes to Nicaragua, you HAVE to be mentally prepared for this sort of thing. Nathan and I waited around for a bit, then decided to exchange some money at the airport (which takes an unnecessarily long amount of time) and then buy a cell phone with which to call Susan, the person in charge of… everything. Susan grew up in Cincinnati and has lived here in Nicaragua for the past 13 or so years (I cannot remember), and she started Grupo Fenix who UD works with. Anyway, by the time I got currency – Cordobas – the phone shop had closed. Ugh! Nathan bravely asked someone else to use their phone, and she was generous to let us use it to call Susan. After talking with her, we found that there was no place for us to stay in Managua as planned, so we decided to go straight to Sabana Grande. After visiting the Grupo Fenix office for a bit (and seeing some familiar faces =]), we left for SG at 3:30 and got there after dark, around 7. It would have been much later if I hadn´t seen our stop zoom by on the bus and yelled for the driver to stop… they said they knew where Centro Solar and Sabana Grande was, but I didn´t think they really did. Nathan and I backtracked with all of our stuff, and finally pulled in around dinner time.
Saturday morning was wonderful because I saw so many people that I knew and who were excited to see me. All of the locals knew that I was coming, and were eager to stop by and say hi. On top of that, the Breakout students were at the Solar Center, many of whom that I knew from UD. Now I am their expert on everything local as well as their translator. We spent the day building solar box cookers, and I even gave a demonstration of the solar autoclave. Students from the National Engineering University in Managua came up for the day, and we talked all things autoclave for some time, which was a great intercultural engineering exchange. We spent the day milling about, discussing life in SG, building box cookers, throwing frisbee and playing hackey sack. That night I had all of the volunteers who wanted to come over at my place to play Uno and listen to good tunes. We had a great time and ended up playing card games for several hours.
Sunday we did something I had never done before: we went to Somoto Canyon. This is a large and gorgeous natural park area, a canyon with very clean water running through it. The tourist-y thing to do is go to the canyon and swim upstream, traversing the rocks and occasional waterfalls of course, and then float back downstream. At our turning point, way upstream, is the diving spot where we can climb up the cliffs and jump into the river from various heights. This was where we spent most of our time and was great fun. After tiring from diving, I found a good spot in a small waterfall to sit and let the water massage. I did NOT want to move for a long time. Eventually, however, we swam/floated back and dried off. This was also the day of Mike Vehar´s birthday, the grad student in charge of the Breakout students, so we all celebrated by hanging out together for awhile when we arrived home.
Now it is Monday. I brought the Breakout students to Ocotal so they could explore for a few hours. They have already left for SG, and I need to get going to get lunch. Afterwards, I will begin setting the autoclave up to start testing. Unfortunately I do not have any pictures to upload this time, but I hope to soon! I hope to have more time to write more detail in the near future, but for now, nos vemos!
-Daniel
May 6, 2009
Nathan David
Hello everyone,
Let me start by introducing myself. My name is Nathan David and I am part of the Salud Del Sol field team this summer. I am a student at the University of Dayton and I am majoring in Entrepreneurship and Marketing. So you may be thinking; if I am a business major then why am I participating in a technical immersion? Salud Del Sol and the ETHOS program recruited in the business school this year. Their goal was to bring an alternative perspective on the solar autoclave project and develop additional business strategies for Salud Del Sol. I am extremely excited to have the opportunity to work with Salud Del Sol and travel to Nicaragua.
Currently I am getting ready for my departure. I leave for Nicaragua in 3 days. I can hardly believe that I am leaving so soon. For the past semester I have been preparing for my role in Nicaragua. I have been taking a Spanish class, studying Nicaragua’s economy, researching cultural difference, learning about solar energy and preparing business strategies. Now all that is left to do is pack my bags.
I look forward to sharing my experience with you. I will share my triumphs and tell you of my struggles. I believe that I have an exciting two months ahead of me. I can’t wait to start my experience and grow as a person.
Hasta Luego,
Nathan David
Salud Del Sol
Summer 09 Field Team Member