July 23: Oven Testing

On Monday, Greg and I travelled out to Sabana Larga to complete the first of two parts of a test to determine the efficiency of a traditional oven and the improved oven that EOS promotes and installs. We tested a traditional oven first.

Since traditional ovens are so large, typically a lot of baked goods are cooked in mass to take advantage of its size and the amount of wood it takes to heat one up. Therefore, we decided to make 20lbs of baked goods. However, we soon learned that the 20lbs is based on 20lbs of flour. In the end, there was nearly 100lbs of ingredients that went into them. It took over 3hrs just to prepare everything for baking. We made different types of roskia, which are typical cookies here.

Then, it took 2.75 hours to heat up the oven and 180lbs of wood! All the wood is placed inside the oven and lit on fire. It is allowed to burn down to coals. Then, the coals are swept out of the oven because this is the same place where the baked goods cook. It is incredibly hot work and a little dangerous. The broom, which was made of green tree leaves, burned. Two were needed to clean out the oven. Then, the oven needs to cool down a little bit because it is actually too hot to use. People throw in leaves and if the leaves combust and burn, the oven is too hot and will burn the food.

After all this, the cookies can then be cooked. It must be done in a certain order because a batch process is used. The oven will be hot for around an hour and the decreasing amount of heat must be utilized. There were a lot of damaged goods. Some were burnt while others were accidentally smashed with the long pole used to remove things from the oven.

There were a lot of baked goods at the end of the end of the test, we were given a massive quantity. As a joke when we got on the bus, Greg started to yell “Cosas de horno”, which means “things of the oven” and indicates they are for sale. We ended up selling almost 100 Cordobas worth of goods. The money handler was buying for everyone. Apparently, our prices were about 1 cordoba cheaper than normal. We still had plenty left to give away to everyone in the office and eat on it for days. Then, to top it all off, people were coming by the office to buy baked goods also.

The roskia we prepared

Approximately 180lbs of wood

My host dad, Don Polo, stoking the coals in the oven.

Goods ready to be baked

Selling on the bus

July 22: Political Rally

On Sunday, Denis invited Greg, Chris and I to lunch in a community located on a mountain above La Trinidad with the mayor of La Trinidad. We left around 9 in the morning and picked up all the ingredients for chicken soup around the city of La Trinidad before making our way up the mountain in the truck. The mayor’s chauffer drove the truck for us, but the mayor himself was going to meet everyone later.

We fit around 15 people in the truck. I sat in the bed with a lot of other people. It was definitely an interesting ride up because the road was so steep I had to grasp the railing of the truck in order to stop myself from sliding into the kid next to me. Chris and another lady were able to stand up, and I quickly decided this would have been the better option because my arms were getting tired after 45 minutes. The view was great along the way and the top of the mountain was definitely cooler than down below.

Soon after we arrived, a lot of people from the community did also. What we thought would be a private meeting with the mayor quickly grew and soon there was a crowd. The mayor was running late however. I was wearing my new cowboy boots in the hopes of breaking them in a little bit and people were noticing since women typically do not wear them here. Soon the men were making jokes about it. I was eventually asked if I would like to ride a horse (another joke), but since I am an Iowa girl who has ridden before I accepted the offer.

I was put on a little work horse first and led around. I got the horse into a trot and made the guy leading me run, which was enjoyable for me. However, the horses are trained a little differently here. I am not sure what exactly happened, but the horse spooked and started to buck. I held my ground and eventually just grabbed around its neck to hold on. When I did this, it immediately calmed down though. Then, I was given the honor of riding the “real” horse since I was taken seriously.

After the mayor arrived, we all ate some really good chicken soup with a lot of vegetables. The cooks had prepared two cauldrons full of it so everyone was able to enjoy it. Then, since it is election season, the mayor gave a speech about his ambitions for next term and answered questions. I essentially attended a political rally in Nicaragua.

The road and a view of La Trinidad

On the "real" horse

July 21: Matagalpa

Saturday I got up relatively early and travelled to Matagalpa. It is the capital city of the department of Matagalpa where San Isidro is located. The bus ride was only about an hour, which was good because it was packed. Matagalpa is known for its coffee production because it is significantly cooler than other parts of the country because it is located higher in the mountains. The city itself is very mountainous.

My original intention was to do a coffee tour and then explore the city. I wanted to return to San Isidro on the same day rather than springing for a hotel room. Upon arriving in Matagalpa, I grabbed a taxi to go to the other bus station in order to head to a nearby village known for coffee tourism. It was only about 15minutes away, which was good because everything was closed for some reason. Therefore, I did not do a coffee tour.

Instead I headed back to Matagalpa and explored for the day. There are three large Catholic cathedrals located throughout the city. There are also some very beautiful parks. I also visited some shops and bought a few things. One shop made black ceramic. The owner explained the process to me and even let me watch as she made some pieces. It was really cool. Black ceramic is only made in a few places throughout Central and South America. It is an indigenous practice that turns the clay black through the firing process. I also bought some untoasted coffee from a street vendor who talked to me at length about the toasting process. Now I am going to attempt to toast it myself.

Main Cathedral in Matagalpa

Mountains around Matalgala

July 18-20: Pizza Party

Wednesday

I spent the day in Estelí on Wednesday in order to get some shopping done. I had to buy a lot of groceries for the pizza and cookies I would be making on Friday, and I also wanted to get some cowboy boots made since Estelí is a huge leather city. However, since Thursday was a holiday, most of the boot makers were already off work preparing to travel to Managua. There was no one to measure my foot and help be with the design and such. Just when I resigned myself to not being able to buy boots, I came across a little tiny leather shop that had a really beautiful pair of boots on display. It turned out they were a handmade pair in my size. It was as if it was meant to be. They fit as if they were made for me. Plus they only cost $35, which is unheard of for HANDMADE leather boots. I made off like a bandit.

New boots

Then, I went to the grocery store to get the ingredients I needed for pizza and cookies, which is a lot easier said than done. Stores are not organized the same way as in the US, and items are obviously not called the same thing. I ended up leaving without a lot of items on my list because the store either didn’t have it or I couldn’t find it. It was very frustrating.

Thursday

Thursday was a political holiday in Nicaragua. July 19^th marks the end of the revolution in 1979, but Nicaragua’s actual Independence day isn’t celebrated until September. Thursday is a day when a lot of people head to Managua to participate in a huge political rally. Since there is so much traffic to Managua, the country is essentially shut down and no buses run during the actual day. President Daniel Ortega spoke also. I was also told that if you hold a job funded by the government, no matter what your political beliefs, you are expected to go to Managua. The rally is mainly for the Sandinista party, which is who won the war and is currently in power. I want to stray away from voicing my opinions on the government here, but I encourage everyone to look up the basic history about Nicaragua. The US has had a lot of involvement in the government here as well.

Since no buses were running, only the employees who wanted to and could get to the office by bike or taxi came. It was more or less a day off. Alvaro took Greg and I to my host family’s home in Sabana Larga, so we could talk to them about doing a cooking test with their ovens. We spent several hours there and were even fed lunch.

Me with my host family in Sabana Larga

Greg drove the truck home since there was barely any traffic, so he could learn to drive a stick. He only stalled it once, which makes me pretty jealous since I am still struggling with learning. The dirt road we drove on was perfect for shifting practice. Then, Alvaro took us up a mountain near San Isidro, so we could have a great view of the whole city. It was pretty cool.

San Isidro

Thursday was also the beginning of the religious “holiday” known as the “Day of the Children”, so I went with Greg to mass at Alvaro’s chapel outside of town. It was really cool. The priest was very animated, nice, and easy to understand. I really enjoyed myself. Then Thursday night I spent about 3 hours making homemade pizza sauce out of approximately 6 pounds of fresh tomatoes, fresh basil, garlic, oregano, and onion. It tasted spectacular!

Friday

Mili, Alvaro’s and Ubania’s three year old daughter, got baptized on Friday in a church in Managua. We were all invited to go, so I had to be up at 3:30 in the morning in order to be there by the start of the 7:30am mass. The service was very simple but interesting.

Mili's Godparents, the priest with Mili, Alvaro and Ubania after the baptism

After the baptism, Mili’s godparents took everyone out for breakfast at a place called GHOP, which is George’s International House of Pancakes. I of course got pancakes with eggs, sausage, and ham. It was really great, especially since it was real sausage and not just cut up hot dogs.

Then, I went back to San Isidro with Ubania and the kids on a bus, so I could make the pizza dough and cookies. I made the dough first, so it could rise for a few hours. I made a chocolate chip cookie dough, but used M&M’s for the candy instead of chocolate chips due to availability here. It was also hard because I could not find brown sugar, so I had to make it using molasses and ordinary sugar. I also didn’t have a mixer, so everything was done with my hands, which was interesting. Finally, I didn’t have any measuring cups, so I was guesstimating. It turns out I didn’t do that awesome at it because too much baking powder was added. The cookies spread out too much. I managed to fix it though by adding more flour since the cookies were really sweet since I was using real sugar. I also let the oven cool down a little bit (I was using the wood fired barrel oven that was just installed in our back yard).

As for the pizza, I made two giant pizzas: one Hawaiian and one vegetable. They turned out great, especially since I used real mozzarella cheese. Normally pizza here does not have tomato sauce on it, and people just use ketchup. Then everyone hung around after work for a pizza party. They loved it and brought their families. We even had left overs.

July 16-17: Biodigester Project with Peace Corps

On Monday, we had our weekly planning meeting as usual, which was quite uneventful. Tuesday was a lot more interesting because I went with Walther, Alvaro, and Greg to arrange a large biodigestor project in the country outside of the city of Dario. The project is being organized by a Peace Corps volunteer, Frank. The project is going to fund 14 families to receive subsidized biodigestors. This way, they only pay $40 of the approximate $150 price.

The project is very interesting. This particular village is primarily involved in pig production instead of cow production. Everyone has a half a dozen pigs or more in their back yard. This also makes for some engineering challenges. Some people did not have a back yard big enough to hold the hole required for the biodigestor. In the case of one family, they need to remove a latrine in order to make room. However, it is a type of latrine that was gifted to nearly all the residents of this village. They are very nice looking, but no one really uses them since they still have space inside their old latrines. This is why giving stuff away for free doesn’t really work that well. In the case of another women, her entire yard is a large concrete pen to house her dozen pigs. There is nowhere to dig a hole. She was very upset about this, however, so we are working on a design for an above ground biodigestor supported by concrete walls.

It was a really long day of talking to families about the requirements for the project and the specifics about the hole that they needed to dig before EOS could install their biodigestor. It went quite well though. I had a great discussion with Walther about the differences in schooling between the two countries as well as some specifics about the design of the biodigestor and the stove that goes with it since he is the one who makes the stoves. We discussed a new design for the stoves in order to improve the efficiency, and it is going to be implemented in this project.

Alvaro talking to a group of beneficiaries about the hole requirements.

Future home of a biodigestor

Pig that will be providing manure for the biodigestor trying to keep cool.

July 14-15: Weekend in Masaya INSIDE a volcano

Saturday

Saturday I got up around 9 to find people working already. I had a really hard getting going since I had a little too much fun after the family dinner and was feeling a little sick to my stomach. Of course everyone in the office found it amusing, especially since women in Nicaragua do not drink. People also don’t drink socially here. It is only for the purpose of getting drunk, so only alcoholics drink essentially. The culture is very different here. However, our night was definitely a social event on our front porch.

Around 2:30, Greg, Chris, and I caught a bus to head south to go to Masaya for the weekend. The bus was packed when we got on it. It was a 2 hour ride. A man ended up offering me a seat about halfway to Masaya, but the other two guys had to stand the whole way. I guess it pays to be female sometimes.

When we arrived in Masaya, we went to the Artisenal market. It is a huge flea market near the bus station with nearly every homemade item known to man. It is renowned in Nicaragua. I bought a few things and practiced my bartering even. Then, we grabbed a taxi to head to our hostel, which was located inside the crater of an extinct volcano. The crater is now filled with water.

Our hostel was actually overbooked, but they honored our reservations. Therefore, I ended up with a private room instead of sleeping in the dormitory for the same price ($10 per night). It has its own oscillating fan! Our hostel was right on the lake front. It had a floating dock, so we decided to go swimming before it got dark. The water was crystal clear, really deep, and hot. It was awesome. We watched the sun go down over the crater from the floating dock and then swam back to get some dinner. The hostel was so relaxing that I went to bed at 9pm.

Floating dock in the crater



Our hostel

Sunday

Since everyone went to bed so early, we all got up really early to go kayaking on the lake, which was included in the price of our rooms. Greg and I shared a double and Chris had a single because the hostel didn’t have 3 singles. It was really difficult to get into the swing of paddling without hitting each other or going sideways. We kayaked for a good hour and felt that we had made it to the middle of the crater before deciding to head back.

After kayaking

We then had some breakfast and relaxed on the beach. We had plans to meet up with Salvador, an EOS technician, in Masaya later during the day. We left around 11 to head back to town. We grabbed lunch at a really delicious pizza place near the square where Salvador eventually met us. It turns out he was with his nephew on a school trip. Its intention was to raise money for his 6^th grade graduation. We walked back to the market downtown, which is geared more toward foreigners and is therefore more expensive than the “real” one from Saturday.

While we were waiting for the rest of the group to finish their shopping, we took a horse drawn carriage taxi around downtown for a mini tour. It was really great until we went to pay him. Before we got into the carriage, we had agreed upon 50Cordobas total, which equals 10Cordobas per person. However, at the end of the ride, the driver claimed it was 50Cordobas per person. This happens quite a bit, especially with foreigners. Salvador argued with him a little bit, but there wasn’t much we could do but pay it. Granted, it equals only about $2 USD, but in Nicaragua is quite a bit and it’s the principle of the matter.

Horse drawn carriage

After the market, we took a bus to a mirador near Masaya. It is basically a vantage point. It showed the Laguna de Apoyo, which is the lake and crater that our hostel was located on. It was great to actually see the whole thing and realize how large it is. Greg and I now think we did not make it to the middle of the lake in the kayak. We walked around took in everything. It was great. We then rode with the group back to San Isidro. It was a great, relaxing weekend.

View of crater and lake from the mirador

July 10-13: Nicaraguan Hospitality

I apologize for my laziness at updating my blog lately. I have been pretty busy, but I am going to try much harder to update it every few days. I only have a little time left and a lot left to do. I want to keep everyone updated.

Tuesday

Since Monday was so crazy with everyone being in Managua and running errands, the weekly planning meeting was pushed back to Tuesday. The whole team planned for the week in the morning and then was on their own for the afternoon. I ended up being pretty unproductive because I had to unpack from the weekend trip and repack to go back to the host family for the week. I hate bringing four days’ worth of dirty clothes back for my host mom to wash. Therefore, I strategically picked out the articles of clothing that would be the most difficult for me to wash (like jeans and shirts with stains) to take back. They are much more skilled at washing clothes by hand than I am. I have already decided that most of my clothes will not be making the journey back to the US due to my poor washing skills.

Wednesday

I finally completed my final biodigestor stove test after nearly 6 weeks! There were only three but with so many “learning experiences” (ie failures), it took MUCH longer than what I had expected. However, I am happy with the data that I have gotten out of the tests. I have only done the simple calculations, but I believe I have been successful. I had to make so many alterations to the standard testing procedure that my results will never be accepted into a scientific journal (such as using a lid on the pot), but the data is definitely good enough to be used for grants and promotion for EOS after more analysis has been run. This is the real goal of the team here, so I am incredibly happy to have success in the end!

Thursday

This was a day that ended up getting away from me. I got up in the morning and helped my host family make tortillas in the morning. It is actually very difficult. They mill the corn to make a flour and make a dough from it. Then, without ever measuring, manage tto pull out the exact amount of dough to make a perfectly sized tortilla. Then, they use their hands to form the round flat shape, which I found to be very difficult. I made three. The first was a disaster and my host mom totally re-did it for me. The second one was better but the amount of dough was not consistent across it, so she had to fix it so it would cook evenly. The third one was better but the edges had to be cleaned up. I chatted with a lot of the employees quite a bit about their families, Nicaragua, etc., so I didn’t actually get a lot accomplished. I learned a lot about a lot of different topics but have nothing tangible to show.

Friday

Friday was a pretty big day for me. I completed my final wood stove test in the morning. It went very smoothly with very little smoke like last time. I also walked away with no burns and having inhaled very little smoke. My host family said I did a much better job with handling the fire. It really takes experience. Even though I have been around camp fires and such and understand fire, it means nearly nothing. Wood stoves are very difficult to work with, and I have a lot of respect for all the women all around the world who have to work with one every day. I should also add that I never actually started the fire due since I wanted consistency in the results. I had to handle and weigh hot coals and burning wood at several points during the test. It creates a lot of excess smoke and makes it difficult to see and breath.

There was a death in my host family early in the week. In the Nicaraguan Catholic culture there is a ten day wake culminating in a celebration of life “party”. I was unable to determine exactly who in the family died. It was a distant relative, but they lived in Sabana Larga, where most of the town is related. The death put me in an awkward position. My family was participating in church services every day, and since there were a lot of people coming and going through the house every day in order to carry the cross and candles from my family’s home alter to the church in the morning and night. It is kind of like a parade where everyone sings while carrying everything. It is awkward because my family is not used to having a foreigner in their house, and I felt like a gawker.

Therefore, since I finished my testing and had already overstayed my intended 4 weeks by at least 2 weeks, I told my family I would be moving back to the office. What I did not was how upset my host mother became by this. She started to cry and didn’t want me leave. She told me that they would keep my room and bed, so that I could come back whenever I wanted to stay the night. Then, when I attempted to pay her (since she had cooked for me every day, provided me with my own room, and done my laundry), she downright refused. Only when I told her how important it was to me did she finally take it.

The whole thing was very emotional. I was also crying and second guessing my decision. I thought that they would be somewhat relieved to see me go since they were so busy, and even though I try, I am zero help. I had also well overstayed my intended 4 weeks there. It really made me realize how deep Nicaraguan hospitality goes. I was always given the most amount of food even though I told them there was no way I could finish it all. They also always gave me the best cuts of meat and fresh fruit drinks. Greg had a great analogy.

In the United States, if I showed up at someone’s house to get ready to go to a party, but didn’t have anything to wear; I would be given a shirt that my friend barely wears. However, in Nicaragua, I would be given their best shirt. They would want me to show up in their best shirt; probably the one that they were going to wear.

After a very tearful goodbye, with promises to visit before I leave, I grabbed a bus for San Isidro. All I did was enter data into my computer for the final water boiling test. Then, we threw together a “family dinner” of sorts. Denis (with a little help from me) made some pasta with sauce made from tomatoes, ketchup, and random spice with some boiled eggs stuffed with guacamole. We also had some cooked banana on the side. For $2 (it was the food we had laying around in the kitchen), the dinner fed the 8 people who were still in the office at around 7pm. It was really great.