Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Today was a pretty slow day in my opinion. I didn’t sleep well last night due to my heartburn, so I was moving pretty slow this morning. However, I was feeling better by this morning. I spent the morning revising my plan of work to make it more specific and adding more detail, but I am still unsure what type of document is wanted from me. I discussed it with one of the coordinators here, Dennis, since Alvaro did not come in until late. He liked my plan of work and was unsure of what else to include also. It is basically an outline of the tasks and goals I want to accomplish this summer.

Alvaro returned around 11:30 and said that we would be going to La Trinidad for lunch at Milton’s. At 12:15 he was ready to go, so we hopped on the motorcycle. I was a bit scared at first because I have not really even ridden a motorcycle in the US let alone in a country where the driving is dangerous, but Alvaro is a great driver. We both had helmets, and I felt safe the entire time. It was great in fact!

At Milton’s, we had guapote. It was really good.  It was a “mild” fish; it wasn’t too fishy. Milton’s sister made a ketchup sauce with garlic, onion, and tomato for it. It was perfect. We also had rice, tomatoes, cucumbers, and banana fritters. I was stuffed by the end of lunch. We hung around for over an hour after lunch and chatted. It was really nice.

Then, Alvaro and I headed back to San Isidro. We stopped at a grocery store around the block from the office, so I could buy some bread for breakfast, some cooking oil, and something to cook for supper. I want to start cooking for myself more since there are so many fresh fruits and vegetables available. Tomorrow I am going to make tilapia for everyone for lunch using one of the improved ovens that EOS installs. I am actually installing one in the morning and then cooking with Alvaro’s. I’ve never used an improved barrel oven (more info tomorrow) so wish me luck!

Since I didn' t have too much to talk about tonight, I thought I would share a map of Nicaragua for those of you who do not know where it is or what it looks like. I was hoping for a better one but this one will do.

I currently live in Esteli, which is in the department of Matagalpa. Esteli is located in the very northwest part of the department near the border of the department of Esteli. La Trinidad is located within the department of Esteli near the border also and Esteli is in the department of Esteli. The lake where we went fishing this past weekend is actually the lake that can be seen in the southern part of the department of Jinotega. The Spanish school that I went to is in the northern part of the department of Leon.