Coco Loco

Coco Loco to me is a little piece of heaven.  I spent last weekend, which is also my second weekend at this lovely little place, lounging and taking in the deserted beaches on Nicaragua's Northwestern pacific shores.  Not 45 minutes in a taxi from my city brings you to a paradise that will be my home away from home over the next two years.  Canadian owners Ben, Jamie, and Lindsay have become really important in my Peace Corps experience here.  Coco Loco is a surf eco-lodge with a handful of cabanas close to the beach and a real community feel.  They employ local Nicaraguans from the tiny community and also have their nonprofit arm Waves of Hope that draws volunteers mainly form the U.S. to come spend 3 or more months working in the community.  Waves of Hope teaches english to the village's youth and adults, hosts soccer leagues and organizes surf camps for those kids who are neglected and abused at home, and helps with community gardens for the locals and teaches environmental sustainability.

The for profit arm is Coco Loco where people come from all over to indulge in some of Nicaragua's best surfing and practice yoga on their huge pavilion over looking the ocean.  To reward us Peace Corps Volunteers these beautiful people have let us come and stay at their all inclusive resort for less than half the price a normal customer would pay.  They stuff us with good food and make us feel right at home.  This past weekend they gifted me a basil plant because I said I was having a hard time finding it in the market.  They realize that like them we are giving our lives over these next 2 years to selflessly help our communities and there fore they reward us with a place for some R&R at an affordable price.

It is here at Coco Loco I had my first chance to surf in Nica and it will definitley be a huge part of my life going forward.  I can't help but feel completely tranquilo when I'm surrounded by the people that make this place happen.  I love that the dogs and cats can run around freely. At night the lightning bugs come out and the lighting display over the ocean is breathtaking.  If any of you come visit me, Coco Loco is a must!

http://www.elcocolocoresort.com/

It's not uncommon to run in to Erlin right around dusk as he drives is cattle along the beach back to their pens for the night.  He always comes back to let us ride his horse along the beach and chat as the sun sets.

These beaches are literally untouched accept for the few Nicarguans that have raised their families on that beach for ages.

The view from the restaurant where we chill and eat food cooked form their garden.

Our cabana

Newest member of the Coco Loco family, ocita!

Doesn't this picture just make you want to buy a ticket to Nica right now?  Do it! I'll be waiting!

My Chinandega

I have finally found the time to take photos of my new house so you can all see where I reside here in Chinandega.  Yes, my house is purple, I hate purple, but in this case I think I can deal since the family is so incredibly awesome.

 The living room is the first room you walk in to from the front door.  Sofas are a rarity in Nica.  Most people have plastic or wooden chairs so I am feeling very lucky.  Last night I curled up in a sofa chair to drink liters of beer and watch a movie with my 24 year old host brother Jose and his friends.  The next photo is of Ralph, our six month old puppy.  He likes to steal the family's underwear/ intimates and drag them all over the house.  Last night he came running in to the living room with my bra in his mouth while all the guys just starred uncomfortably until my host brother asked if it was mine, oh Ralph.

 I absolutely love this kitchen!  My host sister Sandra and I both love to cook so we spend most of our quality time here.  Please note that there is a microwave and a wine rack, two things that signify a well equipped kitchen here in Nica.  We also have an oven, which I de-flowered after several years of no use, by cooking the family brownies.  They were a big hit!

This is the hallway that leads from the living room and kitchen to all the other bedrooms.  That light you see pouring in through the arches is straight from the good ole outdoors.  A lot of houses here are open air since it never really gets cold.  Along the right had side their are flower beds where I have my basil planted.  Sargo and Ralph are also featured.  My room is at the end of the hall where it the house breaks out in to an open air patio where we dry our clothes and I get a breeze!

That's my yogi toes matt drying behind the jeans!

My room is a mess right now, but you can see that one wall is all dark wood shelving and closet space, which is unheard of here!  I'm standing in one corner of my room which leads around a wall to my own bathroom.

I live just four blocks from the central park and Santa Ana Iglesia.  I swear I'll take pics of the inside next time.

The central park is littered with jungle gyms and brightly colored stands that sell food.  You can barely see San Cristobal Volcanoe in the distance due to the fog that sets in after the rain.

This is one of the three open air markets where I get a majority of my fruits and veggies!

Hopefully all these visuals give you a better context of what I'm writing about in my blog.  This last week was definitley more play than work as Nicaragua celebrated their independance also known as Fiestas Patrias.  Basically all my classes were cancelled for the entire we in honor of the parade that takes places featuring all the high schools in the city.  The students were too busy practicing their marching and musical instruments to learn a single thing.  As frustrated as I got with the lack of progress on our business plans, I had a great time marching and representing one of my schools in the parade.  I marched with Filemon Rivera, which is a small semi-private high school.  The Director who I am close with made me a traditional Nicaraguan shirt to wear and match the rest of the teachers.(See below).  Does the yellow church look familiar?

 Here we are marching through the central park next to the yellow church of Santa Ana.  Ahead of me are my students who are dancing a traditional Nicaraguan folklore dance in traditional dress.

Here I am with my counterpart Silvia who is actually a doll despite that look on her face.  We work closely and Monday's are our days to eat out together.  She is one of my favorite people here.  She is working towards a bachelor's degree right now on the weekends while teaching and raising two beautiful children solo.  After we marched through the hot sun for about 3 hours the director treated all of us to a grand lunch of Albondigas soup.  Albondigas translated to meatballs, but its tradition here to make a soup with meatballs made of maza and chicken while an array of veggies accompany the mmeatballs in a rich broth.  Needless to say this is one of my fav Nica meals!

Due to the lack of classes and businesses being closed I took the opportunity to take a mini vaca to the beach with several volunteers to Coco Loco and see some of my best girlfriends from my months of training in Masaya, but that's the next post.  The night of the parade is also a popular night to go out so my host brother and his friends invited myself and my site mate Lindsey to a night out of dancing and rum.  We had a great time and found ourselves at an On the Run at 3 am eating Ramen Noodles, go figure but they are a huge hit here!

All in all not too much more to report on accept that life is good, really good.  Everything has gotten 100 times better since I moved in with my new family who obsesses over my funny quirks and teaches me knew things everyday.  Just yesterday my host brother almost had a heart attack when he saw me walking around the house barefoot, heaven forbid!  Nicas just don't walk around barefoot, even in their own house, I don't have an answer so please don't ask.

Not too much else to report on accept that there is a lot of rain, everyday after hours of blazing sun, around 4 en la tarde the storm rolls in.  Please note that I have changed my Acuweather gadget on the right hand side of my blog to reflect the weather here in Chinandega.  Please also note the temperature listed under "real feel" which takes in to account how one actually feels with the ridiculously high percentage of humidity in the air.  So when it says its 85 degrees F in Chinandega with a "real feel" of 109 F you can start to feel bad for me and then send me a care package, just kidding, but not really.  Some of my shoes have started to mold and even my pillow is affected by the massive amounts of humidity in the air.  Oh the random challenges that pop up from living in a new environment, gotta love it!  I thought it was hilarious tonight watching my host bro and sis fight over the amount of bleach I should use while washing the mildew out of my pillow.  It was quite the debate and a spectacle to watch three 20 somethings try and wash a down pillow.  Later on my sis asked me if I was bored here in Nicaragua compared to the states, how could I be?!

Creativity Showcase

I wanted to dedicate a post to the local artists of Chinandega and Leon who are featured here.  I was so impressed with the talent that was present at the art show last week that I felt compelled to share more.  This display of creativity opened my eyes to the fact that even though I struggle with the idea of creativity in the business sector, there are other influences in my community that are helping change the way people view the creative realm.  Also to my surprise, these pieces of art are priced in U.S. Dollars and are not cheap!  I guess its a good thing that these artists know how valuable their work is and take pride in their originality.  I hope you like what you see! Sorry the lighting isn't so great...

I thought the colonial building of the Fundacion was worth featuring

My Favorite- Anciano con Lena

Caballos, Unicornio e Hipocampo

by Mariano Navarro

Mercado Colonial

by Dorado

Los Cocos

Villa de Nuestra Sra. Sta. Ana

Autor: Lester Artola

Metamorfosis

Autor: Mariano Navarro

New home, new family!

So I’m finally posting this blog from my new host family’s house with my new access to wi-fi! How exciting is that? I’ve had a few experiences lately that have caused me to forget that I’m in the developing country of Nicaragua. One being Jamie’s visit! Seeing a best friend from home sent me on an emotional high ha ha! It’s crazy to think I haven’t seen anyone that I knew prior to my life in Nicaragua for 4 months! It was lovely to share my city of Chinandega and the surrounding beaches with Jamie and her boyfriend Paul. Nothing like reminiscing with your best friends, even though you’re worlds apart from how things used to be. I hope that I gave them an accurate taste of the grunge, grease(food), heat, beaches, and loving people that make up this country in a short 4 days! It was great to let myself go and act like a backpacking American for a weekend too! Miss my James already!


Something else that took me by surprise was an art show at a Fundacion Coen that was held to showcase and support local artists. I was very impressed by the amount of talent that was represented in my region. I felt like I was perusing a New York City up and coming art exhibition as I took in the paintings of beautiful Nicaraguan landscapes and markets. I think this display of creativity took me off guard since this country is plagued with people who refuse to think outside the box. I was very proud to feel a bit of progress in the right direction with in my community. It gave me the satisfaction that with time there can be change in the way Nicaraguans think. Afterwards my friend Lindsey and I joined our new friend Eugenia who is the director of the nonprofit for a great meal under a traditional rancho style hut, while the table of Argentineans bought us drinks! What a treat!




My favorite painting from the show - Anciano con Lena (Old man with firewood)

Taking it back to reality though I’ve had some pretty hot days with the humidity making it hard for my clothes to dry and contributing to some rather uncomfortable bus rides ending drenched in sweat. I don’t think I’ve gone in to much detail about Nicaraguan buses, but its quite a riot. Many buses are completely pimped out as they are individually owned by their driver. The buses are typically retired American school buses that make their way down here and seem to run just fine well past their U.S. shelf life. They will pack the buses until there is literally no room to breathe or even sweat for that matter. I usually exit my usual Monday morning bus to my one of my institutes dripping. I’m reminded of how beautiful I must look when my students comment how much Profe is sweating. Never the less Monday’s are one of my favorite days as I share a nice typical Nica lunch of either marinated meat or a tasty stew with my counterpart Silvia sitting outside gazing at Volcan San Cristobal as it puffs smoke in to the blue sky. This Monday was Sopa de Mariscos with shrimp, crab and fish. These are the days I really like Nica food.

Another reminder that I’m not in the U.S. was when my iPod quit on me and there is no real solution to that problem except to wait until I come home next. What? No Apple store with people waiting to serve you? Bummer huh?

On the other hand, and much more important than an iPod is my new host family. They are awesome and everything I ever wanted from a Nicaraguan family. I have a host mom Patricia and Host sister Sandra(26) and host brother Jose(24) who are a lot of fun and very sociable. Sandra introduced me to Mondongo soup on Sunday, which is cow stomach in a vegetable stew, god bless her. Last night Jose’s friends came over and I got a guitar lesson in Spanish! We shared our favorite artists and compared music industries in the U.S. and Nica. My host mom works in management for a large construction company and Jose is just starting up his own software engineering business. Sandra is just about to finish her degree in engineering as well. Sandra is also 3 months pregnant, with no father figure in sight, which is not uncommon here. So in 6 months there will be another girl in the house! It’s so great to be able to sit down and have an educated conversation about life here in Nicaragua with my family and share some of my traditions, like brownies!

As I mentioned, I have wi-fi and the other perks, like running water through out the house and having pet dogs makes life just that much better. My family was sweet enough to paint my room before I moved in and have made me feel right at home. I also have confidence that they don’t think I’m too crazy because apparently they had a gal from Holland live with them for a year way back when.

Sunscreen and bug spray, two things I can’t live with out and seem to go through at an increasing speed! The sun is strong and the mosquitoes are plenty during the more intense months of the rainy season(Sept and Oct). I have to say that I really don’t mind the torrential downpours that sweep in and cool everything off. Heaven forbid, but I’ve actually come close to feeling a chill in the air at night.

Work is going well as I plan for my student’s business competitions at the regional and local level. Tomorrow I will visit micro loan recipients from Fundacion Leon to see how their businesses are going. Each day I reflect on what my work means here in Nicaragua. I find myself contemplating about what type of impact I want to make here and exactly how I am going to make that happen. There is still so much to learn about my community’s needs and what my skill set can offer. I came across the following quote in some reading materials I had on community development and it made me realize how much I do enjoy this life I lead, right here, right now.

Socrates believed that it is through this kind of

thinking [critical thinking, reflective thinking] that

people shape their lives.

He felt people need to think

about what they do and why they do it,

about what they believe and why they believe it.

He said that a day should never pass without such

questions and that a life without such questions

is not worth living.


— Boostrom, Robert.