Cocktail Party! So all these business competitions that I have been rattling on about eventually amount to one large national competition in Managua where all the top teams from each department compete with their business plans. How does Peace Corps pay for this you ask? Well we throw a ridiculously large party! This years theme was a masquerade! Over the last few months I've been selling tickets to other volunteers, Nonprofits that I work with and community members to this extravaganza that we put on at the Holiday Inn in Managua. We had well over 200 people including several members of the US Embassy. I mentioned in my last post how my host sister and mom took me dress shopping, well this is what I ended up with. Not too shabby eh? Note that I am extremely sweating from the ridiculous amount of salsa dancing that Julian and I just performed. There were hired performers, but Julian and I in our buzzed state figured we were up to par and just joined in.
Julian and I sweating just a tad
I was really impressed how well my fellow volunteers cleaned up. I'd say we are a pretty decent looking bunch after hot showers and some primping in state of the art hotel rooms. We had a great time on the dance floor and took advantage of the beautiful pool for the rest of the weekend. It had been about a month since my entire group had gotten together so this was quite special. We did a little birthday cake and sushi dinner with the group for an early b-day celebration as well.
So now that I've covered how we are paying for the national competition let's take a step back to the regional level of the competition. I am living in Chinandega which surprise surprise is the capital city of the Chinandega department, which puts me basically in charge of planning the regional competition where teams from all over the department come to compete. I have spent the last few weeks running around in circles finding venues as my first one fell through, confirming judges and making sure everything is in order for the big day. All in all everything worked out really well and competition day went smoothly with very few hiccups! I'd say all the hard work paid off when the results of the competition came through. If you recall a few posts back I had a local level competition where a group with the product of Noni's Tea won first place. Well they also took second place last Thursday at the regional level, which means we get to move on to the national level! I am seriously so freaking proud of these kids! Their presentation was flawless and their finances stellar(duh). I wouldn't expect anything less from my kids. We spent several hours the day before the competition rehearsing their presentation. I felt like I was back in high school with them as we became restless and they broke our serious streak by demonstrating their version of yoga poses while we downloaded ridiculous music to sing along to. They keep me young, this is for sure! My other team that was competing in the competition took third place and I am also very proud of them. Unfortunately their product of melon jelly will not be advancing to the national level, but we identified two investors in the Chinandega community who want to help get their business off the ground, success!!!! This for me is the number one goal for my students. I would rather have my students identify investors and real life opportunities than focus just on winning a competition.
We're going to the national level!
Still winners in my eyes!
So in hind site, the regional competition wasn't as stressful as it was fun, but a lot of hard work that really did pay off. I felt like I had a lot of people to please and it all ended up working out. It could be described as party planning on steroids, which I admit I kind of like the challenge. I also made some great connections to business owners in my community whom I think will be assets to my service here over the net two years. Speaking of business connections I finally had a formal interview at an NGO called Pro Mujer where I hope to sign a contract to work with them over the rest of my service, more to come here.
The best part yet was the day after the competition when Lindsey, my site mate, and I celebrated Halloween/Our Birthday's! Lindsey's b-day is 2 days after mine on Nov 1st and we both decided we love Halloween and ourselves just too much to not celebrate! So while I was stressing about my regional competition some how I found the time to co-plan and host another party the next day. There is just no better way to let loose and celebrate victory than with rum, pumpkins and good friends! Two of my really good friends traveled from afar to be present for this night along with all the other volunteers of the Chinandega region. My brilliant costume idea was to dress as a tourist which wasn't all that hard here. A skin tight hawaiian dress paired with a fanny pack, clip on water bottle and safari hat did the trick! I felt like the party was a good mix of volunteers, my Nica friends and family. After flip cup and a pumpkin pinata(2 of my fav things) we headed out to a club to dance the night away. My salsa teacher showed up to help us show off our moves and my host brother came just in time to see me completely hammered on the dance floor and drive me home!
Birthday girls with Darwing our dance teacher
My Biz Group compadres who made the trek(Sam and Kelli)
Last but not least, my english youth group made my birthday special as well tonight. We played a few games and ate cake. I was given deodorant spray(hint hint?) and a leather bound address book. Over all I feel very loved by the people around me in my life here in Nicaragua.
Walter and Trophy
Birthday Serenade
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