First weeks in San Ramon

Adjusting to life in Nicaragua has been a bit more challenging to me than I had expected.  But, it's starting to feel like home and Ryan and I have established something resembling a routine.  Each morning we boil water for oatmeal and coffee and take cold showers. Because the Planting Hope office has been in the lull between coffee camps and the start of school, we have been able to relax and get to know the community rather than jumping into activities immediately. We usually spend our mornings reading, walking around, or studying Spanish. I brought several books to read about the history of Nicaragua. My favorite thus far has been Stephen Kinzer's Blood of Brothers. Our walks around town often lead us to the panaderia where we can sometimes find cinnamon rolls or cherry turnovers. 

The Planting Hope office where I've been staying

Our Peace Corps friend Kevin, leading us on a hike.

Ryan studies Spanish with Kevin. They use a Spanish textbook and Kevin gives him speaking tasks around town. I have language lessons with a woman named Juanita who lives next door. She has a 6 year old son who is shy, but really enjoys participating in our lessons. Juanita likes to teach through cooking. She goes over an ingredient list with me and describes the process while I take notes. Then, we cook together! So far we've made buñelos de yucca, enchilades de frijoles, gallo pinto, arroz de leche, indio viejo, and vigaron. Indio viejo is the only one that was too complicated for me to feel like I could replicate at home. Juanita had done a lot of prep work before I arrived because it was a special lunch for Ryan's birthday. I helped by chopping cilantro, mint, celery leaves, peppers, onions, and carrots. All of the flavors were fresh – nothing dried or powdered. She stewed meat which we pulled apart by hand and stirred over a fire with the vegetables and a corn flour liquid. The end product, a very thick stew served with rice was so delicious! As a special birthday touch, she also decided to decorate the “old Indian's face” using vegetables before bringing Ryan in for the surprise. 

Cooking with Juanita

Juanita is well educated and has traveled to Italy, Sweden, and several Central and South American countries. She speaks very passionately and precisely which means that there are usually many English cognates. Once I'm warmed up, I feel like I'm understanding most of what she says. She's so enthralling to listen to that I unfortunately don't get much speaking practice, but I'm absorbing all I can. One of my best days with Juantia was when I brought Blood of Brothers to class. We looked at the photos in the middle of the book together. She had the strongest reaction when she saw Reagan; “This man,” she said, “caused so much suffering in Nicaragua.” Although she was a child during the Sandinista revolution, she remembers the rations, the shortages, and the hunger. She expressed her disappointment with the current government who are changing the rules to stay in power. She sees it as a repetition of the Somoza dynasty but with Sandinista rhetoric. “Yo soy Sandinista, pero no soy Ortegista,” she declared.

Ryan's birthday lunch!

In general I've really enjoyed the food here. One of the most common dishes – a simple mixture of rice and beans called gallo pinto (painted rooster) – is probably my favorite. We often eat lunch at a home/restaurant where they serve a simple meal of rice, salad, a salty cheese called cuajada, and a piece of grilled meat. I can ask for mine to be vegetarian and they give me pieces of avocado instead of the meat. Dinner is similar to lunch: rice, beans, sometimes grilled meat, and the ever present tortillas and plantains. Plantains are amazingly simple to use. When fried, the ripe ones are sweet. The green ones can also be boiled or fried and are often served with cuajada or refried beans. Plantains are commonly made into thin chips and sold on the street.

A vista near San Ramon

We enjoy a break in the routine every Friday night when we go to El Rancho for pizza and karaoke. El Rancho is a hotel and restaurant at the edge of San Ramon which operates as an employee-owned co-op. They serve amazing pizzas and have a popular karaoke night where locals come to sing and dance. Both of these activities are made more lively under the influence of Flor de Cana—a surprisingly tasty Nicaraguan rum that is fairly inexpensive.  We got a tour of El Rancho one evening by a manager named Leo. He took us to the organic garden and composting projects that provide most of the fruits and vegetables used in the restaurant. They have a spa house project under construction where they hope to expand their massage and reiki practice. We walked past the eco-friendly bungalows, up the hill to a lookout of the city, and finally back to the hotel for some passion fruit juice and an engaging discussion about what the Rancho does for San Ramon. Started just a few years ago, the Rancho has gone from employing eight people, to over forty. Their goal is to be a profitable hotel and restaurant for the purpose of creating jobs. Profits are invested back into the business and into projects that will employ more people. Salaries of the highest paid employees are not allowed to surpass three times that of the lowest paid. The whole place is run with excellence and it's obvious that the employees are invested in what they are doing. I also sometimes go to El Rancho for a bi-weekly zumba class.

Ryan and me with Leo at El Rancho

Another amazing business that Ryan and I visited is the Finca Esperanza Verde. The Finca was started as an NGO by two former Peace Corps volunteers. They slowly bought coffee farming land and as a side activity, built some bungalows that housed groups who traveled to the farm to volunteer. Last year, the founders sold the struggling farm to Andrew and Vivianne Arango who had been looking to buy or start an eco-lodge in Central America. Andrew is a retired police officer and Vivianne is an interior designer. Neither of them had any coffee experience, much less organic farming skills. Vivianne speaks Spanish, but Andrew has been learning as he goes. Needless to say, the learning curve is steep, but they have met the challenge. With the spread of La Roya (leaf rust) their coffee crop has struggled, but they are investing for the future with new plants (which will reach full production in about three years). The Finca won the Cup of Excellence in 2007 and the coffee that we tasted while there was still amazing despite the challenges. They have also been renovating and expanding the lodge and bungalows—especially by adding windows and porches to the west walls where they have a fabulous panoramic view of the sunset over the mountains. Andrew talked to Ryan and I for a couple of hours and was very candid about the struggles, but he also emphasized the fulfillment and importance of investing in loyal employees by noticing their strengths and giving them opportunities to advance. The Finca is quite expensive by Nicaraguan standards (about $50 per night on average), but Andrew and Vivianne have more requests for bookings than they have bungalows at the moment. Although they were too full for us to spend the night, the free coffee, relaxation in their hammocks, and the conversation made the day trip well worth the effort.

A view from the Finca Esperanza Verde

Another good place for a for a day trip is Matagalpa –just a 30 minute bus ride from San Ramon. Matagalpa is a major city in northern Nicaragua and we go there when we need a phone card, groceries, a pharmacy, etc.  At a cafe called Seleccion, we met another ex-pat named Amanda. Amanda works for Thrive Coffee—a business that grades coffee and then connects farmers and coffee buyers in the states who want specialty coffee with a story attached. They have goals of improving environmental and working conditions on the farms from which they export, but their main focus is the quality of the coffee and giving farmers a fair price through a more direct relationship with consumers.  I have really appreciated getting to learn from people like Leo, Amanda, and Andrew and Vivianne who are making a difference through their businesses.

Coming up, I will post some pictures of Honduras where we visited Kevin's family.  For the next five weeks we are holding English classes both in Matagalpa (twice a week) and in San Ramon.  I am moving into a home stay where I will hopefully be challenged to speak more Spanish.  Three brigades of volunteers are coming to San Ramon during March so the office of Planting Hope will be working at full capacity.