Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Headed to Nicaragua

Gearing up for the next adventure

In two months I am setting off to Nicaragua. I am so excited!

The idea of traveling again started when I returned from teaching in the Republic of Georgia. I even thought about going back to Georgia to teach. After some time I decided that Georgia would always be an option for me and a place where I could see myself living again or at least traveling to sometime in the future. So once I got past the thought of going back to Georgia, I started to think about where I would like to travel. I decided on Central America because I have always liked the Latino culture/food/music/language(s)/mindset and life style, so it only seemed natural.
I have also been doing some volunteer work for a NGO called EOS International (www.eosintl.org). We, at EOS, are doing some really great work in Nicaragua and hoping to expand to Honduras. Our technologies include a drip irrigation system, fuel efficient barrel ovens, bio-digesters, and we are expanding the usage of solar panels to many areas of development. I am really excited to meet our Nicaraguan team and see what they do from day to day. In this process I hope my Spanish becomes conversational and my cultural understanding increases. I have never been to any countries south of the US (which seems strange because I have been to some 15 countries-but never in the southern hemisphere).
If there is any advice/life lessons/general information people with American knew before visiting their country, I am all ears.
For now I am headed to Managua in early March. From there I will attend Spanish school (somewhere-any school suggestions?) for my first week, then travel to Matagalpa where the EOS office in located. As my trip detail progress I will keep you all informed.