Wednesday, March 21, 2012

San Isidro, Nicaragua

After spending the weekend in Matagalpa with some awesome new friends, I left Monday day morning for San Isidro (aka the location of the EOS International office).

The buses are always an amazing experience. Full of interesting looks, food, people, and of course, me, a gringa. I can all most hear people's thoughts when they see me, 'what the...?' I totally get it but my presence does seem to throw people for a loop. But, I guess I like knowing that I keep people on their toes. I also know, that now this backfire because I said something. Murphy's law.

Anyway, San Isidro is a pretty small town on the road from Matagalpa to Esteli. There is not much here in terms of things to do but I like that it is somewhat quieter than the other cities I have visited. I learned last night that there is not even an ATM here...good to know. Even though it is a small town there still seems to be some money coming through. The houses in the main part of town are very cute and brightly colored. The people are nice and they like to watch as I walk past. If they seem real surprised, like these two grandma's yesterday, I like to say, 'hola.' Their faces are priceless. They have no idea how much Spanish I know, which isn't much, but they kind of wave back in confusion.Ahh, good times.

In the two days that I have been in San Isidro, I have been trying to study and practice my Spanish skills. I really appreciate the EOS Nica team for trying to talk to me when they have a few minutes and asking me about my day. They are all so amazing and they work so hard. I am not sure if yesterday an atypical day but some of the team was here at the office for more than 12 hours. They are so dedicated and truely care so much about their local community and their country. I also like to walk around the town which is a concept they don't really understand.

For example, yesterday I was walking through the central park here and two policemen stopped me. Turns out they were just really curious and wanted to know why I was in such a small town and what I was doing. For me the answers to these types of questions are apart of my script and I almost sound like I can speak Spanish, haha.

I feel bad  because there is not much more to say. I know my time here in San Isidro is not the most exciting part for others to read but I want to encourage anyone who is interested to c heck out the EOS website for more information on what we do. It is really exciting when you are here and see the technologies people are going to be getting. For example, yesterday, on of our techs was packing up the EOS truck for three installations. I village that takes almost almost three days to get to, is getting a water chlorinator, a biodigester, and solar panels. How cool is all of that? They are going to have clean drinking water and electricity for the first time. That is amazing!!! That is why it is so cool to be here and see what they do because in the US, we just send money and we don't really get to see the final product. We see pictures, but we don't really know how that new technology is going to change that person's life. But here, I walk around and I can see some of our technologies and I see them using them. That makes my heart soft and fuzzy, haha.

And from that soft moment, I will say good morning morning to a new day of the unknown and potential to change lives.

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