Cinco Pinos

After a great time with the Norwegian students (successful presentation, fancy hotel, and beautiful beaches), as well as some excellent interviews in Leon, I headed to Cinco Pinos, Chinandega--the hottest part of the country at the hottest time of the year--with a group of Nicaraguan VIP's: two members of the Zelaya family (community development and political leaders in Cinco Pinos and Leon) and two of their colleagues who also work for other non-governmental organizations (NGO's). They turned my dreaded 6-7 hour bus ride into a pleasant 2.5 hour, air-conditioned car ride.

APRODESE (Asociacion para el Desarrollo Economico del Espino or Association for the Economic Development of El Espino) is the name of Cinco Pino's (and this region's) most active NGO. (El Espino is the name of the comarca or district in Cinco Pinos where this place is located.) As the sign indicates, APRODESE offers services in a wide range of things, including the Internet, photocopies, national and international phone calls, the sale of locally produced juices, various training, and micro-credit. It has a very holistic approach to development.

The large building on the right is the woodshop, where groups of young men come each day to learn their trade for free.

This is the road from APRODESE to Cinco Pinos. A bus passes every hour or so in the afternoon. It's a dust bowl. Today I walked down a ways to the nearby elementary school to conduct interviews.

We eat under the covered area on the right. There are three rooms in the brick building: The first is for computer and English classes, the second has an office and two bedrooms (where I stay), and the third has computers with Internet. I am able to use wireless on my laptop for free 24 hours a day (as long as we have electricity...)

On the other side there are APRODESE offices and a small store where they sell various things like a mini-mart. Lots of people are always coming to visit each day. There must have been at least 100 students throughout the day on Thursday, and I met about four different mayors of local towns because they were having a bunch of meetings.

Here is my friend Julien in the Internet lab. He is Cuban and met and married the daughter in the Zelaya family about two years ago. He used to be a diving guide in Cuba and speaks quite a bit of English.
Another shot of the APRODESE headquarters. Lots of motorcycles for all the "tecnicos" or technicians that visit all of the rural communities across four different municipalities. I know that they have a lot of social projects going on at once (i.e. potable water, school feeding programs, micro-credit, etc.), so I'm sure that the tecnicos do various things.
I am sleeping behind the blue curtain on the left. The Manager of APRODESE, Maria Estela, sleeps behind the curtain on the right during the week. It sounds like she lives in Leon on the weekend with her family. I've met a lot of people who have to do this in order to find decent work. Obviously a very safe place. All of these instruments are just lying around. A group of young men were playing them when I first moved in. Didn't know if I was receiving a concert upon my arrival or what. A little awkard.
My Barbie pink mosquito net has already proven indispensible. Lots of large insects get stuck on the outside while I'm fighting off the heat in the inside. I can examine them safely and decide whether I know what they are or not. Many new ones. Best to stay away from those. I already had to kill a scorpion in the shower, and one of three transparent frogs who were climbing the walls actually jumped at me, landed on my shoulder, bounced off, and all I could do was jump away too, my heart racing. Thank goodness that Maria Estela brought me a fan! It's already 95 degrees by 9:00 AM here.