Walking the path.

It was a rough week, manifesting itself into a very early night on Friday. A great sin of mine, but all I could allow my body to do. Since the theft incident at Cesaritos, I have been contemplating purchasing another camera, and came to the obvious solution that I am a photo maniac and cannot skip on capturing this whole experience of mine, beginning to end. So early on Saturday I got on my favorite chicken bus, speeding into the crowded streets while the man at the door shouted his bus' promotion "ManaguaManaguaManagua...". The words simply rolling off his tongue, he is not a unique case. Since all the buses are private in Nicaragua, the diver always has an employee whose job description is to scream at the people on the street trying to get them on his bus, flailing his arms up in disapproval if they shake their heads as if turning down a bus ride to another city is the same as turning down milk Swiss chocolate.
The one hour ride I spent looking at the surroundings, wondering why on earth I am this lucky to experience opportunities like this. This great country has shown its smiley folk, its colorful streets, its beautiful crafts and blood-pumping music with me, not to even mention the lessons from working with the microentrepreneurs and the dedicated staff at Opportunity.
At the Mentrocentro I bought a camera and thought of how I can put it into use immediately. I decided to listen to Jefferson (guy working at my guesthouse) and visit the new cathedral. Wow. A large, concrete structure, with no facade, no color, and unfinished large semi-balls on the tall roof. Inside the cathedral were bare walls with the occasional life-size doll of Jesus or Mother Mary. My favorite was the Jesus "glitter" room; an oval small room with wholes in the wall as to let shine through enough to make "Jesus appear alive". Again, I simply wandered about the true art of Catholicism as well as the deep, anonymous pockets in which the $$ for finishing the cathedral went.

On the way back to Granada, I stopped in Masaya, walked around the city for a while, before hitting up the market. And not the overpriced, neat, tourist-targeting Mercado Artisanio, but the hectic, smelly, crammed, and incredibly cheap local market. I bought some gifts, a nice hammock for my room, and interacted with some fun local people ready to charm me into buying their products.
Arriving late in Granada, I decided to stay in town. My journal, my postcards and a nice pina colada; I enjoyed people watching sitting on the main street. That is when Avi, our office's Peace Corps volunteer walked by with a group of friends (local and foreign) and proposed that I join them. His house was a blast; getting to know his friends, working on my Spanish. As any other outing night we headed for "Cafe Nuit". As poorly dressed as I was, I had little restraint from hitting up the dance floor. Manuel, a random guy I met at a random poker tournament, who makes a living by giving chess, ping pong and dance lessons, a walking legend of Granada, gave me a few lessons in the middle of the bar. In no time were people watching as he twisted me, twirled me, and lead us into some astonishing moves. Sure I will not be able to look like this dancing ever again, I enjoyed it immensely. As much as I promised I would not go down to the lake late on weekend nights, I couldn't resist what sounded like a calm, beach bar right on the lake. It did not disappoint.
Considering the late night, I headed for the Granada Isletas a bit later than expected the next morning. From the 345 islands on Lake Cocibolca, I had to chose only one to stay on for most of the day for convenience sake. I hired a little boy to take me around the islands, enjoying the clouds reflecting in the clear blue waters, the palm trees shooting tall from each small island, as well as the water lilies covering a good chunk of the lake. Cafe Cife seemed like a good spot, and I was dropped off on its tiny island. Absorbing some sun rays, recycling my energy, looking deeply into the waters and myself, I had a perfectly enjoyable Sunday afternoon. After a plate of fresh shrimp my friend returned and brought me to shore, as the sun was setting down on the right side of Mombacho volcano. What a paradise. I couldn't help but feel guilty for having the opportunity to see these sights, enjoy their calming beauty. Though I am helping local people, powering up the local economy, I cant help but feel a slight tinge of guilt when I do touristy things. Though I shop at the local market and not the supermarkets, I am staying at a local guy's guesthouse instead of one of the foreign-owned ones, I am eating at the 'comedores' instead of the touristy restaurants...I cant explain the unsettling feeling I get when I have too much fun. Looking at the locals around me though calms my troubled mind as they are such an easy-going crowd, ready for enjoyment no matter what they can afford to go or what they can allow themselves to see.
The week began as intense as the rest. Acknowledging that this is my last week at work, I had to consolidate what all is reasonable for me to attempt to finish. The write-ups and the photos for the website were sent to Zac, the Fair Trade application was coming along nice, though the tag orders were dragging behind. I finally found locally produced, recycled paper for the production of Ojala's product tags, however, arranging samples, getting full detail on the colors and the costs is getting to be a bit of a long-term process. Two newbies joined the office this week as well. Karla is a 26 year old wonderful woman who has been needing some help with adjusting as well as her English. She will be taking over what I have began to do with Ojala promotion so I have enjoyed spending time with her. Adolfo is also an English-speaker and eager to get involved with everything, even the decisions that lay with Geralyn. I am excited to spend time with him and Howell when we meet up in Ometepe next week. While I am taking my 6 day vacation, hiking up the 2 volcanoes on Ometepe Island, they will be visiting as to meet with a group of plantain farmers as to explore the option of facilitate exports of their products, and encourage the reuse of plantain leaves that their wives can turn into gorgeous hats, baskets and even paper. This new project sounds amazing and I am happy to have the opportunity to spend my second-to-last day in Nicaragua observing, learning, and absorbing community development work, that is environmentally sustainable and economically encouraging, at its major best.
Now bed is calling me--my ju jit su master has been working me up insanely (though if I keep up this traveling alone thing, I will indeed need a few moves in the worst of cases), while my yoga instructor has been calming my aura, replacing late nights at the cafe with early nights with a book.