Nica Part I

After much contemplation, I've succumbed to popular demand and decided to let you all in on the Trials and Tribulations of Rosita Hassan: Nica Style. Just to forewarn you, I am living in Nicaragua. You might get jealous.

If I were a believer, the word I would use to describe exactly how I feel is blessed. Not because the humidity here gives my hair some magical volume that I was never able to attain in dry ol' Philly, not because I get to take a siesta everyday on a colorful hammock underneath a mango tree, but because I'm 23 years old, fresh out of school with an incredibly useful (hem) liberal arts degree, and I am NOT a barista. Instead, I work for a NGO (its pays a hell of a lot less than a barista gig, but I imagine the moral fulfillment is much more than providing daily caffeine/sugar highs--not that I don't love and appreciate all the amazing baristas in my life).

The NGO I'm working for, Building New Hope (www.buildingnewhope.org), started in 1992 with a group of individuals dedicated to supporting grassroots work and development in Central America, specifically El Salvador and Nicaragua, which had been devastated by years of civil war (thanks America) (if you don't get that snip, read Galeano's Open Veins of Latin America. It covers that and a lot more). Today, BNH roasts and distributes direct and fair trade coffee from El Porvenir, a coffee cooperative in rural Nicaragua run by 48 families. They also fund two schools in Granada, Nicaragua-- Quinta Los Chavalos and Escuelita Yo Puedo, as well as sponsor various other programs. And they've hired me. To move to Nicaragua. And oversee the programs.

So here I am, four days into my life on Calle Corrales, Granada, Nicaragua, and I already feel at home in the old colonial city with 90 degree humidity, endless catcalls, and insane driving (cars, horses, and bikes). I'll let you know how it goes.

 Pollo asado con chifles.

 Just a little place I like to take naps.