A Blog for the Impatient

If you are having as much difficulty as I am getting to this blog now, I don´t expect many people will read this. Every time I type, or click on a link to, www.nicaraguasummer08.blogspot.com, it tells me that the page cannot be found. I got to here by going to www.blogspot.com first.

Also, please be sure to keep checking out www.saluddelsol.org, because there are many photos and articles that will probably be of interest to you. One of which, in fact, should be a series of articles written by me, detailing what it is I am working with and researching here in Nicaragua, and what my plans may be for the future. Exciting news is that I have gotten a lot of input and offers of help from people far and wide already, and that is what inspired me to write such an article, so that people will have a better idea of what I am doing beforehand, and will maybe generate ideas as to how they can help.

So you remember that Roberto has moved out. Well, the day I returned from Granada two weekends ago, I came home to two canadians who have taken his spot, Matthew and Felipe. They are both great guys and I am glad to be living with them. We have a lot of fun every night with Skarleth, laughing and playing games. Matthew and Felipe are here with about 11 other canadian girls, all from a different organization. Matthew (or, in French, Machew) and I enjoy singing songs together, dancing, playing soccer together, and generally causing a ruckus.

Other news is that there is a very large soccer tournament going on now. There are four teams, and two games a week. La Ceiba, Los Proyectos, Las Sanchez, and Las Blancas. They are all named after the area in Sasbana Grande that the teams are made up of. Matthew, Felipe and I play for La Ceiba, and we played and won our first game this past Monday. ¡Adelante La Ceiba! My soccer skills, which have dwindled since two very large surgeries on my leg in high school, are rekindling. Still, it is difficult to run on this turf, because the field is gravel and, everytime a change of direction is needed, I slide on my sneakers for awhile. I need cleats!

Of course, we still play Ultimate Frisbee once a week. They are still grand successes.

We have been getting deep into testing the solar autoclave over the past 5 work days. Unfortunately, the weather has not been cooperative. The week before testing there was bountiful sun. Now, it is intermittent, shared by clouds and downpours. Very frustrating, since I cannot know whether we can really achieve the temperatures we need or not. I am confident that, given just one good day, I can prove that it can be done. Until then, however, I cannot prove it. It is not for lack of trying, though. In the meantime, what I do is construct some other devices that could be used for the autoclave, or read articles. Lately, however, I´ve been writing articles, mostly on my work. I also help out around the Solar Center when needed.

For the past several weeks I have been longing to climb the large mountain that overlooks Sabana Grande. This past Saturday, I did so with 5 others, and it was great. A long, hard day, but a great success. Climbing the mountain was one of my big goals for the trip, and I had finally done it. I was overjoyed. Pictures to come!

I realize this post is short and almost bland, but I am in a hurry today. I apologize for this, and don´t worry, I will definitely be back to my usual story-telling self soon. For now, I must be going.

¡Nos vemos!
-Daniel