Thursday 21 July 2011

This is How it Goes

We have crazy next door neighbours and I was always wondering who lived there. Well last Saturday I found out. On the Liberation holiday of Esteli, I went next door for a baby shower. The moment I entered I was put into a contest against a stranger. I had to drink-chug Coke from a baby bottle. I do not like pop but eventually I won!

On the Independence Day of the country, another holiday, I went to my counterpart's friend's (and by extension my friend) farm. There were many dogs, a chicken, papaya (?) trees and more. It was at least a day out of the fumes and smoke and dust and sand of the city.

Esteli is really modern in all its conveniences. The only thing that really reminds me that I'm in a country in the South is its frequent blackouts. For about a week there was a blackout every night and for one day the electricity and water wasn't working for the whole city for the morning and afternoon. Another Canadian in my group who is interested in urban development told me that India is really good at building cities, but not good at implementing basic infrastructure.

This Saturday I was selected to be part of a group who will be going out of Esteli (I haven't been out of the city for 3 weeks) to help conduct an adult art workshop. We'll see how it goes!

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