Monday, December 15, 2008

They Haven't Deported Us Yet



Greetings to family, friends, vaguely ferocious felines, fellow imbibers of craft beverages, and future providers of floor space.  We have safely arrived in Bluefields, Nicaragua and are already making promising strides in providing shelter and nourishment for underprivileged mosquitos.

We are volunteering with the non-profit organization blueEnergy, which installs and supports hybrid renewable energy systems in isolated Nicaraguan communities.  bE has an active base in Bluefields of about eighteen volunteers from the U.S., France, Ireland, Australia and elsewhere, as well as administrative offices in San Francisco and Paris. 

Our central role here - as in, Ken and Ali's central role - is to try to become immersed in one of the communities (Kahkabila) in which bE has recently installed an additional hybrid wind turbine and PV energy system.  Certain things are unknown.  Our extended trip to Kahkabila may or may not occur in late January.  It may or may not last two months.  It may or may not include teaching English classes, working on eco-tourism, or installing a water filtration system.  Like nearly all things in Nicaragua so far, it will be generally indeterminate in time, itinerary, and overall functionality.

More information about blueEnergy can be found here.

This blog is intended to document our travels and travails over the next twelve months.  The sense of time will be distorted.  We will jump and flip.  The focus will tend to be towards the things that strike us as most interesting, in Managua, Bluefields, Kahkabila, Pearl Lagoon, and, following the initial six months spent with blueEnergy, throughout Central and South America (or wherever the current takes us at that time).  Future items of interest could include strategic domino openings, machete maintenance, a handy guide on how not to get your ass kicked and clothes stolen, and a touching feature article regarding a Kahkabilan monkey named Fishy.

We harbor no (or few) illusions regarding the relative intrigue of our own daily lives, and in general things will focus on the food, foliage, creatures, and communities here.  There will be pictures.  There will be merriment.   There will be attempts at attempting these things daily.

In the broader scheme of things, this blog will hopefully serve as a place for family and friends to check up on us in an efficient manner, a place to focus on the various things that bE is doing for the communities here, and a chance for us to experience things more carefully.  

Please feel free to contact us, post comments, make a small donation to blueEnergy, or forward this along to anyone who might enjoy reading about two gringos trying to get by in Central America.

2 comments:

  1. Wow, it looks amazing there. You seem like you guys are doing great work. Keep us posted!

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  2. Thanks for the link and the update. Best wishes to you both, and happy holidays.
    --Seth

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