Wandering Shepard: Balling, Ag Day, and Hipica

¡Bueno friends and family! Been a couple of (fun) days since I’ve last updated. Without trying to be to long and bore you all, I’ll do my best to describe my past couple of days, which have been chock full of new experiences.

Friday was a long day of technical and training and charlas (lectures), and by the end I was more than ready to be finished. For all of you that knows what its like to be in a class that seems to run an hour to long, that’s how I felt Friday; we were just re-learning material we have been taught multiple times. So by the time we got let out I had a lot of pent up aggression, and decided to take it out on the basketball court. Me and the bros from Niquinohomo – Chalin and Ronaldo – rounded up a bunch of aspirates from nearby towns to ball, and had a heck of an afternoon. When we got to the la cancha, we found the local Niki team practicing, and they challenged us to a full court five on five game, team Niquinohomo vs Team

America

. We played until we couldn’t see the ball anymore, and had a grand time doing it, albeit frustrating at first. As much as I hate to admit it, we lost the first couple of games. It should’ve been expected since none of actually played basketball, and the Nica’s play everyday, but our competitive spirit (and supreme athletic ability) got the best of us. Ball down here is a completely different game compared to pick up back at the states in two ways. First off, they (pardon me for generalizing all the Nica’s based on this team) play no defense and cherry pick like crazy. Any time we missed a basket, they were quick to throw it up court to a player we forgot was even playing. So we resorted to posting essentially a free safety in the backcourt to prevent that, which was typically me. And second, any contact is a foul, so essentially any time you challenged the ball handler you fouled. At multiple points throughout the game, we would shout in distress, “No sangre, no falta”. But to no avail. So while it took awhile getting used to, we ultimately had fun, and I finally got the opportunity to make friends with some Nica’s my age. They play every weekday at around 4:30 or so, and I’m gonna start picking up with them as often as I can. So watch out back at home, I’m gonna come back a baller.

And to make a great day even better, Ron and I met up with some aspirantes at a local restaurant for a beer after the game, and I realized that as I sat down to join everyone one, and eased into conversation, everything felt completely comfortable. After weeks of living in a strange community, it was great feeling to finally feel at ease with my new friends.

Saturday was a full day of training, but was by far the best training session yet. I like to refer to it as Ag day, as it was entirely based around the Agriculture sector and practices. The small business aspirants, along with the agriculture aspirantes, met up at INTA, which is essentially a government operated experimental farm, to get a crash course on local Nica fauna and its uses, as well as recipes using only local natural resources. So the better part of our morning was spent learning how to make, chocolate from cacao, fudge from beans, an awesome cornmeal, a high in protein powder/tea, and tamarind wine. So for anyone that ends up visiting, I’ll be sure to teach you how to make some wonderful chocolate, absolutely to die for. And what made the day all the better was being able to hang out with Aggies, or agriculture aspirantes. Historically small business and agriculture but heads, but within our class, Nica 56, we get along famously, and look forward to the days we get together. So in the afternoon, during some of the more mundane, boring business charlas, a couple of aggies and I simiply “walked away” to go explore the mango groves, and had a heck of a time climbing the trees and getting our hands on some humongous, premo mangoes.

But the day didn’t end there, as a hand full of business aspirantes and I headed to Catarina that night to visit an establishment that reminded us of home. So a restaurant that had loud music we could dance to, and every third song or so was one that we could understand, or in English. I’m a little ashamed to say, but when David Guetta’s “Sexy Bitch” came on we lost it. And my friends from Richmond can attest to my shameless love of that song. The night was an absolute blast and a good way to blow off some steam, and in our own minds feel like we were temporarily back at home.

But the weekend doesn’t end there, not by a long shot. I thought today was going to be relatively calm, but at around 1:30, I got a call from a friend in nearby Masatepe. He woke up walked outside his house to find a huge feria going on. But more than a feria, a Hipica– may or may not be the right spelling – which is essentially a parade showing off the countries finest horses. So essentially a humongous party, and who am not to take a look at new cultural experiences. The scene was out of control, like nothing I’ve ever seen in the states. The closest thing I can compare it to is the Preakness, but it’s on a grander scale, and there is no drinking age or open container policy. So it was organized mayhem, but a lot of fun. And I had my first slice of pizza since bing down here. For 15 cords I wasn't expecting much, but it satisfied my munchies at the time. Pretty good for something coming out of the back of a truck. I’m a little bit burnt out from the day, so I’m gonna wrap it up. And since a picture says a thousand words, here are a couple from today.