Day 4: El Porvenir

             The day started off at 7:45 A.M. with a 2 hour ride to El Porvenir that began on the Pan-American highway, which runs from Panama to the U.S. The drive consisted of a lot of great views of volcanoes, Momotombo and Momotombito, among others. During the final hours of the drive to El Porvenir we had to ride up a large mountain in a tractor to get there. Hiking up wasn’t an option, however hiking down was. At the top there ended up being views of Nicaraguan farmland as well large clouds of smoke that came from wildfires on another mountain. We were served lunch similar to what we had been receiving in the past days of the week. After eating lunch, a man named Rene who worked at the coffee plantation at El Porvenir talked to us about how the people of the cooperative functioned and explained aspects their daily lives.
For me specifically, the way they got things up to El Porvenir stood out compared to what else happened today. Families on the mountain take turns getting supplies such as soap and food. It took us about one and half hours for us to get to the bottom of the mountain to El Porvenir by tractor and from what it looked like nobody living there had access to any motor-powered vehicles, so they have to do the hikes or rides frequently. Transportation in the U.S., and Houston especially, can be taken for granted which is why what Rene told us about how they got things up the mountain stood out to me.
             After that talk we walked around the property where they had multiple acres of coffee plants. The last thing at El Porvenir we looked at was their coffee processing plant in which they showed us how they separated the parts of the bean to get what they wanted. Once we looked at everything in the processing plant, we began the hike back down and started the drive to Leon which was a more touristy area than we’ve been around most of the trip. The main purpose of going to Leon was to see a cathedral however we ended up 1 hour and 30 minutes late and weren’t able to go inside. The day ended with dinner and ice cream at Leon and the 2 hour drive back to CEPS.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 4: Co-ops and Colonial Towns, Oh My!

Image
 Starting off the day with some early morning laundry at the "pila," or traditional washboard station. Staring our two-hour long journey to El Porvenir and passing volcano Momotombo along Lake Managua.  Taking a nice group photo in our cozy van for the few hours. A gorgeous view of the trail on the base of the mountain to El Porvenir.  A forest fire is present along the mountains we passed along side El Porvenir.  Hopping on the tractor to begin our hour long trek up the mountain.  The view atop of the mountain upon arriving to El Porvenir. The community has 40 families as part of the cooperative.  We recieved a tour of the coffee co-op and here are the migrant workers quarters. This is a Guanacasa Tree, one of the oldest and biggest trees on the farm.  A cacao pod, which we were all able to sample.  The Managua Field School 2018 photo looking out over the vista from El Porvenir.   Franz enjoyed learning abo
Read more

El Primer Dia en Managua

We’ve finally arrived! As soon as the plane touched down, we were off and running. Our first stop was to a little café that served pupusas, and for many of us it was our first time trying pupusas which is surprisingly a food native to El Salvador. After lunch, we headed off for a tour around Managua, stopping first at the Plaza de la Revolución or what can now be considered, ‘old Managua’. There we saw the Old Cathedral of Managua and learned about its use in the country’s revolution. We stopped by El Palacio Nacional , the country’s national museum and learned about some of the historical figures who had a profound impact on the history of Managua, and at one point occupied the Palace. We also saw the tomb of Carlos Fonseca located in the country’s central park. Fonseca was a former commander of the Sandinistas, who fought against the US funded “Contras” in the country’s decades long Contra war. Afterwards, we visited an amusement park that housed miniature replicas of th
Read more

Day 3: It was all fun and games...

Image
The group having fun and playing games with "Los Leones," a group for at-risk boys. Some members of our group buying drinks after a long day at work. Soda here is filled in plastic bags and the glass bottles are left behind. The street vendors making drinks. Salvador and Eliott hard at work making room for a water line extending alongside the new building. Franz shadowed Dr. Flores during his morning rotation at the clinic. Mark Lester, a historian who has lived in Nicaragua since 1985, gave us a lecture on Nicaragua's struggles in the past and present. Dr. Lee organizing pills at the Nueva Vida pharmacy with a pharmacy student who is completing a final internship with JHC. Nathan with Mark Lester. Cole, Carly and, Nathan having fun with "Los Leones". Chants created with "Los Leones".
Read more