La Vida Nica

[Toyotero]

When a person looks back on their life, they sometimes refer to having "started a new chapter" but it's not often that in the moment you know that it is happening. My life recently took a change that is bigger than a new chapter, it's more like closing the book and starting the next in the series... and I knew full well that I was closing one and starting the next.

After 10 years of building a professional career in the IT industry, I desired a break. I tired of cubicles, 3am on-call work and that the only sun I sometimes saw all day ended with Microsystems. Drinking Mt Dew, eating Doritos and trying to figure out what Bill Gates' creation was thinking 60 hrs per week was not my dream job.

Of course, big change is hard to do... sometimes you've got to be pushed into it. My push was more like a kick in the rear when my employer became one of the biggest bank failures of 2009. Since I worked in the corporate office, I got a front row seat to the nitty gritty of "The Great Recession". FDIC seizure, asset sale, new owners... then liquidation and layoffs.

Fast forward a few months and I've stumbled upon what appears to be the perfect fit job on Craigslist... Basically an Operations Manager position for an American company's foreign operations. It's a big change from IT, but I think I'm uniquely qualified, and I'm certain that I can beat out all competitors. After couple of interviews, I convinced the company of that as well and I got the job. Next was the big change, 'uprooting' my life to live full time in Nicaragua.

Back to present day, my wife and I have now been here 11 weeks. My culture shock was lighter than happens to most since I've spent 8 months in Central America prior to this move and I'm fluent in Spanish. My wife had none at all since she is from here originally.

I've eagerly read about all of y'all's travels and experiences, so I wanted to share some of mine for anyone interested in what life is like for a gringo transplanted to Nicaragua. My new hobby is photography, mostly nature and landscapes, but I'm also trying to capture what strikes me as oddities and absurdities, so expect to be surprised by some posts. Lastly, I've been interested in 'travel writing' so this will give me a place to practice and develop such skills (constructive criticism appreciated).

Cuidense,

Toyotero.

[LaOutbackTrail]

I fell in love with Nicaragua, even with as short of visit that I had. I cant wait to see the picture style you have described... and I'd like to see more of the country as you explore it!

[StromHawk60]

I spent a year in Honduras; I'm in the Army and was stationed at Soto Cano Airbase. I had the great opportunity to fly all over that region and it's really one of the most beautiful regions I've been to. Now...I'm writing from Kabul Afghanistan and the region is not so close...Enjoy your time down there.

[Toyotero]

I fell in love with Nicaragua, even with as short of visit that I had. I cant wait to see the picture style you have described... and I'd like to see more of the country as you explore it!

"what strikes me as oddities and absurdities "

Oops, I think my ethnocentricism is showing. :-D I'll post some of what I'm talking about soon...


I'm living in Matagalpa, "Sandino Country" deep in the Nicaraguan northern highlands, which is very rugged and generally cooler than the rest of the country. The temp swings between about 60*F low at night and 80*F high temp in the day year round. It reminds me of Southern California or Los Angeles a lot, except that there is a rainy season in which it commonly rains 3 or 4 times per day (which has just ended).

My job has me moving around a lot every day, both in the city and out in the country, but no matter where I go I carry my camera with me (an Olympus Stylus 720Sw, I highly recommend it for a compact, waterproof an durable p&s) so I get a lot of opportunities to photograph the beautiful countryside, the unique 'critters' and other surprises that I encounter.

To give you an idea of what the countryside is like, this is a shot I took out the truck window on my commute to work...




A typical day at work involves me spending a couple of hours in the Nissan on roads like these :






One thing about tropical jungles is that they are crawling with life, literally. Night and day there is movement of animals and bugs... and much of it very colorful. For example, I often see more different types of ants each day than I had cumulative in my life before I moved here... my personal favorites are the leaf cutter and one I call the "golden hairy butts" because, as you might guess, their abdomen is covered in golden hairs... no photos of them yet, although I hear their sting is like having a lit match pressed against your skin....





This is a little guy I caught running around inside my house.




This one was outside... I'm guessing it is some kind of locust.



This bug was almost 3 inches long... I've only seen one and it was at 9pm... I'd hate for him to fly into my face at night.




I found this one out in the countryside... again, almost 3 inches long.




I've seen some impressive moths here. This one is nearly 8 inches wide!




I'm told that this smaller healthy looking tree on the left is called a "Mata Palo" or "tree killer." I've seen younger ones, they are a parasitic plant that looks like a vine that travels up the tree, then it shoots out and wraps the tentacle like pieces around the host tree which I believe are roots that it burrows into the host tree's cambium layer, sucking the nutrients that the host's roots are extracting from the ground and killing the tree.



That's all for now amigos. Time to hit the hay... another dia, another peso.



EDIT: Hosting photos with Google and embedding them here seems to result in a variety of image sizes... I'll have to figure out what is up with that. Hopefully I can do linked thumbnails like photobucket offers.

[defrag4]

fellow IT guy here, once you had the job it was pretty easy to handle the legal relocation to Nicaragua?

what exactly are you doing down there?

[greentruck]

Nicaragua is beautiful and the people are great folks. I spent 4 weeks traveling around back in the early 80s. Matagalpa was one of my favorite places, although Bluefields is a close second.

Very interested in whatever you post up.

[Toyotero]

fellow IT guy here, once you had the job it was pretty easy to handle the legal relocation to Nicaragua?

Moving down here was pretty easy, but what do you mean by "legal relocation"? Right now I'm here on a 90 day tourist visa, which I applied for a renewal yesterday ($10 when I entered the country, 680 Cordoba renewal ~ $32). I'm going to apply for a 2 year residency next year ($60 + US police record, birth cert, etc). I had asked Nica Immigration about applying for a work visa, but they don't have one. I guess no one ever comes to Nicaragua to work, it's always the other way around.

what exactly are you doing down there?

I've broken out of the cubicle cage! :-D In order to facilitate a change of careers, I spent every night and weekend for two years in grad school to finish an MBA last March. I'm very fortunate to have an awesome wife who tolerated it... although she did mention a couple of times that she "hopes it's worth it." :-D Lucky for me it worked out great.

My job is basically an 'Operations Manager' for an American company. You probably wouldn't see our company name on your local store shelf, but you might buy our product, Nicaraguan arabica bean coffee. Much of it is sold as "cafe oro" ("gold coffee," processed up through the to sun drying) to buyers in AUS, EU, Asia and USA where the buyers toast it and sell it under their own label. We are currently in the middle of 'crunch time' of the year, harvest time, which is about 3 months long. The company will pick and process approximately 1.5 million pounds of 'cafe oro' this year... which starts out as "coffee cherries", approximately 7 million pounds of them. (Hence the reason that I don't get to post much to this thread right now :-D )



My responsibilities are somewhat flexible, but to start with I oversee the processing facility, motor pool, and all equipment as well as a supervision of employees in the facility and out in the plantation. I work directly with the contracted repair men: electricians, vehicle mechanics, machinery mechanics, etc to keep things working. So far, I split my time between in the office, in the processing center, out in the main plantation, out at the other locations, out procuring parts and materials from the local venders, and working with contracted service providers to do work for us.

The biggest challenge is the difference in the cultures between the parent company and the local labor. My job is to ensure this side of the business is run in accordance with the guidelines and expectations of the American side, including high standards of quality of workmanship, completing work in a timely manner, accurate and timely reporting, etc.... which is all standard procedure in the USA but generally the norm here is somewhat relaxed about such things. One aspect of my job is simply being resourceful and making sure nothing stops us from moving forward since we literally have a mountain of work to do. :-D



As I mentioned, yesterday I went to apply for a new visa as that my 90 day tourist visa expires next week. Luckily there is an office in town, so I went to this local government office to do the application. Good thing I did because I was planning for a day trip across the Honduras border. At the gov office, they informed me that the Nica-Hond border is open to US citizens, so I wouldn't be able to renew it that way anyhow... Costa Rica is the only option for border crossing renewal.





The spray paint on the outside is actually propaganda for the political party that is currently in power: The Sandanistas.
FSLN = Frente Sandanista Liberacion Nacional = Sandanista National Liberation Front"
Seguimos con el frente = We continue/follow with the front.

I didn't take any photos inside... but it was more run down looking than the outside.



Since I'm in charge of the motor-pool and mechanical equipment, part of my job is procuring the repair parts for them... which can be a challenge at times. I now to understand how LandCruising's experience was in Bolivia, except that he had the advantage of being in a big city. I've already had to make a trip to Managua, the capital, for parts for my truck... who'd think that it'd be so hard to get a clutch vacuum booster, clutch disc and a pressure plate? Parts for Nissan Patrols seem to be unavailable anywhere in my town, even the Nissan dealer!

I've gotten to know all of the hardware stores and parts suppliers in town... this one is one of my favorites as that they have the best selection for auto parts.











Here's a tool you probably won't find at your local Lowe's or Home Depot:
A banana cutter for harvesting the bunches from the tree... mount it on a pole and it cuts pushing or pulling... the store also has a great selection of machetes.




Here's an absurdity for you... a few nights ago I was I was the first person to encounter an accident on the highway: a motorcycle single-vehicle accident caused by a couple dozen football size rocks scattered on the highway that a construction crew left to discourage drivers from running over fresh pavement. The rocks were unfortunately right after a curve, at night, in the rain. When I got there, there was a bike and a driver lying in the highway at the end of 50 ft of skid marks. I stopped to offer assistance and fortunately the driver was pretty much ok and didn't need a ride to the hospital or even any medical attention I could offer. The helmet law probably saved him... now they just need a 'don't leave hazards in the highway' law. :-/

I didn't get a shot of that site before they cleaned it up the next day, but here is another one I drive through often with the same construction markers.




Why don't we have this in the USA?



Milk that expires in 6 months! (6 April 2011, photo taken 10 Nov 2010)




I've seen a lot of people be critical about Treadwright retread tires... the 3rd world version of it is scary.




For products destined for a Spanish speaking country, the Chinese REALLY don't give a care to the accuracy of their English translations.

At least it's a much more cheery toy than "Malignant Boy"...





Don't worry, he's got a safety chain from the roof rack to his neck. :-/




I'm not much into self portraits, but I think that this one is a good representation of this phase of my life :-D

No one knows what´s around the next corner, but at least it´s interesting getting there. :-D





I've yet to organize some photos of an exhibition that the local military unit had at our office... more to come...


Regards,

[x32792]

Thank you for sharing.

[JerryYukon]

Very interesting and I hope you continue to post. Congratulations on making the move. Seems like an awesome change of pace for you and your wife. Good luck.

[oryxexpeditions]

Lucky man! Living the adventure! Need to find me one of those "benign girls"! Christmas is coming!

Cheers,

David