One weekend we took a 4-hour, standing-room-only school bus journey to Miraflor, a huge expanse of collectively-managed farms that has also been declared a nature reserve. Although there are supposed to be cool waterfalls and trails through the cloud forest, the lack of maps or signs and our refusal to hire a guide resulted in us wandering for days past farms and ranches without seeing a drop of water. We did see some beautiful scenery and fluorescent green birds, but Chris’ favorite part was our homestay.
View from a lookout point along the trail
Our host mom cooked the best meal we had in Nicaragua – nacatamales, which consist of banana leaves filled with cornmeal, potatoes, veggies, and a piece of chicken – yummy! After dinner we sat around chatting with our host dad. The only electricity at the house is a solar panel and a battery that powers four light bulbs, so we talked about electricity and the fact that we are wind energy engineers. Once they heard “engineer” the family proceeded to bring out broken headlamps that had been left behind by previous travelers. Lacking any other source of entertainment, we started tinkering.
Nacatamales cooking on the wood stove
One of the headlamps looked like an ancient coal miner’s lamp and the other looked like it had been trampled by a horse and left for months in a puddle. The whole family was sitting around watching with such intensity and hope, jumping up each time we requested a tool, that we didn’t have the heart to tell them that these things were garbage. After an hour or two of troubleshooting, once we were about to give up and let the family down, the worse-looking headlamp suddenly burst into a flash of light so bright that everyone gasped. We fixed it! Even we were shocked that we were able to bring this piece of junk back to life. Our host dad wore the headlamp the rest of the night and we overheard him bragging about it the next day. In a place where the sun sets at 6 pm and you can only afford the moonlight to guide you to the outhouse, having a functioning flashlight is like being granted a superpower.
Our host family eagerly watching the engineers at work
Our host father with his newly-functioning headlamp
hahahaha- nicely done, engineers!
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