I hopped on the six am trip to the departmental head to arrive by about eight thirty this morning. Above the windshield one old sign read a list of ten commandments of behaviour in english--including ¨Don´t smoke¨ just to highlight the fact that these buses have been around since before indoor, or minor´s smoking was banned--while right next to it read Dios Salve. The dilapidated fleat of old school-buses the country relies on for transportation is in some ways charming, despite the obvious dangers of overcrowding coupled by a host of functional and aesthetic maladies. Between that and the rag tag old pick up that my counterpart and I will be driving around in three days a week, I´ve got my transporation needs set out.

I spent this week visiting coffee farms. They look no different from the normal woodland until you realize that every leaf under the sparse canopy has uniformly glossy, rippled leaves already budding the granos de café. Although it will certainly fade, I´m enamored with this beautiful process. I´m working with super-small time coffee farmers to certify them for Starbucks, which is very similar to FairTrade, but without the organic component. This week has been a bit of an eye opener as to what Nicaragua is like away from the touristy center where we trained.

The week beforehand was fun, and American, and airconditioned, and summery. Our swearing in ceremony was bookended by charlas to whom few paid attention and a few days in a hotel together. We went to expensive clubs and restaurants, strolled the malls of downtown Managua, and talked endlessly in English about who we were before arriving inNicaragua and to whom we espoused to be during and after our services. They were fruitless conversations that made us all feel a little bit better about letting go for a long time.

As a fellow Volunteer mentioned yesterday, Jinotega is the understated beauty of Nicaragua. Clouds being burned away from the valley by the early morning sun is striking, even for those of us who have a hard time remembering the extensive facets and potentials of beauty. That doesn´t mean that these two years won´t be a challenge. There will be no one asking me how I feel. There won´t be anyone telling me ¨It´s OK,¨ or reminding me that despite the daily ego hits, there are things I´m good at. I´ll miss those little crutches, but I´m as ready as I´ll ever be.

P.S. All the hippies claiming that Starbucks, the WTO, and any large corporations with their manufacturing or farming in developing countries are evil empires: try living in a developing country. I fully support those developments because they are feeding hard working families. Their are certain steps that every economy must go through to reach wealth. What are you doing to help? Don´t protest these processes and delay the betterment of workers rights. Instead protest trade barriers to get more money to the world´s poorest employees. Remember the economy is not an equal sum game.