I walked four hours yesterday through some of the prettiest parts of the world. There were parts I had passed in bus before and never really had the chance to just stop and stare at. There were flowers by the side of the road I had never had the time to smell or pick. I climbed a hilltop on a great divide from which the views abound. The tallest peak in the Municipality, Cayansimil, played peak-a-boo from behind passing mists. The misnomer El Volcán stood proud and tall on the other side of what seemed to be the infintesimally small town of San Sebastian de Yalí.

After a beautiful day of adventures, I was afronted by further frustrations. The Peace Corps requires work reports every so often to make sure we are actually volunteering our time and efforts. The new design has been unserviceable to say the least. I have now written the report twice and on my third attempt this morning, could not even open the file. This, after making the best out of what would otherwise have been an idle weekend. I went to a community to work on a promised and highly anticipated business plan with a local entrepreneur. Needless to say, the business plan hadn´t been touched. We pushed through and developed some of his ideas anyway. The weekend did prove productive, but enlessly frustrating.

Compared to the world standard, North Americans are active, timely, and easily annoyed. We are perplexed when others don´t fit into our norms of acheivement, aptitude and motivation. When things don´t work, I make them work. There´s often a large amount of inner turmoil and frustration, but things happen. I am critical, demanding, always certain, goal oriented and motivating. I am an Alien in Nicaragua. I am American.