The harsh reality

I have gone from first class flying to realizing the harsh reality of what we are undertaking in a matter of hours. Last night we ate a good size italian meal at Houston, then steaks on the plane,(no not snakes on a plane, steaks) then we got to our host´s house and we were basically required to eat or it would have been extremely rude. Believe it or not, our host´s name for the frist 3 nights is none other than Don Juan. Yes, thats right Don Juan. He´s actually not as much the ladies man as I expected but hes a darn good cook. I have to say it wasn´t exactly torture to have to eat a third dinner. He cooked up(go ahead guess), beans and rice! We also had sweet white corn tamales and a type of hard salty nicaraguan cheese that I likened to feta, but harder. o yeah, and I tried the world famous nica coffee, i really don´t like coffee, but I drank it out of respect and considering I could take it down without making even the slightest face, it must have been darn good coffee. I think was made it work was that he had like a pound of sugar in each ounce. It is definitely nicaraguas equivalent to sweet souther tea back home. It will get you wired!

After dinner we went to the Suni solar headquarters, where Grupo fenix assembles solar panels for installation in the remote villages. There we got to sit with 2 other solar culture course participants and drink some good ol´Veronica beer. It seems all the nica beers are named after women. Veronica and i aren´t friends anymore. She didn´t sit too well with me, although I can´t totally blame her because I did eat 3 dinners and drink some highly caffinated coffee, then came veronica, but she is the scapegoat.

That was the beginning of a miserable sleepless night. Apparently saturday night is party night in Barrio Edgar Mangia. There was a party right next door blaring music until 1 am, then another party picked up and ran nearly all night until 430 am! It was kinda weird because at the end of the night, when I happend to be in the midst of one of the greatest battles my intestines and stomach have ever had, I got a little comfort from the party when they suddenly broke into religious songs, one of which just happens to be the same as we sing at St. Jerome´s back home. Shortly thereafter the battle ended and I won´t say who won. So I really didn´t sleep nearly all night due to Veronica and the partys. So to end on a humorous note, here are a couple pictures to show you how GIGANTIC I am in Nica. No, they definitely don´t sell size 13 sneaks!

Last Week in the U.S.

Monday, July 23rd, 2007
Newport News, VA

My coworkers threw me a going away luncheon at Smokey Bones. Ed Kist organized the whole thing and presented me with 2 MREs, 2 rolls of toilet paper and a can of sausage... things people thought I would need. My office was also very generous with gift certificates to local resturants so that C.J. and I can eat well for our last few days in NN.

In the evening we worked to organize the rest of the misc. items and we started cleaning up a lot. There is not much left to do, but still A LOT left to do. We had a huge Ruby Tuesdasy´s feast, carryout of course, which was a great break from all the hard work

Tuesday, July 24th, 2007

Rick and Melissa wanted to take us out for one last hurrah and to celebrate their recent engagement, but we had too much work to do. Instead, we invited them over to have Olive Garden takeout, again courtesy of my office :-) It was great to see them, and plus they helped us out big time with the cleaning.

After R & M left, we packed our "bring with us" stuff into our luggage for the first time. The books that Richard Komp (of Fenix) sent us completely filled C.J.s carryon, making it about 50lbs, and thats not to mention the tools and liquid items that made our other bags rediculously heavy. We decided we would redistribute the weight later and just went to bed.

Wednesday, July 25th, 2007

We woke up really early to pack up the car and quickly realized that we had about twice as much stuff as would fit into my PT cruiser. I started to freak out, but C.J. suggested that we just put a car-load into Grandmother´s shed for Mom to pick up when she comes down next. Of course, both Mom and Gmom were happy to help us out, but I was stressed about the whole process and was feeling like a huge burden on everyone. I had a little break down, but the worst is over... at least I´m pretty sure it is. Moving has to be the worst part, right?

Once I got to work, an hour and a half late, C.J. called to tell me that the extra keys to his car, which he is leasing to Isabel Cadillo, are in Gmom´s shed. Crap. I went to get them during lunch, and it actually worked out nicely because Uncle Tom and Mike were there having lunch, so I got see them one last time! The rest of the day was uneventful; we made the drive up to NOVA with ease and spent the evening with my parents.

Thursday, July 26th, 2007
Great Falls, VA

Our main goal for Thrurs was to sell my car and our plan was to take it to Carmax. We cleaned it all up, and Mom even helped us polish the crome, which went from black to bling. Carmax found the car to be in good condition, but they only offered us $2500, which is practically a crime! With a huff, we went home and posted it online. Since we only had a day left in the US, we signed the title off to Mom, who agreed to sell it for us. It´s not the outcome I was looking for, but I am so grateful to have such wonderful parents who are always there to catch me no matter which way I fall!

We also bought Harry Potter (for my birthday), but I haven´t had a chance to start it yet!

Friday, July 27th, 2007
Great Falls, VA

Today we finished up our last minute preparations and shopping before flying out. I think we repacked our bags at least twice to make our weight limits... I was right about the tools. We had to ditch a few books Richard sent us, but the rest made it.

Our going away party was in the evening and we had a great turn out - even some friends we haven´t seen in over a year. We really appreciate that Mom C put the whole thing together and we had a great time talking to everyone. Unfortunately we had to leave early to repack the bags again.

Finally one from C.J.!

Ok, so now we are Nicaragua so I can begin to let you all know what´s going on. Obviously since I am writing this Jenny and I arrived safely. Actually, our trip went so smoothly that I can´t explain it any other way than to say that God must have been watching us. Mom, the cake message Vaya con Dios really worked! So our trip starts in Dulles airport yesterday moring. We get to check in and the accepted all of our enormous bags (some slightly over 70 lbs) and I was able to persuade them to give us priority baggage handling! We got to our gate and had a scare, the connecting flight to houston before us was delayed by over 5 hours. I was supposed to be a 7 am flight and ours was 12:30 and we left before them. It turned out that the previous houston flight had a damaged engine and was grounded for repairs. I could have booked that flight but I decided to pass on it and take the later one so we would have more time. Worked out good because I don´t know if they ever left. (that´s 2 all too lucky things) Next, we get to houston and I had an old northwest $10 voucher for a miserable trip to Michigan last week that they managed to mess up. The voucher was supposed to be only good for the day of the inconvenience but there was no date on it and I saved it till now. The first restaurant we went to accepted it, so Jenny and I had lunch for free. You know how I love free. Now for number 4, Jenny and I got upgraded to first class for our 4.5 hour flight to Mangua. Oh baby, it was so sweet! We got hooked up with free drinks and a steak dinner and had those big cushy chairs and a row to ourselves. There´s nothing like going from complete luxury to the opposite in a few hours. The icing on the cake was that the priority baggage handling actually worked and we were one of the first people of the plane (cause we were first class baby!) then our bags were actually the first 4 to show up on the carousel. then we walked outside and Grupo fenix had 2 people and a pickup truck already waiting for us. They recognized us right away, from that handsome pic of the two of us on this page and we were on the road to a place we´ll call home for 3 days within 10 minutes of our flight landing. I couldn´t believe it, defintely the best flight experience I ever had. I have also included a couple pictures of Jenny and I living it up in first class. Not bad for day one.

Solar Culture Course

For our first 12 days in Nica will be taking the Grupo Fenix Solar Culture Course, which serves as our orientation. Click here to see what we'll be doing: http://www.grupofenix.org/courses.html

Moving Day

When I said that C.J. and I underestimated the magnitude of the packing & moving task, that was an understatement. Yesterday we had some friends come over to help load up the truck and (as is no surprise to anyone who's ever moved a house before) it pretty much took all evening. A big thanks goes out to Steve Smith, Ed Kist, James Desrosier, Jason Lenakos, Jay Gentry, Ashley Gentry, Joel Hartman, and Allan Abela. We all agree that Ed is a Tetris genius - he managed to fit a 22 ft truck's worth of stuff into a 16 footer, saving us about $600.

This morning C.J. and I headed to Massanutten to unload the majority of our furniture and boxes into the Colavito Mountain House. We were met there by Dad, Kenny, Tony, Nicole, and Chris, who were all a big help with unloading and organizing. Then the items that didn't fit at CMH were driven up to Fairfax. Kenny & Tony took a few items for their apartment, Grandma took a few, and the rest are still in the truck ready to be taken to my parent's house tomorrow morning. The great news is that we don't have to buy any storage! We are so grateful that are families are able to help us out.

Moving Stress

Life is starting to get more stressful as we get closer to our departure date. C.J. went to Michigan on Monday of this week, and was supposed to fly home on Wednesday evening, but he got stuck there. He didn't make it home until yesterday at noon and then he was exhausted from lack of sleep, an oncoming cold, and pain in his neck. We are picking up the truck today, so we had to get everything in order last night. I stayed up pretty late packing, and I think we're ready to start loading - the big stuff at least. We tried to prepare for our move as much as possible well ahead of time, and that has helped a lot, but I think we underestimated the magnitude of the task. I know that we have it under control, but moving still makes me very anxious!

Packing & Anticipating

We have less than two weeks left in the US! We've been planning for our trip since February (actually longer), but it still seems like there is a lot to do.

We spent all last weekend packing up the house, and I am amazed at the number of boxes we've filled. We made good progress though, there are just a few odds and ends left. We are bringing a total of 8 bags to Nicaragua with us: 2 checked bags, 1 carry on, and 1 book bag each. Fortunately C.J. is "silver medallion," so 2 of our checked bags can be 70 lbs. C.J.'s tools are really heavy though, so we'll see how that goes. It was really hard for me to narrow down my clothing selection - I really wanted to bring all my pretty skirts :-( C.J. had to remind me a few times that we won't be "going out" down there.

It is hard for me to explain my anticipation of the trip. I am just overwhelmed by the whole idea right now. It is kind of like when C.J. and I went sky diving... I wasn't scared when we spent all day waiting for the clouds to clear, I wasn't scared when we put on the gear & practiced our form, I wasn't scared when we got into that tin can of a plane, and I wasn't scared as we climbed to 10,000 feet. I thought I wasn't scared, but when I got to the edge of the door and it was time to jump, the instructor had to pry my hands off the doorway and drag me out. I don't know when it's going to hit me, and I guess I can't think about it now because there's too much else to do. Well, I guess you'll soon find out - keep us in your prayers.

Welcome to Grupo Colavito - Must Read

Thanks for visiting Grupo Colavito! We will use this blog to document our year long volunteer experience in Nicaragua with Grupo Fenix.

While we’re in Nicaragua, C.J. and I will be working as members of a sub-group of Grupo Fenix called CIPPER, which stands for the Center for Research, Promotion, and Production of Renewable Energy. The center is based in a small rural village called Sabana Grande near the northern border of Nicaragua. This is the place where research and ideas are put into practical application. With our help, Sabana Grande will become the model village for a sustainable solar culture.

In Sabana Grande, we will be managing projects and acting as applications engineers to develop renewable energy systems that improve the quality of life of impoverished Nicaraguans. We will also be living with a family in the village and experiencing daily life in the same way that they do.

We are leaving the country on July 28th, and we are really excited, yet scared to be leaving! Please keep us in your prayers!