Horseshoe crabs!

I found some horseshoe crab shells on my summer trip to Cape Cod with my family. I thought they might be interesting to see for those who may not be able to visit the beach all the time, as they're a really cool animal. They not really a crab! They're also ancient - the species is 200 million years old, according to this Rhode Island Sea Grant Fact Sheet.

Here are a couple of pictures of the first one I painted, along with one I left unpainted.

I found the wind turbines!

Here's a couple of articles about the wind turbines I would look out at many mornings on Ometepe Island. I wish I had money to invest in renewable energy for Nicaragua!

This one has a good photo of Volcan Maderas in the background.
https://www.atmosfair.de/en/our-projects/projekte00/nicaragua-wind-power/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/02/nicaragua-wind-power-anot_n_154836.html

Chicken bus under the wind turbines!!!!!!!!! :) :)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28421541/ns/us_news-environment/t/nicaragua-adds-wind-power-energy-mix/

Sustainable Shrimp Farming

I love shrimp. My grandma always remembers me wanting to order shrimp cocktail when we went to Cape Cod. Once it was considered a delicacy, and now, thanks to shrimp farming, more of us middle class can afford to eat shrimp on a more regular basis. Unfortunately, one of my favorite foods is not always good for the environment: many mangrove forests are destroyed to make room for shrimp farms!

On the other hand, Central America and entrepreneurship is once again here to save the day. :) A woman from the US went to Belize several years ago to begin shrimp farming there. She and the people of Belize are now working together to not only farm shrimp, but to farm it sustainably, with less impact to the environment. (Note that Belize is a bit different, where clay soil is moved around to make big ponds for the shrimp instead of mangrove forests). She and the owner of Aqua Mar and several other shrimp companies, along with the World Wildlife Federation, are now working to create standards for the shrimp farming.

Take a look below!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5haEZ2OFbrY&feature=player_embedded#at=68

Awesome Bilingual Book!

I found an AWESOME bilingual book I want to bring with me to Nicaragua. :) I'm so excited. The little kids will love the rhymes and songs and fun things to do while we read the book. :) :) :) :)

Check it out if you'd like to practice English/Spanish on Google Books:

The Bilingual Book of Rhymes, Songs, and...

I'm going to have to memorize some of the ones in Spanish to learn them. I found it while looking up "I want to go sledding!" because it's snowing here and I want to show the students on Skype. :)

Bringing it all back home

Traveling abroad has taught me quite a few lessons. Yes, it taught me some more language. It taught me some more about different cultures. But it taught me something more important. I may only be one person, but what I do with my life affects the world, sometimes in a big way.

I've been flitting around a number of websites, which started at one that some Clarkson students work on: izzitgreen. I was hoping it would be a review of common products that I would want to buy, so it could tell me whether or not they are sustainable, but I'll have to keep looking for that.

Along the way, I've found that 'Chilean sea bass' live so long they should never really ever be eaten, and that many shrimp we buy cheap are farmed. I never recall eating Chilean sea bass, but apparently they live for 50 years and rarely reproduce, so harvesting them at all is not a good idea for their populations or the other animals (like whales) that rely on them for food. The more important thing for me was the shrimp. I NEVER knew that farmed shrimp would hurt the environment. However, apparently farmed shrimp are often produced in converted mangrove forests. If you are unfamiliar with mangrove forests, they are home to some of the coolest trees in the world, which live in more water than normal trees do. Go look for pictures. They're cool.

So in addition to buying local food, I'll be using this guide to help buy fish when I need some variety in my diet. Currently, I'm enjoying fresh homemade salsa, homemade tomato sauce, homemade pickles, local yogurt and veggies (including some of the sweetest sweet corn ever!), and fresh chicken from a local Amish family. It's pretty delicious. I have some purple potatoes from the local farmer's market (where I purchased the majority of the above) that are calling my name for dinner within the next few days. It's nice to be able to say that the food on my plate all came from within a few miles.

I do hope to continue to buy some of my favorite processed foods, however. This will require a little bit of research. At least R. W. Garcia made my purchasing of tortilla chips a little easier by labeling that their corn is non-GMO.

Well, I believe that is enough food research for the night. I'm hoping to speak with my students momentarily!

Skype Chats

Well, I'm back at school (Clarkson University) for my graduate level work, so hopefully now I'll be able to speak with the students on the island via Skype more often.

I spoke with them twice this summer, and they were enjoying their new teachers. Horacio is doing well at the Ave Maria English school, and even gave an oral presentation in English!

A couple more of the students made it to level 3, so hopefully they will be enrolled, too.

I can't wait to talk to the students again! I miss them!

We can mail things to the school!

My apologies for the delay in posting the address to mail goodies to, but here it is!


Alvaro Molina
Hacienda Merida
Apartado postal # 21
Volcan Maderas, Isla de Ometepe
Nicaragua, CA

Please keep in mind that anything deemed of value will be held by customs, so inexpensive things like children's books and little toys will go through just fine. Bilingual books are awesome. Small packages are best, as boxes will also get stuck in customs. Booyaka! Mom is going to send another package of Go Fish! cards soon! :) I'm excited.

Let me know if you have any questions if you want to mail anything!