Thursday March 19- Zain Thaver

Today marked one week of the duration of our trip and now it feels like the trip is going by faster than it did before. We are currently in San Juan Del Sur and today was the day where all the groups met up and helped their entrepreneurs with their businesses. Everyone came down by 8:30 am for a traditional Nicaraguan breakfast consisting of; eggs, waffles, pancakes, fruits, and rice and beans. 

All the groups met with their entrepreneurs by 9 am to start a long day of work and activities. Our group met up with Bruno Palermo, an event planner, who needed help making a contract, updating his website, looking over his financial statements and editing any other imperative documents. Bruno is a tremendously smart guy who has a passion for what he does and we were really looking forward to helping him out and expand his business. The first thing we did was help him make a contract in both Spanish and English. His main concern was making a contract because when stuff breaks and does not go accordingly to his plan, the contract will help him implement the necessary changes to make sure everything is resolved. The second thing we did was help him update his website. The students the year before helped him make a website which turned out extremely well so we just helped him add and take out anything to make the website more appealing and up to date. The third thing we did was look over all his financial statements. We looked at his income statements and cash flow sheet to make sure everything was there and in the right order. By 1 pm, lunch was served at the hotel and this was by far my favorite lunch of the trip: Tacos! We all made our own tacos and it was so delicious. By 2 pm, we went back into our groups and worked more with our entrepreneur. We also started making presentations for the next day. Bruno was really happy that we helped him out with everything and to see a smile on his face warmed all our hearts with a feeling of satisfaction that we are making an impact on the lives of the people living here.

By 4 pm, everyone was getting tired of working so much so we all decided to spend the rest of the evening at the beach since we never got the chance to go to the beach. One of the UAM students drove her pickup truck to San Juan so we decided to take her car. This was probably not the most viable option because 8 of us sat in the bed of the truck, 3 in the back seat, and 2 in the front. This was by far the craziest, bumpiest, ride ever while being squished in the bed of a pickup truck. We reached the beach and it was a sight that I could not even describe. The sun was beaming, and the waves were slowly passing by, I could not wait to go into the beach. We all went into the water and had a fun time swimming, surfing, and laying on the sand. We also watched the beautiful sun set.

We all got back to the hotel by 7 pm, showered and ate dinner at a local restaurant. We got back to the hotel by 9 pm and started working more on our presentations and finished up any last minute work for our entrepreneurs. Today, I had an amazing and productive day helping my entrepreneur and going to the beach. I made sure to make the most of the time I have here because I know this trip would definitely be one of my favorite memorable trips. Going to the beach was immensely relaxing as I was able to forget all my worries and lay on the hot sand while watching the beautiful sun set.