Anyway--upon waking up 15 mins after breakfast had been packed away and most of the class had already head out for the day, I rushed to ask the oh-so-friendly staff of Hotel Villa Isabelle to whip me up a "needed in less than 5 mins meal".
My respective group, to be working with our "new" entrepreneur, was packing up and ready to head to the border between Nicaragua and Costa Rica. This was our first day after having dinner with Pablo, a local to San Juan del Sur, who was looking to establish a steady stream of income for himself in serving as a self-employed customs agent. We had plans to commute no more than 40 mins from our quaint hotel, in effort to further understand what went into Pablo's day-to-day operations, what colored his work atmosphere and what logistical concerns went into traversing the border.
While en route, our team marveled at a field of windmills that allegedly generated all the electricity necessary to power a neighboring town. About 20 mins after our windmill encounter we came to a dusty halt at the border between the two countries (Nicaragua & Costa Rica).
We got to see Pablo's humble work space, and understand the expenses and procedures that go into practicing his trade in Nicaragua. After talking in his office for about 20 minutes about potential solutions to his concerns, we ventured back up the alley, traversing his building to reach the main, vaguely one-lane'd road leading to to makeshift barricade. The road was accented with vendors and "Claro" advertising, and locals somewhat confused by our ethnically diverse group.
We approached the clearing in the border where people could freely move in and out, and we were quickly halted by an official in an Contagion-esque mask, a branded-black cap and the sort of professional air that insinuates subtle condescension. He immediately told me to put me camera away, as him and Pablo communicated about the legality of non-Nicaraguan visitors being admitted into the depot. A few favors were called in and we were allowed to enter.
I quickly tucked away my camera away and we continued. 45 mins after exploring the depot, and a pop-up photoshoot with Pablo (in effort to produce branding materials)... we were headed back to our comfortable villa in San Juan. Exhausted and very eager to discuss reimagined plans over a very necessary lunch, we continued our work chasing the ever fleeting wi-fi.
Later that evening I got a chance to vibe out with a really friendly local atop a vibrantly painted bus beckoning to be climbed upon. Here's a photo of me and the Tona pacified local man laughing about much of nothing. I spoke broken Spanish, and he spoke rudimentary Spanglish, but we connected on uninhibited spontaneity, and and the beauty of a rose-tinted sunset. Definitely a day to remember.
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