Simple Networking

How I establish myself in each country is often a mystery to many. I simply network. Within a week of being in Leon, I had found a Spanish teacher, a volunteer job, a family homestay, a gym, and am making new friends. Jordan, a peace corp volunteer who has been in Leon for the last 5 months didn't understand my method until I took her out for a drink and then promptly introduced her to several people who could help her with her project. I also gave her the phone number of a person in Managua doing similar work as well as the phone number for my Spanish teacher. I introduced her to the friends I had made and overnight expanded her network. I like to connect people just as much as I like to meet new people. As a side job, I should work as a professional wing woman since my friends here tell me that I am really good at connecting strangers in bars.



Through a former Peace Corp volunteer with whom I connected through the owner of my hostel, I have a homestay at $5/day including breakfast and dinner. I'm living with 2 parents, a daughter my age, and 3 grand kids along with 2 ducks and 2 chickens we plan to eat next weekend for the parent's birthdays. They bought the ducks 4 months ago and have been fattening them up for this party. The ducks hang out in the small open courtyard located in the middle of the house. Our breakfast and dinner conversations disturb me since when we sit around the kitchen table, we stare at the animals and discuss how tasty they will be once cooked. I try not to befriend the animals and thankfully, the family has not given them names. I stay in a simple room and share their one bathroom with the rest of the family. The family and I connected on the first day when all generations and I started dancing to the blaring music from their living room stereo. I decided on the homestay instead of staying in a hostel or getting my own apartment for the month because I want to work on my Spanish.

Through an American I met in Managua who is staying in Leon, I found a private Spanish tutor, Iliana at $4/hour. She is wonderful to work with and the other day we even went on a tour of the local hospital. She knew of my interest in the health sector and so we went down to the hospital and requested a tour of the facility. The director personally gave us a tour of the 6 floor hospital, which surprised me by the size and shocked me by the disorganization and feeling of being in a building falling apart. They obviously can not afford the medical devices I use to market, and they only have 1 surgery room. Sick kids filled many of the rooms and I left a little depressed and less hygienic.

Within a couple days, I met with just about every NGO in Leon. Although interesting, I decided against volunteering with street kids since I wanted to try something new. Instead, I somehow talked my way into helping at Fundacion Leon 2000, a microcredit organization, that is also linked to KIVA, kiva.org the SF based lending organization connecting ordinary people to small business owners around the world. My Spanish has much to learn and so I'm not sure how useful I can be since I have a difficult time following conversations. However, I did help with a business plan by providing some input and I sat through a business proposal for financing. I think I shadow more than I help right now, and I am learning about the challenges of working and starting a new business in a developing country.

Tomorrow, I will help review business plans as part of a business plan competition for people who have recently completed a 6 month business plan training course. Additionally, I will listen to another business seeking funding. The business ideas are all the same though; they are either another restaurant serving typical food, a photo copy place, an internet shop, or a shop selling pens and notebooks. Every street has one of each of these types of stores and I still am not sure how each business survives with so much competition. In the business plans, the potential owners explain that they are different from their competition because they expect to obtain business from those located within a couple blocks of their business. I can't imagine that people are so lazy that they would not walk 2 blocks to a better shop, but what do I know.

I've also agreed to help with a Peace Corp run English camp for kids to learn English that starts shortly. And tomorrow, I'm meeting with the Director of the Internal Medicine group at the hospital to see if I can learn more about their hospital operations. I had hoped to work with ProMujer another microcredit organization, focusing predominately on women. However, with only a month in Leon, my time is a little constrained for them.

As for making friends, I have met quite a few ex-pats who have decided to make Leon their home for the last few years. One of them introduced me to her gym and although, I haven't belonged to a gym since college, I plan to try it here for only $15/month. Jordan invited me over for Thanksgiving and I've been checking out the night life with fellow tourists. I'm trying to keep my expenses to below $20/day to make up for the money spent in the US in order to stay on budget. All in all, my new life in Nicaragua has begun.