Adjustment of Plans

Not unexpectedly I received a call in the very early morning hours from American Airlines informing me of the cancellation of my flight. It was a connecting flight with a layover in Miami so this came as no surprise. I went back to sleep and dealt with it at the slightly more human hour of 6:30 am. Rescheduling the flights was fairly straightforward and I am set for Sunday morning with the slight annoyance that I fly out of LaGuardia rather than Newark, which I much prefer. The complicated part was rearranging my lodgings which was spread out over two hotels in three parts (first night in Managua, 2nd-4th in Jinotega, 5th and 6th back in Managua). Despite the fact that my conversational Spanish is quite adequate I always get nervous when I make arrangements by phone as I can't be sure whether I am being understood (you know, those quizzical glances you get when you order "a large bottle of tractor") and where I will be sleeping is at stake. Anyways, it seemed to go well - Nicaraguans seem to speak rapidly but clearly. Very lovely people at the other end of the phone. I think I am pretty much re-set.

I intend to travel pretty light. Heaviest stuff going down will be some basic surveying toys and some gifts for the people of Sasle. Upon the very good advice of the EWB-USA coordinator for the region, Edrulfio Rodriguez, most of the stuff I have will go to the students or the schools.

 

As for my stuff, I have really tried to learn from the difficulties we encountered in Panama. One thing that became painfully clear is that you can NEVER have too many measurements or photographs. Aside from my camera (with a fresh memory card) I am packing some basic stuff  I already had - compass, tape measure, old GPS unit, plus some new toys.The new stuff includes a laser measure, a laser level and a distance wheel. The only other things I plan on bringing are ziplock bags, tape and a sharpie to collect soil samples. 

 

That's about it for the moment. Oh, yeah, cool thing about the hotel in Managua - when I was calling them earlier today, the on-hold music was Bach's Praeludio to the Suite in E for lute. It is one of my favorite pieces and this was a lovely version of it. That has to be a good omen! I will post more about the hotels later.