More NicaRado! Comunidad Connect Event this Sunday in Denver

June 18th, 2009 | By Joshua | No Comments »

THIS SUNDAY IN DENVER: FUNDRAISER FOR SAN JUAN DEL SUR, NICARAGUA: CONNECTING CLEAN WATER AND RECYCLING

Please join us in raising money towards the purchase of a truck, which will enable two organizations to function more efficiently through positive collaboration.

First, Comunidad Connect will use the truck to facilitate a recycling program, by picking up recyclables from schools and other locations within the community and delivering them to a collection point. The second, Newton/San Juan Sister City Project will use the truck to deliver BioSand water filters to rural communities who otherwise have no access to clean drinking water. Comunidad Connect volunteers regularly help with the water filter project and the two organizations work together often.
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NicaRado Event this Friday at Buzz Coffee in Longmont — support Nicaraguan children artists and talk to them via Skype

June 16th, 2009 | By Joshua | No Comments »

Kathy Adams, Director and Founder of Empowerment International, a non-profit that supports high-risk children in Granada, Nicaragua, is spending a few weeks stateside to spread the word about and drum up support for her organization. Join her for a unique, fun, open-air, evening fund-raiser which will include a live video conference with some of the kids in the barrio in Granada.

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Jubilate! Boulder Jalapa Friendship City Projects to Host Fundraiser Concert this Saturday in Boulder

June 10th, 2009 | By Joshua | No Comments »

“Jubilate,” prounounced “hu-bi-LA-tay”, means “Shout For Joy”! It’s an appropriate name for the next Nica-Rado event, coming up this Saturday in Boulder, CO. It’s also the name of the musical group which will be performing that night: the Jubilate Sacred Singers, a Boulder-based choral group. Jalapa is the official Nicaraguan sister city of Boulder, CO, located in the northern highlands, along a remote stretch of the border with Honduras. In addition to supporting various small-scale development projects, the Boulder-Jalapa Friendship City Projects also sends annual delegations to Nicaragua. Come this weekend to find out more and enjoy some music.
Here’s the info:

June 13, 2009
First Christian Church Disciples of Christ,
950 28th St. Boulder, CO  80302

Tickets: $15 (or $10 for students)

Nicaragua featured on Travel Channel’s “Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern” tonight!

June 2nd, 2009 | By Joshua | No Comments »

Andrew Zimmern goes to Nicaragua. Check out the official Travel Channel page which features extra photos, highlights, and video clips that won’t appear on the show.

[Travel Channel LINKS]->

[YouTube preview]->

Bizarre Nicaragua Event in North Boulder: Tuesday evening, June 2, at Namaste Solar!

May 24th, 2009 | By Joshua | No Comments »

For the Mothers in Nicaragua … from Empowerment International

May 9th, 2009 | By Joshua | 1 Comment »

From Empowerment International, which helps high-risk children in the outlying barrios of Granada, Nicaragua: “Please join us in celebrating Mothers’ Day this year by honoring those women in the barrio who are actively and increasingly supportive of their children’s education…. As a tribute, we’ve put together a slide show showing some of these women (see above). And if you’re looking for a way to honor your own mother or grandmother, how about making a small donation in her name? After doing so, please do leave a dedication to her in the comments.” [LINK]->

Nicaragua volcano-surfing article

May 9th, 2009 | By Joshua | 6 Comments »

Five years ago, while exploring the city of León, I stumbled into the office of a nascent Dutch-run tour company called Va Pues Tours where I found Jan, Joost, and a few friends waxing up some bizarre, stainless-steel-plated snowboards. “For the volcano,” they said, “Cerro Negro. Do you want to come?” Did I want to be a guinea pig for the first volcano-surfer prototypes in Nicaragua?

“Yes,” I said.

We climbed, we strapped in, we slid through dried lava — both inside and outside the sulfur-steaming crater. It was good, hot fun, but I never got anywhere near the speeds these rock-surfers are getting today, according to this article in the Daily Mail: “Volcano boarding: Adrenaline junkies think new extreme sport is the coolest thing going.”  People are sliding or riding at speeds of up to 50 mph, it says. They must have found a very steep spot.
Once a reader of Moon Nicaragua wrote to us to complain about environmental impacts of volcano-boarding, but he never gave any details—so I’m curious if anyone has any ideas or observations about this. In the meantime, here are a few shots from my day on the slopes, 2003…

Where Am I Wearing: Kelsey the Touron Travels to the Origin of his Clothes

May 3rd, 2009 | By Joshua | 1 Comment »

Where am I Wearing?: A Global Tour to the Countries, Factories, and People that Make Our Clothes is an impressive debut book—a clever concoction of memoir, travelogue, and narrative nonfiction—by Kelsey Timmerman, popular travel blogger and the original Traveling Touron.

In Wearing, Kelsey takes us on a decidedly different kind of journey than the other titles on the “travel lit” shelf, most of which are macho/romantic memoir clutter. Kelsey travels to the garment industry countries where his clothes were made, a seemingly simple proposition which arose not from any academic/journalist rigueur, but rather the sheer curiosity that came from reading the tags on his t-shirt, boxers, jeans, and flip-flops one day. That meant going to Honduras, Cambodia, China, and Bangladesh. So he went. (more…)

Eat Brunch, Build an Orphanage in Nicaragua!

February 27th, 2009 | By Joshua | No Comments »

Another chance for Colorado Nicaphiles to come together and do some good. This Sunday, March 1, is the Americas Association for the Care of Children’s 4th Annual Champagne Brunch & Live Charity Auction. There are a few seatings, so please check out their website and make your plans. I donated a few copies of Moon Nicaragua which will be auctioned accompanied with personal trip-coaching sessions with the author. There are many other excellent prizes and, of course, the wonderful Latin cuisine of Aji’s restaurant on Pearl Street. See you there!

Andrew Zimmern, “El Pelón Comelón,” opens wide in Nicaragua

February 21st, 2009 | By Joshua | 11 Comments »

“STOMACH OF STEEL” read the headline on the front page of yesterday’s La Prensa, featuring renowned culinary traveler, chef, and host of Travel Channel’s “Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern.” The “pelón who eats worms,” as everyone here refers to him (”pelón” means “bald guy”) is well known in Nicaragua. I’ve been traveling with Zimmern and his crew as their “location specialist” in Nicaragua, helping them find the most interesting sites and dishes. While visiting the Land of Lakes and Volcanoes, Zimmern is sampling bus food, market food, fritanga food, Creole food, fair trade coffee, and a few pleasant (and not-so-pleasant) surprises along the way.

Zimmern has traveled to the culinary boundaries of dozens of countries with his show, but this is his first time in Central America. In fact, “Bizarre Foods Nicaragua” will be the premiere episode of the third season; the show is seen in 70 countries around the world and the Nicaragua episode is scheduled to air June 2, 2009.

The La Prensa article, entitled “Chanfaina o Moronga?” (which means “Pig guts stew or blood sausage?”) by Geiner Bonilla is very well written and reported, undescoring Zimmern’s main point: that eating local food with its people is the best way to get to know a country and that “disgusting” is a relative term. Of course the show is about much more than just “bizarre” dishes of Nicaragua; it is about the food, people, and natural beauty that make this country unique in the region and the world. This includes high-quality coffee, baseball games, and Nicaraguans’ ability to continually rebuild and reinvent their country. I can’t wait to see the end result, but first, we have a few more volcanoes and restaurants to hit…