Managua

I'm in Managua. Presently, I'm in the air-conditioned offices of IBW, the largest Internet service provider in the country. I'm staying at the home of John Wyss, its president. His home is nice, not over-the-top. He drives an SUV, and the air conditioning is always on full-blast. He is the busiest person I've ever met.

Managua is hot, sprawling, and chaotic. Decidedly not pretty. By taxi-ing around the city, I'm beginning to learn its layout. Being in a place like this feels empowering: you can get things done. People want to help you. Many of them know what they're doing. I should have come much sooner, for many reasons.

We had dinner last night, John and some telecom business men and I, at an Italian restaurant. I felt out of place, but I appreciated the opportunity to see how projects work from their level. I hope that this will be empowering in the future, so I can understand how my work fits into the "bigger picture" of development and business.

Ack, gotta go. Sorry there wasn't more art to this post. Or maybe that's just an expression of my mood.

Oh, and I voted!