Today was relatively slow, especially compared to yesterday. I’ll admit that having a bit of a breather was something of a welcome respite. We were originally scheduled to meet with Eduardo Montealegre just after lunch today, but the interview was pushed back to four-thirty. Also on the schedule was a meeting with Ricardo Teran, an accomplished young entrepreneur, which we decided to reschedule for our next trip.
We also have consistent Internet access for the first time since our arrival, so we’ve all been checking our e-mail and reading up on what’s been happening in the rest of the world since we’ve been gone. Apparently this blog is quite a hit amongst our family and friends, and now would be a good time to thank those people, who are too numerous to name, for their encouragement and assistance. Writing an essay or a poem is mostly a solitary task, but one of the biggest things I’m learning in the course of this project is that film-making is a collaborative endeavor. We’d be lost without the professors who’ve taught us, the family members who’ve supported us, and the friends who’ve been there for us on every step of this journey.
And speaking of familial connections, I need to say a few words about our interview with Eduardo Montealegre, who looks so much like his younger brother that they could be twins, two sides of the same coin. I’m not just talking physical appearances either; their mannerisms are similar, their voices and inflections are almost identical, and - if this kind of judgment can be made after a twenty-minute interview - their minds work the same way. Senor Montealegre, like his brother, gave us well-organized, concise answers that were so well-thought out as to seem impossibly pre-planned. We interviewed him at his campaign headquarters, an experience in and of itself. Walking through the door I felt like I’d walked into a human beehive: People were walking briskly every which way, phones were ringing left and right, and everything moved at twice the speed of the world outside. Crazy!
After the interview, we went over to a sports complex where an Almori company soccer game was going on. Arthur was impressed by the level of camaraderie between the players. It’s easy for a company, especially a successful one, not to work to build relationships between its employees; that Almori cares so much about its workers’ lives in and out of the office is part of what sets it apart from many businesses. The game itself seemed pretty intense, as did the shouts of encouragement from the stands. Particularly entertaining was when one of the goalies accidentally kicked the ball out of the field, over the stands, and out of the park; two minutes later, it came flying back over the rows of seats and onto the field.
One Response to “Families and a Game of Soccer”
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May 3rd, 2006 at 7:03 pm
I’m a U.S. citizen-Nicaraguan resident and teach high school ESL and civics here in Masatepe. Very interesting blog. You guys certainly got quite a lot done during your time here in Nicaragua. I can’t wait to see the final product.
- Greg in Masatepe