Un Fin de Semana Perezosa

This is my first weekend here and I have the house all to myself. So, feeling more adventurous, I went down into Bucerias central, where the plaza is painted bright purple and yellow and the vendors trying to sell their wares to the fewer than usual tourists hang out by the beach. It was nice to wander around and even nicer to get out and about and gaze at the ocean. I stumbled onto an English language bookstore, where oddly enough, James Michener's "Mexico" sat in the window. While mentions of Michener's name remind me of high school history class, I couldn't resist getting the book. I mean, if I don't appreciate it in Mexico, where else can I read it? Then it was off to the cafe for an iced latte and a bagel with cream cheese and tomato that tasted better than usual since it was unexpected. Finally, I ended up at the sweet shop, where I swear the owner had me taste every variety of sweet treat in the store. By 12:30 it was hot out and I desperately wanted to jump into the ocean though I realized I was lacking the right clothes for it. So, I rushed as fast as I could back to the house for a dip in the pool. Now that I'm in relaxation mode, it's actually getting harder for me to sit down and focus on microcredit like I should.

With that in mind, perhaps I should get to the gist of my microcredit learning. Yesterday, I jumped on the bus, nervous and not quite sure if I'd find the offices of the organization. With the help of a friendly bus driver and his sister-in-law from town, I managed to wander inside the cool, dim offices mid-morning. Immediately, I got to talk to the staff and learn about the stages of the microcredit program and how it was going. Although a group of Columbia U students and professors are helping the NGO with the project, I'm hoping to be able to work on a social impact survey that will eventually be given out to loan recipients to track how effective the program really is. Of course, this will take some time and as I'm typing this now, I happen to be somewhat procrastinating on the reading I should be doing. But hey, when in paradise, I guess I should give myself a bit of a break. Hasta pronto!