Adios.

I had worked up the appropriate good-byes and well wishes in spanish but when it came down to "adios" just seemed to fit. Here just a few more shots of the Nicaragua I saw. I fly out in the morning and I don't know that I'll ever make it back. Well, Adios muchachos.

Maybe My Greatest Contribution

I've been thinking for 28 days of new technology, new business ideas, programs, etc., that could help out here. Well the hard thinking has come to fruition on day 29...Brownies. I spent a couple hours with a baker here in the ward. She bakes sweet and savory bread stuff and sells them around town. And success! We baked brownies from scratch (the box mix stuff is actually way better). They like them and if she does a little tweeking with the recipe to get it right with the local ingredients I think she could add a little something special to her products. She copied the recipe and asked for a few more goodies. I gave here some other simple yet winner recipes: Crepes, Chocolate Chip Cookies, and (a little more difficult but worth it) pie crust.

Briquettes

I remembered another technology for developing countries (those countries that still cook by setting a pot on three rocks over a fire) that has seen success around the world. It is using trash and biomass to make briquettes for cooking. The short of the simple technique is soak everything, blend it up real good, and then slop it into a cylinder to compress all the water out. Let it dry then use it for fire wood. The idea is that it still burns hot enough to cook and is much cheaper and requires less time gathering wood or even cutting down living vegetation. We've been working with a lady that cooks tortillas and wood is a big expense. I got some briquettes made and they burn but I haven't been able to spend enough time with them to know if they burn hot enough to cook the tortillas. If you've had any experience with this let me know.