Terrabona y San Jose

Photo of road in Terrabona.

After our day in Granada, we loaded the van to go on a 3 plus hour drive to Terrabona. Terrabona was much smaller than La Cancha or Granada. The feel of everyday life felt much different. For one, there were very few cars besides trucks delivering goods on the roads. All the roads appeared to be made out of cobblestone. It was very normal for everyone in town to just walk in the middle of the road because the town lacked any sidewalks.

San Jose is a very small town in the middle of nowhere surrounded by large hills. The houses looked no more than 4 walls of cement with a metal roof.

I am pretty sure we were staying at one of the only, if not the only, hotel in town. We took up all the rooms with the 13 of us.

Each day in the morning, we walked to a small comedor or restaurant to eat. It was usually gallo pinto (rice and beans) or eggs. It was very yummy.

After breakfast, we loaded ourselves into the back of a truck. It was great feeling the wind in the face as we rode standing up. The road was very dusty and we usually saw someone on a horse guiding cows as we rode past.

Cows being led by a guy on the horse.

Seeing cows and people riding horses was a more common sight that a normal car. It was easy to tell we were headed to somewhere way out in the country, away from any big cities. Somewhere where people take life pretty easy. This was a place where children play outside and keep themselves entertained without the luxuries of all the modern technology like smart phones and video game systems.

We arrived at the school where we would be building the hand-washing station and hopped out of the truck. First we introduced ourselves and one guy talked about the project. We were going to help build a hand-washing station. First, we helped level the place where they then built a wooden frame and later filled with cement. The water from the washing station would then flow through a small trench into a dry well. 

A dry well is a 6 foot hole filled with rocks. It acts as a natural filtration for the grey water (soapy used water). The job for our group of 13 was mostly to either help dig the 6 foot (2 meters and 2 meters wide hole) or go on the truck to collect rocks. I went on one of the trip to collect rocks and it was hard work because they were heavy.

Zoe working on making the hole deeper.

It was steady progress digging the hole and trench but the trench took a lot less time than the hole. By the end of yesterday in the afternoon, the hole was over 3 feet deep. Also, the Nicaraguans working with concrete had finished filling the wooden frame with rocks and cement. 

Then, we hopped back in the rucks and headed back to Terrabona to shower, eat dinner, and play cards. It was nice to be clean but still warm outside. 

Tomorrow is another day of work and dust.