Hello again, all! Tara here once again so please bear with me.

We started off our glorious day at 6 am and went to breakfast at 7. After we ate, we attended an academic seminar concerning global business back at the hostel lead by our fellow GG Tim.

After a little background information provided by the seminar, we headed off to a fair trade tobacco company called Casa De Alegria. Many of us, if not all, enjoyed this little, but very informational, trip. We sat down at a table in front of a house and had coffee served to us (although we may have had too much, some with unhealthy amounts of sugar– Thuy) while also being able to look at different types of cigars. Ralf Westerwick, owner of this company, told us about his little business and how he makes a little profit but not too much. He started this business after his friend told him to make cigars due to the fact that he is a good cook. Obviously successful, he informed us that cigars are good business because wherever you go, there’s always people that smoke. He let us know that he enjoys working with other people and in poverty which is why he began a fair trade company.

After being informed a bit about Ralf’s tobacco company, we went to a room where he has workers rolling tobacco leaves. Students were actually able to roll some themselves, but don’t worry family and friends, none were smoked in the process by any of the students. Also, sorry because due to the fact that we are not 18 years old, we were unable to buy the cigar lovers any cigars.

After our short, but eventful, field trip, we had CAP prep. All of us went out and looked at prices to sort out and hopefully get further in this stressful project. We also had more time to work on CAP later on in the day which consisted most of attempting to do math and arranging prices.

Today, we also had a tour at a coffee plant, and were told a bit about the history of coffee beans. To give you a few fun facts, coffee first came from Africa and the first scripture of coffee is from the year 1592. Anyways, we were shown the different types of coffee plants used, but guess what? They’re all organic! We were able to see how the beans were ground, which was louder than I feel everybody thought it would be. We were also able to sample their coffee and buy a pound or few after doing so. So hopefully, you coffee lovers back home get a nice gift coming back.

When we went back to the hostel, we were surprised by the huge festival going on down the Main Street of Esteli because of it being Liberation Day over here. It was the 36th anniversary of Esteli’s freedom!

It’s now getting late and I’m sad to say that we are, once again, waking up at the lovely hour of 5 in the morning tomorrow. However, this is my second and last blog post, but I ensure you, Kathy and Thuy will take care of you all tomorrow.