If I actually believed that there was a Big Brother watching you, and watching me, at all times, you know like the CIA and NSA trying to keep tabs on us and listening to our phone calls and reading our emails, hoping to scoop up something interesting, then I think even they'd have a hard time tracking me down right now. I literally am in the middle of nowhere, away from western 'civilization' with it's complicated yet crumbling infrasctucture. I am living in Nicaragua, a country not super popular with the tourists, yet more seem to be cautiously discovering it. While that may be so, most people in my area especially are not very accustomed to seeing foreigners. I live what you might describe as being deep in the mountains of Central America. I can see Honduras from where I live, and if I walk about an hour higher up the sierra, in the late afternoon I can see the Bay of Fonseca which is where Nicaragua, Honduras and El Salvador all converge. One of the most interesting cultural pastimes and source of income in my area, is the making of coffee. I am Canadian, and my blood runs black with Maple flavour. I think many Canadians begin their coffee addiction as a way to try and make a cold day more pleasant, and let me tell you, after a shower here high up in the mountains as cold as ice, a hot coffee is a pleasant necessity. But coffee is also just a way to be hospitable. When you drop by to say hello. If you're working on a project with someone. If you're catching up with a friend unseen for much or little time; all these would be the culturally appropriate occasions for a little coffee. And that is the root of my connection to this land and to the people.
