Don Valeriano primarily raised cattle before Hurrican Mitch killed off most of his herd. Now he's growing a field full of soy beans.

To get to Don Valeriano's house we traveled on a series of roads, each smaller than the next, until we crossed a river on a canoe that barely floated to get us to the trail that brought us to the farm.

We thought we would be helping harvest soy, but those plans had to be postponed because Don Valeriano had a funeral to go to. We got there just in time for siesta. Dona Valeriano generously fed us a plate of eggs, chees (the cheese in Nicaragua is sort of like feta, but it's dry and very, very salty), and gallo pinto (painted rooster - rice and beans) with a glass of very fresh, warm milk.

Then Josué tried to convince Don Valeriano that it would make sense to build a chicken pen rather than a larger fence around the whole yard and creak area. The campesino declined though. He felt that fencing the chickens in would inhibit their growth.