Nica-‘radans Unite! Bizarre Evening in NoBo (Boulder, Colorado) to Help Nicaraguan Children.

via Joshua Berman

Nicaragua is Central America’s largest and most misunderstood country, but it’s finally shaking off the shadows of its past and entering this brave new global order – which, for better or worse, includes tourism and reality television.

To wit: After appearing on the pages of the New York Times twice last month – in the travel and real estate sections instead of the front pages – Nicaragua scored a feature slot on the Travel Channel’s highest-rated show, “Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern.”  The episode was filmed last February and is airing to the world this Tuesday, June 2, at 10 pm EST (not sure what time MST yet).

The guidebook I coauthored with Randy Wood, Moon Nicaragua, appears on the show, and so do I, accompanying Andrew to a few off-the-beaten-path places in “the Land of Lakes and Volcanoes” – including a Nicaraguan chicken bus and my old Peace Corps village of La Trinidad, Estelí.  I think the episode captures a creative and unexpected snapshot of the country, and I’m curious to hear your reactions.

If you are in Colorado, please join me for the red-carpet premiere of the episode and a benefit for the children of Empowerment International — 100 percent of your donations and raffle ticket fees go to EI (Empowerment International).

When: June 2nd
Time: 7:00 – 10:00 pm
Where: NAMASTE SOLAR, 4571 N. Broadway, N. Boulder, across from Amante
How much: Donation, suggested $10 (or anything you’d like to give)
MORE INFO: http://joshuaberman.net/events.html
 
Browse and purchase pictures taken by the Nicaraguan children in EI’s photography program.
EI Executive Director, Kathy Adams, will talk about the program.
I’ll talk about what it was like to come up with a menu for Andrew Zimmern, “The Stomach of Steel” himself.  9-9:45 pm: guitar raffle drawing and screening of “Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern: Nicaragua”

I’ll be raffling off a beautiful hand crafted Nicaraguan guitar, made by Sergio Zepeda (who appears in the show as “one of the most famous guitar makers in Nicaragua” before taking Andrew to eat pig face).

Raffle tickets are only $5 each, come early and buy as many as you want.

There’s more: homemade tamales, juice, beer, and light snacks, all for donation only.
 
Contact:
Joshua Berman, [email protected]

WIN THIS GUITAR FROM SERGIO ZEPEDA: