i Patrick W. Staib Anthropology This dissertation is approved, and it ...

dominant discourse of international development was based in “profits and economics.
However, we want to understand the social, economic, and environmental benefits as
well.” As a result of that meeting, I received authorization to accompany CLUSA field
agents, or técnicos, on their site visits to farm communities in the north.
My early field experiences accompanying CLUSA técnicos challenged my
presuppositions of the manner in which small farmers in remote regions of Nicaragua
live. They presented opportunities for me to grow as a researcher, ethnographer, and
anthropologist. I owe a sincere debt to the administration and staff of CLUSA-Nicaragua
for inviting me into their operations and welcoming my observations and interpretations.
During my next visit, in January 2002, Shane insisted that I accompany the
técnico group that works in the community of San Juan del Río Coco. It seems as though
in Nicaragua there is always a place that is even more remote than where you are at any
given moment. So, Shane’s suggestion was one that spoke to my ignorance of the reality
of the rural coffee economy in northern Nicaragua.
Ultimately, I selected San Juan del Río Coco as my long-term field site because of
its proximity to the coffee farms and the conveniences of the small town. There were,
however, several drawbacks to San Juan. There were no phones, and the Telcor was
typically either closed or not working. 4 Also, its inaccessibility made getting out of San
Juan difficult. I recall wishing that I was in Matagalpa rather than remote San Juan when
I learned that my father had had emergency surgery in Philadelphia.
4 Telcor, the state-owned telecommunications office, is a remnant from the FSLN
nationalized industry models. The operation retained its name even after it was
privatized.
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