Angela Smetana
Born and raised in a small town in Idaho, after completing high school, Angela traveled to
Washington State on a volleyball scholarship, where she earned her AA degree. She then
continued on with her athletic scholarship and studies to Colorado. During that time, she
worked for several hotels and restaurants with Spanish speaking co-workers, which motivated
her to venture out, see the world, and learn a new language! In 2005, after earning her
bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, she applied to the Peace Corps. She eventually
was invited to complete a 2-year stint as a Business Administration Volunteer in Nicaraguan.
From 2006-2008, she was stationed in a small town called Telica, where she was the only
English speaker! It was sink or swim, as she quickly started to pick up Spanish! During her
service, she worked in a few local high schools alongside Nicaraguan counterparts, teaching
“Productivity” classes, which showed them how to start and manage a small business. She also
completed many secondary projects, including starting a recycling project, painting world maps,
appling for small grants, and beginning multiple community banks, that are still running to date.
In 2006, after completing her Peace Corps service and earning the “most integrated volunteer”
award, she decided she wanted to continue on the path-less-traveled, and stay in country. She
helped a friend start-up a surf tour company, where she frequently visited and stayed at Gran
Pacifica while with clients on all-inclusive luxury packages. After a year, she decided to move
on and applied to be an administrative volunteer in a Private Wildlife Reserve, where she met
her now husband, Osman. After hearing of opportunities at Gran Pacifica in the rental and
property management company, they made the move in 2010.