¡Quiubo! (Hey!)

I have officially been in Nicaragua for 2 weeks. It’s flown by but at the same time I feel like I have been living here for a while. This last Sunday I had quite the adventure with my family and my fellow gringos. We woke up at 6am so we could leave at 7am (which in Nicaragua time ended up being 8am). We packed a picnic of rice, platanos, tunas, sardines pica pica, and a grand assortment of fruit. We started our voyage down to la Laguna de Apoya, which was a steep decent for about an hour. We finally arrived and enjoy some mandarinas, watermelon, and bananas. Since there is a volcano on the cliff above the lagoon there were little potholes with hot sulfuric water, which is apparently good for the skin.

            From there we went to another spot along the lagoon where we hung out a bath for most of the afternoon. The water is not too cold, not too hot, but just right! After a huge lunch we headed out to a hotel that is lagoon-side to have a refreshing beer and a dip in the pool. It was beautiful, and definitely felt like vacation more than being in a foreign country for work.  However we still had a huge walk ahead of us. ALL. UP. HILL.

            Luckily we caught a bus, which is completely different here. Literally filled to the brim with hot and sweaty people, including me, as well as some foreigners breathing down my neck with breath that reeked of too much fiesta. I was squished in the entrance with my cousin and aunt balancing on one foot and hanging onto the doorway for about 20 minutes. Later we caught a mototaxi to take us all the way home which 7 full grown adults in what should only have about 4. Luckily being a woman I got to sit inside the whole time as the men walk up the hills that we were too heaving to make in the taxi all together. We finally arrived home around 5pm, only to realize we were burnt to the crisp, like the true gringos we are. Lesson of the day: REAPPLY REAPPLY & REAPPLY that sunscreen.

            That night we went to a neighboring pueblo to celebrate the birthday of one of our fellow trainees. It was nice to see some of my buddies in a non-work setting and relax a little before starting week 2 of training.

            Now it’s Wednesday. We had our first youth group meeting yesterday, which went better than expected. But as always it’s a struggle to get students excited to participate. Today I met the teacher with whom I am going to start co planning and co teaching. So starting Monday I'll be in an actual Nicaragua classroom, “trying” to help co teach. But I’m excited. I’m healthy, happy, and surprisingly sleeping more through the night!!

Hasta Luego :)

           

P.S. Happy Belated Birthday Aaron and Amanda (and Andrew)