Bienvenido de Nicaragua

Bienvenido Amigos!

After only 21/2 hours after leaving Miami, our plane successfully touched down in sunny and hot Managua, Nicaragua. It takes longer to fly coast to coast, so it didn’t really hit me that I had just landed in a third world country that in terms of development is decades away from the level of development we experience on a day to day basis. When you’re sitting at home or talking in class, a third world countries seem so far away. It was shocking to discover that kind of poverty in just our backyard.

But before I thought about all that, before I could take in anything, I felt the heat. After living in relatively cool areas, you forget just how hot 90 degrees is. At least I did. It engulfs you. You naturally start moving a little slower to conserve energy. But even before I got through security, I had almost completely sweated through my shirt. A great first impression for the current Volunteers meeting us outside. To battle the heat, you try and drink as much water as possible to stay hydrated, but there is a real lack of drinkable water for us gringos. Unless it comes from the bottle, or we boil it our self, it’s not there, so conservation is key. Lucky for us, we’re staying at a compound in “new” Managua that provides us with all the fresh, drinking water we need, so as not to upset our un-acclimated stomachs in our first couple days. According to current volunteers, after a couple bouts of diarrhea and upset stomachs, you can drink some of the tapwater around the country. Lucky us!

These past couple of days we have spent as a group and it had the feel of being on a YG mission trip. It's a semi large group, we spend every minute of the day together, and and even fall asleep on the floor of the airport together. YGers, look familiar?

During these days at the retreat, the 47 of us have continued to get to know each other, become medically prepared, and begin basic training. Training so far has started at 8am and continued through the day until about 4am with various breaks. The “charlas” or sessions as they are know have been boringly basic. I feel as though I’m back in Professor Szackmary’s International Finance class, struggling to keep my eyes open. It has mostly been brief history of the Peace Corps in Nicaragua, Welcome activities and generic ways how to stay healthy and safe. I know my mom is thinking right now how could you be following asleep during lectures about health and safety, but I assure you, that it is all super basic, and the more important charlas come later in the weeks.

What has been a better resource for getting to know the in's and out's of Nicaragua, as well as our future jobs, has been the current volunteers who greeted us at the airport. They’ve been extremely helpful in giving us hints on how to get by, and answer the questions you would feel awkward asking an administrator.

What has been fun is our free time in the afternoons and after dinner. I’ve met a great group of guys within the group simply from playing pick up basketball in the compound before dinner. The sun is still pretty high in the sky, so within minutes our t-shirts have soaked through with sweat. And at the risk of sounding like a complete meat head, you bond with someone when you sweat and get dirty together, and the bond you form as teammates carries over off the court. Ice breakers work great, but basketball worked better for me. I think I can now name all 47 of us trainees. And here is a picture of all 47 us, on our first day trip into Managua:

(Scratch that, I wish I could say all 47 of us. Unfortunately one girl already dropped out this morning. It’s a shame. The official stat is 10% of your class drops out, but I didn’t expect it that quickly. So Nica 56 is already one down.)

We did have a great afternoon in our recent day trip, as most of us were starting to develop cabin fever after not being able to leave the compound. Although once a very prominent Central American capital, a monstrous earthquake struck the city in mid 70’s demolishing it. Rather than clear away the rubble, the people migrated outwards and as a result the city is divided between the new and older areas. But that doesn’t means it isn’t beautiful, and we got a taste of the beauty Nicaragua has to offer:

I originally meant to post the above yesterday, but the lack of internet prevented me from doing it. The last day of charlas has been much more exciting, and I have found out where I will be spending the next couple months, as a result of my language test and personality. My self and fellow business development trainees Chalin, Ron, Cassie and Michelle will be taking our talents to Niquinohomo, Nicaragua, just south of Masaya. I'm pressed for time now, more to come on my host family and langauge experience during my next post. Hasta Luego.


"Where we're going, there are no roads"
                                     -Doc Brown