Day 1 (5/23/13)

I arrived in Miami at around 1 PM. I waited around for about an hour before four other participants showed up and I got to meet Ray, Matt, Akshay and Charlotte. I traveled the 2 hr and 15 minute flight to Managua with Ray and we talked all about life and the program. We also both lamented our lack of ability to speak el Espanol. After arriving in Managua, we rejoined the rest of the group and boarded the bus to Granada. We also received our phones. On the way I met other members of the group. The ride to Granada from the airport was jaw-dropping to say the least. I was not prepared for the sort of culture I encountered. I saw houses with no windows and barred entranceways for doors. This compounded with trash piles being burned to eliminate the waste. I even saw one trash dump which consisted of a horsedrawn cart filled with trash being shoveled into a valley by two men. Along the road were many people just walking and riding bikes and waiting for buses. While these people are definitely more poor than the US, they still dress quite nicely (good pants and shoes and shirts, even some dresses for the females). This may be to celebrate a week long mother’s day celebration that has been taking place too (as when I arrived the people of Granada were shooting off fireworks in celebration). After I arrived in Granada, the entire group was given maps of the city with the location of the school and our homestays indicated. I was the first to be dropped off at my homestay. My homestay operates a small convenience store out of the front of their home with a cashier’s counter and front door. This is actually quite neat as this gives the family a source of income and means the house is pretty active usually.

 

I arrived at my homestay at around 6:15 ish (Nicaragua time the same as Mountain time). Upon arrival I was shown to my room and basically switched to 100% Spanish conversations. After being away from Spanish for 2 years since 11^th grade, this was challenging at first, but I keep trying and have been making successful strides toward assimilating the language again. I did not eat dinner until about like 7:45 PM, but it was quite delicious as it was yellow rice and some sort of meat (probably beef) that was good. Additionally, I drank coke and had a salad consisting of fresh lettuce and tomatoes and onions and beets and avocado (probably not what I should have been eating but it was good anyhow). After dinner I went back to watching TV (as I had been doing before dinner and I also had been speaking to the father in the family. The dad is quite patient and I cannot thank him enough for helping me to speak more fluidly in this completely new environment. Even in the short span of about 4 hours that I’ve been speaking Spanish with the family, I’ve noticed a greater sense of confidence and ability to recall my Spanish. I can also understand more of what the family is saying and can feel like I am carrying on a conversation. I showed the dad the photobook from my checked bag and talked all about my family and my girlfriend (and even explained the difference between the Prom photos and getting married). I also talked to him about how I farm orchard grass hay over the summer in Oregon and learned the Spanish word “pasto” or pasture or field. I told him about how we contract out to have the hay cut and showed him pictures of me loading the hay. I also told him how we sell the hay for $160 a ton (about $7 a bale with 25 bales to a ton). The dad then told me that he earns $7 a day which surprised the heck out of me and shows how different this world is. He also was intrigued by the robot photos of MOE and I had a good long chat with him about pneumatics or pressuria and motors and driving (despite not knowing really any words for those items). I also talked about the climate in PA and the house in PA and how different the cultures are that way. I also talked about WPI and spent awhile talking about signing the Ibeam for the dorm on Faraday street. We also were watching this Mexicano dating show where these 4 guys were competing to get women from a pool of 8 attractive girls. The theme for the show, interestingly enough was Indian dress (as apparently this changes every day). I also told the dad about how people tend to live longer in the US and he showed me this magazine article giving advice on how to live to be over 100 years old which was pretty cool. I also told him that I usually get up around like 11 AM after being up until like 2 hanging with friends. He said that wastes a day, which I agree with. Anyways I need some sleep, but I love everything so far! It’s freaking awesome!