Today was the major introduction day at the school,
with a placement test for Spanish performance and introductions to the staff
and the entire program. Today we also saw the entire group as a whole, which
was interesting as we could finally meet everyone here. The Spanish test was
about an hour long and is designed to sort us into groups to practice and
aprender (learn) Spanish. We will be spending the time from Monday onward
learning Spanish in small groups for 2 hours (doing grammar work) and then 2
hours conversing with the others in our respective levels. This will be quite
immersive and practical. Also during this time we participated in an
Ice-breaker (two truths and a lie) to learn about the other students. This was
helpful, but not as much as simply talking to the other students (more on this
later).
We came home today to eat lunch with our homestay (as different from
normal where the homestay will send lunch with us). Anyways we had white rice,
a squash-like vegetable with cheese on top (Granada has a purification system
that allows us to drink the water and not worry over handling of the food too
much), fried bananas, this fruit drank that literally tasted exactly like cantelope
in a glass (it was delicious!) and the same meat as before (we also ate the
same food for breakfast as we had had for dinner which was still just as good).
The homestay here has some really good cooks! Although apparently when we went
to put contacts in the phone, the information for the homestay was wrong (the
numbering system had been switched on the sheet), but the dad was quite helpful
and understanding of our situation.
After lunch, we traveled to a money-changer
(una persona que cambia dinero). I exchanged $100 for 2440 Cordoba dollars!
(Quite the exchange there at 24.4 Cordobas to the dollar)! I felt like a prince
with all the wealth of the world with that much money, however most items here
in Granada cost enough that this amount won’t buy me a country or anything. I
noticed that in many of the shops the typical cost of a sandwich is about $4-5
dollars. Meanwhile the drinks (beers, water, cokes etc) seem to be around $1-2.
I bought 2 L of water for 33 cordobas (about $1.30) which is quite good for me
as I will consume all the water in like two gulps if given the chance. I got
the chance to quickly ask the lab practical person about the types of projects
we will be working on and he said simple things, although he did mention that
me are able to mess around with a PIC microprocessor (like an Arduino) and we
get to tinker with medical equipment and even build our own power cord. I also
was able to see some of the tools and parts that were sent with Duke students
down here (and looks like some cool parts in there: diodes, voltage regulators,
LEDs (NECESSARY IN ALL PROJECTS OF COURSE), connector plugs, battery clips, ICs
and sockets and DMMs and socket sets too?!
Also at the school, we also watched
a cultural dance at the language school as part of our day today. This was the
typical Nicaraguan dancing with the Gaucho-esque dress for the guys and the
long dresses with sides that the women hold and swirl around. This dance was
interesting also because it usually featured a gesturing motion to the right
and the left by the men while the girls waved about their skirts. Perhaps this
is indicative of other partners off to the sides or the equivalent of the arm
motions in swing dancing? Most dances typically included a group of 4 or more
people (with one exception of a dance between a guy clad in almost a
bullfighter’s outfit and a woman in a red dress with a fan and basket). After
the dance we were released to do whatever we wanted. Although most of the group
stuck together for a bit as we traveled to the Calle La Calzada (roughly translated
as the “sidewalk street” where the center is an area for pedestrians to walk
and there are bars and restaurants located along the sides of the street. We
walked for a bit before it started to rain and we headed inside to a bar. Some
members of the group decided to enjoy a refreshing beer (as the legal drinking
age here is 18), but I abstained and instead had a long chat with one member of
our group named Kasper. Kasper is from Denmark and just graduated as a BME
there. We talked all about the school system there and the differences between
there and here. He talked about Denmark and how the country is flat and the
climate includes all 4 seasons (similar to that of Minnesota as he also said
some Danes choose to migrate there). We then got started talking about
alternative energy as I asked if they had wind power (and indeed they do). In
fact Denmark uses alternative energy quite extensively and supports wind power
quite a bit. This spawned further discussion of energy usage here in the US
with a discussion and dissing of “clean coal” and US attitudes against
energy. He also talked about how
universities in Denmark are free and provided by the government and they
support the STEM fields as well (unlike here). He also mentioned that his
university offers an interesting system where students work in project teams
with businesses and other schools to build a project that helps everyone with
funding from the government (an interesting and very useful concept).
Also I
spoke with another member of the group who went and documented all the
equipment so we can better understand its workings as can others here. Lastly
we stopped by an internet café and I bought an hour’s worth of time en el Red
for 14 cordobas (about 50 cents)! Take that Miami wifi that charged $5 for 30
minutes! Anyways I got online and spoke to people and answered emails and
vented over how annoying the keyboard was to type on as the letters sometimes
didn’t work and the space bar was wicked wonky. Today I started feeling the
depression of the so called “Culture Shock” but I have been trying to remind
myself that it’s natural and that I will be okay and will still have a
fantastic time.
For dinner we had this carne asada meat con arroz con
habitualas negras. I also had queso frito (fried cheese) which is actually
quite tasty. The name sounds repulsive and the texture is like eating a spongy
cake, but the taste is like a sweet and salty cheese wedge. Before dinner I
listened to Salvador (the padre) talk about the war back in the 80s con los
Sandinistas y las Contras. Salvador dijo que haya un hombre que estaba pasando
por avion sobre de la patria por los Estados unidos caundo el cai del cielo (he
said a US pilot was flying in the airspace and then was shot down and fell
asleep thinking he was in Costa Rica (a Contra friendly region) but he was
mistaken. The pilot was found sleeping in a shack and taken prisoner by the
Sandinistas (as in the photo in the Death
of Ben Lindor book). The pilot eventually was sent back to the US without
being killed and his name is one of strength and power now. The man to the
right of the pilot in the photo was a Sandinista and es sorpresa que el hombre
ahora es el minister de salud para los hospitales en San Carlos (he is now the
health minister/leader of the hospitals in the San Carlos area (where Dan and I
will be going in the second month)). Salvador even knew the minister back in
the day. During the Contra and Sandinista war however, Salvador era mas joven
(was too young) to participate as he was only 14 years old. Three years later
however, he partook in the Honduras war where he was wounded by a landmine. The
man behind him was killed by the blast and he was wounded and knocked
unconscious. When he awoke he had to carry himself and help his equipo van al
hospital donde los medicos removed several pieces of shrapnel from his body
(several on his arms and his chest and legs). He also needed blood pretty badly
and was on a drip-line for 3 months. He was doing pretty well although he could
not breathe very well because his side had a boil/infection from a piece of
latent shrapnel and the doctor had to pop the boil with disgusting results, but
it allowed Salvador to breathe normally again and better recover. Salvador also
mentioned how his brother from San Carlos will be arriving here in Granada this
coming Monday, but will be leaving for San Carlos before we leave here. Maybe
he could be someone we know besides our homestay in San Carlos, but time will
tell. Also today Dan and I broke out some of the regalos que tomemos al Granada: namely a small red bear for the 2 year old Adrianna Elena, some M&Ms and a
baseball hat for Salvador Jr. (the 14 yr old). Also I made my first purchase of
Claro! minutes as Claro! had a promotion where they would triple the time
purchased for free. I bought 55 cordobas worth of time and got close to 200
minutes, so bueno!
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