Orientation
First, I need to mention orientation. Our SALT orientation was combined with the orientation of young people coming to the U.S. and Canada from other countries to participate in a program similar to ours. There were over 100 of us there together of many different cultures and languages, and yet comanality. It was so energizing to find connection with others my age, in my similar situation, and also with similar interests and perspectives. It was a special week to me, and a nice stepping stone into my year here.
Nicaragua
I am now about to wrap up my second full week in Nicaragua. There has been much to take in, but I will try to convey some of it to you.
I am currently with a temporary host family for the first six weeks of my experience (only 4 weeks left with them!). For these six weeks I am soley studying Spanish and adjusting to Nicaragua. After that I will move to my permanant home and start work at Hogar Belen. My host family now consists of an older women, Josefa, and her two grown daughters, Maria and Veronica. They have absolutely welcomed us (me and another SALTer-Kayon) into thier homes with open arms. And it must be said that they cook the most amazing food! :)
A typical day for me these first six weeks looks like this:
- 2 hours with a Spanish tutor in the morning
- lunch at my host family´s house
- 2 hours of Spanish school in the afternoon
- dinner with my family
- Studying Spanish, visiting with my host family, and other little excursions :)
Some of my biggest adjustments so far:
-City life!:
Managua is the capital city of Nicaragua, and does not have a similar atmosphere to rural NW Ohio! There are always a lot of people, noise, and activity at all hours. I´m becoming more accustomed to it, but I will be relieved when I move just outside of the city in a few weeks to my permanant home for the year.
-Language barriar:
The language barriar is humbling. I often feel like a child. Though the silly mistakes are humorous at times, it gets frustrating to not be able to carry on conversation past surface level. I have to remind myself often, "little by little" :)
-Heat:
I have discovered a new level of hot. Someone told us when we arrived to just get used to a layer of sweat covering our bodies all the time, which is really true. I´m looking forward to December- I hear it gets down to the 70s!
-Life:
Like I said, there has been a lot here to take in. I am faced with much to think about here that I could ignore in the U.S. Being faced daily with the reality of poverty is difficult.
Some of my favorite things so far :)
-The sound of the rain : The house that I live in has a tin roof, and when it rains hard you can´t even carry on conversation. I love it!
-My host family
-Playing cards with my host sister
-Pitayha Juice
-Successful conversations in Spanish
-The MCC team here
-The other night I hand washed all of my clothes. I started right after dinner and was done in time for bed, but it was a real sense of accomplishment. It also gave me a true respect for the women here.
So that has been my past few weeks! Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers. It means a lot to me. It has been a real blessing to see God´s daily provision in such an intense month for me.
Until next time...:)
