Well I’ve been in Nicaragua for a week now and I haven’t seen the internet for about 5 days. Anyways, we’ve had about 5 days of orientation (in which I spent a day and a half with my friend Brendan, who was in Bolivia with me) and now we are with our families. I’m currently typing this up in my living room while my host dad watches boxing. We just finished a “competitive” few rounds of virtual billiards, a game program that came with the television. My family is a mom, dad and 17 year old daughter. They all are really great and complimented me on my Spanish, so I’m feeling good about that. Living conditions are interesting…not as nice as the kids (Megan and Kate) have in Masaya (about an hour down the road). I have so many bug bits that I don’t have the courage to count them for fear I will hit triple digits. So I may get dengue or malaria…we’ll see. On a happier note, I did get a mosquito net with Winnie the Pooh on it with the resourceful help of my host mom. So tonight will be my first night sleeping under it, hopefully it’ll work. It’s pretty hot here…no, it is very hot here, all the time, constant sweat (and itch for me).

I start “work” Monday. Besides not knowing where I’m going or who I ask for when I get there, my real concern right now is this 20 page paper I have due for a professor who took me to Colorado in late May. Doing research and writing 20 pages in uncomfortable conditions is a very intimidating situation and therefore I have waited until the last minute to begin. I just hope I don’t get sick before Friday, when the paper is due. If I do, that could be an extremely sticky (pun intended) situation. Plus I was served and ate lettuce tonight, which could be foreshadowing the days to come. Positive thinking could prevent any unwanted mid-night wake-up calls.

On a lighter note, the coordinators are really great. There are three, two from Nica and one from Puerto Rico who went to college in New York. They are all very different from one another, which is refreshing to see different points of views and such.

Gracias por leer. Thanks for reading…hopefully and I do not doubt more stories (probably funny) to come.

Hope all is well state-side or wherever you may be reading from.