Orientation to Jinotepe

Another update from Nicaragua:

After breakfast at the hotel, Tamara and I walked to Casa Chela to meet Lisa and Jen. We then all walked to the school where the students are taking daily Spanish classes and met the Spanish teachers. This was our morning of more "official" orientation, so we began with a trip to the bank (air-conditioned !) where Lisa withdrew a fairly large amount of money. We saw the post office, the central park, and then went to one of the money changers, just hanging out on a street corner to change the US dollars to cordobas, the Nicaraguan currency. I am very surprised how widely accepted the US$ is here, and how there are no official places to change money, only with these guys standing around with a wad of money in their hand. We then walked back to Casa Chela and spent the rest of the morning talking with Lisa and Jen about various aspects of the program - academics, host families, field trips, finances, etc. etc. Sometimes it feels a little overwhelming!

This afternoon we sat in on a lecture by a biologist from Laguna de Apoyo, a lake formed by a volcanic explosion 28,000 years ago. We are going to visit there on Saturday when Lisa and Jen go to visit 3 potential host families. 3 students will be placed there for their service assignment.

After lecture we had the rest of the day to ourselves. We went back to the hotel to cool off a little bit, then I went out by myself for a little bit to do some exploring and buy something to drink. I got a little turned around since none of the streets here have names (seriously!) but I finally found some familiar landmarks and found my way back. For supper Tamara and I went to a restaurant just around the corner where we ate supper for a total cost of about $6.75 (for both of us).

Tomorrow includes a trip to Volcan Masaya, a national park of an "active" volcano, and a visit to an artisan marketplace. I am looking forward to doing some shopping for some handmade items, instead of the things you can find here is Jinotepe - shoes, clothes, furniture, CDs, toiletries, etc.

I probably won't be posting pictures while I am here because I likely won't have the time, but I will post some to Facebook and to this blog when I return on Sunday.