Bienvenidos a Nicaragua

      I can’t believe it’s been my third full day here in Nicaragua. Everything is so GREEN! I arrived a few days late, but I was ready to hit the ground running. John, one of the volunteer coordinators, and Guillermo, our awesome driver, was ready at the airport to welcome and pick me up. We wove our way through the streets of Managua until we eventually ended up on the AMOS compound. 

     I was nervous and excited to put faces to all the emails I had been receiving for the last few months plus meet the great group of team members I would be working with for the summer. We spent these past few days talking about Community-Based Participatory Research during the day and preparing ourselves for the upcoming week in the rural community. Then, the weekend officially began with a Friday night outing. We hit the city and found the salsa community of Managua. It was quickly found out that Dr. Renee has the best dance moves. Currently, we’re in the process of convincing her to host a class after our modules one day. 

    Saturday, we had the first excursion and the majority everyone decided to come. In the morning our first stop was the Masaya Volcano, unfortunately, it was so smoky we couldn’t see any of the lava below. The second and final stop of our “safari” adventure was Apoyo Lake. When we arrived, it felt like we walked into a hidden paradise. As I walked down the steps I could smell wood fire pizzas, hear the water crashing up against the shore, and see the sun shining in the clear blue skies. It was a great way to end the first week and a great start to an amazing summer