Day 2

Ok so today is my second day in Managua and I'm getting to see a different side of Nicaragua. Everything is very laid back. My host family told me that "relajar" (relaxing) is the favorite thing to do in Nicaragua. I told her its very different because I'm so used to the "trabajar, trabajar, trabajar" (work, work, work) of the United States.


For the next two weeks we'll be taking an intensive Spanish course given by the university and we'll choose our classes. The people at the university are very understanding and welcoming. They take the time to explain things to us slowly (hehe). The classes I'm taking this semester are going to be interesting because they'll be very specific classes for my major and on top of that they'll be in spanish. But I love a good challenge.


It is overwhelming being here though. I was tired today because we walked for about two or three hours. But the most difficult part was thinking and talking in another language after spending the day everywhere. By the end of the day I was all "Si, Si, Si." They could have asked me if I had two heads, I would have responded the same (haha).


But the tough stuff is all worth it to have a good time over here. Once I master it all I know it will be so much easier to spend time in the city and in the other cities. I plan on traveling to Granada and Leon, the other two major cities in Nicaragua well-known to Americans. I've heard they have more tourists than Managua, and they are different because they're colonial and Managua isn't very colonial.


Here, I see everyone trying to do what they can to earn money. But the way of life is very different. It makes sense because in the United States, if you can't afford a home to code, or a piece of land with a building to code, then the government takes it in the United States and you become homeless or you find some sort of aide to help you build something better. Here, it seems more people are allowed to live in a greater diversity of places uninhibited by those confiscation laws of the United States, so driving around it was common to see many people living on both sides of a long dirt path that ran for the length of a couple blocks. With the warmer climate, their homes were able to be open to the air like a overhang on a porch.


So far Nicaragua is so fascinating because it is so different from the United States. It's going to be an awesome time here.