Dear Family and Friends:
As you can see, we are off and have arrived safely in Nicaragua. Everyone is waking up and seeing Nicaragua in daylight for the first time. We will be busy from early to late each day with limited WiFi access. Your students will be adding to the blog each day so check back often. We will post each time we have an opportunity so please be patient.
It is a joy to spend time with these outstanding OSU students and we cannot wait for the adventures for the rest of the week.
Dr.’s Mary Rodriguez and Jeff Hattey
Cole Wallis
Hello!
The 4:00 A.M. departure wasn’t too bad because of all the excitement of our trip. As preparing for our first flight, we are all sharing stories of our past travel experiences and anticipating this one together! I am excited to travel with other First Year Students and learn and grow together. Although I’m not entirely sure what to fully expect, I am eager to see what this trip will bring. In the airport, I have already noticed my peers and I getting even more close.
Although I’m nervous for our journey, my nerves are nothing compared to my excitement! The six hour layover in ATL gives us time to get closer, learn more about each other, and catch up on some much needed sleep. After some lunch, uno, and meeting Scarlet—our new dog best friend—I feel ready to head out to Nicaragua! In just a few hours we’ll be in a completely different country! Nicaragua, the adventure begins!!
Kaleigh Bryden
Today marked the official start of our Nicaraguan journey. The anticipation that has been building up inside my peers and I has finally begun to be rewarded. After an entire semester of learning about Nicaragua and what was planned for us on the trip, we are now so close!
Our day started off very early at 4AM and was more difficult for some of us, especially those who couldn’t sleep due to excitement. However in due time we arrived at a crowded Columbus Airport and boarded our flight to Atlanta. Upon arriving in Atlanta, most of us took the opportunity to take naps in the terminal. There was no rush for us to get to our gate, as we had a 7-8 hour layover in the airport. New friends laughed and joked around over lunch until it was time to “get down to business”. And by that, I mean discuss thoroughly what to do when going through immigration and entering Managua.
I particularly enjoyed this part of the day, especially because we all had the chance to present infographics we made regarding certain aspects of Nicaragua. We learned quick but important facts about food, culture, animals, education, agriculture, and many other topics that relate directly to our travels.
The plane ride to Nicaragua was another popular nap time (or for some, catching up on movies), and after landing and going through customs, we met our guides Joe and Juan Carlos and hopped on vans to go to our hotel. We enjoyed fresh fruit and juice before heading to our rooms and prepared to dream about all the wonderful things in store for us on this trip.
