Hola from Managua,
When we arrived at the airport on May 21st the nerves began to set in. I was leaving the country for the very first time, in a different time zone than my family and friends. To make matters worse I thought I was super prepared and then an unexpected baggage fee and the removal of my sunscreen, body wash, hair products, and extra bug spray took place. The entire flight I was super anxious but the moment we landed in Nicaragua I felt at ease. It was busy (traffic laws here are very suggestive) yet peaceful as a light rain fell on the way to the hotel. That evening we did some exploring of Managua and went to bed around 7:00pm (flying is so exhausting!). The next day we met with Joseph at the Center for Global Education in Nicaragua where he gave us a thorough background of Nicaragua. Joseph gave a detailed timeline of Sandino, who did everything in his power to destroy the dictatorship taking place in Nicaragua up until now with President Daniel Ortega who is a part of the FSLN and an original Sandinista (Sandinos army). Seeing the full circle from destruction and corruption to a bit of peace for the Nicaraguan people put a lot of things into perspective. This information session was very helpful and little did I know that everything he said would relate to pieces of what every other speaker said along the way. That afternoon we went to NicaHOPE, a program for children living and working near Managua’s trash dump. The goal of NicaHOPE is to get children and their families out of these trying situations by engaging them in after school programs and also teaching them how to make and sell jewelry they make using recycled goods (picture attached of jewelry I bought). The next day we left for León and due to the word limit I’ll add more about our homestay there to my next post! 
