Week 1

Hey everyone! This is just my post to let everyone know that I'm here and settled and starting a blog.  I'm hoping to stay on top of it as much as I possibly can but bear with me if my posts aren't as consistent as expected. 

This week was all orientation to the Manna Project International site here in Nicaragua and the communities we serve.  The house is outside the capital city of Managua and is home to all Manna Program Directors (from here on referred to as PDs) as well as Roscoe and Tola, our affectionate but appropriately aggressive guard dogs (hit them with a follow on Instagram: roscoe_tola4ever). 

All week we've had meetings about things like basic health, Nicaraguan history and culture, and our roles as Program Directors.  I've shadowed all the programs we run and participated whenever possible.  From lacrosse practice in Villa Guadalupe, to helping with the health clinic in Cedro Galan, to sitting in on English classes in the Chiquilistagua public school, there hasn't been a dull moment. 

Definitely one of the stand out moments was flyering in the local community to get the word out about our English classes and clinic hours.  Some encounters were brief, some were long, but one will stay with me for the rest of my life.  Sitting in the living room of a local family (Nicas are very welcoming and it's easy to spend hours with them if you get invited in), both the mother of the household and one of her daughters thanked us for taking the time to work in their community.  The daughter had gone through English classes and was thanking all of us (in stunning English, by the way) for having chosen to come here.  "Time is gold", she said, "so it means a lot that you all have chosen to give up so much of your time to help our community". 

It has been a long week.  Lots of new information, a totally new climate and plenty of new and amazing people.  I am pretty good at overthinking things or getting ahead of myself and stressing myself out.  Several things had been on my mind: learning to drive a manual transmission van, taking public transportation by myself, adjusting to a different culture, etc.  But hearing that people in this community were so thankful for the work I'm about to do, that I feel so fortunate to get to do only affirmed that this experience is going to be more rewarding than anything I've ever done. 

And tomorrow we head off to Spanish school in Matagalpa for a week, complete with homestays in local households.  I won't be bringing a laptop so that I can engage with my family during my time there, but another post will be up (complete with pictures) as soon as I return!

P.S. Encounters with community members, if included will be kept anonymous to protect their integrity and privacy.