Bienvenidos a Nicaragua!

This is the first chance I've had to use the internet and the past few days have gone by so quickly! I was really nervous and anxious about getting to Nicaragua and if I would like it and how staying with a host family would be. As soon as I got here and got together with my group I was less anxious. This past week we went to the school that we are going to be working at and had a small orientation and got to know some of the people we will be working with. We also go to go on some trips to different cities around Managua. One of the most interesting things was meeting our host families. It is a lot harder than I thought it would be to communicate and at first I was overwhelmed. But, my host mom knows that I'm not very good at Spanish and will talk slower for me and try to explain things. One of the things I think is most different from home is how my host family always has cousins and aunts and other family members just coming over and eating dinner or just coming over to talk. At home, people will usually call or somehow let someone know if they are going to come over for dinner. My family is very nice and have made me feel really welcome. This Monday is when we officially start working at the school and the clinic. I will be teaching English in the morning and doing some sort of work at the clinic in the afternoon. So far it has been a learning experience and I'm sure there will be lots more to come!