Nicaragua: El pais de brazos abiertos!

Hola mi familia y mis amigos!! I've arrived safely in Nicaragua and it.is.beautiful. I'm currently in the middle of my three day orientation retreat with 42 other trainees in Granada (the Nicaraguan city, not to be confused with Grenada the Caribbean island.) It's a touristy, colonial city located right on the coast of Lake Nicaragua, which is the biggest lake in Central America. It's absolutely gorgeous here! Some of us went walking through the town yesterday afternoon and we got to see the park, some market streets, and some awesome colonial churches and architecture. Then, during dinner out on the hotel porch, we got to witness our first intense Nicaraguan thunderstorm! It was so refreshing and beautiful at the same time (even if it did make the lights flicker a bit.) At 5:30 this morning, I awoke to the sound of church bells (which were quickly followed by my alarm) and a bunch of us met up to head down to the lake and take in the sites (those who were more ambitious ran rather than strolled with us.) The road we walked to get there was strewn with coconuts! <3 Have I mentioned I love it here?? Don't be fooled though, these past two days have been completely jam-packed with Peace Corps Orientation activities. We've had sessions on personal safety, received our medical kits, had medical interviews, received our training manuals, taken pictures for visas and PC IDs, anddd perhaps the most stressful part of my day today...had our language interviews. By this time tomorrow, I'll know what training group I'm in based on the recorded 20 minute interview I participated in (completely in Spanish!!) =O Without a doubt I will be in one of the lowest language groups if not THE lowest, but that's ok with me because Peace Corps has been training people in language acquisition for years and I'm hoping they'll be able to work miracles with me. =P

Perhaps my favorite part of one of our talks today was a quote we were given as our “guiding principle” with regard to Peace Corps Service:
“Go to the people. Live with them. Learn from them. Love them. Start with what they know. Build with what they have. But with the best leaders, when the work is done, the task accomplished, the people will say 'We have done this ourselves.'” -Lao Tzu
It reminds me that our purpose here is not only to share our skills and knowledge, but also to be sure that the cultural and educational exchange is mutual. We are here to impart sustainable activities and to give the Nicaraguan people the ability to continue what we've started together long after we're gone. I'm looking forward to beginning my service here, and I couldn't ask for a better group of people to be embarking on such an adventure with. The other trainees are great and the PC staff is so helpful and warm and completely dedicated to training us to be the most competent and confident volunteers we can be. Tomorrow is the last day of our retreat, and we'll all be moving in with our host families bright and early on Saturday morning!

Love and miss you all, and I'm so excited to finally be here and able to share stories with you! More to come next time I have internet access!