March 5 - 6

Chicos locos with Cheri.

The Nicaraguan flag.

When the earthquake of 1972 struck, time stopped forever on the city´s cathedreal clock.

The new cathedral.

In front of the new cathedral.

The 3 stooges?

Amigas.

On the steps of the Cultural Institute.

The above pics are of Saturday morning. First, let´s catch up about getting here... We left Miami two hours late. It was getting warm in the plane for those two long hours sitting on the runway waiting for the mechanics to figure out what was wrong with the fuel pump. Our late arrival in Managua meant that by the time we arrived in Barrio Riguero to sit down for "dinner," it was after 11:00. The students were met by their host families after midnight!!

We slept in (9:00) and then left for an ATM machine where we all succeeded in getting Cordobas out of the wall. Such fun. Our bus took us on a mini tour of central Managua where we saw the old and new cathedrals, the Cultural Institute and spent time at a newly constructed port on the edge of Lago (Lake) de Managua. The heat was bearable today mostly thanks to the breeze or should I say WIND. The white caps on the lake prompted some of us to think about Dramamene, but in the end we didn´t go out on the boat, we simply sat on deck and learned about local history and local future concerning the health of the lake water. Not to fret. We are not drinking that water. Ours is fine to drink....!

Back home for a delicious lunch and soon we were back on the small bus driving to Masaya, 45 minutes outside of Managua, where our destination was a huge cultural market. The students tested the bartering waters a bit, but many of them were just "window shopping" minus the windows. We´ll go back later in our trip for some real life bartering.

After Masaya, we headed out to La Catarina, a lovely lookout over an enormous volcanic lake. Under blue skies it was picture perfect, albeit windy.

Dinner at 6:15 and suddenly it was time for the students to spend their first real evening at home in their host families. I´m smiling as I write this right now, thinking of all the linguistic adventures they are having expressing themselves each in their own way. This group is close already and engages one another without pause and with much friendly humor. Carolyn and I are lucky indeed to be here with them. As of tomorrow, the blogs will be written by students. Please tell everyone to read us and send us comments if you feel so moved. Bye for now.