Update from Terry McGonigal

January 6-7: Travel to Nicaragua and our first two weeks in Granada went as smoothly as we could have hoped for. Not one problem, and on the way to Granada from Managua we stopped at a national park with an active volcano. We stood at the edge of the rim and look into a cloud of volcano emissions, lots of steam, nothing more. Then we hiked around the rim of another volcano which was not active. Beautfiul views and spectacular scenery at the start of this journey.

January 8-9: Weekend in Granada, adjusting to the city, taking Spanish-placement tests, a walking tour of this oldest city in all of Central America, founded in 1524. History here is incredible. Most of the students attended Catholic mass in the Cathedral, right in the center of pargque central, the hub of every city.

January 10-13: Spanish class fourhours each morning, in groups of two or three, guided by a trained professor. This first week was mostly review, with the professors working hard to make sure each student could use their current knowledge with no mistakes. Every day, language acquisition develops, and each day we are all more comfortable with conversing in our home stays and with people on the streets.

This is how we spent the afternoons of the first week:

Monday: Trip to visit a museum that highlights the four major ecological habitats in Nicaragua, from dry, arid desert conditions to tropical rainforest. It was fascinating to see the effects of the volcanoes on the geography and the current environmental conditions. There are lots of endangered species, and Nicaragua has two of the seven beaches in the whole world where the great turtles migrate to lay their eggs.

Tuesday: A two-hour viewing, and then practicing of, traditional Nicaraguan folk dances. How much can you sweat while learning to dance? We laughed and sweated and danced and sweated some more.

Wednesday: One the effects of the volcanoes is that they caused thousand of little islands to spring up in Lake Nicaragua, the fourth largest lake in the world. We took a launch and went out to one of the islands, where we swam and enjoyed the beauty of this incredible body of water. We couldn't walk on the island without finding mangoes all around. How many mangoes can you carry back in a towel? On the way back we saw a bunch of islands with for sale signs on them. Whole islands. How do you sell an island?

Thursday: Market day in Masaya, the home of Nicaragua's traditional dances. Two markets, one of which is in the open. It is really interesting to interact with all the locals. The second market is closed, and we had to pay an entrance fee. In this one they really cater to the tourists. At night we listened to bands play and watch the place fill up with hundreds of people who came for the traditional dances, done every Thursday. Great fun, and some of the students got great deals. Make sure you get a chance to swing in Chris Holmes hammock this spring.

Friday: The highlight of the week, with the afternoon at the Pacific Ocean. For all you beach types, picture perfect three-foot waves with strong offshore winds, all afternoon, they just kept coming and coming. Lots of the group learned to body surf, and just as the tide changed, the swells jumped up to five-or-six feet sets. I was going crazy, waves with perfect form, one right after the other, coming and coming and coming. Hardly anybody in the water, one lone Nicaraguan surfer with all this to himself. Great afternoon.

Saturday: We hiked to a local hill overlooking the city in the morning, watching the setting change as moved into more rural neighborhoods and seeing the living conditions of the people deteriorate. Very few resources get out into the campo, with most electricity and water limited to the more developed areas. The view from the top of this hill was spectacular, seeing the chain of islands in the Lake, huge Volcano Mombacho rising above us and the lake, clouded and covered with rain forest.

On the way back into town we talked about how now that we have adjusted to basic life here, the emotions of this place are starting to rise. How is that we see such extremes and seemingly simple solutions, and yet such lack of movement to aid in the development of the lives of others. The futility at times seems overwhelming.

This afternoon we met with one of those groups that is trying to make a difference, a cooperative trying to ensure access to water for all people. These people have such a vision and are trying to make a huge difference with very few resources. But they are steadfast and committed. It was great to hear of their commitment and courage.

Only 10 days into this trip, and so much already. We are grateful for your support, your interest and concern for us, your prayers. We are becoming a community of fellow learners, learning about ourselves, others, our world and our God. Glad you are along on the journey through these weblog entries.

Shalom,
Terry

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Update from Robin Plies

We are all paired up and living with host families and attending language school for 4 hours each morning. The last few afternoons we have done afternoon activities including a trip to a neighboring city, a folkloric dance workshop and a boat ride out to an island in the lake. Terry, Dan and I are meeting with the students individually to find out how everything is going and so far the students are really excited to be here in general and they are overwhelmed with all the new information that is being presented. We have a very good initial impression of this language school and we are happy with the choice. We are trying to arrange volunteer opportunities for the students next week through the school, in addition to more excursions and activities. Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers.

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