Buenas noches, familias y amigos! 

Today’s theme was history and politics. For breakfast today, we ate French toast, beans, and orange juice. We then returned to the hostel and had to show our dance moves in our daily ice breaker. Next, in our academic seminar we learned more about the history of Nicaragua. We worked in groups to create timelines of Nicaragua’s history from its independence to the present day. We then read an article about Nicaragua’s current president to better understand the politics of the country. After all that studying, we needed to get out to stretch our legs! English student from Jinotega’s public university gave us a tour of their campus and spoke to us about the history of the college. We were all happy to get to know more Jinotega locals. We continued with a tour of the city and saw important locations such as the internet cafe, grocery store, and the cathedral. We ended our tour with a scavenger hunt around central park. After the tour we had lunch where we were served chicken wings, fries, salad, and lemonade with chia seeds.

After lunch, we had to come home and get a little dressed up because we were going to meet the former vice president of Nicaragua, Doctor Rizo, at his home. His home was beautiful, filled with historical relics and amazing artwork. Dr. Rizo engaged the group in a critical conversation about history, politics, and his own personal experiences. The students impressed not only us, but Dr. Rizo as well with their thoughtful questions and genuine interest in his expertise. We took a lot of great photos! Once we came back to the hostel, students reflected on their experience at Dr. Rizo’s and the knowledge they gained about Nicaragua’s political system. We were all extremely grateful for how much we learned in such a short amount of time.

For dinner, the students were in for a surprise! Today is the one of the Glimpsers’ birthday. To celebrate Joy’s birthday, we had a pinata, cake, and music. We sang happy birthday and cheered her on as she tried to break the pinata after dinner. For dinner, we ate tortillas with cheese and ham, beans, and delicious pineapple juice. We closed the day with our nightly meeting and more reflection.

Our group shot with Dr. Rizo!

 

Joy's birthday pinata!

Joy’s birthday pinata!