DSC00411DSC00430Day 2, which means for the first time, we woke up in Nicaragua this morning. After packing everything into the bus, we had a quick breakfast of eggs, gallo pinto, plantains, and cheese. A true Nica meal. Many tried these for the first time, and the salty (yet wonderful) cheese was left on a number of plates.

After breakfast, a few hours of driving and we arrived in our new home, Esteli. A beautiful city with a whole lot of things going on. Before we were able to explore though, we had to do some seminars and review our policies, so everyone could be ready to venture out and about.

A walking tour of the city showed us beautiful murals, historically relevant statues, great views of surrounding mountains, and brought us finally to a local history museum. In the museum, we saw history ranging as far back as stone carvings all the way up through modern times. It was very beautiful and everyone was very interested in the wide array of artifacts regarding the history of the region.

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Our last portion of the day was dinner (YUM!), our first full nightly meeting, and a self-reflection. As a teacher and GG Leader, it’s a real pleasure to be able to watch the students take in all the information of the day and give back insight. Sometimes they are tight-lipped, while other times it’s almost impossible to get them to stop talking. Either way, I really love seeing how they interact with each other to approach the questions they’re asked. Conversations about fears, hopes, and goals are fascinating. Not to mention, they seem to be fast to make friends. It’s just a pleasure.

Tomorrow night, you get a final dose of me writing the blog before it moves on to the Student Leader of the Day. In the meantime, I can say that everyone is happy, healthy, and enjoying being in Nicaragua.