Hi friends and family,

This is Juliana, the program coordinator, writing again after modeling the ‘Leader of the Day’ role for the students. We arrived in Matagalpa very early this morning and before lunch, had two orientation seminars to help students foster a safe environment and wellbeing throughout the trip. Several students commented on how much they like the Nicaraguan food at the hotel, which I hope means that they will be enjoying the food at their accomodation and eating well through the duration of the trip, and everyone had great energy throughout the day despite it being a pretty long one. There were many faces of curiosity and enjoyment.
After lunch, Sonia, a former Sandinista guerrilla fighter, came to the hotel to share some of her experiences training with other youth for a coup d’etat that overthrew the Somoza dictatorship in the 1980’s in Nicaragua. Her stories were touching and inspiring, as she also told her students about her current entrepreneurial projects and leadership in her community.
Sonia’s talk was followed by a city tour where we identified several spots for students to have coffee and get snacks during free days, and had ice cream at our last stop before returning to the hotel for dinner. Before bedtime, everyone got to share some insights on their first impressions of Nicaragua during the first self-reflection and bonded as a group over card games and laughs. I hope you get to hear some of their thoughts on the day in person in a few weeks!

Hasta maƱana!!
Juliana