Today has been a LONG day full of new sights, smells and sounds! We woke up early and headed out to travel to Matagalpa, our new home for the next 2.5 weeks. Matagalpa is a beautiful city full of rolling green hills, and we were relieved to be welcomed by a cool misty morning after escaping from the heat of Managua.
We got situated in our hostel, El Castillo, which has a great view of our beautiful city and a big balcony where we eat all of our meals. After our first Nicaraguan breakfast, eggs, gallo pinto (rice and beans) and platano maduro (sweet ripe plantain), our awesome Program Coordinators (Denis and myself) gave some introduction seminars where we learned about the important stuff like Global Glimpse rules and some cultural differences between the U.S. and Nicaragua. Our knowledgeable Global Glimpse Leaders led the History seminar where the students learned some background information about the revolution in Nicaragua. Then it was time for lunch!
Glimpsers chatting and enjoying a delicious Nicaraguan breakfast!
After a long morning of listening and learning, the students had some time to relax and they took the initiative to play cards together and get to know each other better. The group dynamic is already great and everyone is very chatty 🙂 we are impressed with these unique Glimpsers!
Then we headed out for a tour of our new city! We saw some important historical points as well as some useful places to go on our free days, such as a laundromat, coffee shops and cyber cafes to get in touch with our families. The students were super excited to be able to get out on the streets and learn about Nicaragua first hand – by walking around the streets! Our awesome Program Coordinators treated us to ice cream, only after we competed in a showdown to answer questions about some of the things we learned.
After watching the sun set over the hills and eating dinner, we had our first nightly meeting where we reflected on the day and how history affects the development of a country. Then our next ELDD (GG Leader Matt) earned his crown with some dance moves and we all got pumped up for tomorrow – culture day! It has been a long day but the group is full of good sports that kept the energy high. We will definitely be sleeping well tonight!
As El Lider Del Dia (Leader of the Day) and Program Coordinator, I am really impressed and excited about our first group of Glimpsers and they are already stepping out of their comfort zones, trying new foods, and speaking some Spanish!
Stay posted to hear about some fun cultural activities we will do tomorrow 🙂 hasta manana!
Our hostel, El Castillo aka “The Castle”.