Hi Everyone!

I am so glad to share some of our day in Leon. Today we went through the History of Nicaragua: first we had the chance to meet Wilberth Medrano, our first speaker of the program and an incredible tour guide and historian. He talked about the origins of Nicaragua and Leon and gave us a hint of what was coming throughout the day. DSCF2032

After Lunch we went on the city tour! I’m sure all of us were super excited about the landmarks of Leon and to actually see the city for the very first time. We started from San Jose church, one of the 17 churches in Leon.  Crossing the busy streets, experiencing new sounds, and the temperature were part of the experience. We saw much of the unique architecture of Leon. We had the chance to get to know a little more about Ruben Dario, the most famous poet from Nicaragua and the one who started a whole new literature movement called modernism (in poetry).20160609_145908

 

After take a break in the park in his honor we walked to central park and enjoyed the view; the cool thing about Leon’s central square is the combination of architectural styles in one little place, which makes it unique and beautiful. The park is guarded by 11 Lions around the Cathedral and the central park ( Isn’t that cool?). So, talking about the Cathedral, this ancient building is now a World Heritage Site and the iconic building of Nicaragua and we had the chance to go to heaven, yes! Heaven! That’s what they call the domes on top of the cathedral, here the view is AMAZING and is one of those one of a kind places on earth, and we got pictures to prove it!20160609_153711

We finished our city tour by exploring a mural about the history of Nicaragua and…. surprise! Our amazing Site Manager (Brayan) and Program Coordinator (Kirsten) took the group to “Eskimo” the local ice cream shop, where we had a very well deserved ice cold reward after a long but informative city tour.DSCF2070

We finished our day with the nightly meeting and our first self reflection about first impressions of Leon, I am sure that we all had a great day but most important we all learned about the history of Nicaragua.

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