Nica Life

After a couple weeks here in Nicaragua, I am finally getting used to everything.
I am here with a group of 11 - 5 students from USF, 5 from Gettysburg College in PA and one from Emory U in Atlanta. We all spent a great first week together doing orientation activities in Managua and Masaya, and it was a great way to learn more about Nicaraguan culture, history, Spanish and to eat tons of awesome greasy food.

Here is the malecon overlooking Lake Managua:

Last Thursday, we split up to move in with our families. I live in Ciudad Sandino, which is about 30 minutes from Managua by bus, and is one of the poorest urban areas in Nicaagua. It was mostly built after the earthquake in 1972 but many more people moved here after Hurricane Mitch in 1998. Although there is a lot of poverty and challenges, the people here are very nice. It´s cool to see people just hanging out outside their houses chatting with neighbors our watching kids play.
My family is awesome - I live with a grandma, her daughter and son-in-law and their 3 year old daughter ( who is super cute) and another grandson who is 17. They have been so helpful with everything from learning new vocab in Spanish to figuring out what buses to take to Managua.
These are some of the neighborhood kids on Dia de los Niños, which basically celebrates all the kids. We had a little party with piñatas and lots of candy!


I also started working this week at AMIFANIC, which works to prevent domestic violence and provides essential services to victims and survivors. This type of violence is a huge problem here and is related to a lot of other issues - poverty, a cultural sense of Machismo, and a series of political mixed messages, (with few resources,) from the government. The tangible services that AMIFANIC provides - a lawyer and psychologist free of charge as well as a support network - are essential, but they are faced with a lack of incoming resources and growing challenges. I hope that this summer, I can help build AMIFANIC´s capacity to provide these services because it is clear that there is a need for them.
Here is the AMIFANIC office in Ciudad Sandino:



It has definitely been a challenge speaking Spanish all the time, getting used to the laid back time schedule, and missing people from SF and Denver, but I already feel so grateful for this experience and all that I´m going to learn and hopefully contribute.