Into the Frying Pan

It's 9 o'clock on a Friday night and I'm struggling to keep drops of sweat from flooding my keyboard. I'm writing from the Hotel Granada in muggy Granada, Nicaragua, one of two beautifully preserved Spanish colonial cities in Nicaragua. While the sun has set hours ago, my shirt is still drenched in humid sweat and the warm breeze coming off of gargantuan Lake Nicaragua provides little respite.

The past few days have been a bit of a blur to day the least. I arrived safely at DC's National Airport on Tuesday morning and shared a taxi to our hotel with Brian, one of the other agriculture volunteers who had just flown in from Connecticut on the same flight. Before the afternoon's orientation sessions began, I killed some hours chatting with the other 44 trainees from both the agriculture and small business development groups sharing names, hometowns, universities, and our vague notions of what we had just gotten ourselves into. The orientation finally began and consisted of about 6 hours of general information regarding our expectations of the Peace Corps, their expectations of us, basic health and safety information, and myriad ice-breakers and get-to-know-each-other activities. When the program wrapped up around 7, myself and a few other volunteers decided to have one more Last Supper in America and gorged ourselves on the barbecued "Five Meat Treat" at Red, Hot, and Blue in Arlington. It was definitely an appropriate final salute to our dear country.

After "sleeping" for a few quick hours, I found myself back in the hotel lobby with the other 44 trainees shortly after 1am, preparing to depart for our 6am flight to Managua. When we arrived at the airport only 30 minutes later, we discovered that the check-in counter would not be open until 4am and spent the next few hours napping, chatting, listening to music, and playing frisbee in the bizarrely empty terminal at Reagan. Finally, the counter opened, we checked our luggage and hopped on our flight to Miami. What was supposed to be nothing more than a quick layover in sunny Florida also turned into a bit of an ordeal, as our plane and flight departure time were changed several times over a 4 hour period. I found myself getting airport cabin-fever, as the ubiquitous Kenny G soundtrack and recycled air-conditioning toyed with my sanity.

Finally, we took off, flying straight over the Florida Keys, soaring high over Fidel's backyard in Cuba, and landing no less than 3 hours later at Augusto Sandino International Airport in Managua. My first introduction to Nicaragua came when I stepped out of the air-conditioned terminal and was slapped in the face with the full brute force of Central American heat and humidity. Since landing 3 days ago, I've had a permanent sheen of sweat on my brow; it's like my forehead is perpetually leaking.

Waiting for us past the baggage claim were the Peace Corps' country director, other PC administrators and several current volunteers in the Ag and Small Business sectors. It was an encouraging sight to see that these volunteers (some of who were extending for a 3rd year) were healthy, happy, had all their limbs, and looked decidedly free of any bizarre tropical diseases. Hopping into a waiting bus, we were given the first of many surprises. Many of us had been under the impression that our arrival orientation would be in Managua. However, we were informed after boarding the bus that we would instead be traveling 90 minutes south, to Granada, the jewel of Spanish Central America.

Our hotel is beautiful, with air-conditioned rooms, hot showers, delicious meals, and even a swimming pool. I'm still trying to figure out of this is some sort of sick joke the Peace Corps is playing on us, luring us in with creature comforts before casting us out into the wilderness.

In three days, we've covered a variety of topics, from more specific health and safety tips, to what our 11-week training will entail, to filling out additional paperwork for visas, to testing into our various language groups. It's been an action-packed few days. Today, especially, has been quite busy. I learned which family I'll be living with for the next 3 months. I specifically requested a large family so that I could have more people to practice my Spanish with, and was assigned to the Calero family in Los Rincones, Nicaragua. The family consists (more or less) of my soon-to-be host parents Teresa and Bacilio and their 5 children and 2 grandchildren. I don't think I'll be at a loss for people to practice my Spanish with. Hopefully they'll be patient as I undoubtedly butcher and maim their beautiful language.

After receiving our host family assignments, the Peace Corps staff told us that another surprise was in store for us. To celebrate the end of orientation, they took us on a boat tour of Las Isletas de Granada, an archipelago of 300 or so small islands off the shore of Lake Nicaragua that contain the mansions of some of Nicaragua's rich and famous, including beer barons, coffee magnates, and former presidents. However, the most famous of all the islands is Isla de los Monos, a tiny uninhabited island that was home to dozens of Capuchin monkeys. The island's residents seemed quite used to humans as they posed for us on shore and then bravely boarded our small boat, snatching peppermints from the hand of our boat pilot.

After returning to land, we had a poolside barbecue (I know, right? Peace Corps is definitely messing with us), before heading out on the town to celebrate the birthday of one of our fellow trainees. First thing tomorrow morning, we pack the truck with our luggage and head down to the Masaya department where we will spend the next 11 weeks living with our host families. I'll be sure to keep you posted!