Home is where you make it

Well I have been here over a week and am all settled in. Today started off pretty badly, some kind of food sickness and lots of regurgitation, but it happens and ended up being a pretty good day anyways. Washed all my clothes, and am very glad that our Fern house has a washer and dryer because it makes things a lot easier. Then I had lunch with the family I'm staying with. It was delicious! It was an argentine dish, and the best steak I've ever had (although I'm not knocking your grilling abilities dad). This evening I went to church with the housekeeper Natalia, and hell didn't freeze over (aren't you proud ceecee?). The mass was pretty much the same as a mass in a Catholic church in the states.

So overall I have had a pretty good weekend. Yesterday I went to the Mercado Oriental, which was pretty much the same as all the ones in China. Hot, smelly, crowded and lots of people trying to pull you towards their stand. Sounds fun huh? Well it's something to experience none the less.

Last night I went out for my first night on the town with some girls from work. It was a lot of fun and the beer here is pretty good. I was however told that Nicaragua is best known for its rum, which I'm supposed to try when we go out Wednesday for ladies night! Nicaragua has no drinking age; however, a lot of the bars and discotecas are only supposed to admit people that are 18 or older. There are also a lot of casinos in Managua.

So as I continue to backtrack through my time here, my first week of work went well. I'm so impressed by the work that they do at the FDL. Everyone is always very busy. Most of the day I'm just sitting at my computer doing research for my report, but this coming week I'm supposed to conduct interviews with the managers. It's a little difficult at times because most of the people at work do not speak English, so it is hard for me to be as hands on as I would like to be, but my spanish is slowly improving and I am trying to make the best of the situation anyways. I have already learned a lot about the industry and funding NGOs.

I will be with the FDL for three more weeks, and then I think I am going to go to Xela, Guatemala to take classes at a spanish school for three weeks. I am excited about that because it's five hours of class a day, and it's one on one with the profesor so I should be pretty good by the time I come back!

Overall I am really enjoying my time here. Everyone has been so nice to me and I am looking forward to travelling around Nicaragua more. I miss everyone at home, tell my little porkchop of a boyfriend I said hello! haha y hasta luego.