¿Y Entonces...?

Wow, what a week this has been! There's so much to say and yet I have no idea where to begin! I don't have my photos with me, but don't worry, I will be posting some in days to come.

I guess the best way to do this would be a bullet list, yeah?

• Monday (09/01): Arrived in DC and had lunch with my buddy from back home and he showed me around the city. What a lovely area!
• Tuesday (10/01): Met up with everyone in Nica 58 (there are 20 of us) and we began the lonnnnnnnnnnng day of orientation. Lots of material, lots of information and LOTS of anticipation!
• Wednesday (11/01): We got up nice and early, arrived to DCA and hung out for a few hours to board the plane off to Miami where we would then connect to Managua! After lots of sitting down and travelling, we arrived about a half hour late, but all was well and good and we were greeted by the previous Health Volunteers who were going to be staying with us until we depart in a few days. After a brief dinner and a brief meet and greet with the facilitators, we were off to bed.
• Thursday (12/01): And so begins training. We got some vaccinations, mucho informacion and we took a mini field trip to Lake Managua and saw beautiful views of the city (fotos mas tarde!)
• Friday (13/01): Did I mention we got a lot of information and not enough sleep? Pretty much what Friday entailed...AND we got information about where we were going to be for training as well as who our host families are! 
• Saturday (14/01): Pre-family meeting; what we were to expect in the casas and how to act. Then, we made the drive, departed with our facilitators and experienced volunteers and headed to our new homes. Everyone was so excite to see everyone's new family, but sad to leave the rest of the group behind! No worries, though, we're all going to see each other at the end of this week when we return to Managua for more meetings and vaccinations! :)
• Sunday (15/01): Free day with the familias. My training site mates, Natalie and Helen, and I took some time to look around our city. I also got to go to the neighboring town of Jinotepe to shop around the mercado con mi madre (Dna Cristina) and padre (Dn Guillermo).
• Monday (16/01): First day of Spanish classes! Went well and it's just the group of the 3 of us and our facilitator, and it's going great! We walked around the town some more and talked to some people, too. I also got my first run in! It wasn't much, a little over a mile with my amigas, but it felt great, nonetheless. We also met up with some jovenes (teens between the ages of 16-19) and played some volleyball with them. Oh yeah, and I locked myself out of my room. WOOPS! Luckily, madre said this happens at least once every time there is a volunteer and after using hammers, screwdrivers, knifes and keys, we were finally able to pick the lock, an hour and a half later. Lo siento!
• Tuesday (17/01): More Spanish classes and internet time! We met the head of the Center of Health as well as some key players in the brigadistas (teen volunteers) who we will be working with more closely in the next 3 months.