I'm here!

After flying all morning on the 19th (layover in Miami in the same part of the airport as the Little Cayman trip layover!), I spent the rest of the day in the Managua airport waiting for the other volunteers to arrive. We played card games (and I began and finished reading the play Noises Off!) and telephone pictionary (very interesting in Spanish). The day was even more interesting with the random power outages (I guess they're a normal part of the day, but imagine my surprise when I was using the restroom and everything went black). Our last volunteer Jana (the Wellesley founder of the org!) arrived late due to flight delays and we didn't get to the house until 2am (4am MI time).
The group is renting a traditional Nicaraguan home in the city of San Jorge. It's difficult to describe, but it's light pink on the exterior and a roof of sheets of metal. We have indoor plumbing (but not always water!) and lights, but use a gas stove. It's very hot (as I told my mom, my sweat is sweating) and often hard to fall asleep, especially with the roosters that seem to think 3am is the appropriate time to squawk. My team, however, is wonderful and very energetic so I'm happy! The most difficult thing is the Spanish. I can read and write quite well, but my speaking and comprehension is weak. Thankfully, all the training is bilingual and the local volunteers either know English or are very patient. My hermano, or brother, for the training is a local, Beto, who doesn't speak any English, so I'll definitely have plenty of opportunity to improve.
Our training has so far included goals and operations of the org and we're beginning to discuss pedagogy. Once I'm in Costa Rica, we'll have a week of training for the regular volunteers and then 3 weeks of teaching. I've been told that we'll teach approximately 1500 students over the course of our time here!
We have WiFi in the house, but it's not very cooperative, so I'm writing this at a local cyber cafe. I don't know how often I'll be able to write, so don't worry if I don't update all the time. Besos!