Emersion...

Wow! My time here has been incredible so far. Aside from being sick a couple days (typical I guess), I´ve had the chance to get emersed in a very different culture. The language, people, food, everything is so new and exciting! (pictures to come)

Just to give you a glimpse into my daily life, here are a few things I see going to work every day:

• wooden carts pulled by horses
• bikes and motorcyles with 2, 3 or 4 people on each one
  
• old US school buses, used for public transportation with names like ¨Madison School District¨still written on the side
  
• school children in uniforms
• palm trees
  
• street vendors selling anything you can think of within an arms reach
  
• crazy cab drivers
• fancy hotels next to slums, separated only by a fence
  

During the week, Monday thru Saturday, my time has been spent with PAC, the local development organization. Currently, World Relief only has a small presence here, almost all the work has been handed off to Nicaraguans.

My first two weeks working with PAC the goal is to allow me to understand what it is that they do here. This means reading about their vision, mission, and how everything works together. Its a lot more complex than I ever imagined! Another portion of my time is spent learning Spanish, especially words that I will need to communicate with farmers.

After these first two weeks I will begin working more directly with farmers. I get to find out soon more of what that will look like. But for now, tranquilo!