3 Feb 2010, 5:15 PM
La Casa San Juan, Managua, Nicaragua
"¡Qué horno!"
Those were the first words I heard on Nicaraguan soil. And they were certainly appropriate. "What an oven!" According to our gringo pilot, it is a balmy 93 degrees in Managua today. Culture shock be damned - the first thing that hit me was the heat.
So yeah. I'm here! Safe and sound. Sitting on a bed at La Casa San Juan, a small cozy hotel that we're staying at for these first few days of orientation (I guess they're not ready to sic us Americanos on the innocent homestay families yet.) There are 5 of us here so far - the rest are coming in on much later flights, so we have a break to wander, rest, and, most importantly, be ridiculously, hyper-actively social. We're all best friends already.
Getting off my RDU-->MIA flight, the gate agent asked where I was connecting to. I managed to reply "Managua" with a convincing enough accent that she directed me to gate E-veintiuno in Spanish! I was thrilled beyond belief. And then, of course, I headed off in the direction of A21, forgetting in my moment of triumphant fluency that the letter E is pronounced like the English A. Heh.
The second we landed in Managua, a teenage Nica pulled out her iPhone (despite the stern warning to wait until the plane made a complete stop) and began chatting animatedly with her friends. Third World country, my ass.
After meeting up with the aforementioned group at the airport and getting driven to Casa San Juan, we set off to find some sort of food. And, naturally, were directed to the massive American-style mall, complete with Subway, Sbarro, McDonalds, Quiznos, and the like. Not off to such a hot start on the cultural-immersion front (although I got my fast food from the restaurant that offered comida nica auténtica).
"¡Qué horno!"
Those were the first words I heard on Nicaraguan soil. And they were certainly appropriate. "What an oven!" According to our gringo pilot, it is a balmy 93 degrees in Managua today. Culture shock be damned - the first thing that hit me was the heat.
So yeah. I'm here! Safe and sound. Sitting on a bed at La Casa San Juan, a small cozy hotel that we're staying at for these first few days of orientation (I guess they're not ready to sic us Americanos on the innocent homestay families yet.) There are 5 of us here so far - the rest are coming in on much later flights, so we have a break to wander, rest, and, most importantly, be ridiculously, hyper-actively social. We're all best friends already.
Getting off my RDU-->MIA flight, the gate agent asked where I was connecting to. I managed to reply "Managua" with a convincing enough accent that she directed me to gate E-veintiuno in Spanish! I was thrilled beyond belief. And then, of course, I headed off in the direction of A21, forgetting in my moment of triumphant fluency that the letter E is pronounced like the English A. Heh.
The second we landed in Managua, a teenage Nica pulled out her iPhone (despite the stern warning to wait until the plane made a complete stop) and began chatting animatedly with her friends. Third World country, my ass.
After meeting up with the aforementioned group at the airport and getting driven to Casa San Juan, we set off to find some sort of food. And, naturally, were directed to the massive American-style mall, complete with Subway, Sbarro, McDonalds, Quiznos, and the like. Not off to such a hot start on the cultural-immersion front (although I got my fast food from the restaurant that offered comida nica auténtica).
The 15-minute walk there and back, however, was definitely a reminder that had, in fact, hurtled a couple thousand miles south of our own fast-food-laden homeland. Walking along the autopista, we passed by dozens of street vendors, selling everything from beads to soda to pornography. Brightly repainted old American school buses hurtled by, full of commuting managüenses, and depressingly cute, painfully skinny little boys begged us for cordobas. "Para aqua. Para comer." For water. For food.
I get the idea that today is really just Get-Your-Behind-To-Managua day. Tomorrow is when we'll get started for realsies. I'm utterly and completely exhausted. But I can't wait.
Abrazos desde Managua,
Gene
Hi Gene Reuben,
ReplyDelete93 degrees doesn't sound half bad from here.
Snow is melting but I've just been told more is on the way this weekend....YIKES. This blog thing is the BEST!! Lovin' the photos. I can't wait to hear about realsies tomorrow.
Lotsa love, Louise