Chasing the Sun: It's getting hot in hurrrr

We have been in Nicaragua for about a week now, and it's hotter than hot. It's a hot that I don't think I've experienced yet in my lifetime. It rarely dips down below 90, and air conditioning isn't a thing that everyone has. Savannah and I had a moment last night where we woke up in the middle of the night and felt "chilly" enough to snuggle up in our sheet, hashtag blessed.

We spend the majority of every day here at The Center for Global Education house. This house is kind of the main office for all of the Central America programs. Kathy is the boss woman here and I love her. There are three rooms in the house that have AC: the dining room/classroom, computer room, and another basic room with a couple chairs and a couch. I have spent 50% of the last week on a nice floral couch, lounging hard in the cold air. I started the TV show House over again, great decision.

While it is in the 90's every since day, we are required to look nice for every speaker...and we have speakers almost every day. Appropriate clothing, no shorts. Fack.

We met our host families on Wednesday, Savannah and I love love love our family. Our room here is smaller than any of the other rooms I have had thus far, and this is my first time with a roomie, so organization is key...and for anyone who knows us knows that organization is not our strong suit, but we will make it work.

We are living in this cool neighborhood, Batahola, with a really well run community center, and a little park right outside our front door. It's just fun to see people out and about all the time, interacting and playing together...the houses in the neighborhood don't have wifi, I wonder if there's a correlation...

Every morning we are picked up by Jose and brought to the CGE house. Fun fact: the house is a block away from the where the President of Nicaragua lives and works...super casual.

I have gone for twice as many runs here in a week than I ever did in the other two countries combined (I have gone for two runs...do the math) But what's fun is that within our confined neighborhood I can wander around alone because there are 20 cops every three feet, and that's barely even an exaggeration. It's an interesting dynamic.

The history of this country is so interesting, and our professor rocks. She engages us and I feel like I'm really retaining all of the information. We also get to meet with some big wig really important people during our time here, which is such a great opportunity.

My world got rocked by some news yesterday, but it was just another reminder that we are all human and shit happens. It was also a reminder of how far away from home I am. One step at a time. That's all any of us can do.

Oh! AJ played in a MLB spring training game this past week. MY BROTHER! I am so proud of him, he works his ass off and deserves every single bit of it. He is such a wise guy and an incredible writer. He writes for Twins Daily in his free time, check out some of his articles!
This is one of my favorites: Learning From My New Friends

Spring break is about a week away! WOOP. And tomorrow we are going to Lake Apoyo, a beautiful volcano lake. I can't wait to go swimming! A big plus to our schedule in Nicaragua is that we have almost every weekend off, allowing us many opportunities to explore...we might splurge and fly to the Caribbean Coast in the next month or so...what is my life? I'm grateful for my friends who want to romp around and adventure as much as I do.

But sorry...You need to put on pants.
Hannah