The Spanish Cities

When Nicaragua was colonized in the sixteenth-century, Granada and Leon quickly sprang up as the two main cities in the country. These beautiful places also experienced large amounts of turmoil during the revolution but remain centers of history and culture. We were fortune to visit both cities within a week of each other and had a fabulous time in each. Our first stop was the International Poetry Festival in Granada. We hopped on the bus and arrived late morning. A lot of the day was spent wandering through art exhibits and poetry stands interspersed with poets, midday meals, and open-mic poetry sessions. Granada also has hundreds of  beautiful doors, so much of time was spent walking through the streets and talking lots of pictures. 

                        
We eventually ran into the Park of the Poets with some very cool permanent art and on our way back to middle of the festival, found ourselves at the Choco Cafe y Museo. This place had fantastic information on the history of cacao, aka cocoa, as well as chocolate rum, fresh cacao and a beautiful central patio with lots of neat facts, chairs and most importantly, SHADE. We all enjoyed the plethora of free samples they offered us and learned about all the nifty things cocoa is used for and found in. Our time there was again, a beautiful break from the heat, but my favorite part of the day was returning to the  main area of the festival to find a young, probably seven-year-old girl reading her poem in front of an international crowd of poetry lovers. 

 

We saw some beautiful churches and beautiful people before heading back to Managua that evening, excited to return and see more of what the city had hidden in its streets.





The next weekend, we planned an overnight trip to Leon for more sightseeing and our first extreme-sport experience in Nicaragua. Volcano-boarding was rated the #2 on CNN's thrill seeker's bucket list last year, just after #1- Flying your own Fighter Jet. Needless to say, our time in Nicaragua wouldn't be complete without sliding down a giant, semi-active volcano on a piece of ply-wood. We arrived in at Bigfoot Hostel and Volcano Boarding around 11am, so we had enough time to get settled in our room and wander around town before leaving for the volcano at 1pm.

This was the mural we fell asleep to in the hostel~ 

The ride to the volcano was an adventure in and of itself. We jumped in the back of a giant truck with over twenty other extranjeros from all over the world including Canada, England, France, Australia, Denmark, Belgium, Argentina, Honduras and more. After introductions, including favorite ice cream flavors, we drove half an hour on corrugated roads through the Nicaraguan country side, headed toward the "black hill" aka Cerro Negro. 

                                                             

From the bottom

The day was hot. The company was international. The volcano was ready to be boarded. We arrived, passed out gear and headed up the trail. Did I mention that it was hot? It was hot. The volcano was very dry, very exposed and very, very black. But we had a great time anyway chatting our way (in English) up the hill with a nice scenic break in the middle and an incredibly rewarding view from the top. 

 Our guide pointed out the volcano flows from the last eruptions in '95 and '99 and somewhere of in the distance you could supposed see the ocean. After photo-ops and suiting up, he gave us instructions, helpful hints, and forgot to tell us to keep our mouths closed. We lined-up and one by one, jumped on our boards and raced down the lava flows as fast (or as slow) as we could. Technically, there was  a competition to see who could go fastest, but most of us were just happy to make it down in one piece. 
 



We had cold toñas and lots smiles waiting at the bottom as we cheered everyone else down the hill. The ride home was another adventure, full of foreign languages and a karaoke version of Bohemian Rhapsody. That night, we enjoyed chatting in the hostel, pizza and a true Nicaraguan baseball game, Leon versus Los Angeles (the team from Granada).

The next morning, we found our way to a delicious french bakery, Pan y Paz, that happened to be in the old family house of our ISEP adviser's husband. We all agreed that we'd be willing to travel the hour and a half to Leon just to taste the delicious pastries and sandwiches again.

Our next stop was the incredible Catedrál de Leon. The pictures again, hardly do it justice, but the view from the roof was easily the highlight of our trip. From up top, we could see churches rising up every few blocks throughout the city and the ring of volcanoes rising up across the country side.

The stations of the cross were
 magnificent and giant.

The tomb of Ruben Dario

 

Forgive me for the overuse of photos in this post...

We also stopped at a phenomenal art museum with original Picasso's and many works by classic central american painters. Our final afternoon was spent at the beach, once again. Las Peñitas was a charming coastal town with great waves to frolic in and plenty of shells to collect. I'm not sure we could have stuffed more into our 36-hour trip!

- Maggie Frazier

Things You Should Know Before You Go On ISEP

ISEP is a wonderful experience and I think more people should go for it. It doesn’t matter if you’re shy or outgoing, single or taken, or if you’re just terrified of being on your own; the ISEP experience fits everyone and if you can afford it, you should do it. I was also afraid of going but fear really shouldn’t stop you. One semester goes by really fast and before you know it you’re back home.

So here are some important tips:

Choose your classes very carefully. If you’re in the process of choosing classes, you’ll know it’s really hard because they have hundreds of classes. I spent several hours looking for the ones I needed. After I had chosen them, they rejected many because the course description was not the same as in UAM or because the class had pre-requisites that at UAM don’t even exist. So what does this imply? If you don’t take the same classes you would as if you were at UAM things might get a bit complicated.

I’m supposed to graduate in December this year but I’m not sure if that’s going to happen. I have 12 classes left, so six for each semester. However, you know CUSE only offers a class once a year unless you get the number of people required to open it. So now I have 12 classes left, 9 are from this ongoing semester and 3 for my last semester. In order to graduate I have to find 4 more people that want to take the classes I need from this semester so we can them next semester.

Sign up for classes ahead of time. As a procrastinator, I signed up for classes until the very last minute. At LSU, each class is offered in several different schedules so I could’ve chosen the time I wanted. But because I signed up really late, for one of my classes the only time available was 7am because every other class was already full.

You can fail a class there and you won’t lose your scholarship at UAM. I think people say classes in the U.S. or anywhere else are much harder than at UAM. So I avoided taking some classes because I was afraid I would fail and lose my scholarship. I later found out that you can’t because the class won’t transfer here unless you pass it. Also, I don’t think classes are harder, the only difference is that everything’s up to you. They don’t care about attendance so it’s up to you whether you want to go to class and pay attention or just stay in bed sleeping.

Finally, if you’re interested in taking international business law, global economic geography, or productions & operations management or if you have any questions, please contact me at scarleth.roque@gmail.com!

- Scarleth Roque

What Can You Do In An Hour?

If a split second can change your life forever, imagine what you can do in an hour? The time is coming up for one of the world’s greatest celebrations, Earth Hour 2013. To be held on March 23rd, 2013 at 7:00 p.m. on a worldwide scale you can get to be a part of this movement.

Even though I’m sure many of us did not know about this, Nicaragua has been part of this massive worldwide movement since 2011. What I mean by this is that we have been part of this movement is not only that many people turn off their lights at home for an hour. In Nicaragua, just as in the rest of the world, a big, fun, and green party is held. This year, the event will take place in Leon where there will be bands, fun activities, and movies, among other things. Just imagine being part of a massive party in the middle of Leon where you get to dance under the light of the moons and the stars, and you get to dance to the beat of the wavering candle flames. Sounds fun right? It is for this reason that we invite you to come and celebrate with us. Of course, for all of those who can’t make it to the event, you can contribute to this cause by turning off the lights and unplugging all electric devices in your house for an hour starting at 8:30 p.m. of this night.

Become active. If one second can change your life, imagine what donating an hour of your time can do for the world.

- Adriana Diaz 

Don't Forget the Sunscreen!

All one has to do is check the weather for Nicaragua and they'll realize that sunscreen is a necessity here. The temperature hardly ever leaves the 70 to 95 degree range so, needless to say, putting on sunscreen has become a daily routine. However, It was especially necessary on the few days we've gotten to the beach here in Nicaragua. 

At the end of our first week of school, I needed out of the city and someplace with sun and sand. The closest beach is an hour by car or two by bus. Jessica and I left Saturday around 9am and after a taxi to a bus and a walk through town we finally made it to the Masachapa, a small fishing community on the coast, around 11:30. We walked straight to the Pacific Ocean, dropped our things and headed to the water. 

There was hardly anyone around, but our first interaction was with a young Nica boy who shouted "Hallo Gringas!" our direction as we got in the water. After a smile and wave, we slipped into the heavenly not-to-hot-not-to-cold water and literally just floated for a good half hour. Our other friends, Kelsey, Anna and Colton, met up with us about an hour later and the five of us walked about fifteen minutes down the beach to another community called Pochomil. 

                                     

Pochomil is a long stretch of beach with family owned rancheros where you can spend the day eating, drinking and relaxing, as well as have a safe place to keep your things while frolicking in the ocean. As we walked up to the ranchero of our choosing, we were greeted with smiles and nod (until they found out we understood a little Spanish) and then immediately escorted to tables and hammocks. Within five minutes, each of us had a cold Toña in hand a marimba band filling the patio with what I can only describe as "beach music." I'm not sure I've been closer to Heaven... 

The waves along this part of the beach were also phenomenal and I could have spent hours playing around and being tossed over and under. Eventually we had to head home, but all of us agreed we'd be coming back soon. The wonderful owner, Henri, walked us to the bus station (since we'd all gotten off in Masachapa) and told us we were more than welcome to come stay anytime and gave us his number so we could call ahead and stay the night! 

Our bus ride home was by far the most "adventurous" part of our time in Nicaragua thus far. We missed the 4:30expreso bus and ended up crammed into one of the ordinario but stops at every post between the coast and Managua. I've never seen so many people crammed into such a small space. For the few of you reading this who remember getting stuck with me in an elevator an elevator for two hours in San Francisco, it was like that, on methamphetamine. I ended up stuck sitting under a man who hovered, extremely closely at times, over me trying to get me to practice my Spanish and make me understand that he was a government attorney. At least I learned the word for lawyer... 
We did eventually make it home, and while I had put on sunscreen at the beginning of the day, I was a lovely shade of well-done Maggie by the end. 

Our second beach adventure happened this last Sunday with some lovely new American friends we've been fortunate to find. Jeannette, who I mentioned we met at Girls Night, planned an awesome birthday weekend and invited us along for the fun. She lives just a quick taxi ride away with a family that has lived in Central America for over thirty years. We were invited over to their beautiful house for birthday dinner Saturday night where we met Rachel, a local intern for one of the resort companies, and few family members of the ladies that work at Fabretto. We lounged in pool, drank delicious mojitos, sang Happy Birthday and laughed the night away. 

 

The next morning we met the girls again at a local  convenient store that sold "American" treats like Diet Coke and Oreos. Our transportation to the beach was Kara, a friend of friend of Rachel, who none of us had met, but who happened to have bought a car a few days before and was dying to get to the beach. Kara is a fantastic 28 year old who recently moved to Nicaragua to start a non-profit. She pulled up in a dusty, giant, jeep-looking something and was so excited that she'd made it from Granada to Managua three days after learning to drive stick! The rest of our drive was quite an adventure, with only a few times restarting the car in the middle of the street and a lot of dust on the last stretch to Grand Pacifica, which was our destination for the day. Grand Pacifica is beautiful resort with a minimal day fee, gorgeous pool and direct beach access. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves, but this day was awesome. 

                                             
We also happened to run into a few of our friends from UAM who were working on a project for the day! Our day ended with the five of us silly, American girls driving back to Managua at sunset, dancing and singing to Radio Disney Nicaragua. 

Thanks to Jeannette, Rachel and Kara for taking us on such a wonderful trip!

-Maggie Frazier

Week #1 in Nicaragua- Girls. Love. Orange. Cookies

So... there's this awesome thing here called Girls Night. The first thing we were told was NOT to find it on Facebook because things can go downhill pretty quickly... We left with our wonderful ISEP advisor, Mary Helen, and a few other ladies around 6:30 on Wednesday night, and headed to a beautiful house in Las Colonias. Upon arrival, we were greeted by a host of women from all over the world, and the best part was.... they all spoke English! 

Post-Girls Night

Girls Night happens the first Wednesday of every month and is held at various houses around the city. It was an evening totally devoted to chatting, meeting new friends and speaking lots and lots of English. Needless to say, in the middle of our first full week of Spanish classes, this was a needed night of rest. I met some wonderful women doing incredible things in Nicaragua including JoAnn, who runs the Nicaraguan branch of Medical Ministry International. She has been in Nicaragua for over twenty years and graciously answered all of my questions about the health environment of Nicaragua. She even offered me a job! Of course, I told her I would have to finish school first, but who knew knows what the future holds~ One of the only other "under 40's" at the party was an adorable, lively young woman named Jeanette. She has been in Nicaragua for over six months working with an organization called Fabretto Children's Foundation. Other women from Fabretto were also around including Monica, the CFO, and Katherine, a volunteer from the States who is spending a year with the organization. We talked for hours and enjoyed delicious food and drinks. I was so thankful to Mary Helen for letting us tag along to such a spectacular event!

The next day was Valentine's day and the end of a long school week, so all of us single exchange students, plus a few Nica friends, spent a night on the town at a local sports bar. It was great to get off-campus and out the house. The restaurant, Hippos- pronounce EE-POs here, is well known around Managua and has a few different locations. All over the restaurant are giant wooden carvings of- you guessed it- hippos. We drank a few too many Toña's between the nine of us, but made it home safe and sound to wake up for another bit of orientation on Friday. 

Orange Day is a huge welcome day for all of the students studying at CUSE, the College of University Studies in English here at UAM. None of us ISEPer's got the memo to wear orange... The day started a great lunch where they served a local Nicaraguan dish called Caballo Bayo. The special part of this dish is the blood-sausage and rice squares that are served on top of other meets and veggies. From what I could tell, I didn't miss out on much. The rest of the day consisted of team-building activities, a scavenger hunt and information about how to get involved. 

Jessica and I ended the night by going to the movies, one of the more "normal" activities around, which is incredibly less expensive than back home and quite a bit comfier.

Our other activity of excitement this week was helping our host mom, Katia, decorate a surplus of cookies that had been ordered for Valentine's day! 

We had a great time trying to get the hang of things, but she showed us some lovely tricks and added things of our cookie didn't turn out so well. I'm sure this will turn into a weekly activity and it was a great way to practice speaking Spanish. You just can't get frustrated when you have a cookies all around!

 

- Maggie  Frazier

Preparations and Parties

Last Thursday and Friday were our Orientation Days here at UAM. It was a much welcomed change of scenery from our days of being in the house and we learned all sorts of useful things about the culture, the city and especially, transportation. One of the hardest things in Managua is the lack of independence I feel because I simply don't have a car. Therefore, our transportation option are: friends with cars (which we only have a few of so far), taxis, buses or walking. Our lovely Nica friends, Celia and Scarleth, have been incredibly welcoming, inviting out and taking us to dinner, but since our house is a little bit out of the way, our main drivers have been taxis. Taxis here are relatively inexpensive, unless a) you are a chela (white person) b) you don't speak Spanish or c) you don't know how far things are in the city. For Jessica and me, a) is not going to change anytime soon, b) is improving at an excruciatingly slow rate, and c) has seen the best progress, especially after our adventures this weekend. So for now, we have taken to walking to school as much as possible and spends the rest of our time praying for friends!

Post-Lunch Photo!

During orientation, we listened to different presentation about culture shock, school activities, safety, banking, transferring credits and the Nicaragua Way. During the day Thursday, we toured around the city to restaurants, the bank, the downtown center, hospitals and the market. Mary Helen, the director of International Programs, had information about everywhere we went and put to rest a lot of fears and worries about the travelling and exploring inside and outside the city. Friday, we had to take a Spanish Placement Exam to assess our Spanish skills. 

During the Test...

Needless to say, this was by far the least exciting part of our week and none of us thought we would pass. Apparently, we all did well enough (or bad enough) to warrant taking a 3-hour Advanced Spanish class every Tuesday. So maybe we'll eventually learn Spanish.... Maybe. 






The rest of Friday consisted of signing up for classes, recuperating from the test and getting ready to celebrate the birthday of one of our new friends! The local hot spot for all activities is the called Las Galerías. It has EVERYTHING. Discos, Movies, Shops, Soccer fields, Restaurants. So for Anna's birthday, we went to the local "hotspot," Moods. Overall, it was a new/interesting/exciting/really loud experience, perfect for the weekends, but not somewhere I'll go for a drink after a long day of classes. We celebrated with Gringas and Nicas alike and ended our first week in Nicaragua with a fiesta fantástica! 

-Maggie Frazier

Sights of Nicaragua

Nicaragua is beautiful. I mean, I love the mountains at home and the falling snow, but there's not much I can compare to the flowers and landscape of Nicaragua. On Wednesday, we visited Laguna de Tiscapa and Lago Managua. Finally getting out of the house was very refreshing and even just driving through the town provided a great glimpse of the culture and city of Managua. 

Laguna de Tiscapa is a small lake inside a crater located in downtown Managua. From the top of the crater, you can look down at the entire city and see the different districts. There is also a small museum about the Nicaraguan Revolution and a giant statue referred to as "Sandino's Shadow." 

Laguna de Tiscapa

 

 

 It's still obvious in the the country that there is a conflict of interest between groups of people, but so far, the most socialism I've seen is only in the billboards and the graffiti.

Our other site for the day was the expansive Lago de Mangua that stretches all the was across the north end of the city. Both Laguna de Tiscapa and Lake Managua are much to polluted to swim in, so we just enjoyed the landscape. We took a beautiful walk along the coast and down a pier, but being the middle of the week, the area was pretty dead and we soon made our way back home. 

  

The most interesting part of the boardwalk was actually the disparity between the land and just inside the government-funded park and the literal dumps that lay on the other side of the fence. Everywhere we go in Nicaragua it is obvious that the rich and poor are separated by more than fences. 

 

Our latest adventure was a trip to the Laguna de Apoyo, another beautiful crater lake, and this time we could swim! Nicaragua has the the most nature reserves Central America and this seemed to be the closest and easiest to get to for our first trip. Five ISEP students, including myself, made our way to the bus station for our first experience of public transportation that would take us out of town. We navigated our way downtown, took a bus to the entrance of the crater and then grabbed a taxi to take us down into the crater itself. The entire drive was full of foreign sights and sounds, but the most breathtaking was our first glimpse of the lake. Surrounded by every shade of green, was a beautiful escape from the noise and commotion of the city. 

 

The pictures can't begin to tell how beautiful it was, but I'm sure they'll do better than my descriptions. We arrived at the Paradiso hostel and immediately headed for the water. The hostel was more than we could have hoped for, with a large patio, hammocks, kayaks, a dock and lakeside food and drinks. Jessica and I were the only two to stay the night, but it was well worth the stars and sunrise the next morning. We also took a walk through the area in the evening and shared a great dinner of, as always, gallopinto (rice and beans), eggs, tortillas and cheese. Nicaragua also has two popular local beers, La Victoria Frost, and El Toña. Everyone picks a favorite and whether it was the location or the taste, I settled on the Toña that night. 

It was beautiful to sit in peace and read and pray during our time there. I felt very refreshed and reassured that my time in Nicaragua is important. I'm learning to trust that God has plans for me here and plans to use the experiences and skills gained for His future work. 

We returned to Mangua on Sunday afternoon and spent our evening playing soccer and preparing to start school. I felt very blessed to have accomplished something and I'm still thankful for Jessica and her willingness to explore with me. Hopefully, our next nature stop will be the ocean!

 

- Maggie Frazier