See You Soon

"Never say goodbye because goodbye means going away and going away means forgetting." Therefore, see you soon because dear students you will never be forgotten!

Steps Along the Way: Costa Rica: Beaches, Buses and Bonfires

Steps Along the Way: Costa Rica: Beaches, Buses and Bonfires: I know this is now more than a month over-due but I feel it would be a waste to not make an account of the our incredible Latin American Spr...

ISEP: Free Trips and Tree Flips!

Just a few hours north of Managua is a jungle paradise with rolling hills and beautiful landscapes. The district of Matagalpa is in the central Nicaragua and is known for incredibly delicious coffee that is grown and harvested there. As a part of our ISEP program, we took our first trip to Laguna de San Martin, a hotel and water play-land in the middle of this region. Along with the ISEPer's, our advisers and a few adventurous Nicaraguan friends, we headed to spend the weekend relaxing, swimming and exploring the Nicaraguan hills. After a very long, winding car ride, we arrived at our jungle hotel complete with monkeys, parrots and a pet alligator...

Our first afternoon, we ate lunch and headed straight to the lake, which included water trampolines, slides and all sorts of fun toys to keep us entertained. We also set up a relay race around all of the inflatables and took enough tumbles and falls to keep us laughing. Back at the hotel, I had my first hot shower in Nicaragua, but the highlight of the evening was a delicious dinner followed by games, friends and quite a few toñas. The next morning, we slept in and found our way to a beautiful waterfall about a half hour hike from the hotel. It was great to be out and breathing the fresh air after a long week of exams and school work! We drank more coffee in two days than I had my entire month in Nicaragua. And it was SO good. Our company was wonderful, the activities were great and the landscapes were breath-taking. It was great to have a weekend with plans (and meals) provided!

Our second trip was also an incredible success. It may seem like we go to the beach every week (which may be true) but there is no doubt that Playa Hermosa (Beautiful Beach) earned its namesake with ease. We took of early on a Friday morning and head south to the district of Rivas. While I was Peru for Semana Santa, the rest of our crew spent a few days in San Juan Del Sur, a great beach town located in Rivas with plenty of restaurants and internationals, but this was my first trip to the area. Our first bonding experience of the trip was being sent through 14 sections of a fabulous Canopy Tour at crazy speeds and incredible heights. A few of us even took a turn upside down! Flying from platform to platform made me feel just like the monkeys we saw along the way and we had plenty of time between set-ups to get to know the awesome Nica students who bravely came with us.


Once our feet were back on the ground, we headed to the beach, not knowing we were in for such a treat! We jumped off our twenty-passenger truck in front of giant beach house, complete with surfers, cabanas, sand-volleyball and hammocks. The beach itself would have been spectacular, but the food, drinks and great places to just play and relax convinced us all it was going to be a great weekend. After lunch, a few of us opted-in for surf lessons and hit the waves. Our instructors were very helpful and encouraging and we all eventually made it up!

 

 

That evening we had a fogate (bonfire) on the beach and someone even remembered the marshmallows! About an hour past sunset (which was also astounding), one of our ISEPer’s named Levi, ran up and forced us all to accompany him down the beach. The water had receded significantly since the afternoon, but the wet beach reflected the stars and made the sky seem endless. As we walked toward the water, we suddenly realized that with every step, the sand beneath us was lighting up like some nineties video game combined with Avatar. Soon we were jumping around like idiots and waving our hands in the water to keep the magical sparks from disappearing. One of the locals later explained to us that bio-luminescent plankton like the colder waters of the southern beaches. Every once and a while a group get washed up on shore and proved hours of entertainment for giddy young folks like us. It was an unforgettable night, full of laughter, riled discussions of Nicaragua politics, new friends and thanking Jesus for putting us in such an awe-inspiring world.  

The next morning, I set out to hike the point down at the end of our beach and encountered about a millions hermit crabs along the way. After making it back with only a few missteps and broken shells, our final activity was a horseback ride across the beach. I literally felt like I was in a movie. We adventured back through some of the jungle, climb a hill or two, and rode out to a seemingly untouched, untainted beach. Sitting on a horse in Nicaragua, looking over the glistening ocean, I began to understand a bit of how beautiful God must think we are if He created scenes like that for us to enjoy.

- Maggie Frazier

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