The Arrival

We have arrived safe and sound! Our flight went well. The plane that took us from San Jose, Costa Rica to Managua, Nicaragua was rather small. It sat four across, and we were right next to this huge propeller. It was a loud hour in that plane. Dylan donned earplugs while I opted for some music via earphones. The descent also got the best of my vertigo, causing our stomachs to be a little upset for an hour after we landed.

Our Airplane


In Managua a man named Paya was waiting for us with laminated sign with our names on it. He took us to Matagalpa in his Kia Rio. It was a two hour ride and he introduced to all the sites and towns as we passed through them. We then met Beth in Matagalpa, along with her young friend Selena and her son Ezra. We all piled back in the car for the short ride home to San Ramon. Upon our arrival we met our host family.

Our mother is Donna Aracely, our father Don Augustin, and they have several children, who no longer live at home, except Julisa who comes home occasionally. We met her last night, she is our age and very nice. She helps our Spanish a lot, insisting we even talk to each other in Spanish to practice. They have two other sons, Erick and Elvis, and we just met Erick. He has long dreadlocks and is an artisan of jewelry. Elvis is working construction in Miami. Their daughter Seydi has two children, Lisana and little baby Dylan! Our parents god daughter lives with them, Rosa.

Dona Aracely is an excellent cook, quickly filling us upon every meal. Our room is nice, with a double bed, mosquito net, desk, and armoire. We also have a fan and extra chair.
Our Room


In San Ramon, there are many dogs on the street and just everywhere, and as we discovered last night, dogs here do not sleep at night, and so it was a noisy night.

Today we got a tour of San Ramon by Santana, Marilena, and Selena. Santana and Marilena work for Beth at her office here in San Ramon and Selena is our friend that we met yesterday. We saw the park, the church, the primary and secondary school, the hotel, the cultural center, and everywhere in between. It is now lunch time and I can smell the food cooking, later we return to Beth's office to talk more about upcoming projects.