Managua

We've been living in Managua for about two and a half weeks now. We live in a neighborhood called Batahola. There is an awesome community center there where they offer tons of classes for community members.

I live with Julie, another member of our group, and Cecilia, our mom, and her 3 sons ranging in age from 30 to 17. The oldest son lives in the back house with his wife. We have the cutest dog, Luna, who attacks with violent love every time you walk by...Our host mom always looks like she wants to save me but its my favorite part of the day! There is a tienda at the front of our house, so neighbors are always coming by to buy snacks and supplies from the window. It's basically the Central American convenience store. We eat breakfast and dinner at our house and eat lunch at the center where we have classes during the day. Let me tell you, there is plenty of incredible food here. We get picked up by our own little bus every morning, so I feel like a kid running down the street to be on time. There is also a nice place to run laps in the morning, minus some dogs that chase us.

Life is simple here and poverty is pervasive. Many, many men are unemployed and domestic violence is a big issue. I've really been learning a lot about neoliberal economics and how free trade, the IMF, and the World Bank have directly affected these countries. Top that off with how much the US has intervened here and it's been a lot to handle.

I'll post more about that later, but I wanted to tell a little about my life here and put up some pictures since we are spending this week in the campo on a coffee finca and I won't have Internet.