May 11, 2012

Today was a long day of travelling. My day started at 3am in Ames, IA. I got up, dressed, got my things together, and we were out the door. We met my mom at my grandparents’ house in Cambridge at 4am so that she could drive us to the airport in Des Moines. We arrived around 4:40, which was earlier than we expected. However, it was good we were there early because my passport did not want to scan properly and the ticketed desk for American Airlines was poorly run. I finally got my tickets and said my last goodbyes to my mom and my boyfriend. I got through security without a hitch and at 6:30am, my flight took off for Dallas, TX.

I had a four hour layover in Dallas, which was very long. It was unpleasant because it was incredibly cold in the airport and the chairs were not comfortable enough to sleep in. I killed some time by getting a good breakfast at TGI Fridays and then just wandering around to stay warm. The crew to the flight was about 30 minutes late, so the flight was late taking off also. When all was said and done, the flight took off at 1pm.

I arrived in Miami and had about an hour and a half before my next and final flight left. I found something to eat and made some last minute phone calls to my friends and family. Then, at 615pm, I boarded my flight for Managua.

I arrived in Managua at 7pm local time, which is in the Central time zone but they do not observe daylight savings time so it is one hour behind. I made it through customs and collected my bags with no problems at all. Then, I found Alvaro who was waiting for me outside the airport with his wife, daughter, and a Peace Corps volunteer. It was very nice to have an English speaker there when I arrived because I was already feeling overwhelmed. Brittany is very nice and was very helpful to me. We chatted on the two hour drive to San Isidro.

I am staying in the EOS office for the time being. It is basically a house that has been converted into an office, so it is quite nice. Upon arrival, Alvaro, Brittany, and Ubania all helped me to get me settled in and get the internet hooked up and working. It was about 1030 when they finally left. I took a cold shower since there is no hot water with some rather large spiders in the corner, and then went to bed around 11:30.