First few days!

Hola from El Sauce! I arrived with the second session on Saturday night after a few plane issues. We spent the first night in a nice little hotel in Mangua. We spent the entire ride to the hotel and time before bed asking Kellan questions. I immediately noticed that the temperature was a lot warmer than in Buffalo and was going to take some time getting used to.

In the morning, we met Vanessa who was leaving after the first session. She was staying with the host family I was moving into, so I was able to ask her a lot of questions which she gladly answered. Once Kellan arrived, we took a took of Managua. On this tour, we learned a lot about the history of Nicaragua and met Yacarely for the first time. One of our stops was at a look out on top of a small mountain, and here all of us students went zip lining. It was such a great experience! We were all able to have a fun and new adventure together, which helped us all meet and get to know the group better.

After the hour drive to El Sauce, we finally arrived at our host families. I am staying with Corey, antoher Geneseo student and we are living with Xiomara. She is very nice and hospitable. She cares for two children, Alejandro who is 5 and Marcello who is 3. They seem very excited to have us here and are always fun to play with and talk to.

The first few days were getting to know our way around El Sauce. We went on a tour with some of the training tour guides and got accuainted with the Geneseo office. It is nice to know I have a place to call a second home here.

On Monday, a few of us went to a Colgate training session with Kellan and Yacarely in which all the teachers in El Sauce were trained on dental hygiene education. The dentist, Dr. Garcia, attended and all the schools were closed, so I was unable to start my actual programs. However, this allowed me another day to get better accuainted with these new surroundings. At night, I helped Mandy and Yacarely with the advanced english class with a few of the other new students. Having such enthuiastic students who were interested in learning with some additional singing and dancing really was a great ending to the day.

Today was my first day with the dentist and it went smoothly. Though there is a definte language barrier, as Dr. Garcia speaks no english. However, he made sure to use terms that I understood when he explained the patients conditions to me. He seemed very open to my presence and was a very good teacher. His office is also completely different than offices in the United States because he is in a free public clinic. His office consists of 2 small rooms, one with a chair and one for paper work. He also needs to work around limited supplies and no running water during the day, which is a task he has adapted to very well. He extracted 27 teeth from 20 patients in 3 and a half hours! I am excited to go back tomorrow and see more.

We will see what happens the rest of the week when the schools are finally back in session so I can help with my other project of teaching arts and sports to students.