Welcome to my life as a UNAN-Managua Student

"Sometimes the best warm fuzzy is the one that you don´t expect......it is not scripted nor is it a one-time thing......rather it is a friendship, a relationship built to withstand the trials and tribulations of all of the blows that life offers."-DJM

Hola amigos! Greetings from Managua. As promised last week at this time, I am back to post another update on my life here in Central America. Nothing much has changed since this time last week, except for the fact that I have one week of classes under my belt. SAY WHAT? That´s right, I just started the second semester of my junior year. This week has been hectic to say that least: you see, as foreign exchange students, we had the option of attending whatever classes that we wanted to for the first week of classes. With this liberty, thousands of questions rushed through my mind....questions like, where is my first class? What should I do? What time does it start and what pavilion should I go to? Welcome to the first day of classes at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Nicaragua-Managua. On top of the regular first day of class anxiety, I had to find my classes in the midst of 24,000 other students on a campus that has three parts that span over 6 blocks. It’s the size of like 3 Denison Universities and 1 Kenyon, plus some more. It was not a fun experience, and all of this stress made me want to go back to my safe haven on the hill. I was able to put these feelings aside and continue the search for classes that I liked. It took four days of constant searching, but I found 3 classes that I like. Let’s just hope that I can understand the materials.

Nicaragua is....well, let us just say that it is a new experience. I am grateful for this opportunity and I have enjoyed the new relationships that have developed out of this study abroad experience. The only thing that is driving me somewhat nuts is the 24 hours of Spanish that I am forced to speak everyday. While this is a challenge, I am confident in my ability to improve my communication skills with the natives, as well as with my fellow American counterparts. The weather is good, but it’s very hot....like 90 degrees everyday! I am two shades darker, and I have only been here 3 and a half weeks. Oh, and my classes....hmm, well, my history professor is not a fan of the United States, nor does he prefer to talk about US-Nicaragua relations. He is an approachable professor, and I admire him for his passion of history and all things that overlap with it. He is 85 years old, and he is teaching because, as he told us, teaching has no age limit. My other classes are pretty good. I have my work cut out for the semester, but at least I had a long winter break to prepare for it. Other than that, I have been feeling good. It gets better with time. Tuesday marks my one-month anniversary in Managua, and to tell you the truth, even though it’s been hard, I’ve been able to look beyond how hard it has been as a means to appreciate the blessing that is studying abroad.

Keep the faith…..Learn from your mistakes…..Success in life.

These steps haven’t failed me yet….and they won´t fail you. Just try them.

Well, that’s where I will end this entry…..but have no fear, for the next entry will provide more insight….and sorry for the lack of pics, but there is a lack of pictures of my university.

Hasta Pronto,

DJM