Finally one of the same

Finally one of the same

For for weeks, actually my entire time here, I have been debating on coming to a Spanish school out in a small community. The school is Hios del Maiz and the community name is Lagartillo. I am so please that i decided to come here!

It is already Wednesday night and I can't believe I only have two days of class left for this week. Going back to last Sunday ...

My trip started with two different bus trips from Leon to Lagartillo. My second bus, an old school bus, started fairly empty but ended up being packed. Literally we could not fit any more people. It wasn't till i got off the bus an hour later when i realized there were people riding on top of the bus as well. Crazy. Also crazy, was when i helped pass a baby from the front of the bus to the back. I am not sure how the baby and his mother got so separated but I do know I was not the only one to think it was odd. Other people were making comments as well. Haha fun Nica stories.

Once I got off the bus, I started walking down the road with people from the village. I was a little nervous because the road literally looks like it's leading you to the middle of no where. After 20 minutes of walking I was greeted by someone from the school who showed me to my host family's house.

As for the past three days, I have had Spanish class for four hours every day, broken up into two, two hour sessions. During the time I am not in class, I have been wondering around and studying. I have not visited the "really cool" places yet but I should be able to get to both tomorrow.

Totally different note...

Lagartillo is the kind of place one can dream about. It is located in the mountains, looking rather like Colorado but with different trees, with warmer days and cool nights. It is also amazing because I don't feel like I stick out. When i wrote before about just wanting to fit in and go about my day; this is the place I was hoping for.

Because the Spanish school has been here for so long many of the children graduating high school this year have grown up seeing Gringos all the time. Some times as many as 15 non Nicas in a week. This is totally normal here. It blows my mind that here in Nicaragua, this this small community of a hundred people, not seeing a Gringo every day would be an oddity. Plus, the people here are so nice and welcoming. It's hard not to love it.

Only being here three days, I would recommend the Spanish school, Hios del Maiz, and the comunidad de Lagartillo to anyone interested in a different sort of Spanish intensive program.