day 2 in Nicaragua

So I woke up nice and early yesterday, with the sun shining into my room. I slept real good. I started the day with a shower, which was COLD, that's right, no hot water. Not to mention, there was no shower head, it was like one constant stream from a faucet. After the initial shock however, it wasn't bad and actually rather refreshing. The staging event in DC was exhausting with all the information we had to take in, but it was nothing compared to all the sessions we had yesterday. The day started after breakfast with some dynacas, which are games we played together as an ice breaker, our game was Fuego en la Iglesia. Then the first session included a speech from the new Peace Corps Director Aaron Williams, who seems to be a great person for the job (especially after we saw his interview on a Nicaraguan TV show last night). His talk was followed by the country Directors. Next we had a long session that included a language interview to diagnose my skill level, a medical interview, visa photos, and my first vaccine: rabies (the first in a series of 3). This was followed by a big lunch that put my in the mood for a nap. Unfortunately that didn't happen. Instead, we had a talk from our Peace Corps Medical Officers (PCMO), all four of which are actual doctors (usually they're RNs) that speak english. After them we met the Safety and Security Coordinator. This session was followed by one from our Project Specialist and Project Manager that told us more about our project which has me much more excited. Going to be teaching about the environment at three different schools once a week, setting up local gardens and compost piles, and working with youth groups and other NGOs that deal with environmental issues. After this session we found out it was one of the other Trainee's birthday so we sang happy birthday "Nica style" and had some tasty cake. Then we got our first installment of walk around money, $295 cordobas a week (20 cords = 1 US dollar). Finally our last session of the day finished to the very welcome surprise that some of our luggage arrived, including both of my suitcases. I went straight to my room and changed into some shorts and a wife beater, comfy! Going back out to the common area I decided to join in on the basketball game with my fellow trainees, which considering I haven't played in over three years, went just as expected. I gave up after I finally made a basket, either way it just felt good to do something active. Dinner was good, it was our first serving of gallo pinto, yum. After this we lounged about in the common area where no one was getting internet, so we just hung out and talked and exchanged stories. At 8 we watched a Nicaraguan news program "Esta Noche" to see Director William's interview. After this we saw an episode of Bizarre Foods that takes place in Nicaraguan, it was nasty (maggot cheese!). So that was my day, building up my anticipation and aspiration for my training and my service. Miss you all!
P.S. If you have skype, find me: krz820.