Ready for the adventure

Greetings from Nicaragua!

Keri Swartzendruber and I have been in Nicaragua since the end of March, planning and taking care of many details as we prepare for the arrival of the twenty three students tomorrow evening.  We are excited to begin the adventure of SST with the students.

On Monday, we had a meeting with all the host families to go over expectations, gather current information about their families, and share information about the students who will be sharing their homes for the next six weeks.  All are eager to meet their new hija or hijo. (daughter or son).

As in past years, the Nicaragua SST unit is based in Jinotepe, the capital of the Carazo department (similar to a state in the US.)  The students will live with families in Jinotepe, Dolores, and Diriamba, three neighboring towns along the Pan-American Highway. Spanish classes and afternoon charlas (chats) by guest speakers will be held at two different schools in Jinotepe.

After picking up the students tomorrow evening, we will be staying at Quinta Shalom, a guesthouse in southern Managua, for a day of orientation.  We will travel to Jinotepe on Friday morning for more orientation, some free time for the students to explore, and then the students will meet up with their host families for the first time.

Thanks for reading, and for following along on this adventure with us!

~Deanna Risser