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To my beloved friends and family,

I wasn't 100% sure I´d actually get around to writing a blog even though I told almost all of you I would, but alas, it has come to be.  (Disclaimer:  This is not an exciting blog yet.  It is merely an update as to the happenings of my life since departure from Sacramento for the curious.  The interesting ones with information about Nicaragua will have to come at a later time.)

I flew into Arlington, VA on Tuesday, hung out in a hotel for the evening, and began the staging event the next day.  It consisted of meeting all the other volunteers going to Nicaragua, 45 in total, and briefing us in safety and what to expect before the real training began. Everyone is going in either the same program as me, reproductive health and HIV education, or maternal and child health, which are apparently fields dominated by females because my group consists of 37 of them and only 8 of us reppin' the dudes.  We were set to leave that night when 3 inches of snow got our flight cancelled.  Of course I had packed for Nicaraguan heat, and was completely unprepared for the frigid weather wonderful DC so generously offered me.  It turned out to not be all that bad, however, because I got to go out and see the Smithsonian Natural History and American History museums the next day, as well as  try some of the most delicious beers of my life at a place that has a selection of over 300.

We finally left for the airport at 1:30am on the 14th, and got into Managua around 1:00pm.  Because of the delay, plans for training upon arrival were changed.  Initially, we were going to go to Grenada for a 3 day training retreat before we were separated into groups of 4 or 5 and sent to the towns we will train in for 3 months (we begin the the job VERY well trained), but now we are going to have that retreat in a hotel across the street from the airport before going to our training towns.  It feels amazing to be here.  Not only to arrive in country, but also weather-wise.  It's about 90 degrees, sunny, bearable humidity, and has a nice, cool breeze.  Hope the rain is good too, though.

Until this point, I forgot I even owned a camera, but now that I'm actually here, I'll start snappin' away and hopefully figure out a way to upload them.  I've been talking to volunteers that have already been serving in Nicaragua for a while, and I'm getting more and more excited to get to the heart of both my service and the country.  (Reading back over this, that sounds super cheesy.  And I don't like it.  But I'm not gunna change it.)

Like I said, the delay has left me without much to report, but I figured at least my family will be glad to hear that I'm here and happy.  If you guys have any questions you want answered in the next blog, or requests, concerns, comments, compliments, good jokes, or just feel like telling me how much you love me, feel free to leave a comment on this.  I'll try to check facebook, but family takes the priority on this one so I might not always have time to check it.

I love you all so much and hope everything is going well.

Nick

p.s. SO EXCITED!!!