Florida: The Coconut State

The city of Granada is a hectic mixture of young and old, Gringo and native. I live in the heart of the actual city and right next to a ritzy tourist strip of shops and restaurants so our North American and European volunteers are fortunately not so out of place. We are luckily within a walking distance of all the places one might need to go while in the city. Aside from walking, transportation consists of cars, buses, 1-4 people chilling on a bike and horse drawn carriages. The horse drawn carriages produce a signature aroma that, combined with the many meat and fruit market vendors around, keeps one´s nose on its toes.

Two main languages are spoken here: Spanish and car horn honking. The latter is used to express anything and everything by car drivers, though the reasons for doing so remain unclear to this writer. As for the former, being immersed in a Spanish speaking environment has already helped me improve my speaking skills and will undoubtedly continue to do so.

Yesterday, all of the new volunteers (there are about 7) went with our taxista Felipe and saw all 6 of the schools that La Esperanza serves in rural Granada. I have been placed in La Epifania, a primary school serving kindergarten through 5th grade. Its a short walk followed by a 10 minute bus ride away and was quite the adventure for my first day. More on that in the next post!
Ciao!