He llegado! (I've arrived)

Hello friends and family....

I've made it to Nicaragua, had a nice weekend at the beach, got lost in a sketchy neighborhood, met some great people in the UN circuit, stepped on a dead mouse, and seen some live salsa music. all in five days. The Danish guy I'm working with, Lars, invited me to stay with him and his adorable Venezuelan wife upon my arrival. They've got a great house with a pool, so I'm inclined to take them up on their offer to rent a room from them. The only problem is that they live a bit far out and without a car it's difficult to get around, because taxi's rarely come to this area.

Managua is a very strange city. It's been devastated by earthquakes and never quite rebuilt. The whole city is basically a sprawling suburb, which range from fancy houses to shanty towns, with some of the fanciest megamalls I've ever seen, thrown in every now and then. There's no "downtown" and no area that even has strollable streets. You really need a car to get anywhere. The bus system is basically nonexistent and taxis are fairly cheap, but sort of sketchy at night for a lady like myself. And so, since I don't have to be in the office until Lars is back from his trip to Denmark on June 11th, I'm taking off to Granada tomorrow morning. There I should find decent cafes, quaint colonial buildings and hopefully a room with a good fan. It's hot here.

But I can't complain, I much rather the heat than the cold, and a fan can do wonders as I'm not sure my internship salary will afford me the luxury of air conditioning. The little bit that I know about what I'll be doing is really interesting. I'm reading all sorts of reports right now on the millennium development goals (MDG's) and the development situation in Nicaragua as it relates to Health, Education, HIV and Water. (The areas that UNICEF works in that are covered in the MDGs). Ultimately I'll be doing a combination of research and statistical analysis to offer a suggestion as to how much additional funding would be needed for the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua to reach the MDGs by 2015.

The UNICEF office is shared with UNDP and pretty much all the people I've met through Lars and Yajiada are somehow connected to the UN system here. Everyone's got an interesting story and my first dinner party was quite lively and all senses of the word.

Well I suppose that's all for now. I just returned from San Juan Del Sur, a beach town 2 hours south of Managua, and I need a shower. I hope you guys are all finding time to appreciate the summer months. Keep in touch!

-Amanda