Orientation Retreat aka Freshman Orientation

Hola! The last few days have been a complete whirlwind. I arrived in Managua on Wednesday afternoon and was greeted at the airport by a bunch of the PC staff and a few current volunteers. Surprisingly going through customs was no big deal and they didnt even open our bags. We were then brought to a NGO headquarters where we have been staying in dorm style rooms with a common bathroom. I am actually rooming with one of the volunteers and she has been super helpful in explaining how things actually work. During the days we have been having sessions basically just giving us an overview of what our lives are going to be like for the next 2 years and the training period in particular. We have also had to do tons of icebreakers which makes me feel bad for all the times I made the kids in my orientation groups do these.
I took a Spanish placement test and obviously placed into the bottom level. For the next three months I will be taking Spanish classes all day on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday and Wednesday mornings. The rest of my time will be filled with studying and doing technical training on the specific health info we need to pass on. Within the first 6 weeks I need to form a youth group and be able to present a "charla" which is basically a talk on some health issue in Spanish. The language classes are cool because the teachers do not speak English and there really is no book learning. All the language learning comes from talking to them, your host family, and people in the community.
Today we took a tour of Managua. Despite its large size and number of people, there really isn't that much to see here. The historic center of the city was destroyed by an earthquake and never rebuilt after they found it lay on some major fault lines. We did go up to a observance point that overlooked the city and had some fantastic views. The landscape here is absolutely gorgeous with lush greenery, blue lake water, and huge volcanoes on the horizon. I can not wait to take a trip to the volcanoes where I've heard you can do an activity called volcano boarding which involves sliding down all the black lava rocks on a sled.
Tomorrow we move in with our host families which I am super excited but very nervous about. My family is huge! The parents have 2 children who are both married and still live in the house with their children. This is apparently very common here. Including me there will be 9 people living in my house! Thankfully, Peace Corps makes sure that you have your own room. The families have been trained so they know what to expect when we come but I'm still nervous that its going to be kind of awkward. They live in a town calle d Santa Teresa which is a smaller community outside the larger city of Jinotepe. There will be 3 other trainees with me in this town and we will be taking all of our language classes together. Thats pretty much all I know right now! Miss everyone and send me some emails!