The First Day of the Rest of My Life

When my grandmother found out I was going to Nicaragua this semester,
she was reminded of this song sung by Guy Lombardo in the 40's. I guess
my goal for this semester is to find out whether or description of the city is
accurate or not. Thus far I believe that Managua is a beautiful town even
though we haven't seen any down-town area.  I went to my host families
house the yesterday when we arrived and met my host sisterwho is 13. My
host mom wasn't there because she works but I'm supposed to met her tomorrow
when I move in. I have my own room and the house itself is really pretty.
I'll make sure to take some pictures of it.

My mom came down with me to settle me in and boy is it hilarious seeing
her speak Spanish. She tries and I can see improvement, hopefully others
can see the same in me. Our hotel is close to Lake Managua, we have a
gorgeous view of it from our room. The bell boy at the hotel told us that the
Chinese (actually the Taiwanese) are here to clean up the lake because it's really dirty.
The hotel is also across the street from a mall where we bought a local
cell phone for me. The process that we went through is funny in retrospect
especially because I'm not quite sure what my plan entails. No one really
speaks English except for my host family which is good in emergencies
but potentially bad for my Spanish.

My Spanish classes start on Monday and today I have to take a test to see
which class I will be in which is really exciting. My Spanish is a little
rough right now, but hopefully I'll pick it up quickly as my regular classes
start in two weeks (they're all in Spanish). That's it for now, but I'll do
my best to keep up.

Managua, Nicaragua
Sung by Guy Lombardo

Managua, Nicaragua is a beautiful town
You buy a hacienda for a few pesos down
You give it to the lady you are tryin' to win
But her papa doesn't let you come in

Managua, Nicaragua is a heavenly place
You ask a señorita for a 'leetle' embrace
She answers you, "Caramba! scram-ba bambarito"
In Managua, Nicaragua, that's "No"

I have been to many tropic ports
I might include even Brooklyn
If you're ever feelin' out of sorts
I'd like to recommend a look in...

Managua, Nicaragua, what a wonderful spot
There's coffee and bananas and a temperature hot
So take a trip and on a ship go sailing away
Across the agua to Managua, Nicaragua, olé
Olé, olé
Across the agua to Managua, Nicaragua, olé