Leaving for Nicaragua Tomorrow

I'm leaving at 9 AM tomorrow from LAX to Miami and then Managua, Nicaragua. Christa, my girlfriend, is meeting me in Miami and flying to Managua with me. We will spend a night in Managua at the Hotel Las Mercedes. The next morning, Marcos Bermudez, will pick Christa and me up and drive us to San Juan del Sur. Christa and I are staying in the Hostel La Esperanza until the 24th of June. Christa is leaving that day, and I'm going to move into a home stay.

I'm working at the Centro de Salud in San Juan with Dra. Jenny Lopez. I will also help with a water purification project set up by the Sister City Project. On July 10, the other UMass students in Nicaragua (Seth, Megan, Ali, Heather, and Sarah) and I will meet with the US Ambassador to Nicaragua--thanks to Chancellor Collins for arranging this! David Gullette of the Sister City Project, which is based in Newton, MA, was an invaluable resource in helping me work out the details of my trip. My trip is funded by the Pathway on Serving Underserved and Multicultural Populations, an elective I'm part of at UMass Medical School.