Hi ACM blog readers! My name is Jacob Cohen and I’m a junior physics major at Carleton College currently studying in Costa Rica. Actually, this blog won’t be about Costa Rica, but about its northern neighbor Nicaragua!
A highlight of the Costa Rica program is the five-day excursion to Nicaragua, which we went on three weeks ago. This trip serves two purposes: to renew each student’s 90-day visa and to show a similar but different Central American country so that we can contextualize our experiences in Costa Rica. The eight ACM students were joined by 18 students from Colorado College’s first semester away program and four ACM faculty members.
The majority of the first day was spent in the coach bus driving from San José, Costa Rica to Granada, Nicaragua. We stopped for lunch on the way and were treated to a beautiful view before leaving Costa Rica.
Once we crossed the border, some differences became immediately apparent, most notably the poverty. Costa Rica has its poor areas, but in Nicaragua the poverty is more widespread and, in this part, obvious. We reached our hotel in Granada in the late afternoon and had time to relax before a late traditional Nicaraguan dinner. After dinner, there was a cultural presentation that featured lots of dancing. We watched the dancers for most of the time, and then joined at the end!
The next day was our first real day and it was full of activities. We started by going to Tío Antonio, which is both a hammock factory and a social center. The company works with at-risk youth as well as the deaf community to create the hammocks and to run a café called Café de las Sonrisas (Café of Smiles). We learned about the center and had a chance to practice making the hammocks, which the employees make look way too easy.
We then took a walking tour of Granada and learned a lot about the history of the city. Granada still maintains its colonial architecture, which we got a great view of when we climbed the bell tower of Iglesia la Merced, a colonial era church. The general feeling of Granada was entirely different than San José – it was much more mellow and relaxed, which I really enjoyed.
That afternoon, we went on a boat tour of Lake Cocibolca, known outside of the country as Lake Nicaragua. The lake contains 365 islands along with many types of wildlife. My favorites were the monkey and turtle shown below.
On Wednesday, we spent the entire morning at a beautiful lagoon called Laguna de Apoyo. The weather was gorgeous and we were able to swim, kayak, and relax. In the afternoon, we went to a well-known marketplace in Masaya. Many people on the program bought gifts for their families in the United States because the crafts and goods sold at the market are high-quality and cheap. I decided I’d rather get my family gifts in Costa Rica so I spent my time exploring the small shops and looking around. Later, we went to an active volcano, which is one of the coolest sites I’ve ever visited. To be honest, you can’t see a ton, but the small section of flowing lava that you can see makes it completely worth it.
We spent our final day in Managua, the country’s capital. Managua is very different than Granada. Its architecture is modern instead of colonial, but it doesn’t feel like a large city in the US. There are few, if any, skyscrapers because of the risk of earthquakes since one caused significant damage in 1972. Moreover, the places we visited in Managua felt very touristy while also being nearly empty. I think I speak for everyone in the group when I say I preferred Granada to Managua. Still, it was a cool experience to visit Nicaragau’s capital city.
On Friday, we left early to make the long drive back to San José. I arrived at my house around 7:00 PM, just in time for dinner with my host family.
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