CULTURAL ACTIVITIES

All lectures and CULTURAL ACTIVITIES will be organized based on your Academic or Content Courses and areas of interests. High-schools and Independent Groups might have a different approach from centers of higher learning. We can work with each group to design and support your exclusive STUDY ABROAD PROGRAM according to your own needs and interests.

Let us help develop the best experience your students and participants can have. Contact us today and let us organize your next Study Abroad Program!  info@spanishprogramnicaragua.com

LECTURE ON NICARAGUAN HISTORY & CULTURE
(Lunch in a beautiful house in Granada)

As an example, read below a basic structure of Cultural Activities included in a two-week STUDY ABROAD PROGRAM in Granada, Nicaragua. Lectures are instructed by local Cultural Directors and University Professors.

After students have completed their first morning of classes on their Spanish Program, we continue with their first lecture on NICARAGUAN  HISTORY & CULTURE dating from Pre-Columbian times to the foundation of Granada in 1524 by Francisco Hernandez de Cordoba, continuing from Colonial Times to the Nicaraguan Independence in 1821, until our present times in history.  Information on Granada colonial and neo-classical architecture, customs and culture are also included. (We organize this first lecture prior to the Granada City Tour to better prepare students on their tour around the city).

This lecture takes place in the home of the NICARAGUAN EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM´s Director, Irene Arévalo, who invites students and professors to experience the wonderful architecture and ambiance of a Spanish colonial home, property within her family since 1888.  After having our welcoming lunch at this beautiful house in Granada, we take students on their GRANADA CITY TOUR.

GRANADA CITY TOUR

Granada is the oldest city founded by Europeans on mainland America that still exists in its original location. Granada is historically one of Nicaragua's most important cities both economically and politically. It is situated on the northwestern shore of LAKE NICARAGUA and was founded in 1524 by Francisco Hernández de Córdoba.  It has a rich colonial heritage, seen in its architecture and layout. Granada is commonly nicknamed the "Gran Sultana del Gran Lago" - the Great Sultan of the Great Lake.

During the first day of your STUDY ABROAD PROGRAM in Granada, Nicaragua, we offer a two-hour Granada City Tour to get you acquainted within your new surroundings and to make your stay more comfortable.  We show you not only the pretty sites, but also we visit some poor neighborhoods where people that you might be working with during your Volunteer Community Service live under extreme poverty conditions.

LECTURE ON NICARAGUAN ARCHAEOLOGY AND PRIMITIVE ART
(Museum Convent San Francisco)

During the second week of your STUDY ABROAD PROGRAM in Granada, Nicaragua, we have our second special lecture instructed in Spanish by a well-known local Cultural Director.

We leave our school on horse carriages towards the Museum of Convent San Francisco.  We take ½ hour ride to enjoy the colonial streets of Granada, a great opportunity to take pictures of churches, colonial and neo-classical homes, to the people of Granada, and anything that catches your eyes!

The San Francisco Convent Cultural Center is a museum that offers a nice collection of historical objects, paintings, and Pre-Columbian stone statues. In some halls there are permanent exhibitions, whereas other halls have a different theme every now and then.

Students receive a lecture on the Pre-Columbian statues from Zapatera Island dating from 800 to 1200 AD. There are 28 tall, basaltic objects, which were sculptured by the indigenous people from Zapatera (island located in Lake Nicaragua near Granada).

Granada history is portrayed on 31 photos from the period 1890 – 1940. There is also a recently constructed scale model of Granada, which gives you an idea of how Granada is organized nowadays.

There are 27 paintings of famous artists from Solentiname Island. These oil paintings are known as Primitive Paintings, a famous Nicaraguan painting style promoted in 1967 by a revolutionary catholic priest namded Ernesto Cardenal.

Other expositions display archaeological findings and other objects that tell you more about Nicaragua’s history. The museum is located in a colonial house with a beautiful inner courtyard.

If you have questions, please contact us today and let us help you organize your next Study Abroad Program to Nicaragua!  info@spanishprogramnicaragua.com