By Kay Spencer, Reporter

Nathan Crumley, junior at WHS, has lived in Virginia since he was six years old, but before he moved to the United States he and his older sister lived in Nicaragua. Nicaragua is located in Central America.

Crumley says, “It was terrible living in Nicaragua. It was not a fun time in my life.”

Crumley came from a city named Managua. When he left Managua he was taken to an orphanage. He spent three years there.

“There were probably about 50 some kids while I was there,” said Nathan, “There was always a decent amount.”

When Crumley and his sister were adopted by their parents he was excited to leave and they were brought to Virginia.

“It was a long flight. We stopped in Texas then went to DC, and from there we drove to Waynesboro.” He said, “I was shocked how different things were.”

“I’ve had to adapt to the language spoken here, the different manners, and the money system,” he said.

Being from Nicaragua, Crumley spoke Spanish.

“I picked up English within two months, but before I learned to speak it I just pointed at things,” he said, “after speaking English for so long I’ve forgotten most of my Spanish.”

Nicaragua and the United states have a lot of differences, but Crumley says it has similarities too.

In Managua, Crumley did have the chance to start at an elementary school.

“The schools weren’t much different than they are here. They had classrooms just like schools in the US does,” said Crumley, “The only difference is when you walked out of the school building you were surrounded by forests.”

Crumley said he is happy in Waynesboro and doesn’t want to go back to Nicaragua even to visit.

“Nothing there draws my attention back,” he said, “I’m happy in America.”