Nica at first glance!
Trip Start
Mar 01, 2006
1
9
Trip End
Jun 19, 2006
Granada, Nicaragua
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Its amazing, after a week of 100f temerature it got cloudy today, and tonight at 9:21pm it rained! it was phenominal! all my rommies and i ran outside and rejoiced!! now the temperature is much more enjoyable! I couldn't be happier! except the humidity is fun, but i'll still take that over the blazing heat! next the electricity went out, and we scrounged for a flashlight to light all our candles. we roughed it for about 5 minutes! ha!
In the simple days since I have been here I have done lots of fun things! Friday night was a birthday party, and that is always fun, because there are these guys do tricks with fire (you'll see the pictures) Saturday I got me bum out of bed to go to the active volcano just next to Granada. Mombacho they call it. It couldn't have been a more perfect day trip. It was nice and cool up there, around 70, nothing short of perfect. Everything was so green. We hiked from the bus stop up to the enterence, about an hour, and then from there we took a bus tank looking thing up the steep mountain road. There was no way we were gonna hike that, much better to pay the 5 $. We hiked around the crater top for about 2 hours, it was amazing, you can see the whole town of Granada, both lakes, and everything around! We even hiked to a point where the volcano still steamed out smoke! I have lots of pics! After our adventure we hiked down, and caught the bus into town. We got some amazing street food, and came home. street food, is food sold on the street made by locals, in there little restaurantes ( the restaurantes aren't much bigger than a small little shack) but its great food
Saturday, we went to las isletas, or the islands made by an irruption of Mombacho, there are about 300 of them. We took a boat, and he drove us around many of them. On one, there were monkeys!! A rich american man put some there and feeds them. Its a kool turist attraction. We spent the day on an island with a restaurant, music, and good shade. (mind you i still got burned, even putting on sunscreen twice, and spending most the day in the shade).It made for another calm cool day. Later that night we were invited to the americans house, for a pool party, pizza and beer. Who couldn't pass that up? They had such a nice house, with a huge garden an top of their roof. It was pure luxury. My weekend couldn't have been better.
I have been working more with the kids. I tell them my name is Luisa, because it is much easier for them to pronounce, plus they remember it more. I am working with the first grade, which is basically like Kindergarden in the US. So i am teaching ABCs and number and shapes. The children are very intelegent, but the classroom situation isn't incouraging for productivity. The kids are free to wonder in and out at their will. Class is only from 12-5pm, and the teachers let out early almost every day, and on top of that,about once a week they cancel class for this that or another reason. Like tomorrow for example, they canceled classes cause the teachers have a meeting in the morning. I donno, these kids have no structure nor discipline. Its no wonder it taked them 11 years to get through the 6 grades there. Yet, it is so wonderful to beable to see this grouth happen. even in small steps, like learning 3 shapes. Its what I have to hold on too. I have walked home, about 45 minutes walk from the school three times now. I love it, we walk through the small villiage, La Prusia, that most of the kids live in. It is defenatly more in poverty than here in the town of Granada. They live in basic shacks with anything they can get their hands on. Some have electricity, and those who do, have huge speakers that boom music, so the walk home isn't too boring. So far everything is well, I still maintain a gran sense of hope that I can do some good.
Comments
My Sweet Luisa
I love you and I'm soooo proud of you!
Remember, just one. (Grin)