We've been away from Cafe Latino for a bit, but only because we've been so busy. Don't worry, we are alright, and here is post #5!
Friday:
Friday nigth we decided to hit the town and go to a club (discoteca) with Tony and Alejandra. We had a blast, got really sweaty from dancing so much, and had a late-night burger from a burger-stand that would rival Jack Brown's for Five Guys. Nicaraguans certainly know how to dance, too. Oh, and we iced Tony back to back at the club. We're bringing icing to Nicaragua one translator at a time! Before we headed out to Chaman we stopped at Tony's friend's house. His grandfather owns a large coffee farm in the northern parts of the country and Tony said next time we come we can go there and tour the processing plant. We had a few drinks at his friend's house before heading to Chaman in another torrential downpour that turned some side streets into rivers. It was an interesting trip!
Saturday:
Saturday we decided to take a day trip to San Juan del Sur. It's a small tourist spot on the Pacific Coast near Costa Rica known for its surfing waves. Tony also informed us that Nicaragua is now considered the top surfing location in all of North America, particularly because of the large waves and year-round surfing conditions. It was about a 2 hour drive, though it was without incident as we got pulled over on the way there for having 6 people in a 5 person car. We paid the $20 ticket and went on our way. We stopped at a nice restaurant for lunch and got the seafood soup, as recommended by Tony. Tony did not warn us, however, that the soup consisted of a piece of almost every ocean creature. After getting over the fact that I had half a fish sticking out of my soup bowl and an octopus tentacle floating on top, I dug in and thoroughly enjoyed (we all loved it). The soup consisted of lobster tail, crab, fish, octopus, squid and shrimp. After lunch we went to the beach and enjoyed the huge waves. They were probably about 7-8 feet and not exactly the easiest to body surf. We had a great time, though, and had a thorough workout fighting through the waves and strong current. The temperature was perfect as well, and it felt like we were taking a bath. The beach was beautiful and was located in a cove surrounded on both sides by high cliffs. On the right side, on top of a mountain, a Saint John statue overlooked the ocean. If anyone saw the article in the Washington Post a couple weeks ago, San Juan del Sur is where Mark Twain often stopped on his journeys to the Gulf of Mexico. We left aruond 7 and made it back in time to get a very good night's sleep in.
Sunday:
Sunday Luca and Ryan woke up to go to chruch while ANna and I decided to sleep in. It had been a rough day Saturday and I was in no codition to sit through 2 hours of Spanish. Afterwards, we rented a school bus and headed to Chocoyo with the kids. It's a restaurant and bar with a huge pool that we took the kids to in March. It only ended up costing us each about $35 to pay for everyone to go (39 teachers and kids). It was well worht the cost as the kids had a blast. I came away with a slight injury, however, acquired while being a base for a chicken fight. I slipped on a tile picture on the bottom of the pool and slit my toe open. It bled for a long time, but I think it's starting to heal. We taught some of the younger girls how to swim, too. After the pool we went to the orphanage, snagged dinner and hungout with the kids while it rained. The night is probably my favorite time. All the kids congregate in one area around some candles that Luca bought and we all play in the candle light. I don't think any of us notice the fact that we haven't had electricity for over a week, and it will likely be a culture shock when we return to the states and we have power. We did finally get back the watever and enjoyed some nice showers. Last night we also went to a local restaurant and bar with Maria Jose, the orphanage director and enjoyed some drinks and discussion before heading back for bed.
Today is our last full day, and this is likely our last post before our re-cap posts tomorrow, assuming we have internet access at the airport. I don't think any of us are ready to leave and I could certainly stay for another few weeks. These kids are absolutely incredible and are always so happy despite their coditions. Coming on this trip was beyond rewarding. With only 4 of us, we were able to connect so much more with the kids. We've also been able to witness first-hand what it is like to live these kids' lives. The previous trips have exposed us to a lot, but this one allowed us to LIVE their lives a bit, connect with them on a much more personal level, and learn who they are as individuals. I think I speak for all of us when I say we are going to miss these kids to death.
Today we are going to get our car cleaned out and have one last long day of playing with the kids before we have an ice cream party tonight to cap off the trip. I got permission from Maria jOse to pick Leyla and Nicole up from school. They always take the bus and Leyla asked if I could get her today since it's our last day here, and I was excited that Maria Jose agreed!
Also, we want to give a HUGE shoutout to Tony who has been absolutely incredible for us on this trip. He has shown us a great tiem here and has helped with translating when we can't quite undrstand what is being said. We're gonna miss him a ton as well, and we hope his visit to the US planned for September becomes a reality!
It has also been really great getting to know Allison. She spends 4 months of her year living at El Canyon and using her own money to take care of these kids when she's not in school. She has also been a great help with translations and helping us get adjusted to life at the orphanage. She also leaves tomorrow to head back to school at Tennessee Chatanooga so we want to wish her a safe trip!
We have a ton of picture to post on facebook, but it will probably have to wait until we get back stateside. Hopefully the ones that are already up from the first half of the trip are enough for now!
Monday, August 23, 2010
Friday, August 20, 2010
Blog post #4
Since there is still no water at the orphanage, it has become a daily routine to come to Cafe Latino (a couple minute drive) to get coffee, breakfast and use the bathroom. The cafe has free wifi, so it allows us to update the blog a little more often!
We posted pictures last night of the big rainstorm that hit El Canyon in the afternoon. Luckily, about 20 minutes after the rain stopped, the roads dried up and we were able to come to Cafe Latino to post the pictures and a video. After we left the cafe we headed into the city and grabbed Burger King combos for the 7 permanent orphanage employees. To them, a whopper combo is a treat, and, after eating a lot of rice and beans this week, it was nice for us as well. When we returned with the food, the 5 women workers joined us (and Allison, who is from Chatanooga and down here for 3 weeks living at the orphanage as well) for a very entertaining meal. The women have a great sense of humor and there was no language barrier since we understood most of it, and when we didn't Allison was there to translate (she's very fluent).
Today we got up earlier than normal, thanks to Jordan. Around 6:30 Jordan came over to our beds and thought it would be funny to wake us up by putting a scorpion on us. Little did we know, they had cut the tail off the scorpion, so even if a sting were dangerous (which it probably wouldn't have been), we were in the clear. Of course, we did not know this, and I jumped out of bed. After that, there was no going back to bed. We helped get the kids their food, walked them down to the school, and headed up here to the cafe for breakfast.
We are determined to finish painting the chinos (swingset) today. We were interrupted yesterday by the torrential rain. Tomorrow, very early, we are going to head to Ometepe and Granada for the weekend with Tony. Ometepe is about a 2 hour drive and 1.5 hour ferry ride away. It is an island in Lake Nicaragua and home to two volcanoes. We are going to go check the place out and stay at a hostel there Saturday night. Sunday we will head back and stop off again in Granada and do some more site seeing there. We should be back at the orphanage by Sunday evening, allowing for one more full day of work, and a half day, before we must report back to the United States. I can't believe we've already been here for 6 days, with only 4 remaining! We are being sure to make the most of our time here, but we could certainly use a few more days, or even weeks! Maybe next summer!
We posted pictures last night of the big rainstorm that hit El Canyon in the afternoon. Luckily, about 20 minutes after the rain stopped, the roads dried up and we were able to come to Cafe Latino to post the pictures and a video. After we left the cafe we headed into the city and grabbed Burger King combos for the 7 permanent orphanage employees. To them, a whopper combo is a treat, and, after eating a lot of rice and beans this week, it was nice for us as well. When we returned with the food, the 5 women workers joined us (and Allison, who is from Chatanooga and down here for 3 weeks living at the orphanage as well) for a very entertaining meal. The women have a great sense of humor and there was no language barrier since we understood most of it, and when we didn't Allison was there to translate (she's very fluent).
Today we got up earlier than normal, thanks to Jordan. Around 6:30 Jordan came over to our beds and thought it would be funny to wake us up by putting a scorpion on us. Little did we know, they had cut the tail off the scorpion, so even if a sting were dangerous (which it probably wouldn't have been), we were in the clear. Of course, we did not know this, and I jumped out of bed. After that, there was no going back to bed. We helped get the kids their food, walked them down to the school, and headed up here to the cafe for breakfast.
We are determined to finish painting the chinos (swingset) today. We were interrupted yesterday by the torrential rain. Tomorrow, very early, we are going to head to Ometepe and Granada for the weekend with Tony. Ometepe is about a 2 hour drive and 1.5 hour ferry ride away. It is an island in Lake Nicaragua and home to two volcanoes. We are going to go check the place out and stay at a hostel there Saturday night. Sunday we will head back and stop off again in Granada and do some more site seeing there. We should be back at the orphanage by Sunday evening, allowing for one more full day of work, and a half day, before we must report back to the United States. I can't believe we've already been here for 6 days, with only 4 remaining! We are being sure to make the most of our time here, but we could certainly use a few more days, or even weeks! Maybe next summer!
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Post #3
So yesterday (Wednesday) we ended up waking up early and going to Huembes (market) with Tony as we stated in our blog. We spent about half an hour or so there and bought some small things for the kids and Anna got a ton of plates, silverware and cups for a feeding center in Nueva Vida, the refugee camp that houses about 10,000 people. It was set up in 1998 after Hurricane Mitch flooded lake Nicaragua and displaced thousands. It has become a small city at this point and there are several feeding centers throughout the community that feed the children with funds from organizations around the world. We stopped at one of the feeding centers (that Anna had worked at in March) and helped distribute the food to the kids and played a bit afterwards. Anna will say more on that topic later. I was able to buy Inception, The Expendables, Toy Story 3, Karate Kid, Iron Man 2 and Grown Ups from the market for a whopping 6 dollars. The kids will get TS3, IronMan 2 and Karate Kid, while I will keep the other, less appropriate ones for myself.
After Nueva Vida we came back to El Canyon. Ryan Luca and I played soccer with the older guys, did some pushups and ran. The kids really like working out with us haha. I´ve gotten into the habit of curling some of the littlest kids, which has really worked my biceps. THey find it funny. Anyways, we also found out there was no water. One of the tanks that supplies many of the surrounding towns broke, so we haven´t been able to shower for a couple days now. No power, no water. Honestly, we haven´t noticed all that much!
Last night a thunderstorm rolled in around 1030 as we were going to bed. It downpoured for about an hour and I have never seen it rain so hard, especially for so long. It probably rained a good 4 to 5 inches, and this morning Maria Jose told us some walls broke down by Lake Managua and flooded some communities, so the fire department is occupied and cannot bring us water (which I guess they do when water runs out, they bring it to communities)...
Anyway, today we are going to go to the Pacific coast (at least thats the plan) with the older boys in the morning, then heading to see Angel´s family in the afternoon! You never know with Nicaragua, so we´ll keep you posted soon!
Anna:
Hi! Okay, so I wanted to tell everyone a little bit more about our trip to Nueva Vida. It was QUITE an experience driving there, that´s for sure. Alex did a fantabulous job though. I didn´t even realize last time we went how crazy the roads were (plus it was also dry season, so it wasn´t all mud) but we did get there in time for the second lunch shift. In March I had kind of connected with the pastor and a lot of the kids there so it was really important for me to make it back there, if only for an hour. I got to see a couple of the babies I saw in March (one who was birthed to a 13 or 14 year old girl, and one with severe physical difficulties) and play with them. We served their tables and passed out candy. The kids were ECSTATIC to see the gringos.
In talking to the pastor (via Tony, our friend who I met when he was translating for our trip in March) he asked when I was coming back already. Ah! I haven´t even really thought about it too much. I said ¨maybe December¨ and his reply was, ¨we wait for you.¨ It was pretty powerful for me to hear and reminded me of why I´m down there.
Had a little incident with the Police last night. I´m not going to write about it here lest my Mom has a heart attack. It all turned out okay though...but I just can´t believe there is so much corruption and how lying comes so easily to people.
Anyways, that´s about it. Going back to play with the niños soon. They were so cute getting ready for school this morning, the little ones all had on matching plaid shirts. They are BEYOND adorable. It still blows my mind that so many of them come from abusive homes or have been completely abandoned. There is a lot of laughter in this orphanage and a lot of love...
More later, for sure,
Anna
Soccer with the boys
Run to top of El Canyon
No shower no prob
...Ryan...
After Nueva Vida we came back to El Canyon. Ryan Luca and I played soccer with the older guys, did some pushups and ran. The kids really like working out with us haha. I´ve gotten into the habit of curling some of the littlest kids, which has really worked my biceps. THey find it funny. Anyways, we also found out there was no water. One of the tanks that supplies many of the surrounding towns broke, so we haven´t been able to shower for a couple days now. No power, no water. Honestly, we haven´t noticed all that much!
Last night a thunderstorm rolled in around 1030 as we were going to bed. It downpoured for about an hour and I have never seen it rain so hard, especially for so long. It probably rained a good 4 to 5 inches, and this morning Maria Jose told us some walls broke down by Lake Managua and flooded some communities, so the fire department is occupied and cannot bring us water (which I guess they do when water runs out, they bring it to communities)...
Anyway, today we are going to go to the Pacific coast (at least thats the plan) with the older boys in the morning, then heading to see Angel´s family in the afternoon! You never know with Nicaragua, so we´ll keep you posted soon!
Anna:
Hi! Okay, so I wanted to tell everyone a little bit more about our trip to Nueva Vida. It was QUITE an experience driving there, that´s for sure. Alex did a fantabulous job though. I didn´t even realize last time we went how crazy the roads were (plus it was also dry season, so it wasn´t all mud) but we did get there in time for the second lunch shift. In March I had kind of connected with the pastor and a lot of the kids there so it was really important for me to make it back there, if only for an hour. I got to see a couple of the babies I saw in March (one who was birthed to a 13 or 14 year old girl, and one with severe physical difficulties) and play with them. We served their tables and passed out candy. The kids were ECSTATIC to see the gringos.
In talking to the pastor (via Tony, our friend who I met when he was translating for our trip in March) he asked when I was coming back already. Ah! I haven´t even really thought about it too much. I said ¨maybe December¨ and his reply was, ¨we wait for you.¨ It was pretty powerful for me to hear and reminded me of why I´m down there.
Had a little incident with the Police last night. I´m not going to write about it here lest my Mom has a heart attack. It all turned out okay though...but I just can´t believe there is so much corruption and how lying comes so easily to people.
Anyways, that´s about it. Going back to play with the niños soon. They were so cute getting ready for school this morning, the little ones all had on matching plaid shirts. They are BEYOND adorable. It still blows my mind that so many of them come from abusive homes or have been completely abandoned. There is a lot of laughter in this orphanage and a lot of love...
More later, for sure,
Anna
Soccer with the boys
Run to top of El Canyon
No shower no prob
...Ryan...
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Post #2!
Monday:
So after we left the coffee shop Monday we headed back to the orphanage. The rain storm never "passed over" and it continued into the night. When it rains in Nicaragua during raining season, it pours, and usually for a very long time. At night we decided to go rent "Where the Wild Things Are" for a movie night with all the kids. But, because there is STILL no power at the orphanage, we all trecked down to the school to watch it on a generator there and eat hot dogs for dinner. Well, the breaker couldn't handle a laptop (for the dvd to play) a projector and a speaker and proceeded to shut down repeatedly. After that failure, we attempetd to run two very long extension chords to a house in the neighborhood with power and watch it at the boys room. Again, fail. Everything ended perfectly though, and we ate hot dogs and the kids sang songs and ran around outside with the candles Luca had bought at the supermarket. It turned out to be a great night.
Tuesday:
We woke up early (what's new ... 7 am) and began stripping the swingswet of paint. It looked like a simple task, but it took over 4 hours to do about 75% of it. Finally, as rain started to set in (as it usually does in the afternoons) we decided to put off the painting for another day. Tony (our translator from March) had finished up with a trip he was translating on and joined us. We played a vey competitive game of 5-5 soccer, but the kids beat me, Tony, Luca and Ryan 6-5. Ryan Luca and I took a much needed shower (after almost 2 days) and headed out with Tony to to Granada.
Granada is about an hours drive south of Managua and located on the northern tip of Lake Nicaragua (one of the largest fresh-water lakes in the world). Granada is one of the oldest cities in central america and was a hub for colonists spreading Christianity in the new world. Granada is covered with churches, many having been restored, and Tony took us to one of the tallest towers so we could have a look. The pictures are on facebook, so check them out! We got up to the top just as another huge tropical thunderstorm rolled in off the Lake. We ran to our car and proceeded to the restaurant district. Granada is much more touristy than Managua, and we found a pretty nice American Sports bar. We kicked it back for a couple hours and enjoyed some Tonas and burgers and watched some baseball. Finally, around 9, we drove back. We dropped Tony off at his house and he gave us directions back to the orphanage. We made it okay, and I now consider myself a pretty good driver, and know (somewhat) where to go if I needed to go on my own (don't worry mom, I won't). Anyway, now we're off to Huembes (big market) and going to Nueva Vida for lunch (refugee camp) with Tony. We'll try to keep the posts up every other day, at least. We are planning a weekend trip to Granada / Ometepe (island volcano in Lake Nicaragua) with Tony for Friday-Sunday that should be a lot of fun! Anyways, here is Anna!
Anna:
Hi everyone! I thought I would give my female perspective on the trip so far. It's been really great. I'm staying in the girls side of the orphanage right next to the little kids room (kids under 7, about 8 of them sleep there) so waking up is VERY early! It's all made up for by walking into their rooms and having EVERYONE start screaming "Anna" and running up to hug me. It's soooo cute. While the boys are playing soccer and stripping paint, I've been able to play with the little ones and do a lot of stuff with the girls. I brought a ton of nailpolish so we do that on a daily basis. I didn't bring any nailpolish remover though so we all have about 6 layers of paint on our nails. I also brought sidewalk chalk so we had a great time "beautifying" the sidewalks yesterday. I also went to English class with Freddy, the English teacher, so the kids had a chance to practice with me. The UVa. trip leader from March, Christina, surprised us by visiting a couple of nights ago, so it was nice to see another familiar face! She had just led a trip for ONet last week. While we were at the movies, the guy in front of us in line buying tickets had actually gone to EMU in Harrisonburg! It really is a small world.
We're in a huge rush right now to get to the market, so I'm going to have to keep it short. Sorry these thoughts are probably all completely disorganized. So much to share! Keep us in your thoughts, we need it! :)
Ryan here. I think its time we change this blogname to cornerdeAlejandro (alex). We werent sure he'd ever pass over control of the blog, haha just kidding. Anyways, we've had an awesome trip so far. I'm sure Alex has done a solid recap of everything, but one of my favorite experiences so far has been sleeping in the boys room. It's your typical version of an orphanage bedroom, with two sides of bunk beds all lined up. Every morning, all the boys are up extremely early doing chores and they always wake us up. One of my favorite boys, Juan, or Juancito as i call him, who is hopefully getting adopted soon by a couple in Maryland, wakes me up every morning before he goes to school. Buneos Dios Ryan... Adios Ryan, he says. He's 8 years old, and he is the man. Anyways, we are off now so I must wrap up. Talk to you all soon, and keep reading. Adios
So after we left the coffee shop Monday we headed back to the orphanage. The rain storm never "passed over" and it continued into the night. When it rains in Nicaragua during raining season, it pours, and usually for a very long time. At night we decided to go rent "Where the Wild Things Are" for a movie night with all the kids. But, because there is STILL no power at the orphanage, we all trecked down to the school to watch it on a generator there and eat hot dogs for dinner. Well, the breaker couldn't handle a laptop (for the dvd to play) a projector and a speaker and proceeded to shut down repeatedly. After that failure, we attempetd to run two very long extension chords to a house in the neighborhood with power and watch it at the boys room. Again, fail. Everything ended perfectly though, and we ate hot dogs and the kids sang songs and ran around outside with the candles Luca had bought at the supermarket. It turned out to be a great night.
Tuesday:
We woke up early (what's new ... 7 am) and began stripping the swingswet of paint. It looked like a simple task, but it took over 4 hours to do about 75% of it. Finally, as rain started to set in (as it usually does in the afternoons) we decided to put off the painting for another day. Tony (our translator from March) had finished up with a trip he was translating on and joined us. We played a vey competitive game of 5-5 soccer, but the kids beat me, Tony, Luca and Ryan 6-5. Ryan Luca and I took a much needed shower (after almost 2 days) and headed out with Tony to to Granada.
Granada is about an hours drive south of Managua and located on the northern tip of Lake Nicaragua (one of the largest fresh-water lakes in the world). Granada is one of the oldest cities in central america and was a hub for colonists spreading Christianity in the new world. Granada is covered with churches, many having been restored, and Tony took us to one of the tallest towers so we could have a look. The pictures are on facebook, so check them out! We got up to the top just as another huge tropical thunderstorm rolled in off the Lake. We ran to our car and proceeded to the restaurant district. Granada is much more touristy than Managua, and we found a pretty nice American Sports bar. We kicked it back for a couple hours and enjoyed some Tonas and burgers and watched some baseball. Finally, around 9, we drove back. We dropped Tony off at his house and he gave us directions back to the orphanage. We made it okay, and I now consider myself a pretty good driver, and know (somewhat) where to go if I needed to go on my own (don't worry mom, I won't). Anyway, now we're off to Huembes (big market) and going to Nueva Vida for lunch (refugee camp) with Tony. We'll try to keep the posts up every other day, at least. We are planning a weekend trip to Granada / Ometepe (island volcano in Lake Nicaragua) with Tony for Friday-Sunday that should be a lot of fun! Anyways, here is Anna!
Anna:
Hi everyone! I thought I would give my female perspective on the trip so far. It's been really great. I'm staying in the girls side of the orphanage right next to the little kids room (kids under 7, about 8 of them sleep there) so waking up is VERY early! It's all made up for by walking into their rooms and having EVERYONE start screaming "Anna" and running up to hug me. It's soooo cute. While the boys are playing soccer and stripping paint, I've been able to play with the little ones and do a lot of stuff with the girls. I brought a ton of nailpolish so we do that on a daily basis. I didn't bring any nailpolish remover though so we all have about 6 layers of paint on our nails. I also brought sidewalk chalk so we had a great time "beautifying" the sidewalks yesterday. I also went to English class with Freddy, the English teacher, so the kids had a chance to practice with me. The UVa. trip leader from March, Christina, surprised us by visiting a couple of nights ago, so it was nice to see another familiar face! She had just led a trip for ONet last week. While we were at the movies, the guy in front of us in line buying tickets had actually gone to EMU in Harrisonburg! It really is a small world.
We're in a huge rush right now to get to the market, so I'm going to have to keep it short. Sorry these thoughts are probably all completely disorganized. So much to share! Keep us in your thoughts, we need it! :)
Ryan here. I think its time we change this blogname to cornerdeAlejandro (alex). We werent sure he'd ever pass over control of the blog, haha just kidding. Anyways, we've had an awesome trip so far. I'm sure Alex has done a solid recap of everything, but one of my favorite experiences so far has been sleeping in the boys room. It's your typical version of an orphanage bedroom, with two sides of bunk beds all lined up. Every morning, all the boys are up extremely early doing chores and they always wake us up. One of my favorite boys, Juan, or Juancito as i call him, who is hopefully getting adopted soon by a couple in Maryland, wakes me up every morning before he goes to school. Buneos Dios Ryan... Adios Ryan, he says. He's 8 years old, and he is the man. Anyways, we are off now so I must wrap up. Talk to you all soon, and keep reading. Adios
Monday, August 16, 2010
First Post!
Okay, we we arrived safely, but promptly found out that there is no electricity in the village in which the orphanage is located. There was either a really big storm that blew out a transformer or the locals didn't pay their bills ... we've gotten both stories ... but apparently the power should be back sometime early this week!
Day 1: Saturday, August 14
We landed at noon on Saturday and were met with a "Nicaragua always wins" situation right off the bat. The Alamo rental service that I reserved a car from did not have any cars for us to rent when we arrived. They helped us find one at another company that had an economy car that we wanted, but none of us were 25, and apparently the "25 to rent a car" law applies to Nicaragua as well. Luckily, Carlos, one of the teachers at the orphanage volunteered to sign off, and away we went!
Maria Jose, Carlos and Alejandra took us to a nice place for lunch where we had some authentic chalupas and fajitas. Maria Jose then surprised us with the suggestion of going to the beach. Since my card is the one we put down for the rental car, I had the honor of taking the wheel of our awesome Toyota Yaris manual drive car. After about an hour and a half of rolling through the city and into the country toward the coast with the windows down and raggaetone blasting, we arrived on the Pacific coast aruond 5 pm. We had just enough time to get in the water and enjoy the (very large and very rough) Pacific water before watching the sunset. Remember, Nicaragua is central time, but doesn't have daylight savings, so it gets dark around 6:30. Afterwards we drove back to the orphanage and got in around 9:30 in time to go to bed. It was an awesome way to start the trip!
Day 2: Sunday, August 15:
We woke up at 7 am, which was actually sleeping in since we are staying in the big room with 13 of the older boys. They wake up at 6 am on the weekends and 5 am on school days. Needless to say, our sleeping patterns are going to be shaken up a bit. Luckily, because Nicaragua is currently 2 hours behind east coast time (6 am here is 8 am east coast), we should have a nice little routine in place when we get back to the east coast.
We went to church (which lasted 2 hours) until about noon. After church we played some sports with the older boys. The 3 gringo boys + one awesome 8 year old NIcaraguan kid beat the older Nicaraguan boys 5-4. Afterwards, Ryan and I (Alex) took some of the older boys with us on a run. The first half was all up hill and it was pretty brutal, and by the end only one boy, a 9 year old named Carlos, remained. Needless to say, he is ready to join us tonight on round 2 of our running adventures. It is pretty cool running through a tropical jungle with a thunder rumbling in the distance. After the run, another car came and Ryan, Luca, Anna, another girl from the states named Allison (who is staying here for 3 weeks) took some of the smallest kids (6 kids, 1 girl (haley) and 5 boys) under the age of 5 to Pizza Hut for dinner and then went to see Karate Kid! By the way, great movie! It was in English with spanish subtitles. Oh, and the tickets cost $3.50, and this is probably the best movie theater in the cuontry and rivals Tysons Corner or any of your top movie theaters in the US. We might have to make a trip back! On the way out of the movies we randomley ran into Antonio and KJ who were having a late dinner at a restaurant nearby. It was completely random and great to see them. Keep in mind, Nicaragua is small, but it's still country of 13+ million, so randomley seeing them was incredible. KJ is returning to the states tomorrow after 5 weeks as an intern working with groups coming with Orphan Network before heading back to JMU in a week, while Tony will be joining us tonight (Monday night) when he finishes his translations.
So far this trip has been amazing. We've only been here for 2 days and already know every kids name at the orphanage, and because there are just 4 of us (opposed to the 40 that we usually come with on the spring break trip), all the kids know us now and we've had so much more one-on-one time. After we leave the coffee shop we will be going back to the orphanage, going for another run, and proceeding to go out to Granada for a night of celebration. Granada is one of the oldest cities in Central America and about an hours drive south from Managua. We will be going with Tony, Maria Jose and possibly Alejandra and enjoying the city's ongoing independence celebration!
Personally, I must say that driving stick shift through the streets and countryside of Nicaragua has been one of the coolest experiences I've had in a long time. Hopefully we will have more posts coming tomorrow, but we thought we would give a quick summary while we had a chance! For everyone from the past spring break trip, all the kids keep asking how you guys are. They all say hello!
More to come soon! As I'm typing this, a very awesome looking tropical thunderstorm is rolling in. Once the rain subseeds we will head back to the orphanage (a 10 minute drive). Until the next time, we will continue to be safe!
Day 1: Saturday, August 14
We landed at noon on Saturday and were met with a "Nicaragua always wins" situation right off the bat. The Alamo rental service that I reserved a car from did not have any cars for us to rent when we arrived. They helped us find one at another company that had an economy car that we wanted, but none of us were 25, and apparently the "25 to rent a car" law applies to Nicaragua as well. Luckily, Carlos, one of the teachers at the orphanage volunteered to sign off, and away we went!
Maria Jose, Carlos and Alejandra took us to a nice place for lunch where we had some authentic chalupas and fajitas. Maria Jose then surprised us with the suggestion of going to the beach. Since my card is the one we put down for the rental car, I had the honor of taking the wheel of our awesome Toyota Yaris manual drive car. After about an hour and a half of rolling through the city and into the country toward the coast with the windows down and raggaetone blasting, we arrived on the Pacific coast aruond 5 pm. We had just enough time to get in the water and enjoy the (very large and very rough) Pacific water before watching the sunset. Remember, Nicaragua is central time, but doesn't have daylight savings, so it gets dark around 6:30. Afterwards we drove back to the orphanage and got in around 9:30 in time to go to bed. It was an awesome way to start the trip!
Day 2: Sunday, August 15:
We woke up at 7 am, which was actually sleeping in since we are staying in the big room with 13 of the older boys. They wake up at 6 am on the weekends and 5 am on school days. Needless to say, our sleeping patterns are going to be shaken up a bit. Luckily, because Nicaragua is currently 2 hours behind east coast time (6 am here is 8 am east coast), we should have a nice little routine in place when we get back to the east coast.
We went to church (which lasted 2 hours) until about noon. After church we played some sports with the older boys. The 3 gringo boys + one awesome 8 year old NIcaraguan kid beat the older Nicaraguan boys 5-4. Afterwards, Ryan and I (Alex) took some of the older boys with us on a run. The first half was all up hill and it was pretty brutal, and by the end only one boy, a 9 year old named Carlos, remained. Needless to say, he is ready to join us tonight on round 2 of our running adventures. It is pretty cool running through a tropical jungle with a thunder rumbling in the distance. After the run, another car came and Ryan, Luca, Anna, another girl from the states named Allison (who is staying here for 3 weeks) took some of the smallest kids (6 kids, 1 girl (haley) and 5 boys) under the age of 5 to Pizza Hut for dinner and then went to see Karate Kid! By the way, great movie! It was in English with spanish subtitles. Oh, and the tickets cost $3.50, and this is probably the best movie theater in the cuontry and rivals Tysons Corner or any of your top movie theaters in the US. We might have to make a trip back! On the way out of the movies we randomley ran into Antonio and KJ who were having a late dinner at a restaurant nearby. It was completely random and great to see them. Keep in mind, Nicaragua is small, but it's still country of 13+ million, so randomley seeing them was incredible. KJ is returning to the states tomorrow after 5 weeks as an intern working with groups coming with Orphan Network before heading back to JMU in a week, while Tony will be joining us tonight (Monday night) when he finishes his translations.
So far this trip has been amazing. We've only been here for 2 days and already know every kids name at the orphanage, and because there are just 4 of us (opposed to the 40 that we usually come with on the spring break trip), all the kids know us now and we've had so much more one-on-one time. After we leave the coffee shop we will be going back to the orphanage, going for another run, and proceeding to go out to Granada for a night of celebration. Granada is one of the oldest cities in Central America and about an hours drive south from Managua. We will be going with Tony, Maria Jose and possibly Alejandra and enjoying the city's ongoing independence celebration!
Personally, I must say that driving stick shift through the streets and countryside of Nicaragua has been one of the coolest experiences I've had in a long time. Hopefully we will have more posts coming tomorrow, but we thought we would give a quick summary while we had a chance! For everyone from the past spring break trip, all the kids keep asking how you guys are. They all say hello!
More to come soon! As I'm typing this, a very awesome looking tropical thunderstorm is rolling in. Once the rain subseeds we will head back to the orphanage (a 10 minute drive). Until the next time, we will continue to be safe!
Saturday, August 14, 2010
LET'S GO!
Luca, Ryan and I are sitting in my basement watching Curb Your Enthusiasm and eagerly awaiting our departure for Nicaragua in 6 hours. We will be posting a new blog every day (as long as we can) from the El Canyon orphanage on the outskirts of Managua, Nicaragua. Wish us look and safe travels, as we should arrive in Managua around 2 pm EST (12 pm Nicaragua).
All we know right now is that we will have a rental car, are staying at the orphanage, and that we have a bag of clothes each. Anna, see you in 3 hours. LET'S DO THIS!
All we know right now is that we will have a rental car, are staying at the orphanage, and that we have a bag of clothes each. Anna, see you in 3 hours. LET'S DO THIS!
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Some pictures
Hey all,
As promised, we decided to throw up some pictures onto the blog. We snapped over 500 pictures, but that would just be too much to share because each pic takes like a minute to upload. Tried to get one of each Gus and a kid...check em out, enjoy.
-RW Gus
As promised, we decided to throw up some pictures onto the blog. We snapped over 500 pictures, but that would just be too much to share because each pic takes like a minute to upload. Tried to get one of each Gus and a kid...check em out, enjoy.
-RW Gus
Friday, March 12, 2010
Trip Is Over
Well, Dave is about to land at Dulles as I type this and Ryan, Luca and I are entering our 5th hour of a layover in San Salvador before heading back to the states with most of the rest of the people on the trip. I think everyone had a great time and our lives were definitely "wrecked" by what we saw and we will be forever changed. Even for me, being my 5th time to Nicaragua, I leave each time just as overwhelmed and "messed with" as the year before, and I know Luca Ryan and Dave (as well as all the others on the trip from all 4 schools) will never forget this trip and will be impacted by what they saw. It's almost impossible to describe it or understand what we experienced without actually going through and seeing what we saw this week. Hopefully this blog showed some insight into what we did, but I know what we shared just scrathed the surface of what we experienced. It should be interesting to see how things go back in the US and how we can remember what we saw in Nicaragua and not fall back into the typical American lifestyle. Life in the US is the exception, and Nicaragua is the rule. What we will see when we return to the US will try its best to tell us that what we saw in Nicaragua doesn't exist and was completely imagined, but in reality, what we saw in Nicaragua permeates the world and what we have in the US is definitely the exception to life on this planet. Hopefully we can all figure out a way to take advantage of the resources we have to help those in need not only around the world but also in the US.
Step 1: Raise money for Angel and his family so they can have a house made of cement rather than one made of trash and plastic.
In the next week a lot of pictures will be put on facebook, but we will pick some of the best ones to put on here when we have the time, so don't tune out yet!
AT
Step 1: Raise money for Angel and his family so they can have a house made of cement rather than one made of trash and plastic.
In the next week a lot of pictures will be put on facebook, but we will pick some of the best ones to put on here when we have the time, so don't tune out yet!
AT
ultimo dia
RW Gus here....it's the last post. We've got several guests that were invited to post tonight. Today was pretty awesome...this morning we headed to La Chruca (the dump), which was quite an experience. The boys and girls split up and we did our jobs. Us fellas did some foundational work such as digging holes and measuring, while the ladies painted a wall and added some biblical quotes. Afterwards, we headed to lunch at El Canyon....put down two jalepeno burgers myself. Then we rolled back to Hotel Ticomo, took a dip in the pool, and then rolled to the other orphanage for el fin fiesta. It was a GREAT time, put down two more hot dogs. This week has been amazing, that's for sure. Back to the states tomorrow morning, I will see you all there. So long Central America. - RW Gus
BB Gustafina here, having the privledge to add my thoughts to this....interesting...blog. RW Gus already filled you guys in on todays activity, so I will try to add a little detail. At La Chrucra we had the oppurtunity to walk around a little bit, we visited the school and a learned about some of the future plans and concerns for the community. Look into it people. Interesting stuff. I saw first hand the kids were learning a lot. A boy was hanging on the bars of his school window and I told him he was a "mono loco' to my surprise he replied "no you are the crazy monkey. Impressive right? We have had an awesome experience and all are really sad to leave. All these crazy boys are saying "Woooowwww" non-stop and pressuring me to wrap up so it was great sharing with all of you....and remember....STINK NO MAS (RW can explain later)! -BB Gustafina
Tony Gus here. we are facing the inevitable and John just shouts about WOWWWWW! to the Gs for the last 20 minutes, so it means he has done it at least 20 times. All the team memebers I had to translate to had to say good-bye to all the kids while from my part, I had to accept the fact that all these cool guys are leaving me and I have to go back to my office next week. The sudden splashes in the pool, the long dance/bus rides while all the Nicaraguans look with question marks on their faces and the occasional "bonds" are deep within me. A few hours before deadline and we have lost the key to our room. We'll need tons of good luck to finish this business in a normal way; an impossible quest to some... bye Gsssssssssss! Wowwwwww!!!
Another Gustifina in the house...holaaaaaa me llamo liz. this week was amazing. wooooooowww. so today was pretty tough saying bye to the chillins but it was awesome because I know we will all be back! another nicaraguan adventure. wooooowww g's. i had to climb on the roof today to fetch a ball because the guses on this trip just didn't have it in them. they couldn't handle the tree. i scaled it. impressssive i know. wowwwww. john is pencil diving in the pool and saying wowwwwww at the same time. kim is boooty shakin allllll over the place. lucca is doing magic tricks. its getting ridiculous out here. see you in the states! amor ~liz gus
DH gus here. Woowwwww, today was a great day. What a way to finish our week off here. This trip was truly unreal, I had no idea how much of a great time this place would be. We had fun, we were challenged, asked to question, and met some great people. Well we're off to take a nice little dip in the pool now, roosters are crowing, and sleep is not on the radar, not tonight gus', one love, Nicaragua.
-DH GUS
Don't Stand At A Safe Distance.....
BB Gustafina here, having the privledge to add my thoughts to this....interesting...blog. RW Gus already filled you guys in on todays activity, so I will try to add a little detail. At La Chrucra we had the oppurtunity to walk around a little bit, we visited the school and a learned about some of the future plans and concerns for the community. Look into it people. Interesting stuff. I saw first hand the kids were learning a lot. A boy was hanging on the bars of his school window and I told him he was a "mono loco' to my surprise he replied "no you are the crazy monkey. Impressive right? We have had an awesome experience and all are really sad to leave. All these crazy boys are saying "Woooowwww" non-stop and pressuring me to wrap up so it was great sharing with all of you....and remember....STINK NO MAS (RW can explain later)! -BB Gustafina
Tony Gus here. we are facing the inevitable and John just shouts about WOWWWWW! to the Gs for the last 20 minutes, so it means he has done it at least 20 times. All the team memebers I had to translate to had to say good-bye to all the kids while from my part, I had to accept the fact that all these cool guys are leaving me and I have to go back to my office next week. The sudden splashes in the pool, the long dance/bus rides while all the Nicaraguans look with question marks on their faces and the occasional "bonds" are deep within me. A few hours before deadline and we have lost the key to our room. We'll need tons of good luck to finish this business in a normal way; an impossible quest to some... bye Gsssssssssss! Wowwwwww!!!
Another Gustifina in the house...holaaaaaa me llamo liz. this week was amazing. wooooooowww. so today was pretty tough saying bye to the chillins but it was awesome because I know we will all be back! another nicaraguan adventure. wooooowww g's. i had to climb on the roof today to fetch a ball because the guses on this trip just didn't have it in them. they couldn't handle the tree. i scaled it. impressssive i know. wowwwww. john is pencil diving in the pool and saying wowwwwww at the same time. kim is boooty shakin allllll over the place. lucca is doing magic tricks. its getting ridiculous out here. see you in the states! amor ~liz gus
DH gus here. Woowwwww, today was a great day. What a way to finish our week off here. This trip was truly unreal, I had no idea how much of a great time this place would be. We had fun, we were challenged, asked to question, and met some great people. Well we're off to take a nice little dip in the pool now, roosters are crowing, and sleep is not on the radar, not tonight gus', one love, Nicaragua.
-DH GUS
Don't Stand At A Safe Distance.....
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
dias de cinco
Another good day here in nicaragua. This morning, we went to Nueva Vida (new life), which is a refugee camp turned into this feeding center now. My team served over 180 kids lunch for the day, and the sad thing is, that is their one meal for the day. Definitely a culture shock, and it makes you realize how good we actually have it. Afterwards, we met up with the orphans from El Canyon at this awesome pool. We played with them for a solid two or three hours and then came back to Hotel Ticomo. Luca spoke tonight at porch time, and he did a great job. Doing big things tomorrow. That is all for tonight. -RW GUS
A feeding center
Pool time with the orphans
Can't believe my joy
I'm sure it's getting old to say, and I'm definitely getting tired of writing it, but it was an amazing day. We weren't just exposed to extreme poverty, we were immersed in it. A mother who couldn't take her sick baby to the doctor because she had no money. Malnurished kids getting their one meal of the day. For a while it was hard not to just curl up in a corner and cry. No one would expect to find happiness in a place like that, but the smiles on everyones faces proved that as long as you're loved, you can be happy. Looking foward to tomorrow. - Luca Gus
AT here ... No haiku for me today ... i'm too tired to think haha. Nueva Vida was a great experience. Even though I'd been there before I've never actually been back into the refugee camp. It is the home to about 15,000 people who were displaced after Hurricane Mitch hit Nicaragua in 1998 and raised the water level of Lake Nicaragua 18 feet and flooded many parts of the city of Grenada. The government literally gave a block of land to the people who were displaced and in the last 12 years they've pretty much created a city of their own with houses made of trash. It really is depressing but the churches in the camp have taken hold of the situation and are working with American churches to feed the kids there. The 5 feeding centers at Nueva Vida feed 1,100 kids one meal a day, six days a week, which is really incredible. The area is very poor, but it was nice hanging otu ith the minister of one of the churches. He was very poor and the church is very makeshift but he was proud of his family and and took me around and introduced me to all of his children and showed me around the church. When we were leaving he pulled me close and said "god bless you" ... the only english words he spoke to me all day ... and it really left an impact on me after leaving.
The pool was great. I swam with Leyla and the guys all made a massive pyramid in the water which im sure will be posted on facebook at somepoint by many different people from the trip haha. Anyways, that was a great experience. Luca's speech tonight in front of the 90+ from Vatech and JMU was great and he made us all proud. He should consider going into public speaking cause he's got the skills! Anyways, tomorrow Angel's family is going to the El Canyon orphanage and we will be able to give them the food we bought for them. We have about 2-3 months worth of food, and an exxtra $150 left over to go toward building them a house or providing his family enough food for another 2-3 months! It will be great knowing that months after we've returned to the US Angel and his family will be eating and not concerned about where they will get their next meal! I think a bunch of us are going to do fundraising back at school to try and raise about 2-3,000 dollars to help Angel's family build a house (right now it is made of trash and aluminum). If anyone is interested in helping, let us know!
That's all for now! Goodnight all! - AT GUS
So each day this place is getting more intense and today was no exception to the fact. I and four others were thrown into a refugee camp in order to help a small family serve food to 120 children on only 5 picnic tables. The place was so impovershed that it was truly hard to believe conditions were sanitary enough to live. This people had virtually nothing and yet they were so gracious and welcoming towards us. So many mixed emotions hit me today that I'm exhausted. Tomorrow should be another mind blowing experience. Look to hear from us all shortly.
-DH GUS
A feeding center
Pool time with the orphans
Can't believe my joy
I'm sure it's getting old to say, and I'm definitely getting tired of writing it, but it was an amazing day. We weren't just exposed to extreme poverty, we were immersed in it. A mother who couldn't take her sick baby to the doctor because she had no money. Malnurished kids getting their one meal of the day. For a while it was hard not to just curl up in a corner and cry. No one would expect to find happiness in a place like that, but the smiles on everyones faces proved that as long as you're loved, you can be happy. Looking foward to tomorrow. - Luca Gus
AT here ... No haiku for me today ... i'm too tired to think haha. Nueva Vida was a great experience. Even though I'd been there before I've never actually been back into the refugee camp. It is the home to about 15,000 people who were displaced after Hurricane Mitch hit Nicaragua in 1998 and raised the water level of Lake Nicaragua 18 feet and flooded many parts of the city of Grenada. The government literally gave a block of land to the people who were displaced and in the last 12 years they've pretty much created a city of their own with houses made of trash. It really is depressing but the churches in the camp have taken hold of the situation and are working with American churches to feed the kids there. The 5 feeding centers at Nueva Vida feed 1,100 kids one meal a day, six days a week, which is really incredible. The area is very poor, but it was nice hanging otu ith the minister of one of the churches. He was very poor and the church is very makeshift but he was proud of his family and and took me around and introduced me to all of his children and showed me around the church. When we were leaving he pulled me close and said "god bless you" ... the only english words he spoke to me all day ... and it really left an impact on me after leaving.
The pool was great. I swam with Leyla and the guys all made a massive pyramid in the water which im sure will be posted on facebook at somepoint by many different people from the trip haha. Anyways, that was a great experience. Luca's speech tonight in front of the 90+ from Vatech and JMU was great and he made us all proud. He should consider going into public speaking cause he's got the skills! Anyways, tomorrow Angel's family is going to the El Canyon orphanage and we will be able to give them the food we bought for them. We have about 2-3 months worth of food, and an exxtra $150 left over to go toward building them a house or providing his family enough food for another 2-3 months! It will be great knowing that months after we've returned to the US Angel and his family will be eating and not concerned about where they will get their next meal! I think a bunch of us are going to do fundraising back at school to try and raise about 2-3,000 dollars to help Angel's family build a house (right now it is made of trash and aluminum). If anyone is interested in helping, let us know!
That's all for now! Goodnight all! - AT GUS
So each day this place is getting more intense and today was no exception to the fact. I and four others were thrown into a refugee camp in order to help a small family serve food to 120 children on only 5 picnic tables. The place was so impovershed that it was truly hard to believe conditions were sanitary enough to live. This people had virtually nothing and yet they were so gracious and welcoming towards us. So many mixed emotions hit me today that I'm exhausted. Tomorrow should be another mind blowing experience. Look to hear from us all shortly.
-DH GUS
Dia de 4 (a day late)
So here are the blogs from last night. We typed it up on microsoft word and had planned on copying and pasting what we had typed but apparently you can't do that on blogspot. So, now that we have some time, I am typing up what was written last night.
Early morning run.
Brighten ophanage blue green
Buy stuff from market.
I decided to do a haiku tonight ... I was just feeling it. Today was pretty great. Dave and I went for a nice little job at about 8 AM before heading to breakfast. Then we headed to the orphanage and did some painting. We did a great job. Afterwards, we had lunch and then headed to the hotel and took a nice dip in the pool. THen, we went down to the market for a few hours. It was pretty overwhelming though. We were the gringos and everyone knew we had that cash money. Little boys were coming up to me with puppy dog faces and asking for me to give them money so they could get some food. It was pretty sad. I got some stuff at the market though...a nice soccer jersey, a tee shirt and maybe some presents for the ones I love most. Let's see...then we headed to dinner and then chilled out at the pool for an hour or so. We had porch time, then small group, then another fiesta at our place. About twenty people rolled up to our porch and we played Cheers Governor. I might try to hit yoga at 7AM (edit---did not happen), but that is highly unlikely considering tonight's fesitivites. Our translator, Tony, is here tonight and he is seriously awesome. I'm pretty pumped about my haiku though. Night night everyone. I'd like to give a shout out to my homies. - RW Gus
The night consumes us
With the faith for better days
That good luck will bring.
I've come to decide that JMU is the "supreme creme" of the spring break experience for Nicaragua. Their motivation and energy surpasses almost every single human probability I've been able to know so far. Ever since the beginning, nothing has run them down. Maybe, we are witnessing the raise of the generation that will be able to understand that Nicaragua is not a threat to US democracy and that aid will always be better than guns and war. Today, we went to work at the orphanage and to the market, two different sets of realitiy inside the same country, but they seemed to adapt and combine with the changing contexts that we throw at them, which show an incredible capacity of adaptation in order to participate in the long process of solving this country's issues. In other words, they prove the idea that we still have the right to dream for a better tomorrow. Thanks for the space. Tony (the translator)
Don't care about dirt
Feeling tired won't stop me
I love these orphans.
My friends Brooke and Cat
Bring good looks and big smiles
To all the ninos.
Love word of mouth
Warm weather even at night
Keep the party going strong.
Enjoyed the day today but missed hanging out with the little kids. GOt much closer to a few of the people on the trip and it turns out that they're pretty cool. The porch party turned out great even though no invitations were sent out. Gotta love word of mouth, warm weather and rum (check out the haiku). Very excited to give my girl Marina the necklace I bought today at the market - Luca Gus
Life here is sooo good
We're meeting some great people
As all totally should.
This trip has been great. I feel like it's truly flying by but want to make the most of it while I'm here. Tomorrow I'm excited to continue to build relationships with these kids. Talk to you all soon. - Dave Gus
AT here --- So today we went to the market and I bought Leyla earrings. We also raised a lot of money for Angel's family and bought them food for 2-3 months and have $150 left over to go towards his house. Apparently we are supposed to see Angel and his family on Wednesday. All for now, more to come tomorrow! -AT Gus
Early morning run.
Brighten ophanage blue green
Buy stuff from market.
I decided to do a haiku tonight ... I was just feeling it. Today was pretty great. Dave and I went for a nice little job at about 8 AM before heading to breakfast. Then we headed to the orphanage and did some painting. We did a great job. Afterwards, we had lunch and then headed to the hotel and took a nice dip in the pool. THen, we went down to the market for a few hours. It was pretty overwhelming though. We were the gringos and everyone knew we had that cash money. Little boys were coming up to me with puppy dog faces and asking for me to give them money so they could get some food. It was pretty sad. I got some stuff at the market though...a nice soccer jersey, a tee shirt and maybe some presents for the ones I love most. Let's see...then we headed to dinner and then chilled out at the pool for an hour or so. We had porch time, then small group, then another fiesta at our place. About twenty people rolled up to our porch and we played Cheers Governor. I might try to hit yoga at 7AM (edit---did not happen), but that is highly unlikely considering tonight's fesitivites. Our translator, Tony, is here tonight and he is seriously awesome. I'm pretty pumped about my haiku though. Night night everyone. I'd like to give a shout out to my homies. - RW Gus
The night consumes us
With the faith for better days
That good luck will bring.
I've come to decide that JMU is the "supreme creme" of the spring break experience for Nicaragua. Their motivation and energy surpasses almost every single human probability I've been able to know so far. Ever since the beginning, nothing has run them down. Maybe, we are witnessing the raise of the generation that will be able to understand that Nicaragua is not a threat to US democracy and that aid will always be better than guns and war. Today, we went to work at the orphanage and to the market, two different sets of realitiy inside the same country, but they seemed to adapt and combine with the changing contexts that we throw at them, which show an incredible capacity of adaptation in order to participate in the long process of solving this country's issues. In other words, they prove the idea that we still have the right to dream for a better tomorrow. Thanks for the space. Tony (the translator)
Don't care about dirt
Feeling tired won't stop me
I love these orphans.
My friends Brooke and Cat
Bring good looks and big smiles
To all the ninos.
Love word of mouth
Warm weather even at night
Keep the party going strong.
Enjoyed the day today but missed hanging out with the little kids. GOt much closer to a few of the people on the trip and it turns out that they're pretty cool. The porch party turned out great even though no invitations were sent out. Gotta love word of mouth, warm weather and rum (check out the haiku). Very excited to give my girl Marina the necklace I bought today at the market - Luca Gus
Life here is sooo good
We're meeting some great people
As all totally should.
This trip has been great. I feel like it's truly flying by but want to make the most of it while I'm here. Tomorrow I'm excited to continue to build relationships with these kids. Talk to you all soon. - Dave Gus
AT here --- So today we went to the market and I bought Leyla earrings. We also raised a lot of money for Angel's family and bought them food for 2-3 months and have $150 left over to go towards his house. Apparently we are supposed to see Angel and his family on Wednesday. All for now, more to come tomorrow! -AT Gus
Monday, March 8, 2010
WIFI!!!
We took a quick walk up the road to the supermarket with a big group and stopped in for some ice cream --- I pulled my laptop from my backpack (which I usually don't carry on me but I had it with me earlier so brought it along) to play music while people ordered ice cream and the little icecream shop (called POPS) has Wifi! So here I am sitting in a Nicaraguan icecream shop! More to come from all the guses later
AT
AT
Dia de Tres
R dubb here. Another amazing day here in Managua, Nicaragua. Started off the day with a 9AM breakfast at the dining hall. Then we hopped in the bus, and headed over to El Canon where the orphanage is located. We went to church there, which was a pretty amazing experience. Pretty interesting to see how church and God is such a universal language. The whole service was in Spanish, but definitely still engaging. Afterwards, we had some lunch (hot dogs again, dont even think they were cooked), and us boys got a huge soccer game going. It was the college aged Americans vs the 16 and under Nicaraguans. After about two hours, the game finished at 2-2, but I think they dominated us for the most part. After that, we walked back over to the orphanage, and I'm not sure how, but a huge wrestling match between me, Dave, and about 10 Nicaraguan boys started. It was me and Dave against them all. We were just having a great time wrestling in the dirt. You can't underestimate these orphans. Kid you not, a couple of them are no more than a buck 40, but strong as an ox. I got a nice gash on my eye brow after the oldest orphan, Jordan, had a nice takedown on me and I hit a rock. It's a pretty badass battle wound though. After the wrestling, we all got in the bus and went to this huge park area, played some basketball, and more soccer. Then we all went to this fast food chicken place, comparable to KFC, called Tip Top. The people working there didn't know we were coming, so it was zoo in there. About 40 of us JMU students, and another 35 orphans. We definitely cleaned them out. Tomorrow we are going to do some painting, and then go to the market. Pretty excited about that, because I hear everything is cheap. Bed time for this gus. Nite nite clowns. -RW Gus
Alex - Well I just wrote for about 20 minutes and got booted from the internet and lost all that I had written. So, instead of re-stating some of what Ryan said I'll be short about my day. I had a great time with Leyla, the girl we rode the bus to the beach with yesterday. After playing some keep away soccer at the sports complex, she and I rode the bus back together on the way to dinner. She told me she wanted to be a psychologist and translater when she grows up. She is 13 and almost fluent in English and I helped her study for her English test tomorrow. She is doing a good job of helping me with my spanish as well! When we got to dinner Cat and I ate with Leyla and her sisters. She saw Cat drawing in her sketchbook and asked to draw. I left for a bit and when I came back she clearly tried to hide what she was drawing. After she was finished she returned the book to me because Cat wasn't nearby. I had to take a peak, and when I did I saw that she had drawn and colored a heart with my name in the middle! I think she has a crush on me! I took a picture and will probably post it tomorrow or Tuesday. I think I am going to get her some earings from the market tomorrow!
Also, I talked to Maria Jose (the orphanage director at El Canyon) about my friend Angel (who is now 6) that I have seen every year I've come. He and I had a great bond but he has been taken back by his mother. Some orphans are dropped off by their parents at a young age because they are unable to care for them due to their extreme poverty. A new law in Nicaragua is trying to return these "orphans" to their parents. Apparently he and his brothers are now living in a small house made from recycled plastics in a shanti-town about 30 minutes away. Maria Jose said that when he left the orphanage with his mother he was so happy, but when the pastor went to visit the family last week Angel hid and was ashamed because he was so dirty and the house was in such shambles. It really breaks my heart because Angel is so smart and has such an incredible personality. It makes you wonder if this new law is doing any good. Angel had 3 meals a day, an education and a promising future ahead of him at El Canyon, but was lacking the intimacy of a family. Now, he has the family, but does not have the essentials to allow for him to be successful in life. Tomorrow we are going to get his family rice and beans at the market and I plan to get him some toys as well. I really miss him and hate to think of him being ashamed and sad of his new life with his mother and 3 brothers.
That's all for now. Tomorrow we are painting some stuff at the orphanage and going to the market! Ryan dave and I are planning on running around 745 am before breakfast, but we'll see how that turns out!
AT
Alex - Well I just wrote for about 20 minutes and got booted from the internet and lost all that I had written. So, instead of re-stating some of what Ryan said I'll be short about my day. I had a great time with Leyla, the girl we rode the bus to the beach with yesterday. After playing some keep away soccer at the sports complex, she and I rode the bus back together on the way to dinner. She told me she wanted to be a psychologist and translater when she grows up. She is 13 and almost fluent in English and I helped her study for her English test tomorrow. She is doing a good job of helping me with my spanish as well! When we got to dinner Cat and I ate with Leyla and her sisters. She saw Cat drawing in her sketchbook and asked to draw. I left for a bit and when I came back she clearly tried to hide what she was drawing. After she was finished she returned the book to me because Cat wasn't nearby. I had to take a peak, and when I did I saw that she had drawn and colored a heart with my name in the middle! I think she has a crush on me! I took a picture and will probably post it tomorrow or Tuesday. I think I am going to get her some earings from the market tomorrow!
Also, I talked to Maria Jose (the orphanage director at El Canyon) about my friend Angel (who is now 6) that I have seen every year I've come. He and I had a great bond but he has been taken back by his mother. Some orphans are dropped off by their parents at a young age because they are unable to care for them due to their extreme poverty. A new law in Nicaragua is trying to return these "orphans" to their parents. Apparently he and his brothers are now living in a small house made from recycled plastics in a shanti-town about 30 minutes away. Maria Jose said that when he left the orphanage with his mother he was so happy, but when the pastor went to visit the family last week Angel hid and was ashamed because he was so dirty and the house was in such shambles. It really breaks my heart because Angel is so smart and has such an incredible personality. It makes you wonder if this new law is doing any good. Angel had 3 meals a day, an education and a promising future ahead of him at El Canyon, but was lacking the intimacy of a family. Now, he has the family, but does not have the essentials to allow for him to be successful in life. Tomorrow we are going to get his family rice and beans at the market and I plan to get him some toys as well. I really miss him and hate to think of him being ashamed and sad of his new life with his mother and 3 brothers.
That's all for now. Tomorrow we are painting some stuff at the orphanage and going to the market! Ryan dave and I are planning on running around 745 am before breakfast, but we'll see how that turns out!
AT
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Dia De Dos (day 2)
Gus Wilding here...Today was a great day. First off, we hit the dining hall for some breakfast circa de 8:30. Afterwards, we packed in the bus and headed to the beach for the day. Who knew a tennis ball could provide so much fun? I hung out with senor David and dos Marcus para dias. We had a great lunch, and then headed back to the ocean. Tonight, we got some ice cream after dinner. Vanilla milkshake was where its at. Anyways, it's around 2AM and we got a few more fellas trying to get a post in. Until then, - RW Gus
Alex here! Today was awesome. We went to the beach, which was located on the Pacific coast ... the waves were big and the kids were loving it. We had hot dogs on sub rolls for lunch (they like to keep it somewhat American!) Afterwards we went to the market and got some rum (one of the top rated in the world) and had a nice "porch time." Tonight our speaker talked about how we should take advantage of the fact that we enjoy giving more than we enjoy taking. We are supposed to share the love with these kids and hold nothing back. Eddie is the man. I heard him speak last year and his points apply to life. I found out that we are going to the market on Tuesday and will be buying gifts for our families but also we will be buying food for Angel and his family! We should see Angel in a few days and I'm excited. More details tomorrow!
AT GUS
Little orphan girl
Took a leap onto my lap
And into my heart
great day at the beach. a little burnt but completly worth it. can't get enough of the kid's smiles and can't wait for tomorrow. loving the trip so far. - luca gus
Well what can I say? Today was just incredible in every which way. I mean we went to the beach, made some new friends and simply had a great time. The weather is beautiful, kids are eternally happy and our group is a great group of people. Hopefully we're really making a difference here. I'll talk to you tomorrow. Love.....
DH Gus
Alex here! Today was awesome. We went to the beach, which was located on the Pacific coast ... the waves were big and the kids were loving it. We had hot dogs on sub rolls for lunch (they like to keep it somewhat American!) Afterwards we went to the market and got some rum (one of the top rated in the world) and had a nice "porch time." Tonight our speaker talked about how we should take advantage of the fact that we enjoy giving more than we enjoy taking. We are supposed to share the love with these kids and hold nothing back. Eddie is the man. I heard him speak last year and his points apply to life. I found out that we are going to the market on Tuesday and will be buying gifts for our families but also we will be buying food for Angel and his family! We should see Angel in a few days and I'm excited. More details tomorrow!
AT GUS
Little orphan girl
Took a leap onto my lap
And into my heart
great day at the beach. a little burnt but completly worth it. can't get enough of the kid's smiles and can't wait for tomorrow. loving the trip so far. - luca gus
Well what can I say? Today was just incredible in every which way. I mean we went to the beach, made some new friends and simply had a great time. The weather is beautiful, kids are eternally happy and our group is a great group of people. Hopefully we're really making a difference here. I'll talk to you tomorrow. Love.....
DH Gus
Guest Post
Tonight was indeed a very good night. Everyone else started off at the ice cream shop while we converted to the supermarket. We began with el flor de cana and got a few coca lights. Alex got ripped off with pretzals for 14 dollars. We continued on our way to Casa Bernabe. Next we heard Eddie talk about the full cup of water on the table while we knew we werent ever gunna be talking about a fable. We enjoyed our glorious night i believe friday we are getting back on our flight!!!
J.J. Sammy
J.J. Sammy
Friday, March 5, 2010
Day 1 Wrap-up: Meeting the Ninos
Nicaragua sun
Putting a smile on my face
Just like those great kids
Getting off the plane and feeling the warmth of the sun was all the recharging I needed. Driving through the city the bright colors reawakened my senses that were shut off during the winter. After a quick jump in the pool we were off to meet the orphans for the first time. Nerves were setting in and I was afraid I wouldn't be able to connect with kids who have a life so different then mine. That feeling disappeared as soon as I saw their bright faces. Kids are kids regardless of where they're from. It's comforting to know that deep cultural divides came be overcome by a tennis ball and some playground games. Hope I don't get burn on the beach tomorrow. - Luca Gus
Whose tired? Not me...still going strong. That's a lie. I'm pretty spent. Didn't get too much shuteye last night on the plane but it's all good. All that matters is that we made it to Managua and I didn't even have to use my parachute. Today was awesome though, walked out of the airport and saw palm trees everywhere. Blue skies and it was about 85 degrees....picture perfect. We cruised through the streets down to our little village called Hotel Ticomo. It's a lot nicer than I expected. We hit up the pool, then had some lunch at the dining hall, which was really good. Afterwards, we hopped back in the bus and headed to the orphange where we met all the little ninos and ninas. The kids were so happy that we were there. I pretty much just played baseball, soccer, and football with them for a good three hours. Tomorrow we are going to the beach with all of them, so I'm pumped for that. I'm going to bring my camera and take some good snapshots and try to get them up here sometime. Hopefully there's some good waves....I need a good wave sesh. Catch you on the flip. -RW Gus
So as you know we're here. I think I got a total of 3 hours of sleep last night max. It's only 9 15 but I'm really hitting a wall right now. Enough complaining though because today was really pretty cool. Getting off the plane and feeling the heat was exactly what I needed. Our "5 star" hotel is actually really sweet. By no means is this place 5 stars by U.S. standards, but it really is a great place that's got a pool, mini bball hoop and even a crazy acting parrot! After settling in we headed to the orphanage. Our time at the orphanage was definitely a bit difficult to make connections at the beginning. The langauge barrier made it tough but by 20 minutes in we were all playing soccer, football, bball or just hanging out. Tomorrow it's off to the beach with the kids and should be a great time. We'll keep you updated.
-DH gus
Today was pretty good overall --- I was pretty sad to hear that Angel was back with his mom, but living in terrible conditions in what is essentially a slum village. It makes you question --- is he better off without a family and living in good conditions at the orphanage or with his family and living in extreme poverty with little hope of a future? It was fun to see some of the older kids that I have gotten to know over the years though. Jordan is 17, Hairo is 15 and Franklin is now 8. I brought some tennis balls along and we basically threw them around for a few hours and the kids had a blast. Tomorrow we are hitting the Pacific coast for a beach day with the kids from our orphanage (El Canyon) and the main orphanage (Bernabe) that UVA and W&M are working with this week. VaTech is arriving tomorrow morning but won't be joining us at the beach --- they are staying at our "hotel" (which is really a fenced in village of bungalos) so things will get pretty busy tomorrow. That's all for now!
AT
Putting a smile on my face
Just like those great kids
Getting off the plane and feeling the warmth of the sun was all the recharging I needed. Driving through the city the bright colors reawakened my senses that were shut off during the winter. After a quick jump in the pool we were off to meet the orphans for the first time. Nerves were setting in and I was afraid I wouldn't be able to connect with kids who have a life so different then mine. That feeling disappeared as soon as I saw their bright faces. Kids are kids regardless of where they're from. It's comforting to know that deep cultural divides came be overcome by a tennis ball and some playground games. Hope I don't get burn on the beach tomorrow. - Luca Gus
Whose tired? Not me...still going strong. That's a lie. I'm pretty spent. Didn't get too much shuteye last night on the plane but it's all good. All that matters is that we made it to Managua and I didn't even have to use my parachute. Today was awesome though, walked out of the airport and saw palm trees everywhere. Blue skies and it was about 85 degrees....picture perfect. We cruised through the streets down to our little village called Hotel Ticomo. It's a lot nicer than I expected. We hit up the pool, then had some lunch at the dining hall, which was really good. Afterwards, we hopped back in the bus and headed to the orphange where we met all the little ninos and ninas. The kids were so happy that we were there. I pretty much just played baseball, soccer, and football with them for a good three hours. Tomorrow we are going to the beach with all of them, so I'm pumped for that. I'm going to bring my camera and take some good snapshots and try to get them up here sometime. Hopefully there's some good waves....I need a good wave sesh. Catch you on the flip. -RW Gus
So as you know we're here. I think I got a total of 3 hours of sleep last night max. It's only 9 15 but I'm really hitting a wall right now. Enough complaining though because today was really pretty cool. Getting off the plane and feeling the heat was exactly what I needed. Our "5 star" hotel is actually really sweet. By no means is this place 5 stars by U.S. standards, but it really is a great place that's got a pool, mini bball hoop and even a crazy acting parrot! After settling in we headed to the orphanage. Our time at the orphanage was definitely a bit difficult to make connections at the beginning. The langauge barrier made it tough but by 20 minutes in we were all playing soccer, football, bball or just hanging out. Tomorrow it's off to the beach with the kids and should be a great time. We'll keep you updated.
-DH gus
Today was pretty good overall --- I was pretty sad to hear that Angel was back with his mom, but living in terrible conditions in what is essentially a slum village. It makes you question --- is he better off without a family and living in good conditions at the orphanage or with his family and living in extreme poverty with little hope of a future? It was fun to see some of the older kids that I have gotten to know over the years though. Jordan is 17, Hairo is 15 and Franklin is now 8. I brought some tennis balls along and we basically threw them around for a few hours and the kids had a blast. Tomorrow we are hitting the Pacific coast for a beach day with the kids from our orphanage (El Canyon) and the main orphanage (Bernabe) that UVA and W&M are working with this week. VaTech is arriving tomorrow morning but won't be joining us at the beach --- they are staying at our "hotel" (which is really a fenced in village of bungalos) so things will get pretty busy tomorrow. That's all for now!
AT
First Post from Nicaragua!
Well, we finally landed in Managua after one of the longest nights ever. We arrived at our hotel around 11 am CT, ate lunch at 12 and then headed over to the El Canyon orphanage to see all the kids we will be with this week. Some of these kids are getting big, compared to when I first met them 4 years ago. I was sad to hear that my favorite kid, Angel was taken back by his mother. Nicaragua passed a law recently that kids cannot be in orphanages if they have parents (which makes sense, but many of the kids in orphanages are placed there by their parents who are unable to afford their care). Angel and his two brothers were taken to live with their mother, who I was told lives in a very impoverished area, but is a sweet lady and will ensure that he is taken care of. We may get a chance to visit them this week. Apparently our guest speaker tonight, the El Canyon orphanage director is going to talk about ways we can help Angel and his family move forward and out of poverty (they currently live in a house made of plastic).
That's all for now --- the other guys will probably check in tonight after dinner and discussions.
AT
That's all for now --- the other guys will probably check in tonight after dinner and discussions.
AT
PRE TRIP POST
RW Gus here. It's about 12:20 AM Friday morning. First blog of the trip right here. We're heading to the airport in about 25. Flight's around 4AM or so. We're pumped. First time out of the US for me. We're flying on an airline called TACO so hopefully we make it there in one piece. Time for me to practice up on my Spanish on the flight...solomente pequito espanol para me. Be on the lookout for some posts. Adios amigos. -RW GUS
Very excited
To go to Nicaragua
And hang with orphans
Not looking foward to trying to sleep on the the plane, but hey, this trip is supposed to be a sacrifice of sorts. Moral is high but my suntan is low. Hoping that changes soon. - Luca Gus
Well should probably take those malaria pills. I heard that they make you more vulnerable to the sun....hmmm what to do.... malaria or sun burn. Yah I'll go take the pills. Gonna be a long night, we're going to arrive in Nicaragua around 8 a.m. Heard it's about 90 degrees down there, about a 50 degree difference from here, unreal. No sleep for this gus tonight, too much excitement.
-DH gus
I guess I'm the last to go. It's my 5th time on this trip so I'm a veteran compared to these rookies. I don't need any malaria pills and will welcome the suntan that 96 degrees and cloudless skies bring. Having flown TACO airlines (it's really TACA haha) numerous times I think we are going to be okay. We might even get some peanuts on the way down! We depart Dulles at 4 am and will arive in El Salvador around 7:30 ET (Nicaragua is central time so it'll be 6:30 am). We have a short layover before hopping down from San Salvador to Managua, where we should get in around 8:30 or 9 am CT. Looking forward to posting throughout the week!
-A.T. Gus
We will also be posting pictures if we can figure out how to!
Very excited
To go to Nicaragua
And hang with orphans
Not looking foward to trying to sleep on the the plane, but hey, this trip is supposed to be a sacrifice of sorts. Moral is high but my suntan is low. Hoping that changes soon. - Luca Gus
Well should probably take those malaria pills. I heard that they make you more vulnerable to the sun....hmmm what to do.... malaria or sun burn. Yah I'll go take the pills. Gonna be a long night, we're going to arrive in Nicaragua around 8 a.m. Heard it's about 90 degrees down there, about a 50 degree difference from here, unreal. No sleep for this gus tonight, too much excitement.
-DH gus
I guess I'm the last to go. It's my 5th time on this trip so I'm a veteran compared to these rookies. I don't need any malaria pills and will welcome the suntan that 96 degrees and cloudless skies bring. Having flown TACO airlines (it's really TACA haha) numerous times I think we are going to be okay. We might even get some peanuts on the way down! We depart Dulles at 4 am and will arive in El Salvador around 7:30 ET (Nicaragua is central time so it'll be 6:30 am). We have a short layover before hopping down from San Salvador to Managua, where we should get in around 8:30 or 9 am CT. Looking forward to posting throughout the week!
-A.T. Gus
We will also be posting pictures if we can figure out how to!
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