We began another one of our busy days here at Granada, Nicaragua at 7:00am. We got ready and went over to El Comedor for our delicious breakfast. This morning we had black beans, tortilla chips, “nachos,” and some sour cream with some very tasty lemonade. When we got back from that meal we had an education seminar. We analyzed quotes from Nelson Mandela of how “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” I really agree with his quote because from all of the past experiences that we have had here in Granada listening to how many of the parents really want the best future for their kids and would wish to see them working in much better jobs than picking up plastics or metals to sell for a living. The best way for them to get out of these lifestyles would be getting a good education and preparing themselves for more opportunities.We also heard statistics of how in the US there is an average of 7,000 students who drop out of high school per day. This was really shocking to many of us because we see how here in Nicaragua the kids try and take advantage of all the education they can obtain. No matter how hard it may seem, many of them take those opportunities because otherwise they would have to be working at the mercado selling beans or rice trying to get money to sustain their family.

After a very enriching seminar we decided to write our draft to those who help us get this opportunity. The donors who make such an experience like these possible. It is just a little bit in return so that we can thank them for getting the chance to come to Granada and experience this. We had to prepare all of our fun dynamic games that we wanted to do with the students who we were going to go visit at Hotel Con Corazon School. We got the chance to visit the school where in the next few days we are going to build a garden for them to contribute a little more to their education. We made up lesson plans for them trying to make them interactive and fun while also helping them learn their ABC’s, numbers, colors, animals and basic English.

To replenish ourselves we went to lunch and had our usual rice, with some meatballs, our favorite plantains “madura” and some refreshing orange juice for the usual hot weather. Once we had all of our materials gathered we saw that Don Pedro (our bus driver) was here waiting for us to take us to the school. It was quite a ride getting into some of the more rural parts of Granada where it seemed like they have a harder time with getting such privileges like education. Yet thanks to Hotel con Corazon they actually have this small school where we are going to be able to contribute even more. When we arrived there the kids seemed excited to see us. We got divided into our groups and went into their classrooms. At first we were having a hard time knowing what exactly to begin with but once we introduced ourselves and started playing games they were participating more and really showed us how good at English they actually were. We tried playing one of our favorite games the Zoo Game but unfortunately it was a little too complicated for them to get the rhythm and keep up with saying the different animal names. After a little bit of learning our basic English we all went out and played soccer with them. They were all so good at it. From the smallest to the oldest they ran chasing the ball under the hot blazing sun making their “field” filled with dirt clouds everywhere. Being with the kids was so fun as we left they really appreciated our short amount of time with them and waved bye at us as our bus head back to the hostel for us to go to dinner.

At dinner we had the typical Nicaraguan dish of Gallo Pinto, fried cheese, ensalada and some good oatmeal drink. With our bellies full we went to our English tutoring class but for older people now and did the lessons we had planned for before. It seems like we have gotten used to our students our  classes environments and we are able to really help out the people with what they want to learn in our English class. It was a really long and very educational day for us and for all of the students that we got to interact with today.