We had an early start today at 5:30AM because we spent the first half of the day with friendly families in a beautiful community, Lapita, Miraflor.  Each student went with a partner to talk to, work with, and have lunch with a family living there.  My partner Celeste and I carried bags of dirt to the house for their floor, played futbol with some cute kids and cow patties, got some arm strength grinding coffee beans, and enjoyed some delicious food that Teresa, the grandmother, made.  And even though we weren’t exactly allowed to, we both had some amazing coffee (which both of us have hated in the past, but here it was SO GOOD!), tortilllas, and cheese (called guahada) that Teresa made right in front of us!  Some others swept floors, watched the soap operas, and hung out with cutesy toostie pigs.

Some of the challenges from the “Living on $1 a Day” theme were bucket showers (which were actually a little warmer than the normal shower water), no electricity or electronics, and no spending money during free-time.  It was surprising how weird it was to not have our tunes and confusing music videos at meals.

Cool news: now that we’re finally getting used to the crazy and bumpy roller coaster bus rides, some of even got up to sing and dance instead of the usual sleeping and just waiting for it to be over.  Every experience and opportunity has been fun and incredible so far and Esteli is such a wonderful city to be spending this time in!  I’m having such a great time here and am super excited about the next week and a half, but I really miss my me time and especially my mommy time.