My name is Natalia Sinsel and i was today’s Lider del Dia for the M2A group. We did many things today all stemming from the theme of education. We began the day by waking up at 5:30 in the morning!!!!! After waking up we went down to breakfast at 6:10 a.m so that we would all be ready for school. We ate a breakfast of toast, eggs,and refried beans,with tea  and it was all delicious. after breakfast we walked down to the cathedral where we split into two groups, one group would go to the private catholic school, and the other group would go to the public school.

The first picture is from the front of the school, it shows the emblem of the school and all of the students standing, looking over a balcony onto a cement court. you cant see the cement court but what’s happening down there is actually really important. Everyday before school the band and dance team have a practice on the basketball court where all of the students gather around to watch and enjoy the performance. it was especially exciting for me because I felt that coming and seeing the tradition and being able to stand with the rest of the students really showed me how important it is to them. Even Denis was reminiscing of the time that he spent at the school and was extremely excited to show it to us.

The next picture is from the group of glimpsers that went to the public school.(sorry we don’t have the other school, the one with the camera came to the public school with us.) you can see the happiness that we all had from the school day, the only sadness we would show is the sadness of having to leave! we all bonded so much with the students and got to really experience the way the the school functions. we got an inside look at the life of a kid in Matagalpa, not just the ones that we see on the street. we all had many opportunities to practice our Spanish speaking in a reality situation although most of our partners spoke some English. many of us have decided that we are going to go back to visit he schools on our free days because we enjoyed it so much.

The last picture shows a picture of a girl named Yulina. Yulina is 19 years old and promotes the importance of special education in Nicaragua . Those who needed special education used to be considered cursed and so they were often hidden and looked down upon. It is still very hard for families with disabled members to live and go out in public because there is still some of that tradition lingering. Yulina encourages families to come and participate,  in the organization that she works with, Familias Especiales, so that the member can be educated and given the best help they can get in an environment where people both know what the are doing but they actually care about them. she was very nice and everyone, although tired, was very happy to see her and happy that she came to share something with us so close to her heart.

Overall today was an amazing day for all of us and we are tired but happy to be here and we are going to sleep so that we can rest up for the next adventure:) we love and miss you all reading this blog, please leave comments to let us know you are reading this we enjoy hearing from you. Goodnight.