Hello again!
Hope everyone is doing well back home. It’s Spencer and Chris again, working together on the blog post this time. Everyone here is doing great, aside from a couple of kids suffering from slight maladies.
We finished our CAP projects today, fighting through exhaustion, the heat, and time. Some of the exhaustion stemmed from our painfully early wake-up call at 5:30, which we delivered with significantly less pizzazz than yesterday’s wake-up call was.
After breakfast, we hopped on the bus and drove over to Escuela Salinas Grande, just like we did yesterday. Once there, we unloaded and immediately got to work on our various projects. The weather was sweltering, but still, our sprits remained strong. Each group worked diligently on their assigned tasks, whether it was painting the soccer field (or as the local nicas say, futbol) or planting trees around the campus, or any of the other jobs.
We worked from 8 to 11:45 under the unforgiving Nicaraguan sun, which made any prolonged shifts in unshaded areas impossible. At 11:45, we broke for lunch in the bus, and watched a bit of Air Force One, dubbed in Spanish of course. After lunch came piñata time. We hung a piñata up in a tree, and the school kids spilled its contents in under ten swings.
There was still work to be done after that nice little break, and so we threw ourselves into it with vigor. The tree and soccer field groups were able to wrap up a bit earlier than the others, and immediately set about helping the remaining groups. The last desk was set out to dry at around two, marking the completion of that particular job. All that remained was the mural, and thanks to the combined efforts of all the Glimpsers, that project accelerated towards completion.
The mural was finished entirely at 2:45, and, after some cleanup, we made it on the bus by 3:05, only 5 minutes behind schedule. Once we got to the hostel at around 4, we quickly disembarked and ran straight for the showers to scrub off the paint and dirt we had accumulated from the day.
The next hour was spent showering, grading and preparing for the talent show, and at 5 we had a nice dinner at Deja Vu. Rather than our typical English tutoring class, we instead had a graduation/talent show. Almost everyone on the trip participated in some capacity, and after the show we handed out certificates to our students. A few pictures later, we were done with our experience as English teachers, an experience that everyone enjoyed.
All in all, it was a very busy and productive day, full of work and celebration. Tomorrow we get to slide down a volcano, which should be a nice departure from the tough work of the past couple days.
Adios!
Chris and Spencer
Congrats on all your hard work finishing up successfully. I’m sure both your teaching efforts and CAP efforts have been very much appreciated by all. I hope the “maladies” wont prevent anyone from the volcano fun tomorrow. Spencer – be sure to blow up & step into the bubble I sent you with before you slide down into the lava. 😉 xo mom
❤️!Felicitaciones Por un Trabajo Bien Hecho! !Qué trabajo de equipo imponente y excelente! Congratulations On A Job Well Done! What awesome and excellent team work! XOXOXO to everyone! And the students of the school participated in the “CAP” project also, fantastic! Everything looks so beautiful; so professional! You guys are outstanding! You guys know that we are bragging on you all here, back home; home in the old U.S.A. lol
Disfrute mañana! Enjoy tomorrow!❤️
Congratulations to all of you and all your hard work!! Job well done! The mural looks fantastic! The trees will be greatly appreciated in a few years. It sounds like an exhausting, yet exciting day. And your reward is to slide down a volcano, YEAH! Please be careful. Love you, hugs and kisses!
Wow what an awesome job ! Fantastic teamwork . Love the mural very creative and lots of color. Hope everyone has some much deserved fun at the volcano slides! The mom in me says please be careful … Sounds like the past couple of days have been busy and exhausting but rewarding in the end .
Job well done everyone !!!
Nicole can’t wait until you come home miss and love you. Mom
Wow……. Love love your mural. Great design.this will leave a lasting remembrance of you kids for the school children.whoever designed it did a good job. Are you guys ready to come home a sleep for 36 hours? I am sure your parents will be waiting for you with your fav. Food to welcome you home. Time flies isn’t it? Counting the hours till your touchdown. Kim, been looking for you in the pictures…… Where were you? Miss you a lot. Hugs and kisses, mama.
That is absolutely awesome! Job well done group! I am so very proud of all of you in all that you have accomplished in your time in Leon. I am so very thankful that I have been able to follow you through your days of adventure! I know it will be with mixed emotions that you will be heading home soon. Enjoy the last bit of your trip and the volcano slide today!! Be sure to take a few moments at least to take in all that you have done and seen while there! Know that all of your families will be ecstatic to have you home again, but also extremely proud of the work that you have done while in Leon. I personally can’t wait for all of the stories when you are back. Love you lots Nicole and see you soon!!
What a wonderful description of your day “Capping the CAP”. Wonderful visuals of all your hard work too! The heat sounded brutal. Glad to hear it is completed and I’m sure the kids and staff at Escuelas Salinas Grandes are thrilled with the team’s work. Enjoy your last few days, have a safe trip home, and have fun with the time you have left. Congratulations! Love, Mary.
I have loved reading all of the blogs and about the amazing adventure y’all are having. I’d just like to remind you all that the way you treat people shows what kind of person you are. Treat people the way you would like to be treated and the world will be a better place!
The whole lot of you are making a bunch of parents proud — and grandparents too! It’s been great following both the fun and the hard work. Gramma Roz and I are especially impressed by the good writing that makes these daily reports come alive. And what a terrific way to make new friends both from the US and your host community. We look forward to more great stories after Spencer gets home.
Congratulations , you guys are awesome!!!! What a relief it must be to be done with the project and so rewarding to see your hard work pay off. Great job everyone!! On to the volcanos!! Enjoy and be SAFE Pleeeeezzz
Sorry to hear about the ones who are not feeling well. I hope you all will be better to enjoy the volcano adventure.
Kisses to my Kimmy. Your favorite dinner is on the menu for Sunday (corned beef and cabbage!!)
Congratulations! I just have a few things to say to the entire group and leaders;trabajo fabuloso y me siento orgulloso de todos ustedes! Fabulous job and I’m proud of all of you. Nyla’s grandmother
Wow….. The mural looks amazing…..Good job everyone!!
Time flies when you are having so much fun,enjoy the last bit of your trip
I am very proud of all the hard work you guys have been doing ….. Kudos to all of you!!
Nivedha, I love you loads…See you soon ….
~mom
What an amazing community project…. Congratulations to all of you for a job well done. The mural was beautiful…& the amount of work that you all accomplished in such a short amount of time was impressive. The blogs have done an awesome job describing the details of each adventure from start to finish, and I can’t wait to hear the many stories that you will be bring home with you to share. Tomorrow will be exciting sliding down the volcano …and I have no doubt that you (Ryan) will be capturing it on the go-pro for us all to see…. I love you Ryan and can’t wait to have you home.