Hello Everyone!
After I presented the ladies of Mujeres Ambientistas with their gift.
I’m Dori, the leader of the day today. The group started off the morning bright and early with a 6AM wake up call (5AM Cali time). Early mornings normally mean a busy day, but today was pretty laid back. The morning activities included: Breakfast with the notorious “Gallo Pinto” (I can almost hear the groans already, everyone misses food back home), a seminar about aid and development in developing countries which included silly skits, and a walk to the old city dump that was beautifully transformed 19 years ago into a garden and recycled paper plant.
As we entered the beautiful recycling plant (So not what I was expecting it to look like)
During our time at the plant, we learned that it all started almost two decades ago with 7 single mothers looking to improve their community and advocate for the environment. While we were there, we were taught how to make recycled paper and that they add things like bananas, coconuts, coffee, and tobacco to change the color of the paper. Everyone really enjoyed this activity. Plus, they got to shop in the gift shop for one of a kind gifts (Parents: I’d expect some pretty cute souvenirs).
Some of the crafty things we saw today. The women are working on building a house out of plastic bottles. Super cool!
After lunch, we were visited by a lady named Lauryn from the organization, Global Brigades, who is from Arizona and was a PreMed student who came to Nicaragua two years ago and has fallen in love with the culture and has never left (she does plan on moving back to the state though). Global Brigades basically helps college students journey abroad to aid other countries that include: Ghana, Panama, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Many of the students were extremely interested in the organization she worked for and were engaged in every second of the conversation.
After she left, we enjoyed our first hour of free time alone. Some chose to go to the internet cafe while others went to the local supermarket (Like me! I got a fresh pineapple (: Yumm!)
Dinner came and went like normal, and our third English class arrived, and I along with everyone else enjoy interacting with the locals in Esteli, despite the language barrier (I think smiles are the universal language).
It is now 9:30 here and almost bedtime!
Adios! – Dori
P.s I really like writing blogs I think I just may write another!
One of the adorable locals we snapped a picture of today