Hello friends and family! It’s only the end of the second day, but we’ve already become a family. Your kids are intelligent, compassionate, and kind. It’s been amazing getting to know each and every one of them and I cannot wait to see how the rest of the trip unfolds. We had a full itinerary planned, and loved every second of it. As the first el lider del dia, I was in charge of waking the students up, but most were already up at 5am. We are all getting adjusted to the heat. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner were all served at Deja-Vu, a restaurant right across the street from Hostel Imperial. After desayuno, we took the ruta, or chicken bus, to the cultural school in Sutiaba were we learned about sawdust carpets, a tradition specific to Leon. Check out the photos below! We had an amazing time creating this art, and after all our hard work, we stepped on the sawdust – just as tradition calls.

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After almuerzo, a history seminar took place that helped to set the stage for the city tour we took. Nicaragua has some amazing architecture! We visited the Cathedral de Leon, which took 130 years to complete and honors many significant Nicaraguan figures.  We were able to go on the rooftop of the cathedral and view the 12 volcanoes surrounding Nicaragua. After visiting a few more murals in the city of Leon, we enjoyed cena and our amazing GG coordinators treated us all to some much deserved ice cream. Reflecting on the day’s activities, everyone had great comments and observations from the tour – they are really immersing themselves into the culture wholeheartedly. Tomorrow’s el lider del dia is Nicole, who will kick off the beginning of the student’s writing the posts! Whew. Takes the pressure off of me. Anywho, the students are now enjoying some free time by dancing, playing card games, and writing about today’s events in their journals.

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Until tomorrow!

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