Diane is ready to sell semolina to passing customers.

Diane is ready to sell semolina to passing customers.

Nia and Enya help their vendor sell vegetables.

Nia and Enya help their vendor sell vegetables.

Nicole and Shivani pose with their vendor in appreciation for their experience.

Nicole and Shivani pose with their vendor in appreciation for their experience.

Sunny and Jocelyn enthusiastically call out using different techniques to attract customers.

Sunny and Jocelyn enthusiastically call out using different techniques to attract customers.

Jonathan and his vendor converse in Spanish in a friendly manner.

Jonathan and his vendor converse in Spanish in a friendly manner.

A vendor teaches Aashna how to bag ketchup.

A vendor teaches Aashna how to bag ketchup.

Sherry familiarizes herself with Nicaraguan products.

Sherry familiarizes herself with Nicaraguan products.

We woke up earlier than usual at 5:30 a.m. to try to match the wakeup time of a local working at a market. After a short breakfast at 6:30, the group walked to “La Estacion,” a market that was once a train station before an earthquake. Each pair, which were given the night before, was assigned a vendor to help in selling their products. Groups sold products such as beans, rice, sugar, cheese, vegetables, and even regular household items. Each team used different techniques, such as yelling names or prices in Spanish, holding around food, or even dancing and singing if an item was sold.

At 10:30 a.m., we walked back to the hostel and held a meeting to share our different experiences and understand the relation between the profit and amount of hard work a vendor puts in daily to make a living. Everyone was surprised at the labor and understood how tiring it would be to work from 3:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. almost everyday of the week. We left for a great lunch at Quiero Mas.

Our 2 hour break time after lunch was changed to three hours, so the groups were able to split and either go to the Internet Cafe or the Supermarket. After more than an hour of enjoying ourselves, we were back at the hostel relaxing or playing games. Around 4 p.m., pairs for the English class prepared the lesson for that night. Every group gathered their materials to take to dinner at 5 p.m, since we would be walking to the school right after.

From 6 to 8 p.m, we all had the opportunity to teach English to interested Nicaraguan students of all ages. Most lesson plans were not carried out because of the lack of students and our expectations on how much they actually knew about the language. However, every group worked through their difficulties to teach a successful first class. At 8 p.m, we walked back to the hostel and held the nightly meeting, where we passed on the responsibility for Lider Del Dia.

As the leaders of the day, Aashna and I were able to communicate with each other and fill in for the other as needed. As a group, working as a local was an eye opening experience about jobs in Nicaragua and their hardships.