Hello parents, teachers, friends!
Today was such a great day. The group of glimpsers were so ready to get to know the city once they had a great night to sleep and rest from the long day we had yesterday.
Today, the group divided in two for the city tour. Our Site Manager, Margarita and Program Coordinator, Heysell, took us around town, showed us the church, the murals the park and told us how much of an impact the Sandinista Revolution had in the lives of the Estilianos. Esteli has been famous for the murals that you can find in almost every other block in the city. All of them, reminding of the past and sending messages of identity.
After an amazingly tasty lunch we were treated nicaraguan snack “chocobananos”, tasty chocolate covered bananas that were greatly appreciated 🙂 Also, we got to have our money exchanged into cordobas (very exciting!) After playing mafia and bonding with our peers it was time for our fieldtrip to Casa de la Cultura. We had the opportunity to meet Julio and his family. They are part of the group of muralists who teach painting to the community and who have painted many of the murals in town. It was such a nice experience to get to know him, his work and understand the history of Nicaragua through his story. After asking him lots of questions, it was time for us to paint our first impressions of Nicaragua. There were some really cool results!
Finally, we came back to a delicious dinner, had our nightly meeting, self reflection and now, while I write the blog, a group is having a Mafia session in the other room.
It is very nice to see the group bonding and having such deep discussions about our experience in the trip already. It is just day 2. Tomorrow, it will be culture day, and we will get to know more about nicaraguan culture through the locals.
Please keep sending your messages to the students, as they will be able to get them at the nightly meeting!
Dear Angela,
Looks like you are having awesome time. Andy had his Graduation today. Your green cap came, it’s good.
Don’t forget to write in your Journal.
Take care of yourself.
Love you!
Mom, Dad, Bro
So nice to see the learning experience that the students are getting out of this trip. History is so important to them learning about the environment they are now staying in. Hope they learned a lot. Can’t wait to see the posts tomorrow regarding the cultural experiences that they have. Samantha we miss you lots but know through these blogs that you are in good hands. Have fun and make memories. We love you.
WOW! It seems that you guys are having so much fun in Esteli! Kevin and Vi actually went to Esteli last summer, and we are so excited to see you kids experience this beautiful city of murals. There is so much more you guys haven’t seen, but remember to make the most out of your trip and remember to keep having fun! Don’t worry, we will continue to follow your trip through the blogs. 🙂
Kudos to Brianna, Janelle and Mr. Salgado for representing AHill! (Sorry if we missed someone 🙁 )
Your lovely Andrew Hill Ambassadors,
Kevin, Vi, and Natalie
PS. Slightly jealous that you guys had “chocobananos” because we didn’t have that. 😛
Dear Gurshi,
Great to see you bonding and having a great time. Make the most of this trip. We miss you.
Dad , mom And Jus
Sounds like a fantastic day! The murals sound wonderful. They are the reason Molly wanted to go to Esteli. She might not tell anyone, but she is quite the artist! I love reading the blog. It makes the trip “real” for those of us still in the bay area.
Rachel (Molly’s Mom)
Hi Jae
We miss you so much! Sounds like your having a wonderful experience. GMA and I went to see Jungle Book. Thinking of you. Have fun, learn lots, make memories and don’t bring home a monkey. Your pets are all doing fine.. We LOVE YOU BEST!
Hola flynn!
?Como estas? Muchas cosas muy interesante en los murales?
Comida bien?
❤️❤️❤️ Mucho amor, Jill
Hello from Palo Alto to E1A and especially to Flynn, Molly and Daniel. Since you are in Esteli, I know you all are in good hands with Ena. Tell her Steve from G1A 2015 says hello! Participate in everything you can, speak up, stay positive, observe your surroundings, and get to know one another.
Mr. Foug
Hey Molly!
Hope you’re having fun and good job making your flight on the right day! Hope you got a chance to eat your fruit since you couldn’t here lol. Hugs and hellos from everyone back home!
Layla
Hi guys! And a special hi to Flynn, molly, Daniel and Ena! Like foug said I know you’re in good hands, and I hope you’re all having fun! 🙂 I knew you guys were going to do super well and I’m excited to see what else is in store for you 🙂 so incredibly excited for you, continue using your three c’s and everything will work out just fine! I feel like neither of you need any of my advice cause you’re all such capable intelligent people but I’m sending you a bunch of love from Palo Alto anyways! #G1Aforever <3 ENA I LOVE YOU and I'm so happy you continued to do the program, I really want to come visit soon! These kids are in such good hands and I hope they're treating you well, but obviously not as well as G1A.
Have fun at culture day!
Rebecca Sunneras Jonsson from paly
Hola Zuleima, se mira que te estas divirtiendo mucho, Te queremos mucho y te extrañamos. Have fun?
Hi Jae! I spy, with my little eye, is that you I see in one of the posted pics? I know you are having a marvelous time with your peers and learning group. Look forward to hearing all about it and seeing your pictures – do you have a nice, old fashioned camera with you?? Love, Shannon and Sam and the rest
Hi Brianna!!
Looks like you are learning a lot of the Nicaraguan culture these past couple of days!! That is so cool!! I bet you enjoyed doing the murals and the “corn” art!! Michelle and I are just getting over our aches and pains from last weekend. We will be getting back on track next week with the running and tae kwon do!! Have fun Bri and enjoy every moment!! Michelle and I miss and love you very much!!!
Hiiiii Darlene!
I am so excited you got to do art. Can’t wait to see your work.
I’m going to love you and I’m going to miss you with alllll of my heart.
Love,
Tia Janeth