Today for Fun Day, we all woke up around 7am. As the leader I got up a bit earlier to make sure everyone else was up and ready for breakfast. After a little bit of a late start to breakfast, everyone got into groups and set off for a day in the city. My group consisted of Hannah, Ana (haha that rhymes!), Janelle, Dorothy, Katherine, Victoria, Bryneth, and Jennifer. All were great people to spend the morning with. We went to La Merced church first. Each paying about $1, we took to the stairs and climbed to the top of the bell tower. The view from there was amazing! We were able to see the entire city, the lake, and a great view of the volcano as well. It was also really nice to feel the cool breeze that flowed through the tower. Definitely after climbing up those steep steps. After taking loads of funny pictures, we all went down and started our hunt for the internet café. Turns out all the other groups had the same idea, so the entire delegation was there that morning. Luckily, a lot of us were able to contact our families and friends from there.
After about an hour at the café, my group and I walked back to La Favorita for lunch. When we got there, however, they were expecting us all to come by at 1pm, not 12pm. So the people who were finished prepping for English tutoring took off for a little bit more of free time. Several of the girls and I went back out again to this Quick Mart store to buy a bunch of snacks to take back to the hostel. Even that short trip to the store was pretty fun. Bryneth and I were dancing in the aisle to one of the songs on the radio. Completely normal. After our mini shopping trip, we went back and had some great food for lunch. Alex and I ended up playing two games of speed. We both won one. We played the tie breaker game later on and I unfortunately lost that one. There was also a thunderstorm that passed through while we were eating. The heavy rain was really cool to look at and the thunder was very loud. I find it amazing how quickly the rain comes and goes here.
Once lunch was finished, we again split off into groups to continue our free day. My group went to the internet café again so some people had the chance to make phone calls. I know for a fact that it got really emotional for some people. After that we went over the the marketplace in the plaza area. The vendors there were selling all types of novelty and artisan items. Several people bought things like bracelets, necklaces, and dream catchers. All sorts of really cool things. I even had a chance to bargain for some items today, although a few people were really set on their prices and wouldn’t lower them at all. It was still really great though. I bought a bunch of little souvenirs for my family and friends. Hopefully they like them. Hopefully they’re even reading this right now.
After a few more hours of free time, we all met back at the tutoring center to get ready for our sessions. Today’s lesson went pretty well for my group. One of our students, Danilo is his name, went up and asked to take a picture of us before class started. One of his caretakers asked him how the classes are going and how his teachers were, so he took a picture of Dorothy, Austin, and I and captioned it either, “I love them,” or “I love it.” I don’t remember exactly which. The rest of the class today went really well. All the students were picking up their vocabulary really quickly and were having fun.
When tutoring was over we all gathered near the front, ready to walk to La Favorita again for dinner. Before we left, however, I started the head count. The twist though was that I had everybody count off their numbers in Spanish. Everyone seemed to like that. After that we headed off for dinner and had Don Carlos’s really great Spaghetti and meat balls. It’s really good here. Different, but good. Once dinner was finished, we started our walk back to the hostel. Oh! On the way back there was a really short blackout while we were in the middle of the street. I started singing “Blackout” from this musical called In the Heights (quick shout out to Sophie for discussing musicals with me throughout the trip). When we got back, we had our nightly meeting. When it was time to pass the torch, Bryneth did an excellent job of singing “I Will Always Love You.” Snaps to her!
All in all today was a really fun day. Hopefully everyone enjoyed it as much as I did. It’s nice to have a day to just relax and act like tourists. “Big love” to my Mom, Dad, Niko, Nancy, Gabe and just all my friends and family back home. I hope you’re all doing okay. I miss you guys so much! See you all in a week 😀
Love the updates. What a full and fun experience. Bryn. Mom sent me your email to me. So fun to hear abt tour experiences especially the bright houses and well fed cats! Love you so much and so proud of you! Feeling a full heart that I get to read abt your experiences every day. Feel like I’m almost there! :-).
Thanks Aija for being the leader and giving us the detail activities of your group today. Reading your post, I can imagine how beautiful the church is. I also can hear the thunderstorm and the rain. (Wish you can send some rain to our Bay area! :-))
I’m so happy today because I can hear my daughter, Dorothy, voice. I felt like I haven’t seen her for years! I guess all moms had the same feelings. There will be 10 more days to go to see you again. I believe you all will be more mature, independent, responsible, and appreciate your family, school, teachers, friends, and whatever you have.
Good night! I miss you all!
Best,
Kim
A free day! Sounds like it was action packed. Sofie, so sad I missed your call. Loved, loved hearing your cheery voice on my voice mail!!
Bryn I saw your Email and had to laugh at the “bright houses” comment as I remember it so well all around the Caribbean. I am really enjoying seeing Nicaragua through your eyes. I am thinking maybe you guys could start including recipes because you keep talking about all your great meals and I get hungry every time I read your blogs. Everyone take care lots of love from the PNW.
Mimi!!!! I loved seeing all 3 of you in your stripe shirts! What a cute picture. It made my heart sing!
Eddie hermosa, que chido que fueron a pasear y disfrutar de la arquitectura, musica y comida. Espero que me compraste algo bonito!???
Que mala onda que no estábamos yo y la Vush para platicar contigo ? por teléfono?
Cuidate mucho…te queremos mucho y estamos muy orgullosas de ti❤ Luli?
We miss you, Aija!
Gwen,hello all..great pictures thank you for sharing…luvu Jamie.