Although our scheduled wake up time was 8:15, many of the Glimpsers were up far before then, prickling with excitement for our free day. Breakfast consisted of fried plantains, beans, rice, and quesadillas, with strong, salty Nicaraguan cheese. Under an already beaming sun, we spent an hour writing appreciation letters to all the wonderful Global Glimpse donors who made this amazing experience possible. Around 10:00, the Glimpsers were a mass of buzzing bees, flying from room to room gathering our groups of four. We then fanned out into the colorful streets of Esteli, to shop for the perfect souvenir, hunt for cute clothes, contact loved ones in the internet cafe (or browse Facebook), sip a fresh fruit smoothie, meet or meet up with new Nicaraguan friends, or stock up on snacks. We converged at 1:00 for lunch, then headed out once more. As we approached 4:45, some of us were on the street across from the hostel, buying painted, comically round ceramic piggy and chicken(y) banks, when it started to rain. The cloudy, cool weather coupled with thick droplets of rain served as a wonderful respite from the hot sun. It carried us into a smooth, calm transition to English tutoring. As usual, for an hour and a half, the room was filled with laughing groups of adults and adolescents, and one joyous, scampering group of children lead by Jeonna and Natalia. While only one of six beginner adults showed up in my group, this gave Ishwa and I an opportunity to deeply engage with the student. By the end of the day, she could confidently conjugate a new set of verbs, and string simple sentences together with nouns such as dog, cat, leg, hat, brother, and sister. From much walking and tutoring, most of us gulped down our pasta, beans, rice, meat, vegetables, and juice at dinner. Our nightly meeting was filled with laughter as Brenda completed her designated challenge: to compose (in two minutes), and dramatically recite to the group a soulful love poem. Her poem was based off a solemn, ponytail clad young man in her English tutoring group, who seldom follows instructions, rules, or the lessons.
In all, today was charged with positive energy and strong friendships. We enjoyed our freedom to go out by ourselves, and are looking forward to the new experiences tomorrow will bring.
Hola Natalie! Gracias por escribir el resumen del día! I truly enjoyed your beautifully described day…i can easily follow you and the group throughout the day ! So glad you all had fun during the free day ! That woman you had so much dedication to today, will never forget what she learnt today, good job! Nice pictures to, can’t wait to hear more details about the nuce Nicaraguan friends you all have made..food sounded so good! Enjoy each of your last few moments there! And await to hear more tomorrow! Gracias y hasta mañana!
Sounds like the hard working part of your trip is over and the fun has just began. Hope you guys have fun the last couple of days. To Jasmin: I love you. Have fun be safe. It sucks that there are no pictures of you in this post but im sure you’re showing off your smile as you usually do. Have a fun last couple of days. Be safe! Can’t wait til you get home and I get to see you in person!
What a well deserved break! Sounds like fun-doing some real “touristy” things like buying souvenirs. I am glad that you had a chance to relax and have a good time. I have heard how delicious those smoothies are!
I imagine how nice the rain must have felt for you all! It probably made it easier for you to be outside-the cool rain instead of a hot sun 🙂
I am so happy that you all had a day to recharge yourselves. Can’t wait to hear what tomorrow brings!
P.S. That is a Cute kitten! 🙂
A well deserved free day! Sounds like a very relaxing free day. Thank you, Natalie, for a great description of your day.
What kinds of souvenirs did you buy? They must be all hidden in your luggage now. I know you want to give us surprises when you open them in front of us after you get back home. I can’t wait for that moment : )
English tutoring is going well, especially the day with one student versus 2 tutors. The adult student must have a great learning time. Thank you for being flexible to adjust your tutoring methods under different learning environment.
No rain in bay area recently. Enjoy the raining day and the remaining several more days in Esteli with your 7/29/2015 group.
Stay safe and have fun!
Dear Ishwa,
It was so good to hear your voice today. I am so looking forward to see you home.
Love you
MOM
Hola! Sounds like you guys had a great free day! Tbh my free day back home consists of netlix and food haha but it was really great reading about you guys’s day! With your time almost up in beautiful estali, it must’ve been awesome getting to go around by choice. Ella!! Bring me back a souvenir! And make the most of the last couple days awesome!! Me extrenarte mucho