For optimal experience, please listen to this song selected by Tommy while perusing this blog post. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zgz8ybG6l-U
Hello friends, family, Rufus, and cacti. Today we officially began our CAP project: improving the infrastructure of the garden at Escuela Santa Cruz and renovating the outside of one of their classrooms with some snazzy murals. After a mildly early wake up call at 6 am, we had gallo pinto (what a surprise) for breakfast and reenacted Pitch Perfect with a singing competition energizer. Once Ena and squad came back from their shopping excursion with some more building materials, we headed to Escuela Santa Cruz for the first time. The fluent Spanish speakers presented our plans to the leaders of Familias Unidas, Birmania and Luz; a small crowd of excited children (aka our “Unpaid Child Interns”); and two teachers, Victor and Aura. The children aided us in determining optimal shrubbery and helped us sand planks of wood for our planter boxes and compost box (shout out to Nathan for teaching us – Gaëlle and Tommy – about plant things, compost, and sustainability). By the end of the day, the squad had de-weeded and leveled out the garden, built and painted 2 out of 5 planter boxes, and planted some lettuce and peppers. We also cleaned and primed one of the exterior classroom walls and painted the background for one of our planned and approved murals. The schoolchildren got really hyped up when we opened the paint cans to start working, and also worked vigorously in the garden. Amusingly, they were super chill with the bugs and worms (lombrises) while most of us Teenage Americans™ were freaked out by them. During lunch it started pouring (lol classic Nicaragua) but luckily it exposed more beneficial, soil-aerating worms in the garden and made the soil easy to manipulate. After a minor farce, our bus was mildly trapped in mud and had some technical difficulties, we emerged victorious and were on our way back to Hostel Tomabu for a quick wardrobe change before tutoring. Shout out to the hostel staff for insisting on cleaning our muddy shoes for us, you’re the best, thanks so much. We then headed to what we thought would be a normal tutoring session, but unbeknownst to us, the Nicaraguan climate was feeling angsty. With less than fifteen minutes left in the class period, a monsoon struck, or at least it felt that way to us drought-accustomed Californians. The monsoon vibe was only fueled by the din caused by the rain hitting the roof, and even our local English pupils were reluctant to brave the rain for their journeys home. After our roller coaster of a day, we had a relatively chill dinner and headed back to the hostel for the nightly meeting and sleep.
P.S. We read the blog comments every night and it is always very amusing. Please like and comment, and remember to subscribe (joke).
Shout out from Tommy out to Olga, Tom, and Elizabeth, and Rufus. I miss you guys and I can’t wait to be back home to see all of you and eat all my favorite foods (I request mac n cheese when I arrive home from the airport). Also, new rule, no rice and beans for a month.
Maman et Papa: J’espere que vous parlez a mes plantes, que tout le monde se sent bien, et que les choses sont pas trop wild. Si vous voulez manger du bok choy, fait le avant que je rentre stp.
Tommy we miss you too. I thought you would request sushi on your first day back but Mac and cheese it is. Auntie Caroline says hi and she loves you. We all can’t wait to see you and hear all the stories about your trip. Stay dry. I think rain is in the forecast later this week but we know how reliable the weather app is. ?
I hope you are taking a lot of pictures. Love you, mom
I just figured out how to open the post. Did not know there is a video of the song. Brilliant!!! Thanks for the entertainment. Love you Tommy !!
Really enjoyed your recap of the day! What great work you all did. Stay dry and love and hello to Sierra! Dave, Diane and Quinton Ashley.
Finally someone has mentioned the name of your Hostel where you’re staying! Thank you! I’ve been hoping for that! I just searched it on Trip Advisor and it gets great reviews! (All 13) https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g1119888-d6533121-Reviews-Hostal_Tomabu-Esteli_Esteli_Department.html#REVIEWS
Pictures are darling. Yes Katey, I can see that the bed pillows may not be the fluffiest like at home…but such a cute and colorful place! And the showers looked great, cold water aside.
Hey – bet you guys didn’t know that it also apparently has free wireless Internet! 🙂 (A lot of good that will do at the moment, of course.) But you will be happy to know it ranks #2 in “specialty lodges” in Esteli, out of 18, and guests give it 4.5 out of 5 stars. Woo hoo!
Your school yard project sounds fun and certainly the monsoon experience must have been a wild one. Are you doing the mural tomorrow? Hope for dry skies when you begin painting!
Enjoy your final week, and I will hope for sunny days ahead. I also hope everyone is healthy and fighting off the mosquitos and bugs (of all kinds).
Hugs!
Hello to all the rain survivors! Great job with getting the garden started!
It’s always funny how nature “gets in the way”. I had a nursing friend who was over an hour late for the clinic he was teaching at in Tanzania. Ever the on time American, he fretted he was not being responsible to get the clinic on time. When he arrived, the nurses and doctors weren’t upset since his explanation and experience happened all the time in their neck of the woods. like being stuck in the middle of the Bay Bridge. What caused the “traffic jam” that made him late? A tribe of elephants in the middle of the road!! They just hung around for over an hour standing in the only route through the national park that connected him to the clinic.
Perhaps many of you in the future will recall the sound of that heavy rain on the roof just like my friend still muses about the elephant traffic jam. He always smiles when he tells that story.
The making of a garden is your group’s gift to both yourselves and to the students. Well done.
Hi Gaelle & team – We are glad to hear that you got started on your community project and are impressed that your energy level is still up after all the wonderful adventures of these past two weeks (¡and waking up so early!). You are making an impact and having fun while doing it. What could be better? We would love to see pictures of the project and the smiles on the school kids’ faces.
Gaelle – Don’t worry for your cacti, Melissa was put in charge of talking to them every day even if she thinks it’s weird… With Elena away at the YMCA, Melissa is an only child this week. The house is very quiet, almost relaxing, but we miss you so much and can’t wait to have you back and see how much you’ve grown.
Love you, Mom and Dad.
PS: A propos des bestioles, on a reussi a se debarasser des fourmis dans la maison et des poux dans la tete de tes soeurs… Nous sommes aussi tres contents de tes resultats aux AP tests! On a hate de te revoir. Gros bisous aeriens.
So jealous of all the rain – can’t wait for Gia to start painting planter boxes & planting here in Berkeley. Funny how local kids are not bothered by bugs & worms, unlike our urban teens. Great science info about how the worms treat the soil. Imagine a world not stressed by late bus due to rain storm, monsoon, mechanical details – great observation (& great story, Rose). So proud of you guys – see how giving to others leads to receiving good feelings for yourselves – & building good karma.
Bia comes in at midnight tonight. Can you post more pix? Liked the one at beach. Keep up good works!
Tommy – I just now thought to check this because I guess I miss you or whatever. Your song choice, as usual, was on point and served as an excellent accompaniment to this post. If you see this before you return (tomorrow!!!) know that I am very proud of you and I can’t wait to hear all about all of this in even greater detail. I’m glad you could put your APES knowledge to good use so quickly and that you got the chance to paint that mural you were talking about! Enjoy the rain while you can, it’s still a desert over here. I look forward to many stories and pictures when you get back.
~Ruby
p.s. I’m only a LITTLE offended that I didn’t get a shoutout. I’ll get over it.