“The past actually happened. History is what someone took the time to write down,” by A Whitney Brown. This was the quote we started the day with and surprisingly the students were up at the crack of dawn ready to go for their first day in Esteli. After breakfast and a discussion about the history of Nicaragua and its relationship with the United States, we went out to explore the city of Esteli. We saw the main cathedral in town and many murals that displayed the Revolution, an important event in Nicaragua’s history.

DSC04197

Students learned about Nicaraguan currency (the Cordoba)  and how to purchase fruit at a local stand. After lunch, we walked to the Esteli museum. One of the main structures in the museum was ancient rocks with the symbol of Esteli painted on it. You can see it on one of the pictures below on the roof of the museum. We had a showdown outside of the museum in the plaza where Denis and Melida (our Nicaragua coordinators) quizzed the students over questions about Esteli history from the day. It was quite a competition as New York high school students are extremely competitive. Denis and Melida surprised the students post-showdown with a trip the local ice-cream shop. Then we headed back to the hostel for dinner, our first nightly meeting which was very community oriented, and a reflection by candle-light.

DSC04232 DSC04242