Today we woke up early with the purpose of modeling the life of a local, here in Nicaragua . We started by waking up early to get a very simple meal of “Gallo pinto”, accompanied by a glass of water, which Is what the locals have for most of their meals every day. We had the same meal two times a day and were able to share a more complex lunch with the families we were placed with. We were each place in humbled multigenerational  family homes, each glimpser had a different task to take on today, they were from cleaning the rooms to picking weeds or simply just playing with the kids.

Lily, Alex, Matti, and Ricky with Maria, her siblings and neighbors

Marshall, Annie, and Amina with Don David and Family

Mar, Anna, Paola, & Chris with their two families

Kristie & Becky with Doña Jacqueline and family

Brianna & Anna with Doña Berta and her pig ‘Osa’

Jenny and Skye with Doña Ivania & Family

Mimi, Kayla, & Jack with Maria Auxiliadora & Family

My name is Paola and I was leader of the day with Ricky, and personally I was very nervous about going into a strangers home today. The outcome was completely unexpected, the family that I was placed in was extremely welcoming and sweet. They all welcomed me and created a safe environment for everyone to play, grow, ask questions and learn about living in Granada. From the bottom of my heart, I could not be more grateful to have met these generous people and gotten the opportunity to play with all the young and free spirited children. I will never forget the children smile, full of light and joy, created from a simple game of jump rope.

I am Ricky and today I just spent time with the kids playing games such as hide-n-seek as well as soccer, to see theses kids playing with the most energy I’ve ever seen from kids younger than 10 years old is amazing, they never took a second to stop to catch their breaths, it was just go, go,go. today was a day full of impact for each and every one of us, these families were so nice to let us into their homes and just think how  living so simple could be so peaceful.