The day for us Glimpsers began bright and early at 4 am. I enthusiastically woke everyone one up by belting “Do you want to build a snowmaaaannn!?” Once we were all up and ready to go, we all loaded up on the bus and headed to a unique college for Nica youth that specializes in agriculture called La Bastilla. La Bastilla is located in a Nicaraguan rainforest and teaches Nica youth valuable agricultural skills that they can take away and apply to their own lives as they pursue a career in agriculture.
The 14 of us spit into two groups, group 1 was able to visit the baby chicks, milk cows, and collect hundreds of eggs from chicken coops; others got to make cheese and clean the cow stables! Personally, I was in group 2 (along with Tristan and Amanda), and we were taken a little higher into the mountains and had the options of working in the veggie garden, mucking the pig stables while playing with piglets, or working in the bakery! We chose to visit the vegetable garden first, and we were able to water baby tomato plants, fertilize the carrot garden, and extract weeds from the strawberry patch. We didn’t have a translator with us, so we relied on each other and mostly Tristan’s English-Spanish dictionary to help us work our way through conversations with our guide- who claimed to speak no English (we later found out he totally understands English). We then switched and headed back down the mountain to collect eggs from the chicken coops. I have a fear of chickens, so being surrounded by hundreds of them mos def put my courage to the test! After collecting eggs and cleaning them, Tristian, Amanda, Oscar, Sam, Cynthia and I hiked all the way up a steep mountain to meet up with the others for lunch. During lunch, we were able to speak with some of the students of La Bastilla and have conversations with them while eating the delicious food they prepared.
After lunch we were able to hike up another incredibly steep mountain, to the hotel that the college runs. While we were up there, we were able to see the entire rainforest and the coffee fields. The view was absolutely breathtakingly beautiful; it felt as if we were on another planet. After taking a couple of pictures, we hiked back down, and headed back to the hostel for some dinner and English tutoring!
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- Samhita and Amber help a student, as Sam continues a lesson.
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- Teachers and student collaborate.
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- Leo does what he does best: care for each kid.
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- This student runs to class, everyday.
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- Teach it, Sam!
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- Work it out, Samhita and Sam!
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- Sam loves when students catch on.
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- Samhita responds to a student’s comment.
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- Teamwork!
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- Amber does The Runnin’ Man to demonstrate “dance”.
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- Leo’s specialty is providing individual attention to each student.
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- Sam helps students with board work.
Today, our little family got a little glimpse into the lives of the locals here in Nicaragua, which reminded us how extremely lucky we are to be able to come home to a beautiful, easy going home and life.
We miss all of you, we’ll be home soon!
Hi bae aka Matt! Hi mommy and daddy and mother goose! Ily!
Hahaha thanks for the s/o. Glad to hear you’re having fun and staying busy, Zoe and I miss you tons. Stay safe!
Wow! The rainforest is breathtaking, I hope you guys are really taking in all the fresh air and beautiful scenery. I see you all were woken up before sunrise by “el lidre de dia” and her beautiful shower voice…still singing that frozen song! Don’t worry I’ll get her back ). Pix are awesome,keep em’ coming. Mom n Daddy miss You Lots & Counting down the days. Nonny ,brother & Tango miss u 2.
Trudy& Ed
Beautifully written and very detailed, following the blogs of you Glimpsers is incredible and insightful. Even though there are nearly 2500 miles of land and water that currently separate us, it’s as if we are right there with you! I can only imagine the breathtaking scenery of the steep mountains you and your team had to conquer, and what the Nica have to endure daily. The thought of teaching the youth Agricultural Skills is amazing, something definitely beneficial to both the individual and the Earth. Being able to learn how to maintain, provide and sustain the resources of our environment is invaluable. To Terez and all the other brave members of Team Jinotega, I am so happy you all are having quite the experience traveling across the world to challenge yourself with learning, helping and guiding others. This experience will live with you for the rest of your lives, enjoy! I love you TEREZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!!!!!
Miss you,
Norell aka BubbleGuts
Hello from esteli! Looks like you guys are having the time of your lives. Hope you guys enjoy your time. Sam, I miss you muchooooooooo. I love you lots ❤️
Wow, how beautiful! Looks like you had some rain. Great post and fun photos! Thank you for sharing. Happy Birthday to my favorite boy Tristan! xoxo
Love the tons of extra pics! Thank you!
Wow Sissy! Sounds like you are having an amazing adventure.. Something that you will always have the opportunity to reflect on in the future and say.. I did that. I can imagine your face and your squeal with all them chickens LOL. You can’t tell me you had a harder time with them then you did cleaning up after Wilbur. Though we’ve been following the blog posts I can’t wait to hear all about it when you get home.. you have a week left, enjoy each day to the fullest. Leave a little California with the people of Nicaragua and also take a little bit of them home with you.. Love you baby.. Team Dumdumaya
Hi Terez!
I love your writing style and hearing your voice come thru while getting to find out how your adventure is progressing! The pictures are amazing and it’s wonderful to get a glimpse of you glimpsers!
We are all so proud of you, and can’t wait for you to come home 🙂 3 weeks never seemed so long before this trip!
This experience is one of a kind and will shape your character and outlook for years to come; we all miss you and love you.
Danielle & Jeff <3
Hi Ayu,
I am so happy that you are having so much fun too and getting such a unique experience. I have been busy and was not able to get interenet all the time but Today i read all your teams blogs. we all are missing you here.I am sure weather there is much better then here in India.Have lots of fun but be safe, take care . see.