In the city of Estelí, there was a group of 15 that included two Global Glimpse leaders, and 13 students that were ready to seize the day. Many of you may not have known that we actually do get a break to explore the town. We started off the day with a late wake up call (not really…). Most of us woke up around 6:30 and call was at 8 (I know, what’s wrong with us). As we all came down to the common area we did are usual headcount, of “18” and we headed out to the buffet. We were fed a delicious bell pepper, onion, turkey omlette, with the famous gallo pinto! We all grabbed our drinks and played the mystery game to figure what fruit we were drinking today.
After breakfast we all came back to the Hostel and decided what we were doing on our dia libre 😉 We first went to the Artesania sorpresa, and observed the different crafts Estelí had to offer. Next, we went to see the bomberos that stole our hearts…Well not all our hearts. Most of us stayed with the bomberos (fire fighters) and then the rest went to give there loved ones an early call. We later then met up at the Recreational center for a game of soccer. Most of us noticed that you can’t play soccer with just five players. We ditched the center for a while to see if any kids out of school wanted to play. We found a group of five young men that were done with school for the day. Seeing two different worlds combine was pretty miraculous.
We then went down the main street and we discovered an amazing smoothie shop that got our taste buds running wild. From then on we came back to our hostel to sign in and head out to lunch. Most of us were pretty full from our smoothies so we showed up to lunch with a full stomach, so lunch was cut pretty short. We headed back out to call those we love and check up on our fans on social media 😉 We then went to stash up our rooms with goodies i.e. JUNK FOOD <3 We headed back to the hostel shortly after to get started on our lessons for our english tutoring session.
After getting our work together we were off to fill the heads of our students that long to learn more english. The motivation our students have is a beautiful thing. After our session we were off to dinner as the tables flooded and and mouths were filled and stomachs were stuffed, we headed home to our nightly meeting. Our meeting was filled with thorns, roses, and laughter. Now I’m here, writing this blog, hearing the contagious laughs of my family up on the terrace (it’s an everyday thing). Well I’m going to go catch up with them now! 🙂 Thank you for reading! We enjoy your comments, those tend to be the highlight of our night! Toon in tomorrow for our next leader! Thanks again 🙂
Goodnight, Sweet Dreams,
Amanda Avalos 🙂 <3
Sounds like a nice relaxing day. Alex, thank you so much for calling – have to say it caught me by surprise but definitely made my day! Dad was excited to hear that you called too. I hope you were feeling well enough to play futbol, a little worried since you didn’t mention it. We miss you a lot (heck, I have to put out the garbage tonight :)- seriously – miss you a bunch but totally worth it knowing you are getting this experience!
Hope you all continue to have a great time!
Tasha Laubly-Diaz (Alex’s mom)
Hola Amanda! Thanks for writing this blog it sounds like you guys had a busy free day. Umm.. I’m quite curious about the whole bomberos stealing your hearts part. Sounds interesting if ya know what I mean haha. It sounds so much fun that you guys got to play soccer with some of the locals! i hope your English class is only getting more fun which I’m sure it is! Hey Ella, Stacy here now ! Make sure y’all check out the cute bracelets near the main park, the bakery & ice cream place near the hostel! Tell Fran & Humberto I said hello & they need to post pictures from my trip ASAP ! Hope y’all are having fun . Ella , why did we take French again ???????
A great day to start by getting up at 8 and eating a buffet for breakfast! Eric, did you get to play soccer too? I know you love to play badminton, do you miss that? The English tutoring must be a rewarding experience as you got to use two languages. I bet your Spanish will improve a lot after this wonderful trip. Call home or email us when you get a chance. We all miss you so much.
Hey Alex!! Do they have boba there???? Hahahahaha!! If they don’t we can get some when you get back! Hope you’re surviving without it, ya nerd 🙂
Dear Amanda thank you for the beautifully written update.
Ishwa, it was so nice to hear your voice yesterday. Take care of yourself and enjoy the experience. We are all well and send you love.
This is a wonderful opportunity, take time to write some of your experience down in your notes.
Love you
mom
Hello Amanda,
appreciate for your time that you took to write such a descriptive blog. Your days get more and more interesting as your trip goes on. Sounds like your program gave you guys the fat plug on the food, and the way you describe the meal you guys are having is effectively captivating. Im in a lab meeting right now and everyone is thinking I’m taking notes, but actually I’m taking notes of what an amazing time you guys are having. At times i wish why i didn’t join summer search back then. I really do wish i was over there to chill with you all. Did you guys bonded as a familia yet? And about the phone calls, shout out to a close friend of mine for that phone call yesterday b. It was good hearing your voice again san, still sound like a kid though, haha just playing. And I was interested in talking to your roommates to see if you were being a trouble maker or nah. Im looking forward to your next phone calls again. But for now, have fun you guys! i wish i can meet you all for being so inspiring and taking another step up the ladder and going to different places to help out. keep updating you guys, and i like seeing the pictures that you all took. from Seattle to Esteli, keep doing you. Thanks again Amanda.
Thien Nguyen
Hola Amanda! Gracias por escribir el resumen del día! It looks like you had a nice and fun “dia libre”! The breakfast sounds delicious and love all the flavores of the “Aguas frescas”, which ones you have had so far? And smoothies must be so good with those rich fruit flavores of the area ..yummy…So sorry I missed that “international” soccer game, I hope you experienced the “soccer de calle”…! …not sure what happened at the Bomberos…?? Looks like everyone is having fun at the English classes, that’s great! Glad you all had the chance to enjoy the local crafts …heard they are very pretty…Gracias y hasta mañana !!!
P.D. Natalia so sorry I missed the first call but glad we got the second one, it was very nice to hear your voice, we miss you BFF! I hope fever is completely gone now and you are enjoying every day fully ! TQM mama…
Amanda, thank you for painting such a wonderful picture of your day! I am so glad that you are all getting the opportunity to bond and mingle so closely with the people of Esteli. It sounds like you are fully immersed in the culture and gaining some amazing experiences! I can almost feel the warmth and good feelings emanating from your blogs 🙂
Sidra, so glad to hear your voice! We read the blog but still had so many questions. In LA everyone, every day would ask how you were. The first question everyone asked me was “Are there bugs?” and until I talked to you I did not know so they were very worried and all wanted me to find out! Naveen told me that there were tons of bugs in her room every night so that made everyone more concerned…so glad that we talked to you and put everyone’s fears to rest 🙂 Everyone really missed you over there!
We are so glad that you have all bonded and have become like a family. We eagerly await the blogs each day. it really is strange to not be able to talk, text, or email to find out how you are…a little taste of the pre-modern world I guess. It makes me wonder how people in the past could bear waiting weeks or months for letters from their loved ones who were far away…
We miss you and can’t wait to hear all about your trip when you return. Do keep a diary, it is easy to forget all the little details once you get back home and are immersed back in “regular” life!
With Love.
Shahla