Saturday, July 3, 2010

Dia del maestro y mas

The motor cycle driver Juan Carlos and Ryan.

Elperu and I after our ride.

View of Santo Domingo and Lake.

Carlos being the school police.

Soccer in the cancha.

My buddy Jeffry and I.

We are pretty cool with these boggie boards and our bandanas.

Revisiting the waterfall.

Pretty.

Something is fishy.

I love these colors.

A sendero.

The chickens at NPH.


Volcano Conception.

Things are back into swing here at NPH just before their spring break. Two weeks ago the kids had finals and now the school days are very relaxed and all end an hour early, but the afternoons have flown by. Everything due to the nightly rain is even greener than it was two days ago and things are going all around well here on the Isla de Ometepe.

Teacher’s Day

June 28th is officially Teacher’s day here in Nicaragua and to celebrate there was no class, pretty nice perk, and the kids put on a silly presentation for each grade. There were dance numbers, poems, skits, and cards. It was very cute. It is amazing how some of the kids have absolutely no shame. They seem to be perfectly comfortable with making fools of themselves in front of their peers. In a strange way it earns them respect. There are 13/14-year-old boys that sing/try to lip-sync with The Backstreet Boys and make it complete with hand motions. And this was for their teachers! I certainly was not that bold at that age and probably won’t ever be.

5 Tips to beat the heat

So with the glorious predictable rain, which I have really come to like, comes the humidity and it is seriously rough. When I pray nightly, one of my prayers is that the electricity does not go out to make my fan fall flat. It is one of the worst feelings waking up and realizing you have to lay there for the fan to either turn back on or you have to convince yourself you are in the middle of a cool spring night. In order to battle the heat I have found some ways to battle the heavy air. In no particular order: 1. Carrying a handkerchief everywhere. It is now my best friend and I rely on it more than lip balm. You can get it wet, it dries super fast, and it very refreshing to wipe your face with. It also can wisp away the annoying little bugs. 2. Take the shady way, even it is much longer. I have the choice of three ways to get to the school. The longest has the most trees and it is completely worth it. 3. Take two showers daily. Yes it is wasteful, but going to bed sweaty is gross. 4. Do laundry during the hottest hours of the day if you can. You get really wet anyway, where our laundry station is there is usually a small breeze, and the task makes you forget you are hot. 5. While wearing sandals, get your feet wet often. There are several hoses around the NPH property. Getting your feet wet has never felt so good. Keeps those piggies clean too.

World Cup Nicaraguan style

As some of you know, the World Cup is a big deal. Well, Nicaragua is no exception. Although soccer is not the main sport here, baseball is, all the kids here have developed a little World Cup fever. Some of the Tios, made a backyard bob version of an antenna with some wood and wires and now one of the TVs gets great reception of the games. All of the kids love to remind me that the U.S.A. lost last week and all are rooting for Brazil. The games have proved to be a great motivational tool, “we can watch the game if we do this…we can’t watch the game if you don’t do this.” I wonder what they will do in two weeks when they are over to get the kids to do their chores. As a complement there is an ongoing NPH World Cup Series every Thursday and Friday night. Teams from all around the world have fought long and hard for their prize of pop on Saturday. It’s very funny to hear the Nicaraguan kid say he’s on the Czechoslovakian team.

Past couple of weekends

San Juan del Sur and Santo Domingo have become some of my favorite places. My family was able to see them both and for the past two weekends Ryan and I paid another visit to them both. The cool, laid-back vibe of the San Juan del Sur surf town is another culture in and of itself. Last time, we rented boogie boards and got ourselves in some too rough of waters. It wasn’t very pretty on my part, but needless to say we had an adventure to and from the beach with two Nica beach bums who forgot to put gas in the truck and we had to walk half the way. This weekend we wanted to hike the waterfall on the Island again, so we asked another two Nicas to take us to and back on their motorcycles. It was my first time on a bike and it was very fun! I am not sure I want to be on one in Managua, but the slow bumpy roads of the country were perfect. I also have been reading a good book, so that keeps my mind working. Next weekend we plan to head to the university town of Leon which is also the home of the liberals of the land. Should be very interesting.

Spring Break

Next week begins the 10 or so vacation for the school and kiddies. Some, who have family close, will be leaving for the time. The kids who are here though will pass the time with soccer, videos, and perhaps a trip to the beach! It will be nice to hang out with the kids. I plan to take some pictures of them hanging out and of the neighboring monastery that is here and is beautiful. Mucho amor.

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