Day 4 - School Visit and Earthship

Today’s activities were as fulfilling as we expected. Everyone had a blast working with the kids at a small school in a neighboring community. Here is Kristin’s account of the day…

“Hola señors y señoritas. This is Kristiñ(a) writing. Today was a beautiful day here in lovely San Juan del Sur. This morning a lot of the girls woke up early to do yoga on the beach. I didn’t actually go, but I’m sure it was nice. In the morning we went to a school about a half hour away from here. The school was really small. I think there were only two classrooms. Los niños at la escuela were very nice. It was kind of hard talking to them, but a few of the girls know a lot of Spanish so they helped translate a lot. We helped the kids do art projects to help them learn English. They had to cut pictures they liked out of a magazine, paste them on a poster, and then name them in English. It was really interesting to talk to the kids, but most of them talked way too fast to even attempt to understand what they were saying. So, I usually just responded with “si”, whether I actually understood or not. After the school, we got to see the earthship or tire house, which is a house made completely out of recycled materials and powered by solar power. The home is insulated by tires covered in cement, and the solar panels sit on top of the roof to power the house. No one actually lives there now, but eventually someone will. We got some free time after that, so most of us walked around and looked at the shops and stands. The stands here are awesome, because most of the stuff they sell is one of a kind. So, the jewelry is very original and beautiful. For dinner we ate at a Hawaiian restaurant, which was really delicious. It is very hot here, but it is beautiful, and I don’t want to leave. So, I’m just going to live on the beach. Goodbye family. “

There were a couple of other points of interest in our day. Towards the end of our time at the school, several of the adults walked next door to visit with several women from the newly formed women’s cooperative. With the help of Brooke, Jo, Tim, and some other Americans who live or spend time here, they have started a business making jelly and selling it. It is a way for these women to help support their families and make an income. All of the families in this community rely almost entirely on their ability to farm, so helping these women create an enterprise is a big deal for their children’s future. We were able to see them start the process of making some pineapple jelly to put in some of the canning jars that we brought down for them. Unfortunately, we were not able to see the process all the way through, but it was amazing to see them cooking in such a rudimentary kitchen. The women were absolutely precious and were so excited to show us what they were doing. It is a great example of helping the people here help themselves and empowering them to improve their situations.

The other highlight of the day was the homemade lunch we ate at a family’s home right across from the school. We dropped off a cooler of supplies before we went to the school and returned to an amazing lunch of chicken, rice, beans, and potatoes. It was brutally hot today, but we had a great day learning more about the culture and finding ways to bridge the communication barriers.

Tomorrow brings more opportunities to connect with the local people and another chance to play the Nicaraguan National team. This time there should be a large crowd. We learned that the truck that drives around blaring advertisements for the nightclubs and restaurants will be advertising our game tomorrow! Our match was also advertised in the local paper a couple of days ago. No podemos esperar!