Managua Field School 2018

1.  Working with JHC at the Nueva Vida Clinic. Nothing was better than getting our hands dirty for a good cause! 2. Heading to Punta Jesus Maria on Ometepe Island to watch the beautiful sunset.  3. Working with the cuties of Ometepes Bilingual School. 4. Visiting and swimming in the beautiful Laguna de Apoyo Natural Reserve.  5. The trip wouldn't have been complete without the crazy bus rides (We spent 28 hours in a bus together! And as you can tell from this picture some of us look a bit..disoriented)  6. Traveling by tractor to the El Porvenir coffee plantation! We learned all about how much hard work is put into one cup of coffee. Next time you drink a cup, drink it really slowly!   7. Taking a picture on top of the Masaya Volcano . 8. Having wonderful charlas (seminars) with inspiring Nicaraguan artists. For example Pedro Guerrero. 9. Having a beach party with the kids of the Ometepe Bilingual School and t

Franz is giving Esther T-Shirts for her and Alvarez and thanking them for their hospitality.  Nathan, Franz, and Mr. Grisbee are fascinated with the trucks being loaded onto the ferry. We arrived safely and happily in Granada. After walking to the top of this cathedral, we are taking in the view.  We are all ready to start making chocolate at the Hotel de Chocolate.  Destiny is stirring the cacao beans while we all cheer her on.  Sarah and the rest of the group are pounding away to make cocoa butter. We are in the process of making two different chocolaty drinks.  We cheer each other on as we mix the drinks.  We make custom chocolate bars to finish up our class. 

  I am writing this blog entry as a beautiful sunset happens in the front of me and a palm tree, above me, sways in the gentle wind. Today was our last full day in Ometepe, Nicaragua, and it was one of my most favorite experiences this whole trip. However, today was also a day where I had the opportunity to reflect more about Nicaragua and think about poverty, and other issues, in a greater context. Our whole day was pretty much occupied with beach activities with the kids at the Ometepe Bilingual school. We were at the Santo Domingo beaches from 10:00 to 4:00 starting with group activities, followed by swimming, and even baseball. Through these activities, I feel like we encountered a similar feeling and idea that we encountered with the previous year’s trip, which was that through the games and activities we participated in, we were able to transcend the language barrier between us. I feel as though the games really brought us together, or as close as we could g

Good Evening! This is just a note to say that all is well, although the WiFi is not reliable enough tonight to get a full blog up and published. The blogs are written, but posting has been a struggle. We spent the day at the beach with students, families, and teachers from the Ometepe Bilingual School, playing games, sharing food, and enjoying a wonderful community of people. We will update more fully tomorrow when we get to Granada.

Students and their families are all smiles getting ready for their beach day. Salvador is about to be caught by a student in a game of duck, duck, goose.  Sarah has her eye on the ball.  A student from the Bilingual school enjoys the soccer jersey she received from the kind donations. Justin and Ashwin lead the wheelbarrow race, while the other students struggle to catch up. Teachers from the bilingual school appreciate the Bearkats donations, while Emaya eyes the fresh watermelon. Emaya, Franz and Destiny danced after the local teachers started a dance party.

Today we spent our first day with the kids at the Ometepe Bilingual School. Prior to this, Álvaro Molina, the founder of the school and the hostel we are staying in, gave a lecture about the importance of education and a knowledge of the English language on an island with a large focus on tourism. Álvaro and his family moved to Miami when the revolution began here in Nicaragua in 1979. There he learned to speak English and then returned to Ometepe once he had an education in the U.S.A. During Alvaro’s lecture, he mentioned to us that about ten years ago Nicaragua only averaged about 3.6 years of education per person. As of now that number has risen to 3.9 years. He also talked about a technique he used to clean up his community, this being an “eco-brick.” An eco-brick is a plastic bottle filled with trash used as a building material for the walls in the classroom. This idea was originally from India, and he pays members of the community who bring in filled eco-bricks