Saturday, January 16, 2010
Day 8
Friday, January 15, 2010
Day 7
Hola fellow blog readers!
Today was another beautiful Nicaraguan day. We woke up to our final delicious breakfast overlooking the wonders of the ocean in San Juan. Then we hopped on a bus and traveled roughly one and a half hours to Jinotepe. The city of Jinotepe is much like our previous destination Managua, but not quite as large. Upon arriving in Jinotepe we checked into our hotel and ventured off road to a local community church. At the local church we were fortunate enough to meet Doug and Julie who are the founders of the Global Orphan Fund (also known as the GO Fund). With the help of Doug, Julie, and another local missionary family we had the pleasure of serving local children lunch from a typical Nicaraguan home. This was a very interesting experience for many of us because not only did we meet many children who come from unfortunate living situations where this meal may have been their only meal of the day (and most definitely their only meal with meat), but we also met the children of the missionary family who at the ages of 5 and 7 were communicating bilingually (which is much more than most of can literally say for ourselves).
After visiting with the local children we ventured back into town where Doug and Julie showed us their newly developed transition homes which offered young adult men and women (around the ages of 18) the opportunity to live in a middle class house as well as pursue their dreams through a quality education.
After our exploration of Jinotepe we headed back to our hotel for a couple hours of rest before our final game against the Nicaraguan National Team. The game took place at a local gym built about 3 years ago and it was definitely the nicest gym we have played in so far and we had a decent crowd including the ladies from the transition home who witnessed their very first volleyball game; but yet again we fell to the Nicaraguans 1 to 3.
After wrapping up at the gym around 9 p.m. we traveled back to our hotel where our chicken, rice, and vegetable dinner awaited us. Then most of us headed off to bed eager for our big day of hiking a volcano tomorrow.
Signing off yours truly Amy Bomgren and Lindsey Smith
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Day 6
Day 5
Hello U.S., it’s Blair, Sarah, and Emily N. Today was yet another beautiful day in Nicaragua. It’s still a bit windy, but the sun was still out so no one complained. This morning it was optional for any one to go help a group of Spanish-speaking men learn English. There were twelve eager Blugolds that jumped at the opportunity. At about 8:30 this morning, we were introduced to six Nicaraguan waiters that worked across the street at a local restaurant. We asked them simple questions that they had to respond to in English. After Serena had broken the ice by cracking a few jokes, the men (ages 20- 32) started to open up.
At about ten this morning, we donated more of our donations - bags full of baseball bats, baseballs, and equipment - to a foundation that teaches kids at local schools the basics of the sport.
After we were done, we had free time till about 6:15. We were allowed to venture out and eat and shop. Many people attempted to sunbathe on the beach, but failed miserably by constant sand blowing in everyone’s face.
At about 6:15 we all met up again and piled into the back of 3 pick up trucks and went to the complex where we would be playing the Nicaraguan team again. When we got there music was blaring and there was a bunch of people watching the men’s Nicaraguan team. After their game was over we warmed up and listened to the Nicaraguan national song. And then our very own Brenna Schleif beautifully sang the Star Spangled Banner. It was amazing!!!
The game started off very slowly, we were losing 10-0 but we fought hard and almost won. Second game was mucho bien! We won by leaps and bounds, the 3rd game went in our favor as well but unfortunately we lost the 4th and 5th. However the 5th game was very close with a score of 19 -17.
After the game we went to dinner at Josephine’s and had beef and fish. It was delicioso!
Hasta luego!