El Dia Internacional De Las Mujeres (8 de Marzo)

Folkloric dance given in our honor today.

Emma!
Dancing with the Stars (Roberto, the school´s dance teacher).

Caroline, Emma, Nia and Tatiana,
daughter of our cook, student in la Nicaraguita.

Jon and Vladi checking out their photos.

Two Jon G.´s on the bus.

Land of plentiful fruit. Every day, we drink
at least 16 oz. of fresh squeezed juice.

Tatiana and Nia.

Walking into our sister school, La Nicaraguita was like being a movie star on the red carpet. We were greeted by many faces with warm smiles that went from ear to ear. Immediately I couldn´t help but send a huge grin back. The nervous feeling of being in a new country, speaking in a foreign tongue, and at a school with 372 students that we didn´t know vanished. We were seated to watch various performances of poetry, singing of the Nicaraguan National Anthem and a traditional dance. This assembly was a comforting way to become familiar with the many new faces of the students and teachers that we will be working with for the next couple of weeks.

The most exciting part was after the Nicaraguan Anthem when the woman MC-ing the assembly asked our students to sing our national anthem. Either because the woman´s dialect was fast paced or because we weren´t prepared to sing, but in either case there was an extensive silence following the woman´s request which was followed by laughter. We quickly convened in a circle and sang what I would easily say was a beautiful rendition of

Star Spangled Banner. In past years students were not asked to sing their National Anthem so we were caught a little off gaurd, but it was a ton of fun getting to perform for our new friends.
My experience at the school today was wonderful; I am working with four year-olds that have a fantastic enthusiasm for life. It is such a great experience getting to know these young students and hopefully helping them to continue to be excited about education and going to school. The feeling of being adored by such endearing and kind children is undescribable. It makes the trip that we have been preparing for more than worth it. It is very exciting to be here and I look forward to sharing more with you. Hope you are all well. -- Vladi.