March 8-9

Sophie with one of her 3 year old cherubs.

Jonathon and Caleb helping out in English class.

Chloe keeping order in class.

Make sure they can read your writing, Andrew...!

Lucky Braelyn gets a sticker from an admirer.

Jonathon checking work.

Nia keeping her students in line.

Who´s that dancer with the dark glasses?

Emma + math = excellent teaching assistant.

All decked out for a party in Sophie´s class.

Caroline working on her letters.

Tall Ryan hangs up student art.

Preparing for tomorrow´s celebration in school.

This is Caroline writing.

Yesterday in the afternoon, we visited the Upper School (La Secundaria) of La Nicaraguita. It began with a presentation of poems, songs and dances very similar to those in the Lower School. The students sang the national anthem, performed folk dances and poems by prominent Nicaraguan poets, such as Ruben Dario. After the presentation we broke up into small groups and visisted individual classrooms. My group visited the eighth grade natural science class, where they were learning about ferns. We spoke to some of the students, who asked us where they were from and what kind of music we liked etc.

After that we went to a party with the 7th graders. A few of the students demonstrated the Bachata. At first everyone felt really awkward and no one wanted to dance, but soon enough, Nia and Vladi started dancing, and then everyone started dancing. A lot of us were dancing with the 7th graders as well, especially Julio Cesar, who is Andrew´s little brother, and Hansel, who is a relative of Rafaela´s. We all had a really great time, but were quite tired after all the dancing. Of course, it is very hot here and we are always encouraged to hydrate. The water here is totally fine (the water purification system was engineered by the United States - go USA!!) and no one is having any adverse efforts. We all drink plenty of water and delicious juices to keep us really hydrated. I can´t wait to see which juice they give us this afternoon. This morning it was orange juice mixed in with oatmeal!!

After the party we went back to Rafaela´s for an excellent dinner of platanos fritos, frijoles, and jugo. We all relaxed, and many of the boys played soccer with Hansel. Around 6: 30 our host parents came to pick us up and we all went to our respective houses.

This morning we went back to the elementary school with our respective classes. Ryan and I are with the 5 year olds. They did not behave themselves yesterday, because their teacher wasn´t there. Today, Tania (the teacher) came and they were much better behaved, but still very rowdy compared with an American school. But I suppose that if you put 40 five year olds in a room they are bound to cause a raucous. A few of the little boys enjoy putting their lunch boxes on their heads and repeating everything I say. Overall, it was a very exhausting morning.

After the students went home we had dance class with Roberto, where we learned salsa and polka. Some of were more successful than others, but everyone had a good time. We then returned to Rafaela´s for a lunch of banana chips, rice, and beef. Currently, many of us are rehersing a version of "Lean on Me" for the celebration of La Nicaguita´s 2oth anniversary, which is tomorrow.