Maria and Diana here - posting a joint blog! We are both recovering from the swine flu (joke… maybe just the lizard flu) and are reminiscing about our time in Chinandega.

On Thursday of last week we had the opportunity to take a tour of the Women’s and Children’s hospital located in downtown Chinandega. This was an interesting experience as many of us are hoping to work in hospitals some day. The director of the hospital first talked to us in her office and answered our questions. We were shocked to hear that the infant mortality rate at the hospital was low, especially considering what we witnessed on the tour. There were multiple women occupying some of the beds, and in one wing the refurbishing of rooms resulted in women being placed in the hallways. Another interesting fact about the hopsital was that some of the janitors were actually prisoners who were helping out while being watched by a guard. Perhaps the most unbelievable fact the director told us was that it was unheard of to use pain medication during labor. Let’s just hope we never give birth in Nicaragua!

The past few days of sun and fun at the beach have been awesome! We are sad to leave but are looking forward to reuniting with family and friends and telling even more stories!

Love,

Diana and Maria

Like Lisa, I am also on Nica time and writing about the past (Thursday). I was going to write about San Juan del Sur… but everyone has that covered! And p.s…. surfing was awesome

Anyways - - USA might not have won on Sunday, but Wake Forest won on Thursday in the WFU vs. NicaHope game! Soccer is extremely popular down here and NicaHope has 3 separate teams. They thought it would be fun to organize a game between us and their girl’s team. We had no idea what to expect… but we were all up for the challenge. I think we all went there thinking we had the intimidation factor on our side just because we are a pretty large group of Americans, but when we showed up - we realized they were taking this pretty seriously. They already had the field lined and goals in place (which was pretty shocking) and they also had uniforms! We also even had a referee (or at least someone who blew the whistle when necessary).

After a little 2 minute warm-up and a little team huddle… we were ready to play! The fact that the NicaHope team ranged anywhere between the ages of 13-15 and most of them didn’t even have on what we Americans would consider “appropriate footwear” did not stop them from putting up a good fight. We started out with a lead of 1-0 after Jason scored a goal… and then finished out with a win by the score of 3-2 (with the other 2 goals scored by Stephen). Even though the boys carried us in scoring…everyone did amazing, especially for most of us not having played much soccer. Although for me personally, I think it was a good decision for me to give up soccer for other sports in which my height actually gave me an advantage. Also the fact that I wanted to catch every ball that went by me instead of kicking it did not help my game! [I got called for at least 3 handballs..whoops! haha]

Overall, I think everyone had lots of fun it was a really fun game for both teams. We all left extremely sweaty and tired, but we also made it out of there injury free!

Goo Deacs!

Yesterday some of us spent the day taking surf lessons from a loco (crazy) Peruvian named Alfredo. Alfredo has been surfing for over 38 years and started a surfing school through a local hostel called Casa Oro (The Gold House). After getting our boards we all piled into a truck and rode out to Remanso beach to ride the waves. Alfredo was a great instructor and rather entertaining to try to understand. I think we managed to follow what he was saying about half of the time. He gave us instruction on the beach and then took us out to surf in pairs. I was surprised that it was much easier than I had anticipated. I was able to stand up practically every time and really enjoyed the whole experience. Everyone did pretty well for being first time surfers.

The most interesting thing that I’ve observed here in San Juan del Sur has been the surfer culture. There are surfers from all over the world here and the Australian accents never get old. Many of them are currently “taking a break” from their job and traveling down the Central American Pacific coast. They stop in major surf towns along the way and have no agenda or planned schedule to follow. I spoke with quite a few people who were going down further to stop in Costa Rica next. They stay in hostels along the way and have a gift for just going with the flow. The hostels are inexpensive but I’m not sure that I’d be gutsy enough to stay in one myself. Casa Oro has a few showers and an open kitchen area for everyone to share. Needless to say, the nomadic surfers don’t sweat the small stuff (until the waves or beer run out). I’ll certainly be able to take away a good lesson from observing the laid-back lifestyle of the surfers, but I think I’ll keep my job…and a little structure.

Hola! Although we’re currently in San Juan del Sur enjoying the beach, great coffee, and amazing espresso brownies at Gato Negro, I just wanted to leave a few thoughts and pictures from our experiences at NicaHOPE in Managua last week. Though many have posted about the dump and the experience of seeing people live there amidst all the trash, there is still a community and a feeling of life and hope in La Chureca. Manual, an employee of NicaHOPE as well as Mary and Luis, two other employees who lived in the dump, accompanied us through the dump and helped us find plants to take back to the Acahualica school. Even in all the trash, medical wastes, fires, plastics, and tires, seeds are still able to sprout. There were mango trees, small “olive trees” (not really olive trees in the America/European sense but trees nonetheless), and a variety of other indigenous plants that end up growing there after their seeds were brought in with the garbage. Digging with pieces of bone and putting the small plants in rusted paint cans and old cardboard boxes, we ended up with about 30 plants that we then planted around the sidewalk we built at the school as well in the school yard. While we were working at the school, we also hung white boards donated by our group. At the beginning of the week, the principal explained that it was difficult to teach classes of 40+ students without any way to present information visually on a blackboard. Though these improvements may seem small, it represents the hope and optimism for change that exists within the Nicaraguan people, especially those living and working in La Chureca.

Hope all is well back home. I know many are looking forward to returning in just 3 days…but it’s hard to believe our time in Nicaragua is just about over.

PS: Mom and Dad, still healthy and well…so no need for more gray hairs Mommy! Much love. -L

We arrived in San Juan del Sur Friday and since then have been hanging out at the beach and exploring the town!! Yesterday Lisa and I rented an ATV and attempted to drive to a beach just north of San Juan del Sur, but didn’t quite make it due to some navigational problems. However, it was quite the adventure between almost getting stuck in mud, the bumpy “roads” and seeing some local towns and people up close. It was a beautiful drive through a more forested area and felt exhilarating to floor it!! (Not to mention the adrenalinerush from trying to drive on Nicaraguan roads with other vehicles. . . . oh and that bus that apparently had the right of way!) It all made for a wonderful adventure and unforgettable memory!!

Today our adventures continued with surfing lessons on a beach just south of San Juan del Sur. It was a beautiful beach and a perfect day for learning how to surf! Fortunately there where no wipeouts for me and everyone managed to get up . . . although not everyone can say the same (Stephen). It was definitely another great experience added to the list and hopefully will only be the start of my surfing this summer!

San Juan del Sur has been one of my favorite destinations I have visited and has many fun things to offer! I am so glad I got the opportunity to come to Nicaragua and am looking forward to visiting some local medical clinics the next two days! See you soon family!!! I love you!!

<3 Courtney

We arrived at beautiful San Juan del Sur on Friday, June 26th. We had lunch at the Pelican Eyes Resort, where we received a tour of the grounds and an informational session about the Jean Brugger Foundation. We saw monkeys, puppies, and other things that make you say, “Awww.” Today we are all hanging at the local beach just staying “tranquilo.” For my birthday (yes, today I’m the big 39) my wife bought me some espresso brownies from El Negro Gato, my favorite SJDS cafe. These brownies are to die for, and I’m afraid once my kids get a hold of them we might be medicating them with Benadryl to insure any sleep tonight. Tomorrow we are taking a bus to La Playa Maderas where some of the students will take surfing lessons.

Tonight many of the students have offered to babysit my kids so Annamae and I can go out for my birthday. We have been blessed on this trip to have so many wonderful students really love our children well. And even those who have taught them questionable ethics about dating (thanks to Stephen for that lesson!) have nonetheless served as great role models. On the topic of birthdays, we celebrated Jessie’s birthday last weekend by ziplining through the mountains in Grenada.

The biggest downer so far is that a number of students have fallen ill. The illnesses seem to be in 3 areas: GI, nausea, and fever/sore throat. We currently have 3 who are sick and 2 who are mending. But all have been in good spirits and are resting well. One nice thing about Nica is there are pharmacies everywhere and you can get many prescription drugs as OTC.

We will post pics from SJDS very soon, so keep checking in! Tengo que un buen dia!

So since no one else has posted in a few days, just wanted to let our biggest fans know we are still alive! Today was our last day at NicaHope– we organized jewelry and patched some holes in a wall with concrete. We basically only worked a half day today because we spent the other half of the day at Wake Forest’s new property in Managua! Here we actually ate a typical Nicaraguan meal complete with shish-kabobs, gallo pinto, SALSA (finally found some), and quesadillas. Tonight we ended with guitar serenading by the pool at Hotel Los Pinos.

Tomorrow we get to sleep in late (at least until 8!), and then we are off to San Juan del Sur. I know we are all really excited to spend sometime at the beach! And now you can you see why!

Oh and today marks our one week left until coming home! See yall soon!

love,

Haven

Beyond scavenging the dump for recyclables such as plastic, which provides a source of income for the residents of La Chureca, many people own livestock that graze the dump.

After the fun and rejuvenating adventures of ziplining (once right into the tree) and hiking this weekend, I was ready to do some hands on work. Today we walked through the dump in Managua and I was amazed by the amount of people living side by side with the toxins and waste. The piles of trash went on for miles and is made of over 50 years worth of compacted trash. One thing that really caught my eye was the amount of used medical supplies such as syringes and IV’s that were scattered throughout the dump. They were not safely disposed of and instead were laying sprawled out providing many hazards to those who walked though the dump daily. Despite the condition of living there, the people were very friendly and open to talking with us. It was definitley one of the most eye opening experiences I have had on this trip and it makes me feel very fortunate to live a neighborhood as safe as mine. Later we went to a local school and painted a building then mixed and poured a concrete pathway to the computer lab. Although mixing the concrete was tough, seeing the progression of the pathway was a great feeling. The pathway was constructed to prevent dust from blowing into the classroom, which causes them to close the windows and thus end class early due to heat exhaustion. It was so amazing to see the end result of our labor and know that it will be appreciated and improve the student’s environment for learning.

After visiting the city dump this morning, we split into groups to work on various projects with Nica Hope. I headed over to one of the local schools to help out with the feeding program. The goal of the feeding program is twofold: get the kids back in school by bribing them with food, and provide a (semi) nutritious meal for children that usually go hungry. Every day children from preschool up through about 6th grade file into the cafeteria. Today lunch consisted of pasta, half a slice of wheat bread, some white rice, and a fried piece of soy mixture. In addition, their beverage is either a soy of cornmeal mixture, to provide extra nutrition. Jason, one of the Nica Hope staff, explained that the feeding program receives rice, beans, corn, oil and soy from the Nicaraguan government, as well as fortified rice and some other foods from the US. All of the workers at the feeding program are volunteers, generally mothers of children at the school.

After the feeding program we joined the group at a different school and helped mix and pour concrete for a new walkway. Needless to say we were all quite dirty, and ready for a good shower.

We are all still having a great time! Miss everyone at home!

Liz