I’ve now been back from Nicaragua for 12 days. On Sunday I fell pretty ill and am now (Weds) getting my energy back. Although my doctor thinks it might be Nicaragua related, I think it providential that I was healthy during the 3 weeks I was in Nicaragua. If I wasn’t, who else was going to pay for all of the meals!!!

I wanted to take a moment to pay my tributes to an amazing 3 week experience.

First, a BIG thank you to associate provosts Kline Harrison and Michele Gillispie for creating, sustaining, and funding the Nicaragua program. Also a big thank you to Tom Dingledine for his generous support of all things Nicaragua. This trip would not have been possible without these three individuals, and countless others. I also want to thank my colleague, Gary Miller, who did the bulk of organizing and managing of the budget. Even though he could not stay the entire time, he stayed connected and actively helped with every facet of the trip. Additional thanks goes out to Jason Archer, my graduate assistant, who helped me with the day-to-day aspects of the trip. Without Jason, I don’t think I would have known half of the students complaints or troubles.

Second, I know I speak on behalf of the group when I send a thank you to the Jose’s–Jose Daniel Leiva and Jose at Los Pinos. Both took care of us like family while we were in Nicaragua. Jose Daniel is employed by WF and was the i-beam of the entire operation (I think i-beams are important in architecture–if not, I’m sorry Jose–you are like that beam that holds everything together!).

Third, I want to give a shout out to my family, including my mother, who endured 12 days of the trip as if she was a WF student! Mom, I hope I have half of your drive and energy at your age. Heck, I wish I had half your energy right now! You were amazing. My wife, Annamae, had to bear much of the burden of caring for our kids while I did “official” business stuff, which usually amounted to me having fun while she watched Lillian, Aiden, and Matthew. She handled it with grace and made my life much less stressful. Thanks, babe. And to my kids, you were awesome! Just try not to believe everything the students told you. Therapy is only going to get more expensive so I’m hoping that some of that stuff you heard doesn’t stick. :0

Fourth, this trip was and always will be about the students. So for the 13 students who decided to forego a summer in Spain or Austria or air conditioning to trek around Nicaragua I give you my special thanks. I have never been around a group of students who more fully embraced and loved my children as all of you did. This past weekend I took my 6 year old, Aiden, backpacking. He was telling a friend of mine a story about Nicaragua. He said, “You know what?” (He starts every story with the rhetorical question, “You know what?”), “my FRIEND, Stephen, . . . “ I don’t even remember what he said about Stephen, who was one of the students on the trip, because I was just so floored that a 6 year old would so casually see a 21 year old as his “friend.” But it is true. All of you can count yourselves as true “friends” of the Giles team. I know you will live on in their memories, and despite the costs of therapy you were great role models.

Finally, I would be remiss if I didn’t thank all of the wonderful people of Nicaragua that we met along the way, from Louise, our bus driver, to the many people in La Villa, Chinandega, and elsewhere. Perhaps my most vivid memory was our first trip into La Villa, a community created in Chinandega for people who moved out of the local dump. It seems that within moments of arriving in La Villa the students were all playing with children, talking to residents, sitting in people’s homes, and otherwise making themselves “at home.” My kids were swinging on swings, speaking Spanish (well, saying ‘Como te llamas’ and ‘Cuantos anos tienes’ ad nauseum), and acting like they were reconnecting with long lost friends. The Nicaraguan girls were pulling my blond haired boy in opposite directions as they fought over his affection, to which he obliged with little resistance. Here we were with a group of people who could not have been more different than us at so many levels (cultural, socioeconomic, education, language), and yet on that day, in that moment, a common fabric that unites all of us as human beings materialized. We all have different dreams, but we dream. We all have different lives, but we live. We have different aspirations for our children, but aspire for them nonetheless. In the end, we all want to know and be known. To my own children this was obvious; their world view has not been tainted by racism, materialism, or other cultural influences that disfigure humanity. But it was great to see the WF students look beyond their own fears and doubts by fully embracing the people in La Villa. I think this was my proudest moment.

Either that, or managing to tell the bus driver in Spanish that he has a nice bus (at least, that’s what I hope I told him).

Until next time . . . Professor Giles

I’ve been home for less than 24 hours and I already miss Nicaragua.

Although it is nice to have my big soft bed and a 100% decrease in the amount of bugs orbiting my face, there are a lot of things we experienced in Nicaragua that I am really going to miss. Following Diana’s tribute to her ten favorite memories, here are the ten things I will (and already do) miss the most about Nicaragua:

1. Espresso brownies at El Negro Gato. Yum. I could go for one right now…

2. Ometepe Island. Our whole weekend there was so beautiful.

3. The storms. Getting caught in the rain and falling asleep to it at night.

4. Our many hand washing classes. Watching the kids laugh and have fun but knowing we taught them something useful was so rewarding.

5. The beach. Oh, San Juan del Sur! I will miss you dearly.

6. Prices! Fine dining will unfortunately cost more than five dollars back in the U.S.

7. The animals. Seeing a spider monkey eat a mango 10 feet from me? Incredible.

8. “The Nica Way”. This phrase refers to the fact that nothing went according to plan…ever. But once we came to understand this, it became one of Nicaragua’s most endearing qualities.

9. The car rides. Okay maybe not the super bumpy one on the way to ziplining (thanks Dr. Miller!) but looking out the window in the car and never knowing what I would see..the sun setting over a volcano, traditional Nicaraguan homes lining the road, little boys on horseback carrying fish, etc.

10. Our “Nicaragua family”. I feel so lucky to have just experienced the past 3 weeks with the people in our group, and we truly became a family. I have been thinking about you all day (including Team Giles- we would not have had half the excitement or humor without our favorite team!).

Adios,

Maria

Hope everyone had safe travels this morning! Emily and I made it safely to the airport thanks to Jose and parted ways in Houston after an easy stroll through customs. I had a lot of free time today while sitting on planes so I jotted down 10 of my many favorite memories of Nicaragua (in no particular order).

1. Learning how to surf with Alfredo (Willy Wonka)

2. Surviving the lightning storm on the metal truck

3. Group bonding at El Paraiso after surviving the lightning storm on the metal truck

4. Thinking that something which cost 100 cordobas ($5) is way too expensive

5. Hearing “GILES TEAM - BATHROOM!” before every bus trip

6. Intense mafia games at night in Camp Chinandega

7. Watching Lily, Aiden, and Matthew play with (and be adored by) the Nicaraguan ninos

8. Family dinners every night that took at least 2 hours

9. Making it to the waterfall on our Ometepe hike

10. Amazing experiences and relationships with an incredible group of people!

Here’s to a great rest of the summer for everyone, I will miss y’all!

Love,

Diana

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