Day 1 in Nicaragua!

Day one in Nicaragua! We woke up early and Brooke, Moira, Lizzie, and Lindsay went shopping in Granada to get breakfast. We had eggs, watermelon, pineapple, pancakes, and STINKY SALTY CHEESE. After having a group talk about our week itinerary and meeting all the Amped staff, we left for Pantanal. We walked through the neighborhoods where the high school, primary school, and learning center are located. We were served lunch by Ramona, a local supporter of Amped for Education. She was old, kind, and so generous, and she gave us delicious pollo, arroz, frijoles, and ensalada! And of course, lots of AGUA, it was 90 degrees all day!! After that, we got on a bus and headed to Lake Nicaragua where the group split into two different boat tours. One group went with Gino, who works with Amped and knows a lot about the Lake Nicaragua wildlife. Gino’s group had their tour in Spanish (but struggled to keep up with how fast he talked). The other group went with Mr. Pluta, and we all met up on an island where some people swam, ate mangos, and relaxed. Now we’re hanging out at the hostel, about to head out to la cena en Granada!

This being our first time in Nicaragua, the second poorest country in the Western hemisphere, seeing the poverty and living conditions of many of the local people was shocking. Most of the rural houses were shacks, with laundry hanging from rooftops and stray dogs along the side of the road. However, seeing these conditions makes us more excited to help. Also, hearing and speaking Spanish so often is already improving our Spanish skills. We’re really excited to be in such a new place, helping children, and learning about Nicaraguan culture. Many of us are excited to meet the learning center children tomorrow. It is HOT though - we’re all sweating like pigs. Hasta mañana! 

Ben, Mia, Cassi

Lizzie’s note: The markets were nothing like I expected at all. I didn’t think there would be as many people or as congested.. It was crazy to see how people live in certain places down here. I’ve never seen anything like that in my life, so it made me rethink how I go about things and how different it is. It’s just crazy. 

Brooke’s note: Seeing the kids when they got out of school was cool. They seemed all energetic and happy being at school and I don’t always see that type of enthusiasm with kids back home about school. It seems that they have it hard, but you wouldn’t really know it.

Editor's note (Jeff): What an awesome, enthusiastic, curious group of kids! Also, for the amount that they talked about monkeys all day, none of these guys mentioned that we saw and fed monkeys!