Cheesey times

Hey everyone!

I just realized I have now been here in Nicaragua for over a month! How crazy is that? It definitely feels like more than that, with all of the new things I’ve learned, relationships I have formed and crazy things that have happened.

To start off, here are some updates on my boys…Last week one of the older ones in the house (he is 16) moved to another boy’s house in order to even out the number of kids in each house. It was sad to see him go but the house is all of twenty feet away so I still see him a few times a day!

Last week during dinner a few of the boys began to practice the new rhythms they had learned on the marimba. (The marimba is a cousin of the piano that looks like a xylophone and is used in folk music here.) A few other boys joined in and before long, I had an impromptu dinner and a show! These ten year olds were just having a blast finding new beats, I couldn’t resist taking a video. Check it out below! After the concert somehow I started showing them music on my iPhone and they ended up requesting Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”. Now, I knew that Jackson was famous and that Thriller was one of his more famous songs but I was not prepared for what happened next. They started doing the dance! Exactly like in the music video, one boy played Jackson and the rest started in “graves” (aka lying on the ground). Then one by one they came up and did the zombie walk. It was so much fun to watch and see how this facet of American culture had really spread all over the whole world. After that night, I promised to download some more music so we can have more dance parties. I may have graduated college in May, but there’s no way I’m giving up my weekly dose of ridiculous dancing!

Teaching has been the most challenging part of my new life so far. There are so many things I want to be able to share with my students but I have been hitting quite a few road blocks along the way. Although I may come into class with a great lesson plan, chances are I will not get to the majority of it because of a host of problems, bad behavior being the most common.  The kids behave extremely well outside of the classroom, but once they enter it some of them throw rules to the wind. I am slowly learning how to keep everyone interested, in their seats and attentive but it is tough going. Given the difficult family situations and somewhat chaotic classroom environments that the students are subjected to, I do not blame them for our troubles. I only hope to continue to find ways to overcome these setbacks so that everyone can benefit from my class.

On a totally different note, this past weekend I had time off and went to the Island of Ometepe, which is where NPH was located until a big move to our current location in 2008. However, at that time a volunteer in occupational therapy stayed on the island because she was providing therapy for the local children and didn’t want to leave them without therapy. With the support of NPH and other volunteers, she founded a clinic on the island. Now six years  later, she has just opened up a center in it’s own location and is running it through NPH.  How cool is that!? She really is an amazing person to have achieved this.  The kids here are always talking about how cool the island is and how much fun it is so we finally decided to come check it out and see the new center at the same time.

Here is one of the main rooms of the new occupational therapy center. 

Check out the awesome mural that covers the whole room. 

The island has two large (and active) volcanoes and sits in the center of Lake Nicaragua so it has quite a few beaches and fun things to do. Along with the other volunteers, I visited a natural pool that came from  a river that runs through the middle of the island.

This is the natural pool we visited. 

Here is a view of one of the two volcanoes. 

 I also visited and hiked around a lagoon and then spent a day at the beach. As most of you know, I LOVE to hike so being able to go on a short hike was really great. Plus my parents sent me an amazing care package full of treats so I had a delicious Kind bar along the way (THANKS Mom and Dad!).

Two of the volunteers I was hiking with enjoying the beach after hour hike. 

Me and my Kind bar!

For dinner one night I had a piece of lasagna that had real mozzarella cheese in it! In Nicaragua the only type of cheese is queso fresco, which I am only slowly learning to like. As a huge cheese fan, having real delicious cheese for dinner may have been the best thing about the entire weekend. I am still gushing over that cheese thinking about it 4 days later! Who knew cheese could make me so happy?

From a single Michael Jackson dance to a simple piece of cheese, I am learning that it truly is the little things in life that matter. When I slow down a bit and take the time to appreciate the little things, I realize I am surrounded by little notes from God. These notes are filled with messages of love, whether the love with which He shatters cultural differences and brings people together (dancing with my boys), His love for those with physical handicaps (a center in the middle of rural Nicaragua) or His love for me (in the form of cheese). It isn’t hard to find these notes from God; they are all around us. All we have to do is open our eyes and let our heart be filled.

Until next time!

Here is the lagoon we hiked around. 

A view of the beach...