Tica to Nica

Alarm set for 3:15 am we got up and ready to catch the bus to Nicaragua. The bus that was supposedly only going to take 11-12 hours ended up taking 14.... Needless to say we ended up having to stay in Managua for a night. We had a taxi take us to a hostel near the bus station in what seemed to be an interesting part of town...not super dangerous but dangerous enough to make you feel a little on edge. After we got settled in to our dorm room we asked the receptionist if it was safe to walk to the mall to get food, she said yes, and then follows with, but you don't want to take a purse....ah yes very reassuring. We walked to the mall and low and behold there was a Quizno's in the mall. There is always a special place in my heart for Quizno's seeing as it was my very first job when I was 16, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to eat it in Central America. We followed up our toasted subs with some amazing gelatto, and I mean it truly was increible. We rushed back to our hostel and prepared ourselves for some more traveling in the manana

Thursday June 14th: We made it to Grenada and found it be a nice town very similar to Antigua Guatemala. We perused through the streets for a while and decided to enjoy a nice 2 for 1 happy hour on a shaded patio. We ran into one of the other Minerva teachers and her friend and meandered around a bit more.

Friday June 15th: Happy Birthday mi hermano! At this point we had gathered more Minerva alumni and now there was a group of 6 of us. Kate, Colleen, Jenna, Yenna, Dom, and I now made a herd of traveling gringas and a gringo. Us girls decided to check out the nearby town of Masaya because we had heard they have a great artisan market. Well we got to the "bus station" and it was bonkersville USA. There were people, buses, taxis, and total utter madness. Kind of what you think of when you think of 3rd World Central America. To only add to the madness Yenna had been pickpocketed by a man on the bus. We walked around for maybe 3 minutes before deciding to bail and catch a taxi to Laguna de Apoyo. A lagoon made from a crater from a volcano. It was beautiful and the water felt amazing.

Saturday June 16th: Kate, Colleen, Jenna, and I started off our morning right by going to a buffet at a chocolate museum. I think we suprised the waiter with our impressive ability to eat. He said and I quote "That's a lot of food!" and then when he passed by yet again, simply said "Wow!" in disbelief. We were laughing hysterically. We then ventured to Isla de Ometepe, an island formed by 2 volcanoes. It was now our turn to say "Wow!" at the amazing beauty of this island. We stayed in a cute little hostel right on the beach with an abundance of hammocks and views of the lake.

Sunday June 17^th: After lounging on the beach for a bit, we became quite ambitious and decided to try a bicycle adventure (Side note: Kate, Colleen, and I have a rather unfortunate history of adventures which have included 8 hour volcano hikes and ridiculous kayaking mishaps) One thing is for sure history does repeat itself. What should have been a fairly easy bike ride and perhaps a bit of hiking turned into mountain biking and strange discoveries. Somehow, I am truly not sure how, but we all missed the huge green and yellow sign that we should have taken to get to a look out of the volcano. We instead kept biking, even when the road turned into treacherous rocky territory, we continued on until we finally asked for directions. The directions we received were to go 1 km back the way we had come then take a right. After what felt to be 1 km, we saw a road with a white painted rock and a red mayan symbol. Kate announced that she felt this was definitely right, and we all began trekking up a hill. Completely drenched in sweat, we reached the top of the mountain and much to our surprise there were small open airy houses and people lounging about. We stumbled upon a meditation type house where people simply come to meditate, reflect, and take the occasional tantric workshop. The man who I assumed to be in charged offered and water and didn’t fail to note how sweaty we were. He told us we were like faucets, keep the compliments coming please. After rehydrating a bit we decided it was time to venture back down, we were paying for the bikes by the hour. We cruised along towards our hostel, this time in fact seeing the huge sign that should have lead us to our destination. Ah these 4 crazy gringas….

Monday June 18^th: After a yummy breakfast we packed up and headed for San Juan del Sur. After a 2 taxis and one ferry ride we made it to the super touristy spot of San Juan del Sur. It is so sstrange to hear so much English being spoken. After a tour of the town we decided it was time to tackle the hike to Jesus. It was a bit of steep hike but we made it to the top, sweaty as usual these days, but we were completely awe inspired by the view from the top. On one side of Jesus you can see the bay with all the boats just hanging out waiting to catch some fish. On the other side you can see miles of cliffs and beaches. Moments like this truly make me realize how lucky I am to be having such an amazing experience and to be able to share it with some truly wonderful people. A girl has to wonder how she can be so lucky in life.

Tough life drinking happy hour beer and watching beach soccer

Tuesday June 19^th: Our last day in San Juan del Sur and how else could we spend it but by enjoying the beach and sunbathing.  Did a little swimming in the ocean where I unfortunately lost my sunglasses to a rather powerful wave, but good thing there are vendors wandering the beaches selling beach necessities such as vases, plates, and sunglasses. After a bit of haggling and some stifled giggles (Haggler: “ 1 turdy”  me: “ 1 20” Haggler “1 turdy”   me “1 20”  the process went on for quite some time) I was able to make an essential purchase and get back to the important things such as taking in enough vitamin D to last 3 life times.  A little later we pulled ourselves together for some delicious Peruvian food with our Peruvian expert, Kate.

 It’s that time again to pack up and move on the next country. Watch out Costa Rica, here we come!

El Salvador...No pasa nada

Friday June 8th after a tearful goodbye to my students and chaotic last minute packing and cleaning session, Kate and I began our month long traveling adventure. Our good friend Magdiel was nice enough to buy us our last Honduran baleadas and drive us to Santa Rosa so that we could catch the bus to Octopeque and start making our way to the beaches in El Salvador. After making quite an appearance at the bus station with our huge backpacks and "carry on bags" we waited 45 minutes for the bus to come. By now you would think we would be pros and rush to get on the bus...but we decided last minute bathroom trips were crucial for good traveling, this unfortunately landed us standing room only. You can only imagine our dismay at such a bad way to start our trip. Luckily after about 30-45 minutes..not sure on time as we are both watchless, we finally have two people get off the bus thus giving us their seats. We made it to Octopeque where we decided to hire a taxi to take us to La Palma. We had a taxi driver with quite hussle as he ran through 2 way traffic, skidding in front of cars so that he could reach his taxi and pick us up before another taxi could come and swoop us away. He was quite a chatty man, and we enjoyed his Spanglish and hearing about Vegas and the muchas parties  and the que crazy in Vegas. We made it safely to La Palma and found a hostel where we had stayed before, went for some pupusas and beers and found ourselves passed out in bed by 8.

We woke up Saturday morning ready to rock and roll our way to the beach but first we had to conquer the challenge of walking to the bus stop with all of our luggage, no easy task and my  mom can attest to this. Once situated on the bus we made our way to San Salvador. When we arrive we pull into a gas station and the driver told us that he was unable to go the bus station and we would have to walk across the road. Let me tell you that the road was about 6 lanes across and please don't forget that we are both carrying huge backpackers backpacks, I also have a frontal backpack and Kate has her "cocina". We look at each other with that "oh shit we are never going to make it look" when all of a sudden another bus driver appears and tells us that he will take us to the correct bus terminal to go to the beach. We weigh our options and decide why not. While on the bus we keep pestering the driver as to where to get off and when he finally tells us it's our stop we look around at nothing but "residential" area.....no bus stop anywhere in site....yes panick sets in slightly. Good thing we had adrenaline because we ended up having to walk 4 blocks, thanks to the man already on the bus and his awesome sign language (holds up 2 fingers, makes his fingers do the walking motion, and points in the direction for us to go). We finally get on the direct bus where we learn we have to pay an entire passenger fare for our bags. Again we are dropped off in the middle of nowhere kind of feeling when 2 very sweet old woman directed us where to go...another 6 or 7 blocks and we found our hostel Papaya Lodge aka hot box central. We quickly pulled ourselves together and set out to exlpore. We found an amazing cafe with yummy food and tasty chai lattes, yep El Tunco was going to be great. We then layed out on the beach and enjoyed our time on black sand beaches. That night we decided to see what the town had to offer for night life...we ate some dinner  (pupusas) and drank some of El Salvador's national beer Pilsener ( you can't forget to pronounce it like pill-sa-ner otherwise they won't have a clue what you are talking about) We meet some interesting people that night including one man who claimed to have a helicopter, a boat, and was the ball boy for the Wizards and knew Micheal Jordan but had somehow erased the picture of the two. We also met some Brazilians whose favorite phrase was "No pasa nada" used probably about every 5th sentence.

Sunday found us eating amazing pancakes and ready for some more beach time. We watched the surfers and enjoyed a nice laid back day.











Monday was rough because we had to eat some more amazing pancakes and spend some more time on the beach....man life is tough. After a hard day of sunbathing we pulled our sweaty selves together for some 2 for 1 margaritas at a bar across the way. We walk into the bar increasing the population to 4 when all of a sudden we hear someone say "Kate!" I am sure I had the most dumbfound look on my face. What are the odds of Kate running into one of her old Colorado buddies in a small beach town in El Salvador. They invited us to a bbq and we had a great time.

Tuesday came all too soon and after yet another amazing breakfast we had to pack up our bags again..this time bailing some stuff realizing our bags were just too heavy.  We trekked back to the road and hopped a bus to San Salvador. We got ourselves situated in our hotel directly above the bus station and took a taxi to the mall. Yes, I said mall and it was the closest thing to America I have experience since being in Central America. The mall was 3 stories and had all sorts of stores. It was fun but a little overwhelming to experience. We ended up eating a Little Ceasar's pizza and had left overs for the next days journey to Managua. 4 am comes awfully early!

Travels have been going well and can't wait to see what Nicaragua brings!

A year I will never forget

The days are rapidly dwindling and before I know it I will be packing and jetting off on some amazing adventures. I am so excited to begin traveling but I would be lying if I said my heart wasn't breaking by leaving.

My students and this experience have had such a profound effect on me. I know that leaving here, I will leave a changed person. One who appreciates so much more, who communicates better, who loves without boundaries, who laughs more, and who will never forget how lucky she really is.

As I began to tear down my classroom, my students have realized that the end is near. They are constantly begging me not to go, and to stay one more year. We go round and round with the conversation about why I can't stay, though it breaks my heart every time. Today, the students put together a surprise party at recess for the teachers. They gave us juice, candy, cookies, and chips. They had planned everything on their own, including who would bring what. It was at this moment the realization hit of how much these students truly mean to me. They are thoughtful and loving and though we have had our moments, and they do remember the days that Miss Kristin was "grumpy" they still love me nonetheless. It was also this moment where I realized just how lucky I am. I have received so much love and support from all my friends and family and students that have come in and out of my life. I can't even begin to express how grateful I am for all the love I have been given in my 26 short years of life, it is more than some people receive in a lifetime. My heart feels so much joy but hurts at the same time knowing that within a few short days I will have to say goodbye to these amazing students, and they will never get to understand how much they have given me.

Some of the most recent favored moments with my students:

After experiencing quite a bit of difficulty with one math lesson, we return from recess to attack the lesson from a different angle. This of course changed our schedule for the day. So I told my students we would have to "shuffle" around our schedule. My students of course ask "Mees, what is shuffle?" I tell them it means to move things around. One students stands up and begins dancing and singing "Every day I am just shuffling" - video is available upon request.

While practicing verbs in the present and past, I told my students a story in the present which they had to change to the past. I left the story open ended so that the students could finish the story which went a little something like this. I went to a dark scary castle, I heard a noise and I saw........ Well my lil girls are such the little romantics and of course I saw a prince who "ironically" was named Wrenn and we got married and lived happily ever after....silly kids. They have also decided that if we have kids their names should be Oskar, Nancy, and Fabiola.

I have one student who is particularly upset about me leaving and is constantly hugging on me and telling me she will miss me. Today I gave the students parts of the border that I have taken down, and almost of all the students said they will use it to remember me (very sweet, I know) then, this student asked if I would forget her and I told her I could never forget her and that she and the other students will stay in my heart forever. She ran and told all the other students that they will be in my heart forever and I had students running up to me to tell me that I would be in their hearts too. These kiddos are so precious.

If I have learned one lesson from my students it's that you don't need fancy technology, resources, you don't even need a printer or copy machine for students to learn all you have to do is love and believe in them. 

Dear Minerva Class of 2021, I will always remember and love you!

Wrapping up

Since we have returned from Semana Santa our weeks have been busy with activities mid-terms and wrapping up learning for the year.

Thursday April 12th was open house day for my kiddos parents to come in and watch the class and see how far the kids have come. We did a readers theater and presented our science habitat projects. There was a lot of English being spoken and I am not sure what the parents understood or thought but I couldn't have been more proud of the kiddos. They have all come so far in learning English, it always amazes me when children can be so bilingual.

Then April 20th brought Family Day. Families were invited to come and participate in games with students. It was so much fun to watch parents and children interact in all the different games. I was in charge of wheelbarrow races and had some great entertainment. Unfortunately it was a wicked hot day but the students still had a great time. Other games included a cake walk, family soccer, sponge races, two-legged races.

To continue the festivities, we had Summer Days on May 4th where the children were invited to Villa de Ada which is a large swimming area with 4 pools, a play set, and some shady areas to play fun games. The Face painting began as soon as the students arrived, unfortunately none of us are the best of artists but we pulled our own, and if I ever desperately need a job I just might have a career as I wowed some with my helicopter on one child's cheek. Then students were first involved in a game of drip, drip, drop much like duck duck goose but with water. And, a game of musical towels, yup just like musical chairs but using towels (we have some very clever teachers here). Then the students were antsy to get swimming so after a quick break we set the children loose in the pools and hoped for the best. Miraculously not a single drowned or was hurt. I had a great time playing with my kids as they dragged me into the pool to play with them.






























Friday May 11th arrived and we had Sports Day where children were able to burn energy and their faces (another wickedly hot day) playing all different sports games. We played kickball, volleyball, soccer, we had some fun relay races, some games of tug-o-war, and an obstacle course. I can only imagine that the students went home dead tired, because that's how I felt at the end of the day

Friday May 18th was Math Day where students engaged in fun math activities. The activity for my students was math relay races. The kids had a great time practicing their addition and subtraction facts while getting a bit of exercise as well. They had to run to a hula hoop, complete the equation, do that many jumping jacks then run back and high five the next person in line. The students had a great time, even the slightly uncoordinated lil preppa guys who by the way looked adorable trying to do jumping jacks.


Lastly, May 25th was Science Exploration Day. Students had to sign up for an activity, which included things like magnet exploration, bubbles, paper airplanes, fossils, sink or float, and lava lamps. My activity was lava in a cup which unfortunately didn't go quite as I had imagined but I learned about a lot of other great ideas to use with kiddos.

It is so hard to believe that I only have 3 more full days with my kiddos then 4 days of exams. I will miss all of the students so very very much! It has been such a wonderful experience and these children will always have a place in my heart.