I never thought I’d be back in school so soon, but who would’ve expected a school where you could swing in a hamock while sipping coffee in an outdoor classroom? The last two weeks have been nothing but amazing.
Throughout the remainder of our time in Matagalpa the group continued to participate in activities organized by the language school. We visited an organization called Agentes de Cambio (Agents of Change). This organization specializes in spreading the word about how all people are equal regardless of their sexuality. They spend time out in the city showing that just because of their choice in who they love isn’t the same as what people consider “normal,” they’re still people and should be treated no differently.
Friday the 27th was a pretty busy day along with the normal 4 hour daily classes, ITZA went to Casa Materna, a maternity house and even though we were told beforehand what to expect, there were some shocked faces upon realizing how young some of the women were having their first child. We joined the group of women to a walk to a nearby hotel (they were interested in seeing it because they don’t get to see ‘richer’ things often, coming from the countryside.) We snapped pics near the hotel, even got a group picture with the women and headed back to the maternity house. The whole group spent time getting to know each other and a bit about life styles most pregnant women live. It seemed a bit backwards to hear that most ladies get pregnant before even deciding what they want regarding their personal lives and future.
Later that evening Carpe along with our teachers from language school rode up to an amazing spot to view the city, one of the highest there is. Just like all the other things we’ve seen and/or experienced, the view was incredible, looking out a few of us joked and said we could see our host-family’s homes. We could actually see as far as the main road we had driven on the day we came to Matagalpa. Diana (the advanced Spanish class teacher) called us down from the spot we were looking from, to play some games.
After a round of tag and a backwards version of hide-and-seek, we started a game of WAH!, a game of great strategy and extreme skill. We eventually had a circle of 30 people, a group of local teens had been hanging out at the same spot were were at and asked to play, we explained the game once more and proceeded to play, the evening ended with tons of laughs, a few “dangits” and a group of Nicaraguan teens who now know how to play an American game. That night the group came together for a night at a local cafe/bar for dancing. ITZA showed up at Artesano’s around 7:30 pm and danced, enjoyed each others’ company til about 11pm.
Twice we were able to spend time with locals, both in a school/university setting. The group took time and planned an afternoon with with Elementary students, teaching them American card games and songs. It was an absolute blast having and seeing the kids’ faces light up when they had done something right or won a game of Uno. The boys played a few games of soccer. The younger boys were so excited to be playing with older guys, they seemed to be very upset when we had to leave.
We had an evening where we went to a local University, the group paired up with a university student or two and spent an hour speaking English with them. The Univerisity students were in their third year of English class. ITZA loved this because we were the natives and had all the knowledge about the language. We learned and taught a lot too.
The last large group discussion was about feminism. The talk entailed a lot of information about the history of how women have made a difference in Nicaragua and how organizations have given the women who have been victimized a voice. I personally found this interesting because it opened my eyes to see there’s domestic violence in more places than the U.S.
Saturday the 28th, ITZA spent the day on a tour of popular places in the city. It started with two waterfalls in the morning. Things got a bit interesting during our visit/swim at the 2nd waterfall.
I took an awesome and not so graceful fall and twisted my right ankle. That evening ended with Noah, Julia and I in the clinic where I was given a two layered watermelon cast by a private doctor who so kindly came to the clinic from home that night.
During our two weeks in Matagalpa we spent 4 hours in Spanish Language study at Colibri Spanish School. We quickly fell in love with the directors, teachers, and employees keeping the school running. Each of us walked away with more knowledge of the city as well as the ability to speak better Spanish.
With two jampacked weeks the ITZA group was probably ready for some time off to relax, but Saturday morning we were expected to be at the school with all of our stuff ready to head to our new location. Stay tuned to see what the group gets into next…
Hasta Luego!
Ryann
