Día del Maestro Nicaragüense.

With much mystery and anticipation I have arrived at the celebrations of the “Day of the Nicaraguan Teacher.” The last two days have been so much fun. Thursday of this week we had a school-wide celebration to celebrate all the teachers at school. It was put on by the administrators and student council. On arriving to school all the teachers met at the technical workshops across the street from the main school buildings. We were then personally escorted over to the main school by sharply dressed students. As we walked in we were met with a standing ovation of over 1400 students and parents. It was slightly overwhelming. But, I must say, much less so than when I first got here. There were cultural acts including: dances, poems, rapping, and singing. There were also games for the teachers to win prizes. I won an obnoxiously bright bag with sea creatures all over it. After the assembly the students dispersed to their classrooms where they had prepared parties for their teachers. Since a handful of us teachers don’t have our own classes we walked around, danced to bumping music, drank pop, and ate tons of food. Nicaraguans love to dance. Many of the classrooms had huge stereo systems set up with speakers loud enough to fill a gymnasium. Everyone danced till they were made to leave. It was so hot. Everyone was sweating. And no one cared.

Jamil, Dora, and me



Traditional dances and Palo de Mayo




On Friday all the teachers, administrators, and grounds grew (60+ staff) piled into a school bus and headed to the beach at Masachapa a little over an hour away. Fe y Alegría hosted all the teachers from their 20 plus schools from all over the country at a beautiful beach resort for a day of fun and recreation. We were each given fruit and pop and we ate huge fried fish for lunch. The ocean water was really warm and the crystal clear pool was refreshing and bright. It was really good to get out of Managua and to share something fun with my coworkers. I had a slow start getting to know them and making connections. However, yesterday was a really good indicator of how far I’ve come in settling in and making friends. I was able to chat with some, share a drink with others, and just splash and dance with others in the pool. At the peak of low tide my friend Jamil and I walked out on some rocks to where some local boys were fishing off a rock shelf. I saw one boy pull up an eight inch unidentifiable fish using only a small spool of line running through his calloused hands. It was pretty impressive.

Fish!


Jamil under water

A local kids fishs

Bus Ride!

Fiesta bajo el agua

It’s strange to think about July 4^th being next weekend. Changing seasons don’t connect with me here. I forget what people are doing back home. It’s strange to think that many of my friends just graduated from college last month and that a year ago at this time I was making my way across the country on an epic West Coast road trip. This blog is officially over a year old now. I’ve come a long way in just one year. Here’s to the next one! Cheers!