Well been in site for a week or so now---and contrary to what everyone told us, we have NOT been bored or found ourselves with too much down time….that may change but it may not.
Upon arriving in site, our host mom’s dad had passed away so we experienced roughly the equivalent of a Nicaraguan wake our first day in site, which also happened to be Thanksgiving. It was really beautiful and involved a mass, lots of singing and instruments, flowers and analter, and the sharing of a lot of food.
The next day we spent mostly running around all day with the neighborhood kids, playing basketball, soccer, hide and go seek, and other games that I didn’t understand the names of---we received piles of little gifts from all the kids, including drawings and friendship bracelets. We set up a meeting with these kids to see if we may be able to start up some type of youth group for the month of December (dec and jan is their summer break, so they have looooaaadddss of free time now). We’ll see how that goes.
The next day was the monthly meeting for all the professors in the area, Matt and I went and observed and listened while our group of English teachers discussed goals and changes they would like to see in the future (in Spanish) . They also had to compile an evaluation for the whole school year to give to our director. It was especially nice because we got to hang out with all of our counterparts in the same place.
Following day we went to visit the farm of the family of one of my counterparts—we hopped a bus from her house on the edge of town and rode for just about 15 minutes down a dirt and incredibly bumpy road---I am sure these roads become impassable during the rainy season. And the bus was jam packed—including all the aisle space, with people hanging out the back a bit. Her farm was beautiful and the family there was especially welcoming and kind---we went for a long walk through the bosque or forest as this part of town is called, to a suspension bridge that was just recently built. My counterpart says that previously the folks on the other side of the river often could not cross because of floods. However, on the other side of the bridge there are also amenities. My counterpart’s niece came along with us, about 9 years old? And she is like a sponge for the English language—I had a great time teaching her words. Back at the farm we were served coffee and oranges and sweet bread. We climbed a tree and walked around and talked some more before starting for home. It was a long walk home since we opted not to take the bus, but after about an hour, a mini bus came along and the driver new my counterpart so he offered us a ride. The sunset over the mountains and the river was gorgeous.
The next day we went to observe University level classes that take place at the school were matt teaches, but only on the weekends. We will be pursuing some opportunities to help out there as well. The students were only taking exams, but we had a chance to meet the English students and to spend some time practicing a little conversational English with them—it was fun and the students seem very motivated—as does matt’s counterpart who teaches them. After this, it was back to the house to get ready for preschool graduation—yes 3 of the 4 kids that we live with graduated from preschool. I had no idea how big of deal this was going to be—but the 96 kids and their parents were dressed for Prom and paraded down the main street to the pavilion where we had the grand ceremony. It lasted almost 2.5 hours and was pretty extravagant—also adorable and I took zillions of photos.

LATER THAT WEEK--
Sort of over graduations now that i have been to 3!!!! we did get to sit in chairs of honor and have our names announced at the high school ones....
got to climb a mountain
and play some wicked games of soccer with the kids--one of whom we think should be on a professional team---those kids outplay us, and they dont ever drink water!!! OR wear shoes....man could i go on, but i won,t.

i will tell you all that we miss you and love you. i try not to--but i cannot help but think of all the things we are missing, all the babies and holidays and birthdays and coffee with the momma in law, we REALLY miss you guys. Please write when you can and let us know how you are---it helps!!!

LOVE LOVE LOVE
JULIA Y MATEO