Day 2: literacy, English, sweat and rain
Wednesdays are the busiest days at the manna house, I think. The day started off at 4am when the dogs started to howl, and then again at 6am when nicaragua had a brilliant sunrise that our wall of windows was kind enough to host. Finally getting out of bed two hours later, I took a super refreshing shower and had one of Elena’s incredible french toast breakfasts—and then off to Farito (“Little Lighthouse”)in managua’s primo public transport, the autobus. 3 cord ($0.05) later, we arrived at farito, the open air school we teach in. I helped tina read with armando in beginner’s english and then booked it over to the land- manna’s other commonly visited site here- for teaching intro english and intermediate english with tressa and maddie.
a note about the kids in manna: the 7-10 year olds rock my world with their fervor for learning and development. they come to each program not for a good grade or for popularity. they come because they want to learn how to be better students, better people, more empowered people so they can overcome any challenges they face. that’s not to say these kids don’t have extremely short attention spans or like to go play outside (because trust me, they do), but rather, they stare in the face of adversity and simply overcome. it speaks volumes about what this generation is going to be able to do once they have power within the community and government. world change? yes.
after english we headed back to the house for dinner, games, bonding, laughs, and a team meeting. the students down here continue to amaze me, and i’m so fortunate to have a week with them, much less four. the day was summarized when a fellow manna vol asked “is there anyone who didn’t spend their spring break trying to help the world?” and the majority of us echoed her disbelief of how selfless but humble we are. the PD’s continue to be role models for me, and the fellow manna vols surround me with one of the best environments known to man.
a word about the heat, though: shoot it gets hot here. and fast. by 7am it’s cookin and by noon it’s low 90’s. i’m not used to it, and because i drink more (read: water) than my body can handle i sweat more than i ever have before. the fruit flies swarming us at sunset didn’t boost my confidence that i still smelled alright, but oh well. es la vida nica.
time for bed. la chureca tomorrow. paz,
