Day 3

¡Hola todos!

What an eventful day! Our projects finally began this morning at 8:30 am Nicaragua time.  We were introduced to two more very nice people: José Carlos and Rolman.  José Carlos was in charge of helping us paint the mural, and Rolman helped proctor the construction of the classroom.  After introductions, we promptly split into two groups.  Mr. Keiper, Dr. Burlingame, Maggie, Madison, and Lauren decided to attack the manual labor- what brave souls! Señora Tansey, Meredith, Miki, Catherine, and Courtney all volunteered for the mural- an even braver task since no one thinks they are artistic. 

In the constructions zone, the troop further split into various jobs.  Mr. Keiper and Madison chiseled the walls with hatchets.  Maggie and Lauren painted the roof with green paint; however, they had to later change their job due to the fumes escaping from the buckets.  Dr. Burlingame courageously shoveled dirt into a wheelbarrow and wheeled it on rather thin boards into the room to help eventually level out the floor.  Later, all members were flexing their muscles in admiration from the exertion.

In front of the school, the other team was set with the task of helping to paint the mural.  By helping, we mean Jose Carlos told us each and every little thing we needed to accomplish and even drew the people.  He was very nice and very patient with our blank stares.  Thankfully, he spoke English rather well, so they could joke and work at the same time.  We first put on the primer.  We found it very dangerous when people were unfortunate to be under the rain of paint.  The person with the roller would get sprayed with the white paint and come away looking as if it had snowed in Nicaragua.  It also attracted strange looks from the people moving in and out of the school.  We realized the extent of our difference when a very spirited boy ran from the inside of the school who had bade to us “adios” and promptly yelled “Mama, yo hablo con los gringos.” Señora, smiling, promptly yelled back “gringos?” and the cute little boy walked away smiling.  For those that don’t know, the term “gringo” is a slang term for white.  This was a definite highlight and point in which laughter resonated throughout the group.

Another fun point came when we were outlining the people on the mural.  The mural consists of the words “el derecho vivir…limpio,” which translates to “the right to live…clean.” On the mural, there are parents with their son.  They are showing how they recycle and throw away trash in the picture.  Outlining went well until we came to the eyes of the father.  No one could quite figure out how they should outline the eyes.  After having Jose Carlos repeat the instructions multiple times, we kind of figured out what to do.  Confidently thinking she had the right idea, Courtney quickly outlined the eyebrow.  She thought it looked good, but from those peering at the eyes from a distance, they bluntly told her he looked mad. And yes, he looked very mad.  Thinking that he could change it, Mr. Keiper ascended the chair and tried to curve the eyebrows.  What was the result?  The man looked very sinister, now that he had bushy eyebrows that could easily extend into a unibrow.  Jose Carlos promptly drew some devil horns onto his head. We just wanted people to know that the man would be angry if they did not throw away trash or recycle.

From being outside the school, we interacted with all the people outside the school.  Very politely, they would sit curiously and stare at the mural.  People would come and go, but we formed a bond with a particular canine that trotted back and forth as we worked.  Jose Carlos designated this cute, golden dog as “nuestro mascota.” He was a very spirited and kind canine.

With all of this hard work, we really were in need of breaks. Our most memorable moments occurred in these breaks.  Most of us successfully learned all of the hand games and their variations with each student.  Many of us came away with very red hands that throbbed.  Finally, after lunch, we played “futbol,” something that we all have dreamed of doing.  Soccer came up in our discussion on the way back to the retreat center, during dinner, and largely during reflection.  We played first with young’uns that were about a foot shorter than us, so we took it easy on them.  Because we were saving our strength, we lost.  They went back to class and we went back to work.

After lunch, the real soccer game began.  This time we played against boys that had more strength than us, more skill, and more height than the last group.  In the beginning, we took it easy on them because we were not quite sure at the caliber of their game.  Once they began out playing us and scoring points, we kicked it into gear.  We began to play their type of game, running up and down the field and playing very rough.  We have battle wounds from this game.  Those soccer stars decided it would be a good idea to play real rough and tumble soccer.  After fighting for the ball, Catherine fell to the ground and had to deal with a hurt wrist for the rest of the night.  We all had to sacrifice to get even one point.  We could tell the boys far exceeded our abilities because one little guy had perfect follow through when he lost his shoe on the roof and proceeded to somehow obtain it and play the game the rest of the time with only one shoe on.  To show how bad we were playing, two nice boys- Jorge and the tall, lanky one with the Mohawk- decided to join our time and score some goals for us.  A feat that we were unable to accomplish on our own.  We were dripping in sweat and very exhausted, but we were ready to do justice on ourselves tomorrow.  After a night of hard sleeping, we will be ready to face our opponents again and win.  We all developed a love for “futbol” between these two games as well as a deep affection for these children.  Will we ever be able to leave?