Day 5, Monday, June 16
San Juan del Sur Work Day
³The Adventure of the Litterbug²
By Mariah McCallum
Today Kalee, Chelsea, Jordan, and myself woke around 9:00 to eat breakfast
in the hotel restaurant. Fueled by the delicious jugo de naranja, pan
tostado, and huevos, we headed off to our adventure at the Escuela de Carlos
Guzman (School) in the Carizal about 6 kilometers south of San Juan del Sur.
We hopped in the back of Brooke Rundle¹s truck joined by Rico and Whitney,
to head for the school. The road to get there was un poco bumpy, but at the
same time extremely exhilarating.
Upon our arrival, the kids ran out and greeted us with a series of cheers
and ³Hola²s . We were introduced by Brooke and her brother Wes and then sent
out to make up a skit about OLitterbug¹. Wes played the part of the evil
litterbug while Chelsea, Kalee, Jordan and myself scolded him for throwing
his trash on the ground. After this little ecological lesson, we started a
game of ³Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes² which was thoroughly enjoyed by
all. The kids were then split up into four groups to do activities that
consisted of coloring, puzzle-making, note-cards, and drawing. Chelsea and I
gratefully took the puzzle making group while Jordan and Kalee made English
translation note-cards with the kids. The puzzle of choice for the day was
Scooby Doo, over and over again. Although we did have a couple of kids that
chose the ambitious 1,000-piece puzzle, immediately followed by cries of
³Muy Dificil!² Nevertheless, they seemed to be piecing the puzzles together
much faster than I could ever hope to.
At our station, we quizzed the kids on numerous English words by asking,
Como se dice el collar en ingles², and such. The kids were brilliant and
learned many of the words after only a single repetition. Unfortunately time
ran out quickly and it was time to hand out the wonderful Zebra cakes,
supplied by Ervonnie. The kids loved them and received two zebra cakes each
with the surplus being given to the teachers. The time came far to fast to
say our goodbyes and they were accompanied by numerous kisses and hugs.
We took pictures and afterwards the kids enjoyed zooming in on their faces.
Leaving the school we felt both fulfilled and extremely sad. We were left
with a feeling of accomplishment for our donations and time with the kids
but also with a lingering vision of the kids sparkling faces and the
possibility that we might not see them again. Thus ended one of the
greatest experiences we have all had thus far in our short little lives.
Day 5 Continued, another group's adventures
Lucky Day in San Juan del Sur with JT
By Tim Kelly
On every tour we have our local friends and supporters that make certain
days, matches, or events special, but on this trip, I really want to take my
hat ofj for Jon "JT" Thompson.
As the executive director of Pelican Eyes' Jean Brugger Foundation and
founder and director of Comunidad Connect, I don't know how JT finds time to
be so great with our girls, but somehow, tour after tour, he does, and I
really appreciate it.
On this, our first "Work Day" in San Juan del Sur, Shelby, Rachel, Marissa,"Mouth" Driggers, and Mallory all had the pleasure of spending the morning
with JT on a tour around town. It would be impossible to fully explain
exactly what JT does in his many roles around town, but suffice to say that
he knows everyone, and has his hand in a lot of the many great things that
are going on. He showed them the new Art Gallery in town that's there to
promote local artists, the Stones & Waves veterinary clinic at Pelican Eyes
(monkeys!), the Sports Park where we would play our match the next evening,
and they even had time to visit a few schools to pass out some of the oodles
of goodies that this group brought down from Florida. As you can see from
the photos, there was plenty of time to hang out with the kids, practice
some Spanish/English, and of course draw pictures together.
After working up a big appetite, JT brought them out to the Carizal for
lunch on the Casa Llanta farm with most of the other Floridians. A true"campo" meal of fresh grilled chicken and fish with real gallo pinto and
maduros (bananas), just like the local farmers eat.
We really want to thank JT for his time and efforts, and even more so on
this trip as it was he that was the driving force behind getting the group
up to Finca Java as well.
Please take a moment to check out all of the great things going on at
Comunidad Connect at:
Day 5 Continued, from another angle
WorK Day at Casa Llanta (the ³Tire House²)
By Brian 'Kermit', Boca Raton, FL
& Eric E'ster, Ponte Vedra, FL
We got up and drove to El Carizal near San Juan at like 6 in the morning. We
ate a hearty breakfast of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches when we got
there. We learned about the Earthship named Casa Llanta. It is a recycled
house. Since our landfills are filling up and there are not many trees left
here in Nica to legally harvest, this house is being built out of cement,
tires pounded with dirt (like 150-200 lbs of dirt each) and cans. To get
initiated, before we could begin work on the house we all had to pound two
tires. Kamryn and Taylor won the race but we all pounded with everything we
had. The house also has some wood in it, and recycled bottles - plastic and
glass.
After pounding tires Brian and Eric started digging a trench that needed
re-digging after a recent downpour. It is now called ³The Trench of Eric² as
Eric spent like 3 hours digging. Brian got called up to the roof with Alexia
to pound nails and Alexia was using a power tool saw. Don't worry Dr. T., we
knew you could sew her back up! Taylor and Kamryn tied wire on rebar while
building a dome for one of the last rooms. Taelor, Meghan, CJ and Ashley
finished building the wall to the garden and making a drainage area. They
used rebar to dig with as well as a pick axe. It was hard work for all, but
it was great to get out there and sweat as well as learn about sustainable
building.
Later Ervonni, Gail, Jenny and GG showed up and they all had to pound a tire
too. We then had a great lunch of rice, beans, fresh fish, and tang. It was
so good, and we were eating right out there in the ³campo² with the locals.
(Mom¹s skip this paragraph): We then got a show of how they train fighting
cocks. It was interesting that the man was trying to show us how they
physically train and exercise the cocks so that they can be good fighters,
like we exercise to be good volleyball players. I¹m talking squats and
lateral movements, etc. It was funny, and really cool.
We loaded up at 2pm and drove to the hotel. Brian stayed another hour and
met up with us later when we all walked up to Pelican Eyes to hang out and
do nothing at the pool until dinner. It was amazing up there! The pool was
awesome we had cold drinks and swam and slept. Whitney, Shelby, Meghan,
Kamryn, Taelor, Eric, Brian, Taylor, Alexia and CJ all enjoyed some down
time as well.
We met up with the group for dinner at Pelican Eyes. It was a great dinner
of guess what: chicken, rice, beans, salad, pasta salad and chips and salsa.
It was so good. We took pictures of the sunset and after dinner when we
were all getting ready to go, KaLee decided to take a swim. Actually she
tripped on her chair by the pool and ended up in the pool. It was a great
laugh.
Overall this tour has given us an overwhelming sense of relief that we live
in the USA. To be honest, we are extremely fortunate beyond belief. We have
witnessed the poverty, dirty streets, and roads with potholes galore. Seeing
this, we come to a greater conclusion of how lucky we all are.
