Collegiate Travels

        Today we visited the girls at La Yahoska for the second time this week. However, today only the girls went to visit while the guys went to La Finca. The girls were definitely more reserved than the boys, but today they came out of their shells and were more animated when it was just girls coming to play with them. Right when I walked in carrying a brand new basketball, an energetic girl named Darling grabbed my hand and we ran over to their basketball court that is on their property. This was espcially fun for me because it was a new way for me to communicate with them since I don’t know any spanish. We played “caballo,” which was the basketball game called “horse” in spanish. It was one of my favorite moments of the trip thus far, and it was fun to see the girls come out of their shells a little bit more. The day was filled with games and hair braiding with the girls, playing with Geoffrey and exploring the property of La Finca with Julian, and losing a salsa dancing competition with Henry, and it was tiring but one of the best days yet. I’ve loved how my language barrier with the kids has seemed mostly non existent and I’m glad that there have been a multitude of ways that I have been able to connect and bond with all of the kids at La Yahoska and La Finca.-AB
        When we arrived at the La Yahoska this morning, we were immediately greeted by a group of girls who wanted to read a book with us.  Although we did not know a lot of the words, they were extremely patient and described the definitions of each unknown word, so that we were able to follow the plot.  Their endless patience with us was particularly surprising to me because I probably would have started getting annoyed within a few sentences.  Afterwards, the girls had a hair braiding party with us, which mostly consisted in them commenting on how we needed to comb our hair or dying it with large quantities of chalk. My favorite part of the day was that although the girls were more subdued than the boys, they really started to get comfortable with us and were a lot more lively today.  It was cool how in just a day, they went from barely speaking to us to playing games and joking around with us.  

-Chelsea

This trip is all about immersion and learning from the culture of Nicaragua.  The person that embraces this the most is not a student, but one of our instructors, Mitch.  He graduated from Providence College and might attend MIT for graduate school in the Fall.  With all of his education, he could be making huge amounts of money at some corporate job but instead he chooses to live on an active volcano in the middle of Lake Nicaragua, directing a sustainable farm.  He has been here long enough to appreciate the small things such as  random well in the middle of the country that provided him the best water he had ever tasted.  Mitch encouraged us to travel the world while we are still young, which this trip has inspired all of us to do.
Henry C.

       Today we brought the kids the only thing that could cause a greater amount of excitement than our presence itself: soccer balls. We visited the boys side, and when they realized what we had brought, their exuberance was overflowing. The kids quickly separated us all into three teams mixed of Los Quinchos and us, and the games began.

        The kids could not have looked more in their element, as the rest of us ran up and down the field, trying to keep up with the Quinchos who seemed to have an endless amount of energy. While my team may not have scored for any of our three games, playing soccer with those kids was an incredibly powerful experience, and I really felt like it was the most I had connected with the kids so far on the trip. They took me in as their teammate even though my best shot attempt ended up somewhere between 20 and 30 feet above the goal, and it really meant a lot to me. We may not be able to completely communicate with words all the time but being able to connect through our common love for sports and soccer brought us all closer today in a way I will never forget. Hopefully they can teach me some moves, so next time I’m some use to my teammates on the field.

-Ben Greer
“¿Barca o Madrid?” 

“Prefiero Barca, pero mi equipo favorito es Manchester United.” 
With my minimal Spanish abilty, some conversations with Los Quinchos can be difficult. However, talking with the kids about football, our favorite teams, and our favorite players, provided an opportinity to communicate and bond with the children. Today I created a lot of relationships through soccer, both through conversation and on the field.
When we were playing, I immediately noticed a carefree attitude from the kids. Unlike in the States, where sports are generally accompanied with competitiveness and seriousness, Los Quinchos always played with smiles on their faces, and never argued with each other. This was great for me to witness, because it taught me to appreciate my ability to play soccer everyday. While I have multiple soccer balls, and three good pairs of Nike Soccer cleats, the kids didn’t have a good ball until we brought them some.
Today’s time with Los Quinchos showed me that soccer can bring people together, even with a language barrier. 
-Dalton Ruh