Day 5

Today is Nicaraguan Independence day so we could not work on our project.  Instead, we packed our day with cultural excursions.  We visited El Coyotepe, a political prison turned tourist attraction, and then Masaya Volcano and markets.  After a short rest at Oasis, we braved the crowded streets of Granada in mid-festival on the way to dinner and did some sight-seeing on the walk back.

I talked with Halle, the only one down here not directly associated with Frontier, about her experience so far.  I've transcribed part of our conversation here:

Joe: Compared to some of your expectations going in to this trip, what are some of the things that have surprised you or that you didn't expect?

Halle: I've had a lot of fun.  I like all the people, they're funny.  I was not expecting such hard work!  Its very difficult.

Joe: Like, physically?

Halle: Yeah.

Joe:What are some of the images that have really stuck with you over the last 4 days that we've been here?

Halle: Definitely the trash on the street and how poor the communities are.  How unsanitary almost everything is.

Joe: So, I've noticed you playing with the children a lot that live next to the work site.  Give me one story about what that has been like.

Halle: Well, when they were playing with our phones it was really cool to see the excitement on their faces holding that technology that they've never seen before.  We also played games with them like hopscotch and kicked around a ball.

Joe: How about the excursions that we've done?  What are some of the things that really stick out?

Halle: The prison was really shocking.  Learning about how they were treated as political prisoners.

Joe: Hearing about the history was really cool.  What is, like, an image from the prison that really sticks out?

Halle: Definitely imagining people hanging from the hooks and being tortured.

Joe: Lake Nicaragua?  Boat tour?

Halle: That was amazing!  I thought seeing all of the islands was so cool.

Joe: Going back to the work site and the project that we are working on, building a center for the sole purpose of after school help and programming, what is your impression knowing that in Nicaragua there aren't really that many opportunities like this?

Halle: I mean, I think that they will definitely use the center because they don't do anything otherwise.  And I think they want to better themselves.  The kids we talked to said they liked school.

Joe: Cool.  Anything else?

Halle: Umm...

Joe: Are you excited for the beach house?

Halle: Yeah, that will be nice!

Here are some pics from today!

Myles and Hannah trying a licha spiny fruit for the first time at breakfast.

Molly walking across the walls of El Coyotepe before our tour.

Going down to the first level of El Coyotepe.  We learned a lot about this political prison from our tour guide and Jeff that made this trip a thrill to experience.

On the first level there are bullet holes everywhere from the most recent regime change about 30 years ago. The horrors that occurred in this structure happened much more recently than many would like to admit.

This is a poor picture but the graffiti on the wall reads "Yo quiero morir" which translates to "I want to die" in English.  Scrawled into the wall nearby is a phrase that translates to "Only Christ can save us."  Thousands were tortured and killed in these rooms over the span of about 40 years.

In this cell, all the human waste of the prisoners in the sections above drains in.  Any prisoners here are doomed to die slowly with disease.  40 prisoners at a time packed tightly for months.

Prisoners would hang and be tortured into this pit.

At Volcan Masaya.

Masaya is an active volcano.  It had an eruption just 3 years ago.

Looking fresh heading out into Granada during the Festival Hipicos, the largest party of the year.  Nicaraguan independence day.

Sitting down to an Americanized meal: Pizza!

Day 4

Journey of a lifetime by Trish and Jasmyne

We start our walk to work like every morning. We could fell the moisture in the air from that night's rain. As we arrived to work the group started to prepare the materials to mix concrete for the floor of the learning center. Doug called Trish and I over to begin our journey to buy a latrine. We walked through streets of Pantanal, the community the we are serving. We got the chance to experience new parts of the area that we normally wouldn't go to. Exploring these new parts of the town, we got to see a lifestyle different than that of the people living near the main roads. You could tell that the people were poorer than the people on the main roads. Finally, we got the right tool. Then, when we got back to the work site, we started breaking up the dirt around the main wall to help support the fence. Other volunteers were leveling out the ground to prepare for laying the concrete floor. Then we made our way down to Ramona's for lunch we had rice, beans, and beef. We returned to the hostel we chilled out for a few. Some Amped staff took us out for smoothies. Afterwards, Serina and I left with Jeff to buy and prepare dinner for the group. While we were there we made a salad and cooked chicken with some gallo pinto, a traditional Nicaraguan dish of rice and beans. The rest of us went walking around Granada. We got to visit vendors on the streets to buy jewelry, clothes, and souvenirs. We also walked to the lake we were on yesterday, Lake Nicaragua. Later, we headed to the house to eat the dinner that Jasmyne and Serina had made for us. After dinner, we sat around talking for a while. During dinner Doug and a few other people including myself talked around the table about the people, schools, jobs, and great ideas that everyone had about helping the community. It was great listening to everyone's ideas. 

Today we learned so much about the different communities in Pantanal. It was interesting seeing some of the poverty up close. It is a very interesting mix walking through the beautiful towns then next thing you know you're walking on dirt roads with houses made out of tin and wood. It really changes how you think about your life at home, and shows you how people live outside of the life you're accustomed to. It kind of makes you wonder when they see you walking down the streets what do they think of us, and how do they think we live?

Playing with the gringas.

These horses trot by us on the street everyday. 

Moving sand and rocks was our main job today. 

The project is progressing. 

The contractors we work with are incredibly resourceful. We are commonly using homemade or repaired tools. Nothing truly goes to waste when your livelihood is at stake. This bucket is an example. 

Quick rest after a shoveling session.  

We have delicious lunches at Ramona's everyday. The building is a failed soup kitchen project that turned into a home for Ramona's extended family. Ramona, the matriarch, lives in a small tin hut in the backyard. 

Trish and King Hector. One of Ramona's grandchildren. 

Rain swim. 

Smoothies!

Grilling at Casa Roja for dinner. 

Deep discussion with Doug. 

Day 3

Here are Jill and Katie with some thoughts on the day:

Today, after a hearty breakfast of eggs and pancakes, we set off for our second day of work. Today at the job site we continued to spread out the dirt to even out the ground, as well as mixed more concerete to finish the foundation for the fence. Today was a hot one but after a big lunch from the generous Romona we finished the day strong! After a relaxing dip in the pool, refreshed and ready to go, we set off for the lake. When we took a tour of lake Nicaragua, seeing just a few of the many islands, such as an island of monkeys and peoples million dollar homes. To round out the day we stopped on an island and had plenty of time to dance and chat, we had dinner.

It is still hard to grasp the distinct difference between the poverty and wealth here. Just by walking down the pavement to the dirt, there seems to be two seperate worlds, not much gray area. When you hit the dirt roads, the car traffic slows and the people's way of living changes drasticly. 

At dinner tonight, Gino was trying to dance with everyone, but he especially liked Jasmyne! It took our minds off of how long it took for the food to be ready, and gave us a chance to get away from the bugs! So many bugs! Dinner took forever but it was very good. And after dinner we got dropped off at this creepy place after were the bus picked us up. Overall the day way awesome and sweaty!

--Katie and Jill

 

Tomorrow we will have our last day of work and a chance to explore Granada in the afternoon.  Check out some pictures from today.  Vaya con dios!

Katie spreading dirt at the work site.

Myles at the bottom of the latrine. 6 meters down!

Jill and Katie playing with some neighborhood kids.

Mombacho volcano is right behind our job site. You can see the trash from the community in the foreground. 

Jill doing work.

Boarding for the boat trip.

Boat selfie. Serina is ready to go.

Welcome to Gino tours!

Lake Nicaragua is the 10th largest lake in the world and contains 13 volcanoes and 406 islands called Las Isletas.  We took an hour long sunset tour while we learned about the culture of the lake.  That's Mombacho in the background, the volcano that super imploded thousands of years ago to help form Las Isletas.

Day 2

Today we got up early!  Katie and Jasmyne went with Jeff to the market to buy our lunch food for the week.  A local family will cook lunch for us everyday and invite us into their home while we work down the road.  Myles and Hannah bought fruit, eggs, and bread at the market and cooked the group breakfast (accompanied by delicious, free Nicaraguan coffee courtesy of Hostel Oasis), then it was off to work.  Jeff and Doug lead us through the city and in to the community most impacted by our work, all while narrating Amped's history and fielding questions.  At the job site, our main jobs today were sifting dirt for concrete, putting up a fence, and spreading dirt to prep for concrete.

After the work day, it was a quick trip into the city to exchange money, a quick dip in the pool and then off to a canopy zip-lining tour of Mombacho, a nearby volcano.  Very cool.

Right now we are eating a home cooked meal at Casa Roja, Amped Headquarters and are going to see a military demonstration around the corner in Granada in an hour.

I had a conversation with Ashlyn before dinner about what we've done so far. This is more or less how it went:

Joe: What's your go-to Spanish phrase?
Ashlyn: Hola como estas?  Sometimes its hard to communicate but I pointed to my camera to take took a photo with a kid at the job site and they knew what I meant.

Joe: Coming in to this trip with expectations, what has been most surprising so far?
Ashlyn: How poor the people are here and how many dogs there are just walking around.

Joe: What did you notice walking today? Through the neighborhood on the way to job site? Through the streets of Granada?
Ashlyn: At the job site I was standing in the road and a horse ran by me and then it stopped because it looked like it was about to die.  It was a baby horse that was following another horse carrying a person.  It was really skinny.
In Granada there are a lot of people who don't really follow the rules.  People will walk out in the middle of the road and cars beep a lot and keep going.

Joe: How was zip-lining?
Ashlyn: It was fun.  I've zip-lined before in Florida but it was cool to see monkeys.  I talked to them.

Joe: Anything else worth mentioning?
Ashlyn: The hostel is cool.  The set up is cool with a garden and hammocks. The pool has no roof and you can see the sky when you swim.

Here are some pics from today!

A dog watches us work from the shade.

You can barely see Cam digging the bottom of a future toilet.

Walking through the neighborhood for an up-close look at some of the living conditions in the community.

Frontier's project last summer is now finished!  Two new classrooms for the primary school!

Jeff talking about Amped's creation and history in the community.

Ashlyn and her puppy.

Building a concrete volcano!

Driving up to the base of Mombacho to zip-line!

There is a lot of skepticism here.

All male selfie.

Las mujeres.

Waiting for dinner.  Starving.

Day 1

Good evening everyone! After an exceptionally long and dramatic travel day, we have arrived in Granada and begun to enjoy ourselves. As soon as we left the Frontier parking lot we encountered a major fatal accident on 91S that kept us at a standstill behind a police barricade for almost an hour and a half at 2am. In danger of missing our flight, excitement quickly turned to nerves as deadlines approached. Despite a hectic check in we got to our gate just as the flight began to board. No Kevin McCallister moment. 

As our flight was held in a holding pattern over Miami, we were in danger of missing our connector. And we DID miss our connector! By 2 minutes! Luckily we were able to rebook as a group on the next flight a couple of hours later. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise as we finally were able to relax for a moment (and get coffee). Still no Kevin McCallister moment. 

But the whirlwind has begun. We are finally here and we've already had an intense Spanish lesson, a dinner out, and a night swim. Tomorrow the work begins at the job site after a tour of the community. 

Our view for over an hour RIGHT after we left...

Excitement turns to boredom turns to anxiety...

Halle orders a "coollatta" in Miami and gets this: double espresso shot. 

Packing the van for our final leg!

I struggled with this selfie. 

We arrive to Oasis to meet Cam, Rowan, and Doug with fresh native fruit waiting for us!

At dinner, Cam poses for a photo. 

Volunteer Info Booklet

Check out this link for a ton more information on Amped's volunteer program:

http://ampedforeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Volunteer-Booklet.pdf

It includes a section on the cultural history of Nicaragua and Granada, a sample schedule of a typical work day while on the trip, and even a recommended packing list. Also, some great pictures and background info of Amped. 

Final reminders!

Hey all! We are being picked up from the Frontier front parking lot at 1:00am on 8/13 for our 5:45am flight in Boston. Please bring your $70 for the transportation cost. We are only days away from departure! 

Here are some general reminders:

**Contact your bank if you plan on bringing a debit card. There will be plenty of ATM access points in Granada to withdraw dollars or cordobas but if your bank sees withdrawals from Nicaragua without any warning they might freeze the card!

**Contact your cell phone company and tell them you will be out of the country and ask how to avoid major roaming or other crazy charges. Some internet searches on how to prep your phone for being overseas are helpful. Find out how to turn off the features on your device that will cost money!

**Our project with Amped will be in a brand new community on recently purchased land. Amped has told me that they would like us all to be wearing Amped tshirts/gear while we are at the job site working to make a positive impression. They will also organize washing and drying the Amped shirts after each work day. I'll give you the shirts when we depart. 

**If you are planning on checking a bag, please review American Airlines policy on baggage checking. It will probably be at least $25 fee. 

**Don't forget to bring school supplies! We will pack everything in a bag to check. We will actually save a ton of time and money on shipping!

Here is Heather's Packing Checklist:

Clothes
T-shirt/ tank tops and shorts for job site 3-4 days
Other casual clothes for nights/days off
At least one nicer outfit- dress or skirt 
At least one bathing suit
Plenty of undergarments
Plenty of socks
Sneakers
Sandals
Shower shoes
Lightweight sweater/sweatshirt/ jacket in case it is chilly
Rain jacket/ umbrella
Hat

Toiletries
Soap
Shampoo & Conditioner
Sun block at least 30spf
Bug spray with deet
Aloe Vera lotion
Razor
Deodorant 
Medications needed
Tylenol/ Advil
A few Band aids
Hand sanitizer
Baby wipes

Other
Passport
Spending money
Beach towel
Glasses/ contacts
Sunglasses 
Phone & charger
Book
Backpack or bag to carry to job site/ beach
Water bottle
Work gloves

If you have questions, please contact me soon. Otherwise, this blog will be updated everyday on the trip with pictures and reflection from our trip goers. See you soon!

Joe

508 944 7917

Joe.costello2@gmail.com