Day 2

Today we started our day with Spanish lessons in the morning before walking to Pantanal.  Jeff gave a history of Amped's involvement in the community, then we moved bricks and rock and tied rebar for the walls of the learning center.  Ramona prepared a wonderful lunch and we finished our work. After some downtime in the hostel (pool!) we went back out in Granada for dinner.

Here's Caroline with a reflection:

Today at the learning center I had my first opportunity to interact with the Nicaraguan children. In walking through Pantanal, the town in which the learning center is located, I was exposed to living conditions that I could never have imagined. This provided me with a different perspective towards the children. We were working and a 6 year old girl came up to me and said "agua". Unsure of what she meant, I asked her and she pointed at the water jug. She wanted a cup of water. I knew that I could not give her one, but it was extremely hard to say no. Purified water is not a bountiful resource for them. Although this is cliche, it made me appreciate the simple pleasures I have in Massachusettes, even water. 

Practicar español.

At the edge of Granada walking to Pantanal.

Jeff narrating the walking tour with Amped's history.

Walking through Pantanal.

Tying rebar was one of our main jobs today.

This historic church was across from the delicious taco restaurant where we ate dinner tonight.

Taco Tuesday!

Day 1

Long and almost flawless travel day. Heather's luggage was lost! But no worries, it is on its way tomorrow. 

After reaching the hostel, we had a brief orientation and then walked to dinner. After dinner we walked to an ice cream shop and practiced speaking Spanish by ordering cones. Then it was back to the hostel for some down time before a long day tomorrow!

Here is first time traveler Liam with some reflection:

Although the day was mostly spent in airports and on planes, the brief time in Granada has been, in a word, incredible. Even just walking to exchange my American currency for the Nicaraguan cordobas was so different from what I would expect for an American or even Canadian city. Seeing the people, places, and things scattered throughout the thin streets was truthfully strange; it was far from anything that I had expected. I'm not sure what to look for in the days to come.  

Here is Scotty with some reflections:

My experience so far in the few hours we have been in Nicaragua has been interesting. The experience started as soon as we walked out of the airport and got on the bus. As we started to drive and got away from the small area built up around the airport the third world part of this trip really set in. The people that live here are in such a different ecomomy that when driving by people's "houses" it was some times hard to tell if it was a house or a storage shed. I am excited to help the community in all the ways possible in the days to come.

Layover in Miami 

The amazing bus ride from the air port to the hostle (as mentioned in Scotty's entry)

Orientation

Some cards before dinner

The whole group at dinner. 

Last meeting recap and carpool details

Thanks to everyone for coming to Monday's meeting!

I have been sending out emails to certain travelers about some of the things that still need to be turned in.  Thank you for taking care of these requirements quickly as we are only a month away!  If you have questions about what is still needed of you, please ask.

The car pool will meet in the front parking lot at Frontier.  Our flight departs 7/20 at 7:02am in Hartford, and it is recommended to be at least 2 hours early for international flights.  This means arriving at the airport by 5:00am which means meeting at Frontier at 4:00am!

We have more than enough seats for 13 travelers:
Brian Sullivan -- 3 seats plus space for bags
Pat Falla -- 4 seats
Carol Pelis -- 3 seats plus space for bags
Satu Zoller -- 5 seats (drop off only!)
Mike Robinson -- 4 seats
Megan Desmarais -- 5 seats (pick up only!)

I will send out email reminders closer to our travel date with contact info for our car pool drivers.


I just got Amped T-shirts for all of the volunteers today.  I'll bring them when we meet to car pool!

July Trip Basic Itinerary

Day 1 (July 20): Arrive in Nicaragua, head to Granada and settle in at the hostel, then Amped staff will give a short orientation and the group will go out to dinner.

Day 2 (July 21): Walking tour of Pantanal in the morning, then the group will start their volunteer project (as of now we're not 100% sure what that will be, but there will be a mix of construction-type work and interaction with Nicaraguan students). The group will go out to dinner again in Granada.

Day 3 (July 22): Volunteering, then dinner at the Amped house aka Casa Roja.

Day 4 (July 23): Volunteering, then a boat tour of Lake Nicaragua and dinner either on the lake or in Granada. 

Day 5 (July 24): Volunteering, then people can choose to go on an optional ziplining excursion, or they can just hang out at the hostel. Dinner at Casa Roja.

Day 6 (July 25): Last day of volunteering, then the group will head to Masaya Volcano and Coyotepe in the afternoon. Dinner in Granada, then everyone should pack up to leave Granada in the morning.

Day 7(July 26): Leave the hostel in Granada early, and spend the day at Apoyo Lagoon. In the afternoon, the group will head south to a beach house on the Pacific Coast. 

Day 8 (July 27): Pacific Coast

Day 9 (July 28): Pacific Coast (pack up to leave for the airport early the next morning).

Day 10 (July 29): Group will leave the beach around 7am for the airport.

July 20-29 Group Meeting Monday 6/15 6pm

Hey Travelers!

Let's plan on meeting Monday 6/15 at 6pm in my room at Frontier to go over final travel details and some itinerary items.  We need to talk about planning transportation to and from the airport.  I can also answer any last minute questions and even go over packing lists!

Things to think about this month:
Vaccines?
Passports!
Paying the balance owed to Amped.

If you have any conflicts, let me know.

Tickets have been issued!

Thanks to everyone for getting their flight payments in and on time.  Tickets and flight itinerary information has been issued for our trip and I have them in my possession!

We are in the final stretch of preparation for our trip.  I have a meeting with Jeff tonight to finalize our ground travel plans and excursions.  I will pass them along soon.

I'd like to have ONE MORE MEETING before the end of the school year to talk about some nitty gritty logistics like getting to and from the airport, packing, whatever else come up.  Stay tuned for that date.

Otherwise, please keep up with the scheduled payments to Amped!  There is another scheduled for this Friday, though I know that several of you have completed payments.

Thanks!
--Joe

Post-Winter Reminders for our 7/20-7/29 Trip!

The long winter is over, and now its time to touch base again.  I hope everybody has been doing well!

This is a reminder to everyone about some of the deadlines coming up.

Firstly, Amped's website was down for a while but now it is up and running again with a new look!  It is still easiest to pay through the website (ampedforeducation.org).  Just click "Donate" and enter the payment amount and method (Paypal, credit card etc.) You may also write a quick note in the space provided to specify what the payment is for.  

Please make sure you select "Donate 100%" at the bottom so that the entire amount will reach Amped!

Secondly, there are 2 important deadlines coming up for flights:

1) I need the traveler's name and birthdate as it appears on their passport by May 10th.  I need to give it to our travel agent.  Please email this to me.

2) ALL of the the flight money ($711.60 per traveler) must be in the hands of Alice Blair and Continental Travel Agency by May 17.  Please refer to my flight payment details blog post: http://frontiergoestonicaragua.blogspot.com/2015/03/2015-flight-payment-details.html

Lastly, we will have one more meeting as a group, probably in early June, to go over final travel details and any other miscellaneous things.  In the mean time, check out this recent New York Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/26/travel/26nicaragua-cover.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&bicmp=AD&bicmlukp=WT.mc_id&bicmst=1409232722000&bicmet=1419773522000&_r=0

We will be visiting Lake Nicaragua and taking a tour of Las Isletas on our trip this summer.

If there are any other questions, please let me know.