Estoy Aqui
It is so amazing to be back in my favorite place on earth! I am having an awesome time! I´ve gotten to hang out with my best friend/sister three times (the first night we got here, the following night and then yesterday she came with us when we took 20 kids to the lagoon)
The day we got here we went straight from the orphanage to the market to take about 100 kids feom 2 orphanages shopping for uniforms and backpacks. That night we had to be away from the orphanage for the evening since the team that was still there was having a special dinner with the kids on their last night. So we (me, Ashley and Wes-the other two Americans who are here) met up with Ivonne at MetroCenter (the mall) for dinner. Then Ashley and Wes went to pick up our friend Keren (the one who had visited the States from my previous blog) from the airport and I went back to Ivonne´s house for a while.
The next day we took kids from the dump and the refugee camp shopping for clothes. I´d thought Nueva Vida was the sadest place I´d ever seen but the dump is 100 times worse. It is so hard to fathom how people can live literally in a dump. I met an adorable little girl from the dump named Ruth. We sat together on the bus going to the market. She´s 8 and has a 10-year-old brother and 4-year-old sister. She was so sweet.
Yesterday we took about 20 or 25 kids from Casa to Laguna de Apoyo for a day of swimming, kayaking, sailing and for lunch.
Today in the morning we went shopping for clothes to give out to kids in the pueblo of Vera Cruz, where the orphanage is. The market we went today, Mercado Oriental, is the biggest market in Central America. I´d never been there before because I´d only ever gone to Huembes because it´s safer but Oriental is cheaper. It´s supposedly really bad, like 65% of all the crime in the country of Nica happens in this one market, but it was totally fine. I felt completely safe the whole time and we also had 2 Nicas with us.
After shopping we came back and gave out the clothes. We´d only had enough money to buy clothes and backpacks for 60 kids and there were still about 30 or so kids standind around watching. I felt so bad for them because they looked so disappointed that there was nothing for them. So after lunch we went to the bakery and I bought bread for the kids who we hadn´t been able to give clothes to.
Now we´re spending a few minutes here in the Internet place and then going out to dinner ´cause it´s Vinny´s last night here.
So that´s the short version. I will go into more details when I get home.
But here is a brief overview of the good, bad, shocking and just plain weird of my visit so far:
GOOD: Hanging out with my sister and family here. Now that she´s not working at the orfa anymore we were worried that we wouldn´t be able to hang out as much, but we have already gotten to, and we´re going to the beach on Saturday.
SHOCKING: Maria Cristina isn´t at the orfa anymore. Apparently she ran away to live with her boyfriend. She´s 15 and it´s so sad because she´s going to end up in the typical situation here of being a teenage single mom because her boyfriend will probably kick her out when she gets pregnant. I hope not but it happens all too often. The eventually, her kids will end up in the orfa just like she was and the cycle will keep repeating itself.
SAD: It´s just so hard to see all this desperate need around me and not be able to help eeveryone. I know it´s not realistic to even think I can, but it can get overwhelming.
WEIRD: eating at an Italian restaurant in Nicaragua. It was very good, but felt a little strange.
Okay, down to just 2 minutes so I will say Adios for now!
The day we got here we went straight from the orphanage to the market to take about 100 kids feom 2 orphanages shopping for uniforms and backpacks. That night we had to be away from the orphanage for the evening since the team that was still there was having a special dinner with the kids on their last night. So we (me, Ashley and Wes-the other two Americans who are here) met up with Ivonne at MetroCenter (the mall) for dinner. Then Ashley and Wes went to pick up our friend Keren (the one who had visited the States from my previous blog) from the airport and I went back to Ivonne´s house for a while.
The next day we took kids from the dump and the refugee camp shopping for clothes. I´d thought Nueva Vida was the sadest place I´d ever seen but the dump is 100 times worse. It is so hard to fathom how people can live literally in a dump. I met an adorable little girl from the dump named Ruth. We sat together on the bus going to the market. She´s 8 and has a 10-year-old brother and 4-year-old sister. She was so sweet.
Yesterday we took about 20 or 25 kids from Casa to Laguna de Apoyo for a day of swimming, kayaking, sailing and for lunch.
Today in the morning we went shopping for clothes to give out to kids in the pueblo of Vera Cruz, where the orphanage is. The market we went today, Mercado Oriental, is the biggest market in Central America. I´d never been there before because I´d only ever gone to Huembes because it´s safer but Oriental is cheaper. It´s supposedly really bad, like 65% of all the crime in the country of Nica happens in this one market, but it was totally fine. I felt completely safe the whole time and we also had 2 Nicas with us.
After shopping we came back and gave out the clothes. We´d only had enough money to buy clothes and backpacks for 60 kids and there were still about 30 or so kids standind around watching. I felt so bad for them because they looked so disappointed that there was nothing for them. So after lunch we went to the bakery and I bought bread for the kids who we hadn´t been able to give clothes to.
Now we´re spending a few minutes here in the Internet place and then going out to dinner ´cause it´s Vinny´s last night here.
So that´s the short version. I will go into more details when I get home.
But here is a brief overview of the good, bad, shocking and just plain weird of my visit so far:
GOOD: Hanging out with my sister and family here. Now that she´s not working at the orfa anymore we were worried that we wouldn´t be able to hang out as much, but we have already gotten to, and we´re going to the beach on Saturday.
SHOCKING: Maria Cristina isn´t at the orfa anymore. Apparently she ran away to live with her boyfriend. She´s 15 and it´s so sad because she´s going to end up in the typical situation here of being a teenage single mom because her boyfriend will probably kick her out when she gets pregnant. I hope not but it happens all too often. The eventually, her kids will end up in the orfa just like she was and the cycle will keep repeating itself.
SAD: It´s just so hard to see all this desperate need around me and not be able to help eeveryone. I know it´s not realistic to even think I can, but it can get overwhelming.
WEIRD: eating at an Italian restaurant in Nicaragua. It was very good, but felt a little strange.
Okay, down to just 2 minutes so I will say Adios for now!
posted by NicaGirl @ 5:46 PM
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