Nicaragua - April 2011 team blogs!

4/13/11

Hello all from Nicaragua! We apologize so much for not posting blogs! We have run into technical difficulties! We have been having an amazing time and are doing incredible work! Please enjoy the blogs we have written so far and we will continue to update as we can.

Blog #1
Yesterday was our first day in Nicaragua. People were very exhausted but some of us did go to a market. One car had a little trouble getting to the market (a minor accident in a round-a-bout) but we made it there:) It was my first time ever going to a market, and it was a very cool experience. I walked around with my parents through the different little booths.

In the market, my dad wanted to find some cashews to buy. Instead of finding a basket of nuts, we got a reddish, sort of banana-shaped fruit. Of course my dad took a bite of it right away, and then gave me some.

When we got back to the hotel, we learned that the cashew fruit is actually poisonous!! Well....my dad did a little research about it while my mom was freaking out. Thankfully, the part that we ate was not poisonous. Hopefully, my dad and I will spend our of out trip rash free!:):)

~Grace Riley

(I wrote this Sunday morning so much more has happened but we will try to keep you updated!)

Blog #2
So much has happened! We had some trouble posting the first blog but now we will try to keep you more updated:)

On Monday, we had a group go to Managua Regional Hospital and everyone else net to Santa Celia. At Santa Celia, the children were all very excited to see us. I read a book to them from North Woods International School, and shared to pictures with them too. Later in the afternoon, we presented lots of sports equipment to the community leaders. Everyone was super happy about all those donations.

Today, I traveled to two communities with Dr. Molina. We drove about 2 1/2 hours on horrible roads to get there. At both communities, Dr. Molina, one of her partners, and Dr. Kleven all saw patients. Rachel and I weighed children and distributed medicine.

So far, it has been a great experience. We have all made new friends, tried new foods, and learned a little more Spanish!

~Grace~