Today was our first day of work. In the morning we ate an amazing breakfast of scrambled eggs, fried platanos (maduras), and fresh fruit made by our cook, a local woman named Rosa. After breakfast Michaela, Jayleen, Nicholas, and I went on to the roof of the church bakery to sweep out the gutter and clean up the oranges that fall from the surrounding trees. When we got up there we noticed little bones everywhere. We later learned from the pastor's wife, Jess, that the birds and cats eat the iguanas.
After the roof was complete we went over to the school. Jayleen and I fixed desks, replacing screws, boards, nuts, and bolts while Michaela and Nicholas dissected, washed, dried, and reassembled at least a dozen or so dusty fans. The fact that this country is hot and we are in a drought right now makes everything dirty and covered in at least and inch of dust. Later on in the afternoon after lunch the team went back to the school to continue working. In the middle of repairing a very very sad and broken desk, the skies opened up in a downpour; everyone was so happy that the rain had finally come. Then all the rain stopped just as quickly as it started.
Throughout the rest of the day we experienced little showers every now and then. After most of the work was done there, Michaela, Jayleen, Carmen, and I went to shower while the other guys finished up some of their projects. After a delicious dinner that Rosa had left for us, the rest of the team went to shower while us girls opened up the church gates for the Wednesday night service. That was a funny experience, watching Bob Peatfield get all confused because he didn't understand the Spanish and then watching one of the Nicaraguans, Gustavo, turn to be confused at the English.
I forgot to mention this before, but there is this rooster who suddenly decided that it's okay to crow every five minutes. I have yet to find him. Seriously, I don't think that it sleeps. Carmen, Michaela, and I were joking that we would secretly go find that rooster and that we would make a chicken dinner out of him and eat him for the Fourth of July.
Something that I have learned from today was the friendliness and curiosity of the people down here. While we were cleaning the roof of a man who lived next door pulled out a plastic chair and sat down to watch us. I said buenos dias to him thinking that he would carry on whatever he was doing but he stayed the whole hour and a half that we were there and contently watched us with a smile on his face. Also when Jayleen and I were hammering away at the desk in one of the classrooms a little girl came over and she stayed in the entrance of the doorway giggling at our frustration over the stubborn nails and screws. We came here to help these people without realizing that in the grand scheme they don't need our help; they are perfectly content with their everyday doings. We are the ones who need the help: we need to learn how to stop and enjoy the day for what it is, not to worry our lives away over the little things, and how to have a laugh at the little oddities in life that God gives to us for enjoyment. That's all for the day. You all should hear from me again sometime soon.
Also this is the view from my hammock.
Victoria Rosado (15)
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