Wow this week was crazy and fun all at the same time. I got to help out with the arts camp that is put on by 3 organizations: Food for the Hungry (where I have been interning for the past month), BuildaBridge, and the Nehemiah Center. This “Campamento de Artes” was 5 days long and we had 75 kids in total that attended. Food for the Hungry had picked kids from 3 of the communities they manage and signed them up for this week of camp. There were 5 subject areas that were offered and the kids were randomly assigned to one at the beginning of the week and they went to that same class every day. There was music, arts and crafts, drawing/painting, modern dance, and folkloric dance (the typical Nicaraguan dance). This was a different setup than I had ever seen at a camp before but very unique also. It was very neat to see these kids improve throughout the week and the final presentation was the ultimate show of what they had learned. I had helped create the decorations for the camp the past week which was a ton of work, but so worth it to see it all in place. It definitely made each room more fun, so the hard work paid off! We came early Monday morning to set up the decorations and then were ready for a long week of learning. I was the official photographer for the week so that was my main duty. I also helped out with handing out snacks, joined in the games, and just did whatever was needed when I wasn’t capturing the moments. The kids were at the camp from 1 to 5 pm every day so it was quite a long time to keep some kids’ attention, but I think that overall the kids were very well behaved and engaged. It was a good time to interact with the teachers and other workers of the camp. Many came from the Nehemiah Center and others were teachers that they found to help for the week. We had lunch altogether each day before the kids came so that was a nice time to interact and have a little fun of our own. On Thanksgiving Day we even went around at lunch and said what we were thankful for. There was another North American in our group so us 2 explained what Thanksgiving was in our country and thought it would be fun to celebrate it even in Nicaragua. Overall it was a great week and definitely one I am glad I got to participate in.
Next week is the last week of interning and since I have all my hours and then some I won’t need to go to the office as much. I will probably go a couple days to see what they need help with and then say adios. The countdown is at 14 short days and in that time I need to write three 7 page papers and work on an hour presentation with Megan. I have a lot of work yet to do but it will get done with only a bit of procrastination. Also with next week being a bit more free than the past 2 weeks I will get to help out at my host home more. My family has been saying that I spend too much time in Chinandega and that I am a Chinandegan not a Leonian any more. Ha, they are only kidding, but it will be good to have more time with them as it is the last full week we will have at our host homes.
I am anxious to be done with exams and to be back home. It will for sure be sad to leave my host family who have really been a blessing to me these past 3 months. Our despedida (goodbye party) with our host families will be bittersweet yet many memories are to show for our great semester. Well its off to the beach tomorrow for the students and I to celebrate many things: Thanksgiving, snow in the Midwest and just being in Nicaragua obviously. Ha, it will be a great time and I will definitely miss being 20 minutes from a beach when its about 20 hours from my home in the U.S. Hasta luego amigos.
*Also, the song of the week was based off the verse Phillippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”…in Spanish it is “Todo lo puedo en Cristo que me fortelece” so the kids sang that in the form of a song although it didn’t have any other words than those in the verse so we had it stuck in our heads the entire week! They would come in to camp on the bus and be singing it, it was super cute.
PHOTOGRAPHY.
The kids in line to wash their hands before a snack...
Cara.
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