Now that it's warming up outside it will soon be time to hit the sandy court. If there was one sport I'd play semi-professionally it would have to be volleyball. It encompasses everthing I value about a pastime activity, such as competition and exercise. Not to mention it's best played at the beach--my favorite location when the weather's cooperative. Experiential learning is a huge part of what I teach as an educator because I believe many games and activities have great lessons that can be applied to our lives. Whenever I play I always keep three notions in mind as I (attempt to) spike to victory. Strategy
TeamworkBoth collaboration and cooperation are often keys to success, and that's no different on the sandy court. Playing volleyball with a team is all about building synergy, a type of energy/focus that's almost euphoric in nature. It's easier to accomplish this when all the players know one another--when strengths and weaknesses are all compensated for. I'm pretty speedy and agile making for a good offensive or defensive player (though I lean defensive). I've played with many different talents though, some who were expert offensive spikers and many with amazing defensive endurance. Communication is also crucial, but if enough synergy is built and team patterns are estalbished this just simply happens naturally. It's great to learn from others and volleyball provides apt oppertunities to do so.
Our last day in Nicaragura is one of the most memorable. We stopped off at one of the houses we visited this week and as usual the kids were happy to see us. I love this photo because it shows the three kids we played with a lot. Their mother is taking classes to educate herself and our group thought it was just beautiful to watch her do her homework one of the days we were there. It was hard saying bye to the kids, but hopefully we can come visit them again soon! That morning I asked our International Samartain Coordinador if I could ride with our driver Derrick (who was an amazing undercover leader) to the market to pick up a few more souvenirs and drive around with him while we picked up lunch. It was so nice walking around and picking up a few more keepsakes for family and friends. I'm a big craft beer fan, so I picked up a few different bottles to bring back to the United States.
We took one more boat ride as a full group and the views, like last time were beautiful. We took the mother and daughter of the house we were building with us. Every time I said hi to her, she responded with "Hola Mario". She remembered my name and made it a point to say it. That always made me smile! The Nicaraguan sky is absolutely beautiful at night, and 86/88 constellations can be seen at night. While this is just a stock photo, it very similar to how the sky looked on non-cloudy nights. Just gazing at them was one of the best natural experiences I had from Nicaragua. I made a wish on a star that my students and I could all experience this wonderful country again in some capacity. Finally, these are the mementos I have for myself (not pictured is the really big hammock), and excluding gifts for family and friends. The most memorable gift though isn't one I bought, but it was given to me. Angelica's son (this is a family who's house was built last year with the help of AQ) made us all bracelets. Angelica talked much about her son, and explained that he cared for the house, and wanted to become a chef so needed to study at a university after high school. Angelica also takes classes about three times a week and said that her and her son would be accountability partners for finishing their educations. Working in higher education, I always love hearing when individuals want to educate themselves and know the value of education. Knowledge is power--a power that can help contribute health, happiness and opportunity to all those willing to learn.
Thanks for reading! Mario Adkins, M.Ed. Today our groups were only doing morning shifts (my group working on the house and my student leader Hannah's group visiting a family to hear their story. We were smoothing out the walls so that the walls would be even. I was glad I got this shift because we got to talk and hang out with Omar, the construction manager again. Today was his 25th birthday and he said he was going to celebrate it this weekend with his amigos. I got an invite, but unfortunately we leave Friday evening.
Heyo readers! Today has been my favorite day yet in Nicaragura by far. My group worked more on our house by finishing up painting and doing more concrete flooring. The other group did some home visits to play with kids, then our groups switched as usual. The food is so good in Nicaragua, and an amazing breakfast, lunch and dinner is always prepared for us. The above photo was a photo of our awesome lunch for the day.
Heyo readers! This was the first day of service and my students were thrilled to finally get out and start working on our house and meet with the families to play with kids. We split the group up: one group did floor concreting and painting while the other group meet with families to play with their kids, and each group got to do what the other group did later in the day. Since my group was the group who did flooring and painting, the photos are only of half my students. The guy to the right of me was around my age and was the the manager of the Nicaraguan construction crew. After we both realized we liked manga, anime, video games, etc., we hit it off and aimed to hang out sometime before we left the country. It was tough work, but very fun! Evan, (the guy pictured in the middle) attended Aquinas College from 2000-2004, moved to Nicaragua, and had been living there for over ten years. He met our group for dinner and gave our group much context on Nicaraguan poverty, culture, and his organization The Pulsera Project, which helps students and teachers with abroad endeavors. It was great meeting and talking with, and more info on his program can be found here.
Heyo readers! The group's first stop today was to the garbage dump where mostly women worked to help sort some of the items there. We heard their stories of why they participated--mostly for their children who could receive some benefits. While not making much, they're able to make a little from their work. We'll be working on a house for one of the women pictured. The women to my right is Tania, it's great conversing with her about Nicaragua. Our next stop was a nearby market to pick up items for the house we'd be working on. We bought a few plastic trash cans, four chairs, and a broom. It was a very busy place but with lots of clothes, food, and other everyday items to buy. We stopped off to downtown Granada again do the other group who arrived a bit later could see the sights. Before we even got to the downtown area we were told some kids make flowers from corn husks, give them to travelers, and expect money back. The kid who could somewhat speak English on the lower left gave one of my students a flower (by just putting it into her hand, actually) and then started following me after I sent my student to the van. While I really shouldn't have, I gave him an American $1 (which is $28 their equivalent) and told him to be good. We're not supposed to to this because it exerts a level of elitism over their community. A photo of the flower is on the right, in addition to a beautiful drawing I bought for my office back at Aquinas College. Heyo readers! This is the first morning our group had at our retreat center. We arrived around 2am in the morning and all went to bed after a brief orientation from our International Samaritan Coordinator Tania. From the start, Tania's hospitality as we entered her country was phenomenal. We drove about an hour and a half from the airport to our retreat center and we talked the entire time--sharing experiences from our respective countries while speaking on our abroad experiences. Tania is very knowledgable at what she does, and I was happy to know my AQ group was in great hands. After arriving to the retreat center, we had a brief orientation, ate a tasty sandwich she had prepared for us, and we all went straight to sleep. I woke up a bit earlier to take photos (seen in this slideshow) of the area, and the foliage and buildings are absolutely beautiful. I consider today "Adventure Day" because we were able to see many great areas of Managua, Nicaragua. The first stop was Lake Nicaragua (Catarina Overlook) and the view was absolutely breathtaking! My students and I just gazed at it for quite some time before heading off to our next location. We took some great group photos here the students will share with others later on. The next place we visited was Masaya Market. This was a good place to shop and buy keepsakes because all items are handmade--supporting the community by buying directly from them. I bought the hammock on the top-right. This was also a great opportunity for us all to interact with Nicaraguans and practice (or utilize) the Spanish language. The students all seems to get some great items for themselves and loved ones back home.
This is our official group photo for the group! Our airport time was sort of hectic, but we'll all get there just fine. Tomorrow officially starts the adventures in Managua, Nicaragura!
Until next post! Mario A Heyo readers! I'm Mario, the advisor for this service-trip. I love to travel and have been to quite a few places when I was in college. Now that I work at one (Aquinas College) travel opportunities are even more open. I'm so happy to have this opportunity to travel with purpose. What I mean by that is while I do like to explore the world, I prefer service trips such as this over vacations. Anyway, a bit of context on my next travel destination. The name Nicaragua comes from a combination of two words "nicarao" and "agua". The Nicarao are the Indian tribe that were occupying the shores of Lake Nicaragua when the Spaniards arrived in the 1500's. "Agua" is the Spanish word for water. There are many specific facts about Nicaragura. For instance, there are no street names there--a person's address is based on the closes landmark to them. ⚾️ Baseball is the country's favorite sport, Nicaraguan food is a combination of Creole and Caribbean food, there are beautiful beaches, and it's home to the Dual Valcano, the only volcano in the world fed by two different magma flows! 🌋 Also, 86/88 of sky constellations can be clearly seen at night. 💫 I'm excited about this service trip for many reasons. The first is to travel back to Cenrtal America. I've visited El Salvador and learned much about the region's culture and customs. Traveling and working hands-on with college students is probably my biggest excitement. I know they will learn so much about the wider world, their global perspectives and meet many Nicaraguans who they will learn much from. This is one of the reasons I work in Higher Education: to help facilitate these learning moments. Our primary focus here is to help support the La Joya community in Granada, Nicaragua. I'm excited to work in solidarity with this community!
Until next post! Mario A ~ |