Waka Waka

Briana has been teaching the awesomest dance classes ever in Nica. I "help" by dancing along and videotaping. :)

Here is a video of them working on the dance to Waka Waka. The kids LOVED it. The music's a little hard to hear the first 15 seconds due to the thunder storm (which is also why everyone is soaking wet).

Play Along with Teatro Catalina

We're going to try something new... a blog post that is also a game! Are you excited? There will be prizes from Nica for the winners when I return, so you should be.

Once a week we teach a theater class in Villa Catalina, which is one of the villages Amigos for Christ has built (read more here). This class was started by Katie, and right now they are putting on a production of Snow White that is quite hilarious. It is so amazing that in this random little village in Nicaragua, there is such a great opportunity to be creative, bond as a group, and learn a fun skill. Katie really does a great job with them.

Anyway, a week or two ago, they played a theater game that was sort of like group charades. They were put into three groups and each group was given a well-known story. They were then given the task of coming up with three still frame poses that would communicate what their story was.

I got pictures of each of their poses and will post them below. Your job is to guess (via comments) what their stories were.

The rules are:
1) If you were there, you're disqualified 'cause you know the answers
2) You may only guess at one of the three stories, and you only get one try. This will give a chance for more people to play.
3) I will let you know the answers when all three have guessed correctly. The first three people to guess a story right will receive prizes from Nicaragua (though this may take a lil' while if you don't live near me).

Here they are...

Group 1:

Group 2:

Group 3:

Little Dreams Come True

My first week here in Nica, God showed me a way that he already has answered things I prayed when I was here before. During one of the days I was here in March, I went on a quick delivery run with the Amigos staff. We left the Villa, which is where visiting groups always go to work and play, and went to another village I had never seen before. There was a school there, and we delivered a bunch of donated backpacks to their students. The school was about the same size as the one in the Villa, but the kids were not nearly as vibrant as the others. They didn't run up to us to try to play like they do in the Villa. I remember praying that God would send Amigos there too, because these people were in a lot of need, but they did not have the American groups come to work and play among them much.

The first full day I came back this summer, we were told that the groups were mostly digging pipeline in a different place. Amigos had just finished drilling a well for another community, but needed to dig 6 miles of line to get the water to them. So, we went out in an old school bus full of 60 American high schoolers, parked on the side of some random highway, and started digging. At lunch, the staff walked us about a half mile down to where this community lived so we could meet them. We walked through the village and then came to the school, which looked a tad familiar. After staring at it for a few seconds, I realized that it was the same school I had helped deliver backpacks to, months before.

These kids who before had been tired and slightly suspicious now ran up to us to play. All this summer, the American groups go out twice a week to dig this line and get to go interact and play with the kids in the afternoon. They play field hockey, football, and jump-off-the-back-of-the-slide-and-have-a-gringo-catch-you. It is so cool to see that a little wish I had that a village could get love like the Villa has been realized so abundantly.

Reunited

There is a little boy here in Nicaragua named Junior, and he is my absolute favorite (not that I have favorites). When I was here in March, I played with him just about everyday and completely fell in love with him. I could never tell if the feeling was mutual though because these kids have Americans come and play with them almost every week. He always called me "Gringa," which is just what they call white women. So, when I left, I was sad to leave him, but didn't think he would even give my departure a second thought.

My first week back here in July, I didn't see him. I figured he had moved or something because he hadn't come out to play with the Americans like he had before. So, my third day in his village, I prayed that I would be able to find him and set off toward his house to see if he was there. As I was walking down the road, I saw an unfamiliar looking boy sprinting strait for me. When he got closer, I saw that he was wearing the shirt that Junior used to wear. I was so confused and disheartened, figuring Junior was surely gone. Then, just as this boy was about to crash into me, I got a good look at his face and realized that it was Junior, he had just had a buzz cut. I yelled, "Junior!" right as he took a flying leap into my arms. I spun him around and told him how happy I was to see him again and that I had been looking for him for days.

We then went to the swings to play. As we were sitting down, some others girls I didn't know came up and asked if they could play too. Before I could respond, Junior said, "No! She's my gringa!" They replied that they could play with me too, but he shot back more angrily this time, "No! She's only mine!" I was floored. I never would have thought that he would remember me let alone have become so attached. The staff down here later told me that he actually doesn't get close with a lot of Americans. So now I'm definitely glad I found him and get to play and hang out with him for three more weeks. Maybe eventually he'll learn my name :)