beautiful food and one of the national daily papers
funky new foods – when you open these furry things up they have something like a great big grape inside. Haven't figured out the name yet.
The pictures above (top to bottom): tired kids traveling; Sandino's silhouette in Managua; mural in a Managua church heavily influenced by liberation theology to the extent that it is not recognized by the Roman Catholic Church; resting in the pool at Jeff Shriver's house in Managua; Devyn taking her bath.
Buenas! (the greeting given here anytime one enters a new setting)
We have just completed our first whole week here in Esteli. It feels much longer than that. We are exhausted, but happy.
Hmmmm..... I struggle for where to begin. Ah! I have never been short on words to share about my kids, thus I'll start there.
In a word, AMAZING! They have taken everything in stride. The different food, the different forms of travel, the huge amount of walking, people touching their heads and faces all the time, putting their toilet paper in the garbage can instead of the toilet, cool showers/tub baths. They have had their moments of crankiness, but nothing out of the ordinary. So far the biggest drama revolves around the itchy mosquito bites, and having to nag them about watching where they are going while walking the streets. This is important for them to learn because if they don't watch where they are going they could disappear into a "gringo hole" (one of the many pot holes in the sidewalk that only a gringo would not be socialized to watch out for, and thus in which they could seriously hurt themselves).
Jordan and Devyn are now going by Mikayla and Mariah, their middle names. We were informed by some Nicaraguan friends that the names Jordan and Devyn would not only be hard to say for Nicaraguans but also confusing. Once they heard how their middle names sound when the locals said them, they loved them, and made the switch very naturally. Michael and I are having a bit more trouble remembering.
The greater part of this week was spent getting Mikayla (age 8) and Mariah (age 5) acclimated to their new school. It is one of the schools I looked at while here in June and is highly regarded here in Estelí. The principal is from Spain and structures her curriculum according to something like a Montessori style education system. We decided this would be good for both the girls as the teachers will work with each of them according to their education level, not their age. They had room for both girls, and they will attend at the same time (but in different classrooms). Their school day will be from 8am-4pm. They will eat a snack and a vegetarian lunch in school. Devyn's class takes a nap after lunch. It's a long day, but there is lots of play and recreational time. Spanish is the only language spoken. They start Monday by themselves for the whole day. AY!! :-o
It took Jordan (Mikayla) 2.5 days of introduction at the school before she informed us she was fine and wanted us to leave her for the day. Her bravery and chutzpah are inspiring. She is having a ball. I am utterly amazed by how fast she jumped in and how fast she has begun to make friends. She doesn't understand what they are saying to her and yet somehow she knows.
Devyn (Mariah) has been slower to warm up to the school. This is typical of her; she typically wants to sit back and watch for a while before jumping in, but once she does, she is very enthusiastic. To say she is freaked out would be a bit of an understatement. After the 4th day Michael and I realized she was using us as a crutch and we made her go it alone, with one of us just next door in another room. She did much better, but was still too worked up to eat anything. We took her home at lunch time. She was exhausted. Monday is the big day. I am confident she will be fine, but my stomach churns just thinking about it. Her first day of kindergarten has turned out to be a bit more monumental then it would have been in the States.
Other adjustments:
*The noise: the Pentecostal church on the corner; the venders yelling what they have for sale beginning at 6:00am; peoples' radios; the motorcycles; car horns; stray dogs barking through the night; the neighbor kid screaming when his mom leaves the house; the list goes on. Earplugs are a godsend, but they only muffle the cacophony of noises that are a part of everyday life here.
*The food: fresh, delicious, interesting, extremely local, unprocessed.
*Our housekeeper, Angela: Yeah, we're fairly stunned to have a housekeeper; I will write more about this topic later. She has been a catalyst for an enormous amount of learning for us. For now, I will just say we are happy she is going to be an integral part of our lives this year.
Pues (well), this is a start. There will be many more blogs to come. We appreciate your interest in taking this journey with us. Thank you for all the support.
Nos vemos! (we'll see you)
-Kelli
