Ariana G.
If I was asked to choose one thing, from our few days here, to call my favourite, I would without a doubt say teaching my first technology class with Ava and Grace. Unlike the other classes given by our students, the tech group was given the task of teaching our buddies how to use the EV3 robots donated by our school. The catch? It had to be taught in Spanish. With our collective vocabulary being limited to grade 5 Spanish class and a jumble of French words, our class began its rocky journey. However rather than giving you a complete recap of our entire class, I’d like to focus on the moment that really stuck out to me, the moment that made it my favourite so far.
During our class, the girls were invested in the robotics, that they were even willing to give up their recess to stay and learn how to use them. Unfortunately, one of the robots’ motors that we had brought down were missing and the group had decided to come to the front and converse with us. Despite the language barriers, we managed to converse using our broken Spanish/French and pictograms we drew on the white boards. Within the cacophony of voices, Ava had noticed a girl mewing1🤫 and told me to look. This caught us all off guard because we were so caught up in their economic situation, that seeing this made us all realize that no matter the situation we are in, we are all the same. Teenagers will be teenagers (laughing at jokes that have no real meaning).
While writing this Ava is forcing me to include her quote “this made me laugh and she is so senorita awesome!!!!!!!!!! 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩” – Ava. On the other hand, Grace leaves us with no words, instead she believes that actions speak louder, and leaves us with 🤫.
- Mewing is a new trend among most teens using social media. Mewing consists of shushing everyone and flexing your jawline. (not to be confused with meowing – Live)
Sophie L
Hi! So basically I’m blogging tonight and I’m gonna be talking about teaching. It was a lot of fun but I didn’t talk as much as I wanted to. It was a bit complicated with the Spanish- English thing but we figured it out by Gab saying like 200 random facts and then asking me to translate. The first class went horribly because it was like really hard to explain our into activity thing so we wasted time. The second class was the best because the students participated a lot and we laughed a lot. It was really funny when the one person who would always answer really loudly was asked to go to the board and write in English because their jaw would drop and everyone would laugh and stare at them.
9A had 100% the most participation and they were so nice and even asked for my insta. 9B was not as participatory but we still tried our best and the students were nice. They boys were definitely participated than the girls but in a fun/annoying way. They were overall awesome.
Anyways, the last class was grade 11 and the class was pretty small but we tried our best. It was also hard because the lessons were for younger kids so it kinda felt like we were babying them. We taught them the most and had a few good laughs. It was fun and I really enjoyed getting a teacher perspective of class. OMG! I loved the power! I could call on anyone and make then go up to the board. Like this one boy scrunched his hoodie so you couldn’t see his face and because of that I called on him and another boy looked at me and then like smiled and looked down because he didn’t know the answer so I called on him. They were making it super obvious that they didn’t know, like they secretly wanted to be called on so it was great.
I loved teaching and for the most part the kids were nice and we spent most of the time laughing. This was an amazing day and I can’t wait for tomorrow.
Grace L
Visiting the scholarship winners’ homes was truly a meaningful experience for me. It was admirable the amount of work that the girls had done while studying and as well struggling for livings in poverty. One girl who lived in rural Diriomo had to wake up from 3-4 AM during the winter because it was rain season. The currents on the normal roads were so strong that anyone could be carried away by it, so she needed to take a back path to avoid the roads that were flooded. During the Summer she was able to sleep a little more, but the hot and humid climate was still a great challenge as she needs to walk a LONG way to school. She only got home at 7 PM and she had to study for another 3 hours after taking a small break and eating dinner. Attending school for this girl is a TREMENDOUS obstacle considering the sacrifice of her sleep. We wondered how she had the energy physically and mentally to keep on with her studies and her life. She has answered with a simple yet strong phrase: “Studying medicine is my DREAM.” Her yearning for knowledge touched me. I am so proud and happy that she was able to get the scholarship and accomplish her goal.
Another girl named Maria is the same age as us (which is 16). She is currently studying in the field of medicine. Being a student who has always follows the science path, I understand how hard it is to get into medicine in Canada (imagine in Nicaragua, it’s way HARDERRRRR) A sixteen-years-old girl entering university? Majored in medicine? THIS IS CRAZY. At the tour in her house, I see piles of books taking up two thirds of the only small table that is meant to be a kitchen table. Although the house was crowded and occupied by all the furniture and living necessities, they were still able to find a corner for books, to support Maria pursuing education. I still remember the way Maria talked about her university entrance exam with enthusiasm. It was a 200 question, 1.5 hour exam, and Maria finished the exam in 45 minutes, with a 94% result!!! I am REALLY impressed by her academic achievements, and I look forward to meeting future Dr. Maria.
P.S. I HAVE TO MENTION THIS. After visiting so many washrooms in Nicaragua, I found that none of them has a separation between the shower and the toilet. I felt privileged that our hotel in Granada has a glass door separation in the bathroom. However, one night, when Lausanne and I finally returned to our room after a long day, we found that the door was GONE. Our shower door was taken away. A sudden breeze of grief sliced through me as my plan of a perfect shower got ruined. What stinged me more was the realization that most people here never had a glass door anywhere. I have been extremely lucky and privileged in many aspects and I hope one day everyone in Nicaragua gets a glass door (including the hotel room Lausanne and I stayed in).
