Nicaragua: Day 5, and Day 6

Day 5:

Let me just say, it's the fifth day and I love it here. I had the privilege today to work in the classroom for the students who were deaf and it was so much fun! I felt like I learned so much along with helping the students a lot as well. I first walked into the room with Kristal (the translator who helped me) and all the students started signing to me. I just could catch a few words, like "nombre", and "tu" so I filled in the blanks and I spelled out my name along with my sign name. They were so sweet and the teacher had Kristal and I do a separate sign language lesson in front of the class, while they worked on their homework assignment. It was insanely fun because everyone was so helpful to me, and I made a whole new group of friends I honestly never thought I would have as friends. Even though there is a language barrier, these children are so sweet and surprisingly don't become frustrated when I watch them sign and seriously have no clue what they just asked me; they write it down on my hand so I'll be able to learn new signs.

At dinner, Kevin and Maddie told me about their home visits they made that night, and it took my whole energy to hold back my tears. They visited with social services and they told me about one house they went into where their child that had special needs was locked in a dark closet with just a paper bag to entertain herself with, she was malnourished, and had seizures all the time. The girl's step-father that was in charge of her, only kept her alive so he could get the $30 a month the government gave him to help her. None of that money was given to her what so ever, just used for the rest of the family that she lived with. Hearing this made my heart sink. I seriously felt like my whole life was in a bubble until now. I am so appreciative about this trip because it has opened my eyes to a world I didn't even know existed.


Day 6:
Today I started out working in the classroom for students in the first and second grade. Some of the students that showed up that day were the kindest souls you'll ever meet. Sulema, Astrid, Wilbur, Maria Jose, Christopher, and Julio. Sulema I already knew from before, and reading Lisa-Marie's blog about her last year made me already love her before I even knew her. Sulema would call me "mama" all the time and it made me feel so loved. The way she said it, the way she looked in my eyes, everything about her I fell in love with. Another highlight of my day today was seeing how excited the children become when you pull out a camera. I would let them take a picture of something, and I was so surprised how professional the photos the children took were.
At lunch/recess the children that were deaf would take me around the school and like try to have conversations with me. They told me all about themselves, and by the end of 20 minutes, I knew about 20 more words and signs and had tons of words written on my hands. Today I almost didn't wash my hands because I thought all the words on my hands showed how much those children mean to me.
After lunch, I worked in the classroom for children in the 3rd and 4th grade. The teacher, Nora, in charge desperately needed help. Each student in her classroom needed one-on-one help, and there was about 10 of them, and one of her. I started working with student by student one-on-one and they learned so fast and so much. I taught each child the numbers 1-10. I was so surprised on from going from not knowing the majority of the numbers to knowing the numbers in less than an hour. They are so comprehensive and intellectual it blew me away. The smiles on their faces after they would get a number right were so precious I swear to god I was so proud of them I felt like I was their mother on the first day of school.
I am cherishing every single moment I have at the school because we don't have a lot of time left there. We only have tomorrow, and Friday at the school. I wish I could just move here forever, get a teaching degree, and work here. (That doesn't sound like a bad idea...)

Love you all!!
-Makena