business fair

so i have been working all year with a group of high school seniors in their entrepreneurship class. 13 student business groups were formed and last week they presented their hard work. the fair was a definitely a success...success defined here as "the fair happened." the journey was tough, but I felt such pride listening them to present everything they had learned during the year, watching them sell their products, and having the whole school participate.

things here certainly arent all calamity...

BEISBOL! JONRON!

installment two of my little photo project with juan carlos...
when left to their own devices what do nicaraguan boys find more interesting than anything else, why baseball of course.

fotos

so i have started working/mentoring/meeting with this boy named Juan Carlos here in my site. i met him a few months ago through a couple from California who was here working with the organization Circulo de Amiga (an NGO i think i've mentioned in previous blogs). After they left they asked if i could continue to work or check up on him. i've just started meeting with him, so we'll call what i hope to be a continuous blog series, the Juan Carlos Photo Project. I dont like to take pictures, he does, so i gave him a little job, show my family and friends at home where i live. hopefully every few weeks i'll have a few new pictures. I'm also working with him on some basic photo editing in iPhoto, here's what we got so far:

juan carlos went up to a town called San Rafael de Norte, a little north of jinotega, and took some pictures of a lovely church there...





here are a few photos of his two younger brothers and mother, he is the oldest of 6 kids...





im still trying to find somewhere with fast enough internet to upload my video tour of jinotega, so far no luck, but the search goes on.

tour of jinotega

get to know my new home:

moutains everywhere

this was about 2pm on a wednesday:

the most successful bake sale ive ever seen:

view of jinotega from la peña de la cruz



another PCV jeffrey at the top of the cross

my turn:


that hike was tough and on the way down it started to rain and the steep paths turned, well, to mud, slippery slippery mud. it was pretty hilarious though. a group from an evangelical church helped us down. i stumbled a few times, got my clothes pretty muddy, but it was a blast. overall great weekend. spent some time with one of my students and his family. feeling like im adapting, slowly but surely. feel like my spanish has taken a good step forward.

despedida in niquinohomo

mine and kristen's going away festivities in niquinohomo. guess i need to close that chapter before starting this new one in jinotega.
me and my niquinohomo family :)

kristen taking a swing at the piñata

doña ivonne, being as cute as ever


PIÑATA!!

PIIIÑÑÑÑAAAATTTAAA!! :P

me and vidalia


me and karlita, keepin it real

tiger puppy...notice the stripes

the moon was out during the sunset

it was quite magical


proud that i have brought the jumping picture to the children of nicaragua

Fiestas Patronales en Niquinohomo

Fiestas Patronales de Santa Ana. Every town has a celebration for their patron saint, ours was this past weekend and it was just beautiful. (Vidalia, 10, in the green is my little nica sister; fernanda, 7, in the red is my nica niece; and karla, 10, in the purple is my nica cousin)