Well, mural is looking colourful as ever. We spent the weekend working on the array of animals, deciding on pop art Julian Opie eyes for childlike effect. Despite being out of school hours, we were still forever surrounded by curious children. One of which tried to charm us into sparing some red, for him to paint his bicycle. On Monday, the children indulged in painting the grand yellow school bus and the pond. Quick coverage of the wall, hands, clothes and each other´s faces was easily achieved. Mural suddenly came together. Looking forward to finishing in the next couple of days and finally being able to answer the cries of ´¿Ya terminado?´ with a ´Si!´ to children and teachers alike.
Still undecided about where to spend the famed Semana Santa. Thinking of heading to Leon for a couple of days at least. Looking forward to an ice cold Nicaraguan beer on arrival. Y e s P l e a s e.
Hasta Luego!
Tuesday 12 April 2011
Saturday 9 April 2011
Blog 5 09/04/11
A couple of days afetr our last post, mural work has begun. After buying our materials in Chinandega, with the invaluable help of lovely Francisco, Wednesday was spent preparing the wall. Slightly more manic than we would have hoped, and a couple of days later now, we have not ceased to be the community´s entertainment. To finalize our design, we enlisted the help of pretty much the whole school, who drew us numerous enchanting scenes for us to base our ideas on. This is possibly the only time we will ever be able to guiltlessly get away with directly copying childrens drawings, particularly the endearing "brocolli trees". Yesterday we finished mappping out our final design on the wall and commenced painting our "grana" green, with the help of the kids, slightly less hectically this time.
Aside from the mural, life is good. We spend our our afternoons retreating from the sweltering heat under the shade of the mango tree in the garden, occaisonally alarmed as they come crashing down, making their presence very much felt.
Elsewhere, village life proves itself to be somewhat extraordinary. We were lying in bed early one evening, when the sound of a motorbike continued past the point when it should have either stopped, or receeded into the distance. Next thing we know, an unknown man has entered our bedroom, with what can only ne described as a large smoke thrower. The rest of the family were in tow, encouraging us to leave, before we were suffocated by the fumes "por los mosquitos". We ran out of the house and were greeted by the alarming scene of tons of smoke without fire, before realising what all the fuss was about and we were therefore the subject of amusement for the family, for a good day or so.
We are sure we will have more dramas to report in a couple of days,
Adios chicos.
Aside from the mural, life is good. We spend our our afternoons retreating from the sweltering heat under the shade of the mango tree in the garden, occaisonally alarmed as they come crashing down, making their presence very much felt.
Elsewhere, village life proves itself to be somewhat extraordinary. We were lying in bed early one evening, when the sound of a motorbike continued past the point when it should have either stopped, or receeded into the distance. Next thing we know, an unknown man has entered our bedroom, with what can only ne described as a large smoke thrower. The rest of the family were in tow, encouraging us to leave, before we were suffocated by the fumes "por los mosquitos". We ran out of the house and were greeted by the alarming scene of tons of smoke without fire, before realising what all the fuss was about and we were therefore the subject of amusement for the family, for a good day or so.
We are sure we will have more dramas to report in a couple of days,
Adios chicos.
Tuesday 5 April 2011
Blog 4, 04/04/11
After a thirteen hour journey on Saturday, we are finally in Northern Nicaragua in a tiny village called Tonala, where we will be staying for the next two weeks to paint a mural at the local school. Staying with a family, the father, Francisco, and the mother, Virginia are both teachers at the local secondary school nearby. There are no other travellers here, so we seem to be the talk of the town. Combined with this, after visiting our school to be earlier, we have gained a host of Nicaraguan children who appear to follow us wherever we go. As do teh swarm of mosquitos. We are told we have hit the only 15 days a year where mosquitos are thriving, unlucky is an understatement. Aside from this, and the overbearing heat, we are ready to crack on with the mural. The teachers and children alike at ´La Escuela San Francisco´ have been very welcoming, and we engaged in teaching a hectic Geography lesson this morning.
We are off to Chinandiga tomorrow, to buy our materials with the money we raised back in Bristol with the help pf our friends and family. We have been given the theme of Él Medio Ambiente´, Environment, to keep in mind. Looking forward to brainstorming ideas with the kids and finally getting started!
We are off to Chinandiga tomorrow, to buy our materials with the money we raised back in Bristol with the help pf our friends and family. We have been given the theme of Él Medio Ambiente´, Environment, to keep in mind. Looking forward to brainstorming ideas with the kids and finally getting started!
Friday 1 April 2011
Blog 3 01/04
Back in Antigua for the last time, on the brink of moving on to Nicaragua early tomorrow morning to commence our mural project in Puerto Morazan. Thought we would get in one last post before the second leg or our journey begins.
From Lanquin, we headed to Rio Dulce with Scott, a fellow volunteer from "El Retiro". We spent a few days hanging out with various Canadians , making mango and avocado salads, visiting hot and cold springs, going on boat trips to the Caribbean locations and cramming into hot, sweaty buses.
We arrived back in Antigua on Sunday to be greeted by some new and some familiar facs. After a couple of days we were back at our old family homestay. We are soaking in the good food and incredible comfort, before we are are thrown into humid and most likely uncomfortable, boiling Nicaragua.
We also experienced our first volcano climb here, Pacaya. We felt like we were on the moon. Definitely an experience to repeat sometime in the near future, and proved the walking boots indispensible.
It is shame we have come to the end of Guatemala, we are going to miss it dearly, but there are new places to explore and new people to meet.
Adios Amigos
From Lanquin, we headed to Rio Dulce with Scott, a fellow volunteer from "El Retiro". We spent a few days hanging out with various Canadians , making mango and avocado salads, visiting hot and cold springs, going on boat trips to the Caribbean locations and cramming into hot, sweaty buses.
We arrived back in Antigua on Sunday to be greeted by some new and some familiar facs. After a couple of days we were back at our old family homestay. We are soaking in the good food and incredible comfort, before we are are thrown into humid and most likely uncomfortable, boiling Nicaragua.
We also experienced our first volcano climb here, Pacaya. We felt like we were on the moon. Definitely an experience to repeat sometime in the near future, and proved the walking boots indispensible.
It is shame we have come to the end of Guatemala, we are going to miss it dearly, but there are new places to explore and new people to meet.
Adios Amigos
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