Hello everyone! My name is Anina and I'll be writing the Nica News updates this year. The 2009-2010 Nica PDs have officially taken over the house and the Manna programs for the upcoming year. We had an incredibly smooth transition thanks to lots of hard work from the "old" PDs, our Span(gl)ish has improved un poquito cada semana, and so far most everything has gone without a hitch, except for two dog bites from our loving house mama, Sidney (poor Jan Maggi still can't enter the house alone...)
Photo: 09-10 PDs! Adam, Amelia, Ian, Leah, Daniel,
Jan Margaret, Kelly, Anina, Lauren Page, and Andrew Hemby (with birthday queque)
Cedro Galan/Chiqui:
The Cedro community has been so welcoming to all of us. Taking turns learning how to ride Juan's horse at Jessenia's house has been a highlight. Jessenia nearly died of risa when Hemby (allegedly) kicked the horse in the head, the horse turned to bite him, and he immediately flung himself off its back.
The beginning English classes have expanded due to high demand. Over fifty people showed up to take the placement test! With guidance from Amelia, who taught English in Bangkok last year, the class officially split into two sections. Also, Tressa graduated little Lesther from Kids English to Beginning and he's one of the top students in the five PM class!
Photo: Brinca brinca madness!
As mentioned in the last update, we ordered up a brinca brinca for the Farito fiesta/despedida this month and it was beyond awesome. Kids and PDs alike went crazy on the slide, especially when we broke out the Palmolive. Everyone kept screaming for more soap! The combined pool and brinca brinca casualties were four crying girls--not bad, I'd say.
The Children's English class continues to be one of the loudest, craziest and yet most endearing times of the week. We're seriously not sure how Tressa did it alone last year. Last week, Jan Margaret, Leah and I were driving them to the Land in the Patrol and were stopped dead in our tracks by a herd of thirty cows trotting straight for us. Having little experience with this apparently common Nica occurence, we began to panic. Perhaps sensing our fear, the kids began to sing along in unison to "Yo te extranare" by Tercer Cielo on the radio and continued to serenade us until we arrived at the Land. In class they've been working hard, and we even caught Jeferson and Justin studying--yes, studying!--with the flashcards they made in class.
Photo: Freddy from Kids English (note the terrifyingly green pool)
Microfinance has undergone a major transition and has been renamed the "Business Development Program." The group realized based upon the past year's experiences that Manna can't really function as a bank since so much of our work relies on relationships with community members. This year the team will focus on providing business classes to the community and connecting students to existing microfinance organizations in the area. With the help of the ever-awesome Exequiel, classes will began this week. Dale pues, BDP!!
On the physical activity front: Daniel & Zeke's soccer team didn't make the post season, but they are already making plans for a sala league at the Land. The Chiqui girl's soccer team played their second away game at Chureca. After two halves of surprisingly clean play under the watchful eyes of referee Daniel and a large crowd of Chureca supporters, the game ended tied 0-0. The girls on both sides demanded penalty kicks. Unfortunately, the Chureca team beat us 2-1 after Flora placed a kick past goalie Karen into the corner of the net, but the Chiqui girls were already discussing their plans for a rematch at the Land and the morale in the micro home was high.
Leah, our resident certified fitness instructor, introduced cardio boxing to the women's exercise class with great success (well, in terms of enjoyment, but perhaps lacking in coordination...). The first charla discussed obesity and BMI. The class intends to explore new possibilities in exercise and health education, probably something along the lines of the Manna House's current favorite video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZ1hah7QvIw.
Chureca:
Photo: Chureca fiesta at the Land--one gemela had lice and so both got haircuts
Child Sponsorship has been working on launching a new fundraising campaign, coming soon to inboxes near you! We're still searching for new sponsors, and the new contact person for sponsor-related business is Lauren Page, also known as LP (pronounced Ell-lay Pay, claro) at lauren.page.black@mannaproject.org.
Liseth (mother of Mildeana) had a baby girl two days ago! She came to our charla on Wednesday and gave birth that night. The baby doesn't have a name yet.
The Chureca English women threw a "surprise" despedida party for the past group complete with pin the tail on the donkey, a pinata, and a sign that said "Love = English Class." It gave the girls lots of pena, but somehow they managed to present each old PD with a personalized painted vase.
Photo: Chureca English despedida party
Thanks for your support, and I look forward to updating you on all of our Nica adventures this year!
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