Nicaragua 2016: Day 2

Day 2: Sunday, January 3, 2016

Breakfast not complete
without beans and rice

A week in a day. That is the best way to describe our experience at camp. Every single moment of the day utilized… from one activity to the next and we move at a Nicaraguan pace which is very slow and relaxed but I think it is all of the conversations and interactions from moment to moment that make it all feel so meaningful. 

We woke up this morning and had a nice relaxing breakfast with Sylvia and Carlos and then Mario and Rabin picked us up to go to the Central church. Mario is  young Reverend in the church… he seems like a quiet type personality but every now and then he will send a zinger your way which undoubtedly catches everyone off guard and results in an eruption of laughter. Rabin one of my first friends and first connection I made in Nicaragua, my sister and I stayed at his house on one trip down and Rabin has the biggest personality at camp. If you watch the Nicaragua video from 2014, it begins with him saying “Goooooaaaalll” on the microphone and extending it out for a solid 30 seconds haha. He is our resident MC. 

Sylvia and Carlos, my Nicaraguan parents

All of the youth from around the country buses into the Central church and then we load them into buses and take the group to our residential camp. So we were so excited to arrive to church and see everyone…. until we pulled up and saw a small group of 5 people standing outside the church. I looked down and my watch seeing it was 9:58am and said to Carlos, “Doesn’t church begin at 10am?” He said, “Yes,” to which I responded, “Well, where is everyone?” He shrugged and said, “We will just begin when everyone gets here… maybe 10:30.” Haha. Nicaraguan time… what a huge difference in culture from the clockwork scheduling in the United States. Luckily, the group that was there is from the town, Caraso, which is Enmanuel’s town! So we got to see Enmanuel, “Manny” (for all the kids reading who met Manny at camp) and his brother, Jordy, and friend Nancy. These are 3 of our ringers here at camp… excellent soccer players. 

Our small group sat down in the church to begin the service and 10 minutes later, when I looked behind me, I saw that the entire church was full! I couldn’t believe the amount of youth that had arrived and tip-toed into the seating! 

After the service, we loaded all of the gear, bags and youth into the buses and pick up truck and made our way to camp. Pulling into the retreat center was a little surreal. We are in the same retreat center last year and I can’t help the feeling that we were “just here”… paired with the feeling that… “everything is so different.” With the program expansion it feels like

a whole new world of possibility is at our feet.  To have more than 1 camp for only 1 week would be amazing… the possibilities are endless for what we can do here in Nicaragua. First thing is first though, we must get the support of the church and the Nicaraguans to put the plan into action. I am proposing something that sounds like a grandiose and impossible idea that requires a lot of organization, leadership, and implementation. To be honest, so much thought and work went into constructing this plan and I am super nervous to present it. I KNOW it will work but I have to make the Nicaraguans understand it, believe it, and support it… in spanish haha.

Anyways, back to the day… we went straight to eat lunch and then started handing out the room keys. Usually, I have a private room with my own bathroom and lots of space… and WiFi which helps with posting the blog daily. Kara and I were excited to stay in the Leadership quarters… neither one of us were prepared for the surprise that the retreat center was overbooked with 3 groups and we were going to have to stay in a small 3 person room in the dorms with the campers… with communal bathrooms. A sardine can… barely big enough to fit the beds. In true American style, where comfortable living is essential and settling is not an option, we knew that we could maneuver this room. Before we knew it the mattresses were off, the beds were in the hallway and we put everything back in sideways. The beds side by side trying to squeeze every last inch available space (or else we seriously would not have had space for our personal luggage) haha. You may think that was excessive but when you are an inch from insanity, every inch counts. lol. 

Next we unpacked alllllllllll of the opening ceremony! We have 12 teams, 3 more than last year and each player receives a jersey, shorts, socks, and a water bottle, thanks to all of YOUR generous donation at home. Thank you all and I hope you enjoy seeing some of your donations in the pictures from this trip! This truly would not be possible without all of your genorosity Baltimore Soccer Community! 

We have 13 communities of the church represented at camp and rather than allowing the kids to play with friends from their own community, we mix them up with new people to help cultivate fellowship and friendship and promote our theme of MORE THAN FÚTBOL! Everything was ready for the opening ceremony and we only had one more thing to do… meet with the church leadership (while the kids were partaking in another activity) to discuss the plan for the new soccer program. BREATHE. 

The first meeting was easy… Alex and Enmanuel are my buddies and I had a good inclination that they would be on board and excited. My goal was to meet with them first to explain the plan, gain their support and enthusiasm, and then include them in the meeting with Katia, the head of the church. The buck stops with her. The only way this program could possibly work is with her approval and support. I presented Alex and Enmanuel with a manual I wrote that included the plan for the league, the rules (coach conduct, player conduct), and a guide on how to teach soccer so that Alex could use it to train the coaches who will be leading their own individual communities. We brought 30 manuals with us to get them

started and prior to leaving I translated the manuals into spanish (we will use an english version in Belize) and had my friend, Eliseo Rosiles from Timonium (originally Mexico) help me make any corrections to my spanish so that it was perfect. Alex and Enmanuel could not believe the detailed manual in spanish when they saw it. They said the plan was very clear and functional for Nicaragua and were very excited to present it with me to Katia.

First… a beans and rice break. (Dinner) 

Okay, now the meeting with Katia. I. Was. So. Nervous. and thanks a lot to Enmanuel who did not sit with us and Alexander who did not say one single word and sat there like a statue. lol. I did my best taking Katia through the manual (which is all a very knew concept for her especially because she is not big into sports). I watched her read and realized after a few minutes that I could not recall taking a breath haha. Then I launched into a lengthy explanation for how the league would work and the benefits it could bring to the communities throughout Nicaragua and the great change we could see. ***Pause**** Katie Smiles, I say, “What are you thinking?” and she says that she is just imagining this great plan and all of the possibilities. She goes on to say how not only is this a great program but important that it is a program that will function well for the culture and landscape of Nicaragua. Sigghhhhhhhhh Every muscle in my body relaxed and I said, “May I have permission to move forward and work on all of the logistics this week?” YES. YES. YES. 

I was so overwhelmingly happy… our program will go from 1 week of camp to a program that runs throughout the year providing soccer to kids from 5-18 years old generating so many amazing benefits. 

We also got the go-ahead to announce the league during the opening ceremony for the camp soccer tournament. After welcoming everyone, announcing the teams, and handing out

uniforms we made a big announcement for the league and everyone was so excited. No one was allowed to cheer or clap because at this point it was already 10:00 at night and we
didn’t want to wake anyone up so everyone did a “jazz fingers” kind of thing with huge smiles. A great way to end the day and an exciting topic for everyone to take back to their rooms as they prepare for bed.

Lucky for us, Nicaraguans have a belief that it is unhealthy to shower at night. Showering at night will make you sick. Well, showering was our first priority and there was no competition for the communal showers. :-) We showered up and bunkered down in our Sardine Can for the night and fell right asleep. Of course, by this time we are pushing midnight and feeling like our morning with Sylvia and Carlos was days ago. Needless to say, as soon as we laid down, we passed right out. I can’t believe how exhausted we were considering we haven’t really been in the full sun or actually playing soccer yet. 

Tomorrow, the tournament begins! We will have morning exercise session for anyone who would like to learn some healthy exercises (this is a problem in Nicaragua with unhealthy diet and lack of exercise), the kids will take a class in Gender Equality, AIDS, or another other world issue and then after lunch the tournament will begin! Check out the girl’s First Impressions below! 

Also, here is a funny video of our Nicaraguan Presentation (every community, including the USA girls have to do a performance to introduce themselves to the camp)!

First Impressions

1) What was the first thing that really caught your attention? 

Maya: The amount of “domestic” wild animals wandering around. 

Kara: First thing is the roosters, I am extremely sensitive to noise and even the heaviest of sleepers could hear them. Did you know that roosters crow all night not just at dawn? 

Ariel: Arriving at daytime was great so we could see everything. 

2) Have you made any fast friends? 

Maya: Yeah, I think :-) :-/ haha

Kara: Yes, one that stands out is Nancy because we both studied Psychology and I had a

great time talking with her.

Ariel: It was fun to make friends with people from different countries. Katia’s dad is from Brazil and my roommate is from Germany! 

3) How has the communication been? 

Maya: Difficult, I have things I want to say but I can’t find the words to say it. I really want to communicate more but my grammar and vocabulary are too elementary. 

Kara: My spanish is much better than I anticipated. The key is to not be shy because they are very patient with the language barrier and really enjoy speaking with us. 

Ariel: It’s interesting that some people are much better at slowing down their speech in a way we can understand. 

4) What is the country like? 

Maya: Very colorful and hot. 

Kara: Extremely different on many levels. They have no road signs and everywhere we go is 1,000 turns and its impressive they know where they are going haha. 

Ariel: Interesting to learn more about the history than I knew last year. 

5) What is the poverty like? 

Maya: In the houses the roof is the ceiling and the walls don’t always connect. 

Kara: It’s very unimaginable to the typical American eye… adjusting to it is difficult but I cannot imagine it as a daily reality. 

Ariel: I’m amazed by their creativity like the glass shards cemented to the top of the roofs to protect the houses… the same effect as barbed wire. 

6) What are some things that are different from what you initially expected? 

Maya: It’s not that green. 

Kara: The food has more flavor than I thought it would and there are TONS of stray dogs but they don’t come up to greet you. 

Ariel: It’s cool to see how strong the faith of the country is. 

7) What is your favorite part so far? 

Maya: Eating with everyone and trying to talk in spanish. 

Kara: Hanging with the Nicaraguans, especially seeing Alex and Enmanuel who had come up to the US for Coach training. They are so relaxed and happy. 

Ariel: Reconnecting with old friends but having deeper and more meaningful conversations because my spanish is better. 

8) What is the hardest part so far? 

Maya: Trying to communicate with everyone. 

Kara: Adjusting to sanitation differences, especially in bathrooms, water and food. 

Ariel: Battling the long Nicaraguan days with its heavy heat, lots of spanish, and activity.