Thursday has been a day filled with laughing, painting and finally raining! The sound of the raindrops banging on the tin roof of our hotel tonight is so loud that we can't even hear each other just a few feet away. But we appreciate that the rain will cool things down and that it held off until after we finished work for the day.
Since we had installed the frame for the roof yesterday, today the contractors were able to secure the top of it to enclose the structure. Our team focused on painting several coats of white paint on the inside of the bathroom as well as one coat of blue paint on the outside. Of course paint + our goofy team of students + visits from eager kids from the community lead to general nonsense. Today's lighthearted joking came about as we realized that just a few final touches are missing to finish our project. We need to put in the door, toilet and window as well as add a few final coats of paint.
In the afternoon we helped out at Camp JAM, where Manna volunteers had prepared an activity to create artwork for inside the bathroom. Kids from Cedro Galan made hand prints on canvas which will be framed and hung inside the structure to add some personalized cheer. Our team also had the opportunity to converse with Christina about our closing ceremonynext Monday night when we hope to unveil the completed bathroom and thank our partners and friends in the neighborhood for their support. We have certainly enjoyed interacting with the entire Manna staff and look forward to our last few days on site with them and the community members of Cedro Galan.
Several students attended English classes tonight (we rotate who goes every night). Since we have participated in several classes now, we have gotten to know some of the students and continue conversations with them. A pair of brothers practiced their English as they shared about how much they enjoyed learning the language in the Farito classes but found their public school coursework less productive. It was very clear that the Manna volunteers had developed an engaging curriculum and teaching methodology; the teachers used humor and personal relationships with the students to encourage their participation on the lesson about modal verbs.
Afterwards, we had a team dinner at a nearby restaurant where everyone was in a good mood about the progress of the project. We have come to appreciate the down time in this trip as a way to have fun and get to know each other. Since we spend our entire days together we have certainly learned a lot about our similarities and differences. Tonight, like all of the others, we sat around reflecting on the bathroom construction, on Nicaraguan realities, and on our own lives.
Since we had installed the frame for the roof yesterday, today the contractors were able to secure the top of it to enclose the structure. Our team focused on painting several coats of white paint on the inside of the bathroom as well as one coat of blue paint on the outside. Of course paint + our goofy team of students + visits from eager kids from the community lead to general nonsense. Today's lighthearted joking came about as we realized that just a few final touches are missing to finish our project. We need to put in the door, toilet and window as well as add a few final coats of paint.
In the afternoon we helped out at Camp JAM, where Manna volunteers had prepared an activity to create artwork for inside the bathroom. Kids from Cedro Galan made hand prints on canvas which will be framed and hung inside the structure to add some personalized cheer. Our team also had the opportunity to converse with Christina about our closing ceremonynext Monday night when we hope to unveil the completed bathroom and thank our partners and friends in the neighborhood for their support. We have certainly enjoyed interacting with the entire Manna staff and look forward to our last few days on site with them and the community members of Cedro Galan.
Several students attended English classes tonight (we rotate who goes every night). Since we have participated in several classes now, we have gotten to know some of the students and continue conversations with them. A pair of brothers practiced their English as they shared about how much they enjoyed learning the language in the Farito classes but found their public school coursework less productive. It was very clear that the Manna volunteers had developed an engaging curriculum and teaching methodology; the teachers used humor and personal relationships with the students to encourage their participation on the lesson about modal verbs.
Afterwards, we had a team dinner at a nearby restaurant where everyone was in a good mood about the progress of the project. We have come to appreciate the down time in this trip as a way to have fun and get to know each other. Since we spend our entire days together we have certainly learned a lot about our similarities and differences. Tonight, like all of the others, we sat around reflecting on the bathroom construction, on Nicaraguan realities, and on our own lives.