Ameya

Our trip officially began (to me) when we arrived at a little school in a town outside of Chinendega. Anxiously awaiting our arrival were approximately 160 children, several mothers and teachers, a couple hungry dogs, and one very creepy clown. The sight of so many children waiting for us made me a little nervous and anxious to get out of the van. I had fears of being swarmed by children who I could not communicate with, afterall to call my Spanish skills dismal would be high praise, however these fears were soon proven to be baseless. The children were so sweet and earnest, scouching their little plastic chairs closer to you inches at a time, or just flinging themselves at your mid-section for a fantastic bear hug.

Throughout the course of the trip we began referring to adorable children as either "nibblets" or "snatchers" (as in "that child is so adorable I would like to run away with them, they are a snatcher") and this little girl is the perfect illustration.

As soon as we had arrived, the deejay started the games, there was musical chairs, wheelbarrow races, sack races, egg on spoon races, and lots of prizes for all. When it was time for a group of Simmons students to partake in the egg on spoon races we had a brief debate about whether or not to put the spoons in our mouths before quickly deciding against this, we pretended not to understand as the children admonished us for using our hands.

Please note the creepy clown who presided over the days events!

After lots of games, a raffle drawing, and several read alouds, we passed out chocolate milk and nutra-grain bars to the kids. I paused at one point to practice arithmetic with some boys on their newly won calculator, and with prizes and food in hand they soon started to wander off, some having a long walk home.