When we arrived in Nicaragua it was hot and humid, nothing like Colorado. On our way to Hotel Hamacas we were stopped by a religious parade and sat in the van for 2 hours. It took 4 hours in all to get from the airport to the hotel. As we were driving, I was thinking how sad it is to see these people living in these conditions while I get to live in an air conditioned house and I have a bed. Some people have hardly anything and struggle to keep themselves on their feet. On Sunday, when we arrived at the school  it was nothing like I had expected. There were two sides and to get the classrooms you would walk outside. They had a huge garden and the school yard looked tropical. When I imagined the school I thought of it as a square building and each classroom was inside. I kind of thought of it as a very small elementary school. We began to start cleaning and organizing each classroom. We cleaned desks, floors, walls, toys, etc. We were hot, sweaty, and sticky. Later that day we picked up bags and bags of trash that were in the school yard and garden. It felt amazing to help the kids out and know that this only happens once a year.
     On Monday morning when the kids arrived at the school I was ecstatic. We were meeting and greeting all the kids and they gave us many hugs. They were the sweetest things and we got to show off our sign language and Spanish. On Monday I worked in Lydia's classroom, which is a 4th grade classroom with students that are deaf. I sat in on the class and observed how the teacher taught. They learned personification, read, responded to questions, and did subtraction. Trying to help the kids with the reading and writing was very difficult, but I tried my best. When they did subtraction I used sign language to help them find the answer. The kids were so sweet, gracious, and smiley throughout the  day. Every time they got a chance to interact with us they would and we did the same.
     The next day they arrived and it was like the day before, hugs and smiles. I was in a class that did lifestyle in the morning and in the afternoon they wrote their names and practiced numbers. When I got to the classroom I was greeted with introductions and hugs from the students. During lifestyle they raked and watered some plants in the front yard. We got into the classroom and I observed how the students did their work. I made letters and numbers for the kids to trace and to get better at writing. I had them pronounce their names and the numbers 1-12. At around 10:00 they had a break and while I was walking over to the basketball court a little girl ran up to me and gave me a big hug. It was the sweetest thing ever. It just touched my heart and it was amazing. After school ended we went to one of the kids houses, his named was Jesus. As a family they lived in a tent and had a small circus. They did not have very much food, so we brought them some bags of groceries. They were an amazing family and were very nice.
     So far the trip has gone great and I have learned to step out of my comfort zone and be more confident. I loved helping the kids and it feels fantastic to be making a difference.