Weekend in Ocotal

Last weekend, I headed up to the mountain community of Ocotal to spend a few nights with a family who runs a coffee farm. Javier, my translator who teaches an English class in Ocotal on the weekends,  and I jumped into the back of a pickup truck to take the long, bumpy trek up the mountain. On our way up, it began to rain heavily, and we picked up 6 or so kids walking home. We drove by the school I helped build in February and got dropped off almost at the top of the mountain near our host family's house. Emiliano and his wife, Marta recognized me immediately, as did the two kids (Mercedes and Marcos). I showed them pictures I had taken of them in February. Javier and Emiliano talked for a few hours while I sat and let my ears become accustomed to the beautiful sound of the Spanish language (I couldn't make out much of what they were saying)! Alonso, their oldest son came home late in the evening after attending an English class at a university a few hours away. He enjoyed practicing his English with me. 

The next morning, we got a tour of the coffee farm. I was amazed at how everything they eat (with the exception of rice) comes right from their land (or animals). Turkeys, chickens, pigs, and cows roamed the property, as well as 2 dogs, several horses, and a boisterous rooster. There were plantains, bananas, oranges, and countless other fruits growing from trees around the house. All of the meals that were prepared for me were delicious! And I got to drink fresh, organic coffee 3 times a day! Emiliano asked me if I wanted to learn how to milk a cow, so this happened...

In the afternoon, I headed up to the school with Javier (a 30 minute walk uphill through trails and over a rocky road) to observe his English lesson. He had a range of students from the ages of around 8-40. Some of the students were really excited about learning English, particularly the youngest student who asked me tons of questions to practice. Others, however, simply sat through the class without participating and often times not even paying attention. Javier said that there are some students whose parents don't provide much support or encouragement other than paying for them to attend the school, so it is difficult to keep them interested. 

Later that evening, I taught the kids in my host family how to play UNO and wrote down rules in Spanish for them so they could keep the cards. I bought a few pounds of the delicious Ocotal coffee to bring home and gave Emiliano his gift of a travel coffee mug and T-shirt from Honeoye Falls.

On Monday morning, Javier was supposed to have another English class, but there was some  miscommunciation and we arrived late, so all the students had gone home. However, the regular teacher was there to teach the younger kids. They started with a prayer and some warm-up exercises and continued on to have a relay race and then play some soccer for phys ed. Two boys don't own shoes, so they couldn't play with the rest of the kids. Luckily, I had brought a mini nerf ball with me, so I tossed it around with them for a bit. Our truck arrived around 9:00 to bring us back to El Sauce. On the way down, we stopped by the school in Buena Vista that was built in February so I could take some pictures and talk to the class and teacher. We are actually heading back there on Tuesday to drop off some supplies that were bought with the money I raised. 

It was so fulfilling to see the final product of the school and all the kids receiving an education in a safe building. Congratulations to all who had a part in making this happen!