Lauren here. In our last post, we said that we would post some pictures of our school to show you all where we're spending a lot of our time. As promised, below are some pictures. So if you're not going to read the post that follows, you at least have some photos to check out! :) Take a look.
Anyways, Mitch and I really do want to keep you all, the people we care for most, updated. I also thought that writing this post would be a good way to relax, therefore, I'm writing to you all today. I don't have much to say, but thought I could fill you in on recent happenings here in Managua.
This week marks the middle of March, which means we've been working at our school for two months now, since the middle of January. I know I've said it before, but I really can't believe how fast the time is going. Somehow, even without close friends and family nearby, without The Walking Roots Band practices and gigs, Eastside events and worship practices, school work in the evenings, we're still managing to fill our time right up. If not to the brim, pretty close.
Though we have lots of time to relax in our home in the evenings, our mornings and afternoons are busy each day and we're enjoying the different places we get to be. School has been great for the both of us - challenging and new, yet comfortably familiar. We are learning so much every day and I'm beginning to see how far we've already come in our Spanish abilities. Just this past Friday, we were in a meeting after school with a few teachers who are visiting from the states and are at NCA Nejapa to offer some advice to the teachers here. I was asked to translate in a small group setting for a lady who only spoke English. I wasn't sure how it would go but I gave it a shot and I was able to translate everything, save for a few words! It was a good test of my Spanish abilities and when the meeting was over, I couldn't believe what I'd just accomplished!
Our time at Fortress of hope, CINAFE, is also so great. We're busy in school until 3pm, but then head over to FOH until 5pm or so. Soon, we're going to take on leading devotions for the children 2 nights a week, which we're both nervous and excited about. This time will also be another good test of our Spanish language abilities, for that, I am nervous. However, we're going to be able to develop relationships with the kids at FOH in a different and deeper capacity, for that, we are excited.
We love each of the kids in our work at NCA Nejapa and at FOH and are loving every minute spent there. We would love for you to see pictures of the kids that we're working with at FOH, so visit the FOH's website: www.fortressofhope.org and head to "meet us", then "children", and you'll find our recently posted pictures of each beautiful child.
That's all for now. Enjoy the few pictures of our school below!
Much love,
Lauren, and Mitch
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| Here I am, excited to receive my first work uniform! |
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| Us together after the first day of school. |
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| This is a teacher work room, where Mitch spends a lot of his time with the English department teachers. |
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| NCA Nejapa is completely open-air. The outdoor hallway on the left, leads to my classroom, and the open-air hallway on the right lead to the teacher workroom as well as other classrooms. |
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This is the Preschool/Kindergarten team celebrating my birthday together with a traditional Nicaraguan snack.
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