cusmapa

so, about two weeks ago i got the chance to go to cusmapa. its a small village up in the mountains of nicaragua. on monday night i was sitting around with the community eating dinner when callie (another fabretto volunteer) stopped by our house. she was in managua with a woman whose daughter needs surgery so that she can walk, and so i decided to head up to cusmapa with her tuesday through friday. its about an 8 hour trip but well worth it. at night i slept with 3 blankets on. that alone makes it worth it to me. we didn't do much while there, but it was a very nice time to see another part of nicaragua, another fabretto school, and another american teaching english. it really is a challenge and i think i just don't know how to teach well, much less teach a foreign language. we'll see. the most amazing parts of our time in cusmapa were watching sunsets from mountainous rocks, walking around this little village and saying hello to all the people, listening to the very talented choir practice, making-hand making- our own scrabble board and playing scrabble twice (i lost both times. damnit) we also visited their lake. which a nicaraguan commented that it was a tourist attraction. this little dirty pond was the furthest thing from a tourist attraction one could imagine, as that it is 8 hours from an airport and one has to ride busses and walk for another 30 min. just to see this little pond. oh nicaraguans. all in all it was a very good time for reflection and focus on myself and my time here. i hope you all have time for silence and solitude to be.

james