Matt and Brooke

Well our friends Matt and Brooke came and went in a torrent of great fun.When they got here we brought them immediately to our site and we made it just in time for them to be the final exam for korys english class. We made beans and rice and homemade lemonade. Kory did show and tell with all his awsome inventions but in fast forward, knowing we were going to leave again early in the morning. Some of the boys from our church came over to pick out a tie that they brought (thanks to all who donated by the way).

Anyway, they came officially to film our training that we did for youth. We (9 volunteers from our region) were given money to do a training for 4 kids each from our communities.Please note the awsome mural kory made in the background, that later served as a backdrop for the photobooth.We spent 2 days in Estelí talking about all kinds of things related to aids. Thanks to some awsome and creative volunteers (also known as Matt and Jess) we stayed up ALLLL night the first night (I want to note that I had to get up and leave on a bus at 5 am and then I stayed awake until 3 am. Suckk!) but it was actually really cool. We called it a lock in because they all had to stay and participate. We had a mini casino in which we showed them the odds of aquiring an STD if they didnt take protective measures, we did a condom water toss, a mural, olympics, a fashion show, a photo booth... TONS! it was exausting and well executed. Matt and Brooke filmed the whole thing and did interviews with lots of people and hopefully will be able to edit us a nice few films.

After all the work was done we brought our kids back to our site, leaving just enough time to allow M & B the pleaser of chopping down a banana tree with ripe bananas, and the next day got on yet another bus to Leon. Leon is a pretty Tuanis (cool) city here in Nicaragua and we walked around for the night. It is also one of the hottest places on earth.. or so it feels. I think the matt and brooke almost died. Us desert dwellers, we cant live well in the humidity. Kory went on a shopping spree of used clothes and the next day we were off to the ocean. Brooke said.. ¨now this is vacation¨ and boy was she right. We had worked our tails off and spent about 18 hours on buses during the week. So we sprung for a couple of $20 bungalows that on high tide were about 20 feet from the water and relaxed. We were going to go and do turtle patrol all night, we even bought flashlights, but then it started to rain and we couldnt do it. All in all it was a great vacation. For more info on the matter you should check out matt and brookes blog and matt and jess´s blog. (see right hand column.)

I just want to add a special thanks to all the people who helped donate stuff to send for us. We have been having a ball with it. Eating gummy eyeballs, chocolate, and other delicious unmentionables. With the spices mom sent I whipped up a VERY convincing and delicious vegetarian sausage for my cookbook and some banana bread as well. The ties and clothes have been extremly valuable and the books as well. THANKS SO MUCH! It should be known that no peace corps volunteer is complete without the support of friends and family. Knowing that I sound like a complete idiot... you are the wind beneath our wings. hehe. Thanks agian. We love you all!PS, this is the traditional nica photo we took in front of two backdrops, please note the dirty door. LOVE IT! (sorry I couldnt turn it on this program... but it adds the nicaraguanness of it.)