Word of the Day:
el paseo- trip, hike
el cusuco- armadillo
el pedo- fart
Ok, so I´m a little too tall and white to blend in...
My English group seems to be
turning into "paseo" club in our last month or so, and I am totally
fine with it. The kids are just as bored with learning English as I am with
trying to get them to listen to me and stop leaving every 5 seconds to eat
highly processed snacks, so we've reached a good equilibrium. Plus, attendance
is stellar when we take trips. The parents are probably less pleased, but I'm
past the point in my service where I care about making everyone happy.
This week, we were going to
take a short hike out to a nearby river, but of course, being rainy season and
all, it threatened to rain, and so I suggested going somewhere more close by.
"Isn't there a waterfall by the baseball stadium?" I asked the kids.
"Salto del Pedo!!!(The Waterfall of the Fart" they laughed.
"Let's go there!"
So we headed for Salto del
Pedo, hopping barbed wire fences with several dogs on our heels. Almost all
hiking in Nicaragua requires some mild trespassing. Luckily, it didn't rain,
and we had gorgeous views of the mountains over in Costa Rica, rarely ever
visible, as well as the twin peaks of Ometepe. The kids commented to me about
what a beautiful day it was, and were excited to be out of the classroom. I've
noticed that Nicaraguans have a real appreciation for the beauty of their
country, but that few people, other than kids, spend much of their leisure time
out in nature. I think it's partly due to the fact that so many people still
work out in the fields, and maybe there's a stigma attached to being outside, for
those who don't. It's really a shame, because there's so much beauty in almost
every community. Regardless, the kids had a lot of knowledge about their
surroundings, which was encouraging. They found a cusuco den and played
with ferns, using the spores to create tatoos on their skin.
We chanced upon a farm
house, which the kids essentially ended up invading, and the kids stole tons of
lemons from her tree. She was totally cool with it though, and gave them a
knife for peeling and salt to eat them with. Nothing beats Nicaraguan
hospitality.
It was a great afternoon,
despite all the usual "he said, she said, he pushed me, she stole my
umbrella, she won't share her salt" that 7th graders love to pull. I'm
really going to miss the kids when I leave.
By the way, it turns out
that Salto del Pedo is not actually a real waterfall, but merely a large hill.
Humorous misadvertising.
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