Maia's Reflection

          This is Maia Delkamiller.  I am 14 (almost 15) and will be a sophomore at Marian High School.  This is my third trip to Nicaragua with my mom and each trip has been very different. 

         This is supposed to be an overview of the entire trip, but how do you fit an entire trip into a few paragraphs? Its not like this was a resort vacation where all you have to do is write “Laid on the beach all day”. Well, we did go to the beach, but let me start at the beginning of the trip so I don’t get myself confused.

Ulises orders lots on Amazon and we bring free shipping.

          My mom and I flew in late on the 13^th. We stayed at Camino Real and then went to Leon in the morning. It was a nice surprise to have my “brother” Ulises ride with us. The first week we went to the deaf school, which is the main reason I love Nicaragua. I am like a friend, or a big sister to these kids. I missed them as soon as they left at the end of the day. It was even nice to see the teachers again. I told my mom that in 2 years, I am going to spend my summer at Ulises’s house so I can go to the deaf school every day. We only got to spend 4 days with them this time because they didn’t have school on Friday (because of the revolution celebration).

          We decided to spend the night out at the beach then had Samba lessons from Ulises and lobster for dinner. It was an absolutely gorgeous sunset. The last 2 times I have been to Nicaragua, I haven’t been able to see the sunset at the beach because we never spent the night there. So worth it!

Me and Anna figuring out how to eat lobster

          Then on Sunday we went volcano boarding. It has always been on my list of things to do but the timing has never worked out. Wasn’t an easy hike but the actual boarding was worth it. Got to see how almonds and chayote were grown also.

          The week after was training and Anna and I did all the background work. Making review games, checking people in, etc. Not the most exciting thing in the world, but it helped our moms. Then on Friday they threw a party for us, gave us presents, and made us food. It was sooo nice of them, I was a little sad to see them go. Then on Saturday I was sad to leave Dona Maria!  

"twins"-- Jordan and I were born on the exact same day--
 not sure who is really older though

         

2013: working with the youngest students

 I can’t pinpoint one reason why I love the deaf kids, because there are so many. It’s really a collection of a lot of things. I mean, after all, Nicaragua is already in survival mode, and on top of that they are deaf. Deaf people have no rights there. I just think about all the deaf adults I know that are educated as well as hearing people and then I see these kids already behind because it’s Nica, then even more behind because they are deaf.

          I think that in turn, I want to become a pediatrician to help kids like them. So when I get older, I want to be involved in “Doctor’s Without Borders”, ideally in Nicaragua.  So all in all, I love Nicaragua, it improves my Spanish, and I love being able to come back and see all of our friends :-)

(ok Anna Swain-- your turn to explain beef jerkey, baby food and bug bites!  :-)  )