March 11

This is Zoe writing. Today was my favorite day yet. I slept very late and had the wonderful blessing of showering for the first time. The water wasn´t as cold as I thought it would be. After my two minute shower, my mommy surprised me with an incredible mango smoothie. The love and warmth she shows me is amazing; everybody does their best to make me feel at home and I am very appreciative.
The real fun started after breakfast at Rafaela´s when more or less 25 of us all piled into our van to go to Granada. I have never been so close to Ilya, El Ruso, in my life. Our Nicaraguan friends gave us all nicknames; Jess is Lady Gaga. Kevin is Yao Ming. Conner is Harry Potter and I am Katie Perry.
The time we spent at Granada was all worth the trip. We took a boat and were treated to a kind of clown specatacle including a pinata that a bunch of us tried to break open. Jesse and Tommy were also showcased in a funny sketch that had us howling. We spent the day at one of the 365 islands called San Pedro. We had a picnic, swam, played soccer and socialized with our Nicaraguan friends. They are so much fun. They taught us words of the ¨calle¨ and are always willing to stop and explain a joke we don´t understand.
The funny thing about this trip is how socializing with our new friends has brought us closer to our GS friends. I learn new things about Ulin and JJ by the minute and that only brings us closer. We laugh at each other´s failed attempts at speaking Spanish but it´s all out of love.
Lastly, we ate dinner at Rafaela´s to end our fun-filled day. My dad picked me up in his car; respect to him because it wasn´t automatic. Now I´m at home in the patio area talking to my little brother, Kenneth, while trying to write this entry. He is always so energetic. It´s incredible that he´s able to sleep at night. Tomorrow is our first real day at La Nicaraguita and we´re all pumped to meet our students and do what we came here to do. Hasta luego.