Clases, basquetbol, y fiesta de cumpleaños

Today was another action packed day. We started off with classes all morning then lunch with our host families. After lunch we were asked to present information about American culture and traditions to the older students (middle school/ high school) at Casa Xalteva. We decides to make it a black history lesson. Many people around the world study African-American history and they enjoy our music, sports, political leaders but few get to meet us face to face because we do not travel on a large scale.
The BEST Boys were great! They paired up and took on topics black historical figures, our music, our traditions, our foods, dance, our celebrations, sports etc.
The Nicaraguan students loved the presentation but I think their teachers enjoyed it more. I think the BEST boys really for a chance to see how much we have to be proud of as African- Americans. We taught them about Dr King and the Civil Rights movement (some they'd already learned in school). They learned what soul food is, we taught them how to dougie and the electric slide and the wobble. They heard us say the US Pledge of allegiance sing the national anthem and the negro national anthem, lift every voice and sing. Did I mention they they did all this IN SPANISH?!?!?!?! Well let me tell you ladies and gentlemen they presented all this in Spanish, it wasn't perfect but it was excellent. They all make me proud everyday that we are here. Good job parents, please take a moment to pat yourself on the back. We will present the same information for the younger children Monday morning.
After our presentation we headed to the basketball court to start our much anticipated gringo vs Nica basketball game. The game was played 5 on 5 and the first team to 5 wins. The first few games our boys were slaughtered. The Nica team plays everyday together and they work well together our students are not a team so they were at a disadvantage . After a while though are boys made a comeback and won the last 2 games ( of the 6 they played.
If you think the day ended there you are wrong I keep my crew BUSY! We all went home quickly to grab dinner then the students were invited back to my host family's house to celebrate my oldest son's 9th birthday. His birthday is tomorrow but since our day is scheduled so tight tomorrow my just family INSISTED o. Give him a party today. They invited all the kids in the neighborhood. They decorated the house and bought a cake and a piñata. This was a great opportunity for my students to participate in an authentic Nicaraguan birthday party. Back home I could take about it, show YouTube videos about it and have them read about it, but here they get to feel, hear, and taste it. Even though it was a kids party the boys seemed to have a good time and enjoyed helping bust the piñata and grab candy.
Tomorrow after class we will go see a folkloric dance dinner show from 3-9pm. This is pretty exciting and the more I think about the quality of the program and services that we are getting I'm shocked at the great rate we paid for it. Please make sure you continue to check the blog.