Oh what a day! Saturday April 6

Today started off slow and lazy but boy did it go out with a bang! We all slept in late and met up at Casa Calteva at 10am. We laid around on the big school porch catching the breeze and talking. We went from house to house meeting host families and getting to know the area. We all live walking distance to the school. The houses here are much different than Atlanta. They are so open that inside feels like outside. Just about every house has an atrium garden in the middle of it, with the roof completely missing in that part of the house. People leave their doors and colonial style windows open all day. You can easily walk into someone's house. In Atlanta we live under lock and key, here everything is open and there seems to be little to no crime. While house hopping we tried cold natural fruit juices (sold in bags) and waved at friendly Nicas. It's very important to say "Buenos Dias" y "Buenas tardes" as we pass locals on the streets. We later went back to our individual houses to eat lunch. Darius Soilberry, Amadou, and Jabir came over my house to play playstation with my little host sister and brother. Tori and Aaron also stopped by since they live a couple of houses down from me. My host mother fell in love with Darius Soilberry because he sat at the table and ate up. We then met at the school for our tour.

Our tour was a treat! We saw a demonstration on how the native Americans in the area have made ceramics pots for thousands of years. It was amazing and it's still a sacred art passed down from generation to generation. We went to fruit stands to try delicious treats that have no English name and that we will probably have trouble describing to you when we get home . We visited an old quaint town known for its organic plants and gardens.
As if that weren't enough we then went to the Laguna Look-out post. It was breath-taking! What was once a volcano filled up with fresh clean water and created a scene like no other. We took group pictures and the more adventurous went horseback riding for $2.
After all that we returned home for dinner then met back up to go to a Mime Show in the downtown area. The Mime Theatre is an initiative to help young people go to school and to keep them off the streets.. The show was hilarious and magical. We returned home late (about 10:40-11pm) and have to get up early in the morning for a walking tour of the city.