I can't remember when this happened but do want to mention it because it was an amazing experience that we were able to take part in. Sometime during our busy day on Friday (I believe) a Father from one of the local churches came to the office to hold a blessing. The service was of course in Spanish and slightly difficult to understand...I haven't gotten a hold of my religious vocab yet. The priest walked around the office splashing what I'm assuming was holy water on all of us scattered throughout the office and all areas of the office. It really was awesome to be a part of the blessing as it was an emotional time for all of us. I can't imagine the feeling inside for those who have poured so much into making the project a success. Saturday morning we held the weekly practice with somewhere between fifty and sixty girls. The new crew was in for the start of the second week of camp and it was great to see the looks on their faces as girls kept streaming into practice. At the end of the session, we all packed up and paraded back to the office for the official opening. At one point during the walk back, I stopped to turn around and will forever have an image in my head of what I saw. The number of girls walking the streets of Granada headed back to the office absolutely floored me. I stood for a second just to take it all in as I couldn't even see the end of the line of the girls headed back with us. La fiesta en la calle enfrente de la oficina (The party in the street in front of the office) was quite grand. Chepe blocked the streets for us and we danced, played and enjoyed all of the company for a while.
Exhausted from the week, Z and I decided to make our way up a la laguna to relax on our Saturday afternoon off. I'm not sure either of us were prepared for the scene we eventually found... Beach side restaurants with hammocks as seating, palm huts and music all surrounded by the beautiful la Laguna de Apoyo. Now understand this, I've grown up on the beach and never in my life considered myself a lake person...but Apoyo has me sold. We spoiled ourselves to fresh grilled fish right from the lake and watched the sun set before we headed back into town. Luckily, we were able to meet up with the rest of our crew and spent our final night in Granada relaxing and chatting outside one of the local restaurants. Z and I were even treated to our final frito and sat at the table chowing down Nica style with just our hands...didn't seem to phase us or anyone else sitting at the table. Sunday morning we woke up bright and early and ate our final breakfast in our homestay/pregame meal for our game against the U-20 Nicaraguan National Team...needless to stay, frijoles liquidos (homemade refried beans) don't seem to sit too well before a ninety minute game in 100 degree weather. Our farewell to our family was quick but emotional. Everyone in the house woke up to say "adios" before our 6:30 a.m. departure. The family snapped a few pictures with Z and I and stood outside the house, homestay mother with tears streaming down her face, waving goodbye. We arrived to the newly constructed home field for the National Team right on time at 8 a.m. However, Mary forgot to take account for Nicaraguan time as we stood on the field for quite some time ready to play without another team to compete against. The field itself is a brand new turf field with the stadium almost carved into a hill right next to the field...very Colosseum style and gorgeous. The game was an awesome time for both teams. We wore the baby blue "Sky Blue" uniforms to represent our "Futbol Sin Fronteras" squad. The final score was 3-0 our side, but more importantly it was amazing to watch the Nicaraguan girls really come together as a team and push each other through the entire game.
After the game we made our way to a beautiful lakeside restaurant somewhere near the town of Masaya. Mary and Dani (a returning volunteer for the organization and Lehigh grad down for week two) ordered food to go as Z and I were just a few hours from departing. Saying goodbye was much more difficult than I had imagined it would be. Along with Zoey and I leaving, Myra and Alli (two girls who had spent the last two months living and working in Granada) were also returning home. A few of the neighborhood children made the trip to the game with us and I knew it was time to go when I saw the tears in their eyes. After many pictures, hugs and a number of "No es adios. Es hasta luego," (It isn't goodbye. It's see you later.) we raced to shower and make our way to the airport. Exhausted, Zoey and I arrived in Newark, NJ late Sunday night with thoughts of gallo pinto and refrescos in our heads. What an amazing trip...what an amazing experience. Thank you Ann. Thank you Mary. Thank you Nicaragua and Futbol Sin Fronteras. Hope you have enjoyed hearing about our trip. However, the experience is hard to put into words for most to understand. I know it is something that will have a strong impact on me for a while to come.
Adios! Nos vemos! Kay
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