Blog from Zulu 5

December 3, 2009 by Felix Reed and Matt Nash

Hola from El Cacao, Nicaragua! Things have been mental for Zulu-5 the past few days. Many of our members had not had the privilege of the two day bus journey to Nicaragua before setting off to our new destination but after listening to one cd of Backstreet Boys, Akon and even reggaeton on repeat , expectations of Nicaragua were not high.

Nonetheless, we were all proved wrong once we had been introduced to our families and been given some of the delicious local cuisine which we are still enjoying . . . honestly! Despite our different cultural backgrounds Zulu-5 and the young and healthy of El Cacao got put to task early on Saturday morning and formed a working relationship not to be reckoned with, we then reinforced these bonds playing football and volleyball the next day. Often the scores were not in Raleigh’s favour, but a special mention goes to our part-time Project Manager, Sandista, “La Serve” Kusre who managed to clear the school roof numerous times with his secret weapon of mass destruction (La Serve).

Since the start of the week, we have dug trenchesto ten houses and all frivolities have ended. Noah Can Der Wal has become manically determined to finish the work in time and the village have dubbed him “The Machinata” due to strength and tirelessness. The evenings have been surprisingly good fun and as of yet each day’s entertainer has done the group proud. Anneli’s game of consequences brought much Advent cheer to the group.