News from Nicaragua: San Jose, X Ray 8

The war has officially begun between the boys and girls of X Ray 8. After a lovely day at work under Michael’s leadership, Charlie, Andrew, James and Hanko ruined it by soaking Felur, Holly and Georgina, before rolling them in the sand pit! (Official terminology here I believe is: ‘donuting’) Sleep with one eye open boys... On Monday we had a double excitement – half the group headed with Vicki to Esteli on the bus tour a cigar factory, the industry employing around 70% of residents of the town, whilst X Ray 7 paid us all a visit after work, we had a lovely reunion at the water hall. On Tuesday, the second half of the group made the same trip and we were given free cigars; the boys taking the whole experience incredibly seriously!

Jemma also arrived with us on Tuesday and we are now getting started on the painting. The school is already a brilliant blue/green blend, while the murals have been planned out and waiting to be filled in! The community centre is going very smoothly (our rendered walls are like marble). Georgina and Azelle’s ‘Dad’, Don Gustavo, proved a ..help.. with the painting, splashing paint around like nobody’s business! James subsequently spent two hours resurrecting the door.. Cindy then showed up Azelle by out-shovelling. And she’s TINY! Charlie got his tongue in a twist discussing turnips with Fleur, or was it tulips? “You have loads of turnips in Holland right, they’re all over your postcards!”

The Bravo’s (Ale, Holly and Dangerous Dave) arrived on Thursday night – lovely to see them all and receive our messages! We’ve got the drawing board out for our skit – the boy’s are gunning for an auction idea but we’ll see... Charlie does a mean Paddy McGuiness impression so maybe a ‘Take Me Out’ parody is needed. Let the bangers see the mash!

We’re all excited for our fiesta on Monday when we open the community centre! A classic Nicaraguan celebration!

X Ray 8 out!

X-Ray 8: San Jose

X-Ray 8 arrived in Miraflor after 2 days on the bus from Costa Rica and thus far their time has been filled with cement volcanoes and explosive rivers on the worksite. The roof of their community centre is due to go on this week and the mural has been chosen by the community from our list of suggestions. The boys have taken to enjoying the Shania Twain power hour a little too much, mattocking topless in unison to ‘Man I Feel Like A Woman’. The macho-ness exuded by James, Hanko, Charlie and Andrew is almost overwhelming.

On our second night we were treated to an ‘unexpected’ visit from the X-Ray 3 trekking group, who had taken a wrong turn on their route. We spent the evening sharing tales from life on site but did not wake to say goodbye at 3am...
Groups have rotated work at the local school playing vast quantities of ‘heads, shoulders, knees and toes’ in addition to the legendary ninja – the class of 15 can barely contain their excitement when we show up!

We couldn’t write a blog about our community phase without talking our amazing families. Gee and Azelle have had an eye opening experience following Don Gustavo’s topless Macarena and witnessing the slaughter of a pig! Azelle in particular has attained some firsts in experiencing the taste of eggs, and a drink of coffee (separately) for the premier time in her life. Gee on the other hand has failed miserably to teach her young ‘brothers’ ceilidh dancing, much to the amusement of the rest of the group.

Holly and Rosh have become the long lost daughters of doting Mother Angela, who seems to have a never ending family resembling a Spanish soap opera. They are slowly but surely working out who’s who. Hanko and Fu’s Dad is a Lad and has become the party house whilst James and Michael are cosy in the single bed!

On a honey search one evening, Michael managed to get stung in the mouth, but it was well worth it for the prize. Their Mum keeps them happy with hundreds of tortillas – the smell is seeping out of their pores.
Vicki and Jess are kept busy with communal card games and spending the night’s listening to Janer’s spectacular snoring!Andrew and Charlie met their Dad on the first evening in somewhat bizarre circumstances – having a nap against the garden wall.

On our day off we visited a waterfall which was well worth the walk and the group are taking it in turns to visit the cigar factory in Esteli this week.

Within the first day a quote list was compiled which has grown steadily:

Anna: Guys... Did you know i’ve been on trek (x1000)

Holly: Guys... It’s definitely raining.

Gee: Glasgow is better than Edinburgh
- This rain is really wet

James: I HATE people who think that bakewell tarts are the original bakewell puddings. They’re stupid.

Charlie: I’ve just sacrificed a camera saving a biscuit wrapper from that river (Pilkington’s commitment to Raleigh’s ‘Leave No Trace’ policy continues to impress)

Fu: *LOUD NOISES*

All in all X-Ray 8 are having a banging time in Nicaragua and can’t wait to get started on the mural this week.

Alpha 8 - San Jose

Alpha 8Time to clock off for the weekend. We decided to spend our first free afternoon bonding over a game of cards and lounging in the backyard of one of our host families. Of course, nothing says group bonding quite like a big bowl of papaya which we managed to successfully scoff down in under a minute.
The following day we joined the majority of the San Jose community, as well as Alpha 7, at the local baseball game. We spent an exciting day comparing notes with our ‘amigos’ from Alpha 7 while working on our tans. To put the cherry on top of a perfect day we cooled off in the watering hole. We were now fresh and eager to start a new week on the worksite....

...unfortunately this enthusiasm died off somewhat when we learnt that our task was to pick up yet more rocks from the nearby field for the floor of the centre, but Alpha 8 kept their spirits up with catchy rock-related tunes, the most noteworthy being Queen’s classic ‘We will rock you’, closely followed by ‘I like big rocks and I cannot lie!’
The next few days flew by in a flash and we all appreciated the return of Alfredo, Dani and Valeria, along with the roadtrip crew who came to stay for a few days. The day after could not have been anything more than we could have hoped for – our hard work had finally paid off as we started laying bricks. It was now that we could see a building forming and the San Jose community centre was no longer just an image in our heads.

Building such a construction is no easy task and being a phase one group, it is a shame that we will not see the end result of all our hard work. Luckily for us though we were able to see what we were working towards as that afternoon we walked to Los Apantes, an hour or so from San Jose. The walk was energising (for some!), but the view from the top was breathtaking for all. Once there we spent time with the families and were fully able to appreciate the value of a community centre.

As always, Alpha 8 sends much love to everyone back home. Thank you to friends and family for their thoughtful messages.

Pura Vida!

The Return of Bravo 2

Bravo 2 have returned from their, and it would be fully justified to say here, epic road trip to northern Nicaragua, where they have visited our community phase groups up in Miraflor and Achuapa. Starting with a couple of days collecting rocks and teaching English in San Jose with Alpha 8, they also had the opportunity to visit Los Apantes where Claire and Dave had assisted in the construction of a Community Centre in Expedition 11G/H - the whole village turning out with refreshing drinks and papas fritas for all.

A whirlwind 20 hours with Alpha 7 in La Naranjita followed, with a dip at a local waterfall before literally mucking in with the construction of adobe bricks; former city slicker Tim Salt described it as the most laborious morning's work he had ever undertaken in his life... Their final stop was with Alpha 6 in El Portillo where they (sheepishly) took a share of the praise lauded on A6 by the community for their hard work during the phase, although they made up for it through their vocal backing during the national anthem and The Beatles' - Twist and Shout at the evening’s fiesta, where speeches, singing and salsa were in abundance, along with the customary piñata.

One blip on an otherwise magnificent trip occurred on the final morning as Bravo Two were left feeling utterly dejected that their Nicaragua - Costa Rica border crossing took 44 minutes, some 17 minutes slower than Ross Mckenzie's notorious 27 minute scintillating slalom through the mayhem of international border bureaucracy back in the balmy summer of 2009.

At this point I wish to inform you, dear readers that your blogger is back (cue sobs of relief/three cheers as you see appropriate). Sadly low numbers at base, tied in with a bug that left many members bed-bound, subsequently left you under informed. This will be rectified asap. I personally wish to apologise for any inconvenience caused, and hope our updates in the coming days serve to slake your thirst for all things Raleigh in Costa Rica and Nicaragua.

Pura Vida!

Alpha 8: San Jose

 Another Alpha update from Miraflor, this time from Alpha 8's Rachelle who are in San Jose, assisting the community in the construction of a Community Centre.

Challenging does not begin to describe the first few days of our community centre works... The Nicaraguan sun beat down on us relentlessly as we toiled in the heat, levelling the slope in preparation of laying the foundations of the building on day five. A trip to the water hole was therefore much deserved leaving the group refreshed, relaxed and raring to go once again.

Our ‘foster’ families have been nothing short of amazing, feeding us far too much and taking far too good a care of us. Although the language barrier has been challenging for some, we have all learnt that laughter is an international language and it is fair to say that everyone has managed to bond well with their new Nicaraguan families. A discussion over the delicious rice, beans and tortillas came to the common consensus that what was, at first, an overwhelming experience, is now an environment where all of Alpha 8 are comfortable.

Work continues on the centre and next Wednesday we look forward to the visit of Bravo One on their road trip next week. To all our friends and family at home – we are well and having an amazing time!

Pura Vida!

Alpha 8 x

Sorry that we can't bring you any photos so far from the Nicaragua groups - next week as stated, Bravo One will be visiting and receiving photos from Alphas 6, 7 and 8. Rest assured once we have them, blogs will be update accordingly.