Our Super Dooper first week in León

Our first week in León was super dooper fantastic! It’s hard to explain how exciting it has been right from day 1. The day before we left for León, we rocked our first ever show and got the opportunity of doing a taster workshop with the kids at SonFlora, a local school in Las Peñitas. On an early Friday morning we left Las Peñitas, ready to settle down in our new home for the next month which is located near the centre of the colonial city of León. The house is lovely and has a beautiful vibe, Nicaraguan style, where we have hammocks looking out over the garden and space to train and admire the incredible wildlife right on our door step. We are not impressed about the massive amount of mosquitos here….but we certainly love the singing birds, lizards, geckos and even a MASSIVE spider!! I must say, the spider was my least favourite…I’m pretty sure it was related to Spiderman…?

We are settling into the house nicely. Getting our kit ready in time to perform our first show at El Barrilete was the first of many missions to come in the week. Our warm welcome at El Barrilete was very special and full of smiles and hugs from the kids and of course they wanted to hug all of us at once! I felt a little emotional and so happy to hear the kids asking about the PWB team from last year…yes all of you guys, they haven’t forgotten about any of you. So I would like to dedicate a moment to say: “HOLA HOLA HOLA HOLA HOLA Justin, Emily, Bolsas, Aileen, Valentina and Jacob” from the kids from Barrilete, you certainly touched their hearts! After a little parade around the area to attract attention and build a crowd we started the show which the kids and locals loved!

The weekend was a good chance to do a little more training and talk about our first couple of shows. Our first week started on Monday packed with teaching at different schools and more shows.

During Monday and Tuesday the team had to split into two groups. One group went to Las Chavaladas: a school that supports boys in difficult situations/helps them back on track. This school is a great project as it’s also part of a Mobile School (Escuela Movil) that travels to poor barrios and gives the kids the chance to learn and play. The other group worked at El Fortin: another school where we gave all the kids a chance to play and do some circus skills, needless to say it was a very special experience.

Even when the team splits between the schools there are still plenty of other missions for us to complete. The ones not teaching will be: doing weekly food shops, cooking, planning, sorting out equipment, etc….there is always something to do, that’s for sure!

Every afternoon, the whole team travel in a “camioneta” which is a small truck full of locals and are often super busy, to el Barrilete to teach. We tend to attract a little attraction walking around….imagine 7 foreigners all with matching t-shirts (of different colours) and massive props bags, I sometimes get the feeling we look like an extremely mis-matched hen/stag party. If we are lucky, we get the camioneta with really loud speakers blasting out salsa, it’s just great!! Definitely the best way to get to El Barrilete to teach the kids. This week they have been able to play and tried all the skills we have to offer including poi, juggling (balls, hats, rings), skipping rope, hula hoops, diabolo, acro balance, beat boxing and body percussion. We also did a lot of games and A LOT of dancing! They really had a great time! We also performed a show each day: one at el Barrio called Tomas Borge and Barrio Ocatunio.

Wednesday was super special too as it was our tour coordinator Oihana’s birthday, so we had some nice cakes and a few surprises ready for her. The kids from El Barrilete didn’t just sing happy birthday to her but organised an entire show! It was really quite amazing! More surprises were coming on our way home as the team had organised a piñata, which is very popular here, for her to open…she really was quite hilarious trying to hit it blindfolded.

Thursday went quickly, working in the different schools and bonding with the kids in the morning and in the afternoon.

Friday morning was epic as the team visited León’s Cathedral and we got to do some awesome circus on the top! It was hot but very beautiful, you could see a lovely view of the city and the volcano’s around the city. A morning off goes a long way here in León as we wake up nice and early every day. So we came back in time for lunch and headed off to teach at El Barrilete.

The weekend arrived and we had some time to chill so some went back to the beach to ride horses which was very beautiful….but a little painful the next day. Other members went to visit an incredible volcano called Momotombo.

We are really enjoying the work here and despite the hot and sticky weather and plagues of mosquitos it’s an incredible experience. The week has gone so quickly and we are super happy to be part of this important work and are amazed at what we have achieved already. Thank you so much for everyone who supported me and helped me to get here!! I would say some of my favourite experiences so far are watching the kids’ faces when we do the shows (it makes me feel so happy!) making Oihana happy for her birthday and the camioneta rides!

Bring on week 2!! Let’s do it team!!

Lots of love, happiness and circus to you all,

Bea (PWB Nicaragua Team 2015)

xxxxxxx