Hello parents and friends, since there is a limited amount of time that we are able to use the computers, i think i am just going to write one email to all of you at the moment, sorry. lol. Well, my family is possibly the best thing to happen yet on this trip. There are ten of them living with me in my house. The grandmother, mother, father, three brothers, one brothers wife, two children of the brother, one child of the brother’s wife, and another kid whose mother is living in north carolina with two more brothers. The way we have figured it out, they start popping kids out when they are about twenty, and do so every two years for a very long time. The house is actually very nice, and yes there is a shower. However no hot water, but there isn’t any anywhere in Esteli. Today was the first chance i got to take a shower, and it was not as bad as you would think. Any amount of cleaning is very looked forward to by me. God does my hair feel great today. The father is a pastor, the mother is a teacher, and the oldest brother owns a store with his wife. I’m not really sure about any ages, except that the two youngest brothers are 19 and 21, and both of them are currently attending a university. The four smallest children are wonderful, they are the grandchildren or the great grandchildren, depending on how you look at it. The five year old girl, who up until today would not talk to me, is awesome, and turns out she speaks better English then me. She speaks better spanish than any nicaraguan i have met so far, except for bertha. Yes, we have one teacher per child, and we study for three and a half hours every day. It is pretty intense but we are learning a lot, and are getting pretty good at basic communication. Me and hil visited a very poor school yesterday, It really makes you think. Three hundred and twenty students attend, and there are four classrooms. Me and hilary are going to be doing some volunteer work there, once or twice a week. The camera was such a good idea, and you are going to love the pictures that i bring back. Everyone is welcome to write me by email, or snail mail, depending on what you prefer. I would love to get emails from all of you.

This is such a beautiful country, but it doesn’t keep me from missing all of you.
Have a wonderful day.
Always,
Matt

abstudent16@hotmail.com

Hey,
Well, we have finally found an internet cafe that we can use and understand….. kinda.
We made it safe and sound to Esteli and we happened to meet the president of Nicaragua in the airport and again on the plane. It was a very intresting experience. We made a new friend, her name is Bertha and we met her in the airport. She is Nicaraguan and lives in Managua. She was traveling back from a vacation with her family and they seem very nice, I know that you did not want us traveling to Managua but they have offered to let us stay in their house and show us around. They also have a house in San Juan Del Sur that they might take us too. If we go to Managua we would go on our second or third weekend. Second if it is up to me, third if it is up to Hilary. I love the family I am staying with, it is huge. There are ten of them. 11 including me. They are very nice and both me and Hilary really enjoy talking to them….. if you can call it talking. ClassÂ¥s are going very well, although they are a pain in the ass. Our Spanish is improving rapidly but we still have no idea what we are doing. Esteli is a very nice little city, and aside from the daily harassment Hilary receives, it is going very well. Much much love, and I will talk to you soon. As I said phones are few and far between, but you may be able to call my house. If you want to , you should try to call around 8 or 9 ur time. Hilary would like to say something so…
love matt

HEYA! just to reiterate what Matt said, weÂ¥re doing just dandy. His family is really, really sweet, and one of them speaks pretty good English so it’s a) easy to talk with him and b) we learn a lot because he can say a word in English if we don’t understand it in Spanish.
I’m trying to get Matt to go to MIRAFLOR this weekend, LEON AND MASAYA next weekend, and MANAGUA the third weekend. Bertha and her family are really nice, and they tried to slip us past customs, but the Presidents bodyguards wouldn’t let us cuz we had too many bags. Deeply amusing. and when we were confused in the airport in Managua and couldn’t find our driver (because we are stupid and blind) the President helped us out.
We aren’t getting into trouble, so no worries.
Matt is learning a ridiculous amount of Spanish tambien.
adios, much love, and tell everyone we say hi (you could post this in the blog if you wish)
love and Light, Hilary