Day 9

Hola everyone for the last time! (Well, not actually. There will be a short blog on tomorrow's travel day.) Lucas and Austin here reporting from the empty, sad Nehemiah Center. Today was our last day of fun with our amigos from Centro de Fe, and it was one packed with activities and emotions. Roy cried 😭.

After our breakfast, which included a feast of suspiciously white pineapples and re-instituted papayas, we boarded the bus of sleepy team members taking up four seats each to the school. We were greeted by our loving amigos and watched the closing ceremony celebrating the Quinceañera of our school's relationship. The ceremony included devotions about the thanks we have for God about our schools' connection. The younger grades also performed many dances, which varied from traditional dances that Roy danced his heart out in, to a "hip" hip hop dance.

During the farewell ceremony, the Nicaraguans presented us Canadians with a trophy for the legendary soccer match that took place. The principal of CdF reminded us that in our 15 years of soccer this was the first victory for us maple syrup drinking lumberjacks. Noah naturally got MVP for the match, and Alex received a medal for his hard work enduring his new transformation of being a lobster. It was hilarious (and hard to watch) when Gilbert, the translator, raised Alex's arm/lobster appendage to the champion pose which resulted in Alex bending over to the fetal position in pain. Roy, and probably Alex, cried.

After the younger grades left, ACS and CdF took pictures of the mural we painted together and ate a hearty lunch of fried plantains and crispy chicken. Alex was glad that his chicken wasn't raw. Apparently it was "raw last time, so it was okay for me to eat Austin's"... but I digress.

After lunch was the talent show, which Austin (me) and Lyra (not me) started off with the song "Riptide". Austin started singing and Lyra played on her ukulele, but Mom, don't worry about my horrible singing because it was all a joke and we switched roles with me playing and Lyra singing. After that was Marshall and his breathtaking, perplexing, stupefying, and amazeballs (that is a real word) mouth trumpeting skills. Following his sensational, phenomenal, thrilling, gobsmacked (also a real word) performance was an encore for Matthew and Noah's walrus impressions. It was perfection. After that was "The Cup Song" led by Eva accompanied by Kailyn, Carly and Kiera. Finally, we all line danced to the "Boot Scootin' Boogie". The Nicaraguans also showed their talents, with highlights like singing, acting, and poem reciting. It was so cool to share our talents and have fun with our amigos for almost the last time.

After that we all boarded the "party bus" with Lester as our driver and made our way to the newly redecorated Nehemiah Center to celebrate our last couple hours, where we had our official Quinceañera. In that time we played party games, broke a piñata, and ate a dinner together. It felt like we were all longtime friends with the language barrier hardly halting our communication. It was as if we had been with them all our lives.

In the last little bit we cut the cake and music was put on for some fun dancing. Yes, moms, both of us found women to dance with, so we might not be a lost cause after all. Before long a sudden rush came when we were told that it was time to say goodbye for good. There were bolts to rooms to exchange gifts we got for each other and both tears of sadness over the end of our trip and tears of joy over the amazing time we had with our amigos and the hope to see them in the next life.

We then gathered with Nilda and Peter to debrief and reflect over the week we had and prepare for the travel day to come. This opportunity was amazing and insightful to what the world looks like outside of our Canadian bubble, and it is our hope that many others can one day experience what we have on this trip. It is a daunting task to be the final bloggers, though we are happy to have the privilege to write to you on our most imposing day. When we arrived, we had no idea what conversations and friendships would form, as well as the extent of our growth in faith and understanding of how God works in our lives. Signing us off for the last time and see you soon,

Austin and Lucas.

P.S. Moms, we did not pay the Nicaraguans to dance with us. We just have that W-rizz.

P.P.S. Mommies and daddies we love you.