We spent one of our first days in Nicaragua volunteering at the Granada English Academy, where kids can learn English on Saturday mornings. We connected with the owner, Manuel, on Facebook after he'd reached out to an expats group for help. (We had joined the expat group because we've found it's a great way to get advice and current info on a location.) Manuel told us that regular schools don't teach English, so he started this school because knowing English can be more valuable than a college degree. Working in an English-speaking call center, for example, can earn you multiples of the average Nica salary. Even though his English is excellent, he likes to include native English speakers so the kids can practice with a range of accents.
He'd started the school in 2016 with five students and had some up and down years, having to shut down during the political unrest in 2018 and again for COVID. When we visited, the school had four concurrent classes running for different age levels and experience. We spent the most time with the oldest students, ages 12-14. We were impressed with them - they understood a lot, and several had fantastic accents. Manuel was a great teacher, very engaging, and the students clearly enjoyed the class.
Manuel had asked us to teach some idioms or phrases that are common in the US, and Ruth compiled a good list with the help of her friends. We went through some of those, then answered some questions about our lives in the US. One student wanted to know what snow was like, is it really as cold as they'd think? (Yes, and people really do make snowmen, go sledding, and have snowball fights like you might have seen in a video!)
We bonded over food: everyone likes pizza; our favorite fast food was Taco Bell, which they didn't have in Grenada yet; they were excited that a new American pizza chain was coming to town (Little Caesar's); their favorite Nica food was gallo pinto (beans and rice).
The most interesting part on both sides was when we talked about cultural differences. One example: they'd asked what we liked about Nicaragua so far, and Ruth said that she liked how friendly everyone was. They were confused about what she meant by this and why that'd be notable, so we were explaining that it's not as common at home to talk to strangers, as had happened to us multiple times when random people on the street stopped to chat with us. Likewise, an Uber driver at home wouldn't roll down the window and wave or yell hi to everyone they pass. We really shocked them when we explained that it's not uncommon in the US, especially in larger cities, to not know your neighbors or not talk to them frequently (/ever). They honestly looked pretty horrified at that idea and were speechless.
On a more amusing note, they asked if Americans really check the weather all the time on their phones. Ha! Um, yeah. We each said we check the weather at least once daily, if not multiple times. "Why?" They were honestly so confused. I guess in Grenada the weather is basically the same every single day, so why bother?
Also funny: at one point, Manuel asked us to each repeat the same sentence so the students could hear differences in our speech. When he then asked them which person's accent sounded the most different than the others and hardest to understand, they all said Bill. I don't hear it. :)
After a long session with the teens, Manuel brought us around for short visits with the other 3 classes. We played Simon Says with one class to practice vocab about movement and body parts. The youngest group of 5-6 year olds were learning basics like how to ask someone's name, say hello, count, and name colors. Another class had Uno cards on the table, which their previous teacher had used for color and number practice. She'd left and now no one knew how to play! Wish we'd had time to teach them.
All in all, this was such an enjoyable and interesting day. We have not done anything like this when traveling before, but it ended up being my favorite day of the trip.
