In the winter of 2018 we went on a family trip to La Mariposa for two weeks. We heard about the program through a local recommendation and we were excited for the opportunity it would give me to advance my Spanish, and travel to Central America. While we were there I did 4 hours of one on one Spanish lessons every morning. As I was in 5th grade, my lessons consisted of going into the village with the other kids and their teachers but in my opinion that was what advanced my Spanish the most. For two hours we would work one on one playing games, and having conversations. I always requested to have our lessons in the nature reserve with the monkeys, or in the library with the cats and dogs. Then for the remaining two hours we went into the town where we were interacting with all native Spanish speakers, and becoming familiar and comfortable navigating and exploring in a foreign country. I can see in my current Spanish skills how much this experience aided me in my growth. Many people ask me, "how did you learn so much Spanish?" Simple! La Mariposa! Going there I had very beginner Spanish skills, one year of elementary school Spanish and listening to music in Spanish, but when I left I could maintain conversations and read and write in Spanish. I am very thankful for that trip there as it has helped me get to where I am today in my biliteracy. During covid, it looked likely that La Mariposa would close forever as they had no visitors and was lacking in funding. Our family was devastated-- we had been wanting to return ever since we had left but had never found a good time and Nicaragua has been in a tough situation politically and we were unsure if it was safe to go. However, that is when they amped up their skype spanish lessons, which kept many people in the community employed during the crisis and gave a wonderful line of connection during disconnected times. I took skype lessons with a teacher at La Mariposa in 8th grade as an independent study for school. Over the past 3 years I have done some continued sessions of skype lessons with my teacher. After much communication, preparation, and anticipation, we are finally going back!

Along with our Spanish lessons, we spent time on the nature reserve, visited some of the local schools, explored the local communities, went on amazing excursions, and celebrated an unforgettable New Years Eve. On that trip, we didn't spend much time volunteering, but this time we are ready to return to La Mariposa and get to work!