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