Bienvenidos a Granada y Fútbol Sin Fronteras

My internship with Soccer Without Borders (SWB) began last week when all of the organization's long-term interns met in San Francisco, California for a weeklong training. We spent the mornings working at Soccer Without Borders' annual camp for refugees in the Oakland area. The camp hosted about 80 kids from fifteen different countries and was a great way to launch into the internship. The week was full of informative sessions about what to expect when working and living abroad, the formation and philosophy of SWB and a lot of practical sessions giving us examples of team building exercises, soccer drills, and activities to do with the girls that also implement life skills lessons. My favorite part of the orientation sessions was learning more information about my site in Granada and the goals SWB has for its development as the year progresses. There are already nine Nicaraguans on staff in the office and the programming is well organized and established. Therefore my main role down here will be to help bring SWB to self-sustainability by identifying and involving more locals and local organizations that can support its development.

Right now, I'm writing from Granada! I arrived yesterday morning and since then have been meeting all of the SWB (Fútbol sin Fronteras in Spanish) staff and getting to know the barrio where I am living. My "host mother" is Doña Chilo and has hosted interns from SWB for the last three years. Both me and my co-intern, Larkin live there along with seven other family members. The barrio is a street about 10 blocks from the central plaza of the city and is full of many families involved with SWB. They have all been very welcoming and I'm excited to get to know them better. This afternoon I attended my first SWB practice. Every Tuesday there is a practice for "las grandes" girls ranging from 14-18 years old. It was fun to see them play and help when needed. There are two main Nicaraguan coaches, Chepe and Cesar along with at least five youth coaches. They definitely seem to have a great handle on the practices and how to motivate the girls. I'll attend every practice and assist where needed but let the Nicaraguans lead the way. After official practice ended most of the girls, all of the coaches and a bunch of locals stayed to play pick-up soccer for an hour. The field where we play is on the shore of Lake Nicaragua, and as we were playing there was a pleasant breeze, making the heat a bit more bearable for this gringa. A great way to end my first whole day here!

That's all for now! Hope everyone is well!