Nearly a month after Chica Brava held our second annual Camp Bella, we took a field trip to Managua to visit the girls and follow up on their experience, check in on how their holidays went, and motivate them for the upcoming school session!
We met up with Brittany, chaperone of House of Hope, and four of the girls who had attended Camp Bella at the mall in Managua – the capital city of Nicaragua – for lunch and a movie. Not such an ordinary afternoon for a Chica Brava, but it was fun to mix it up and especially meaningful to hang out with the girls and share new things!
New things being none other than sushi! We went to Sushi Itto for lunch and while the girls – ages 12-15 – had never tried “raw fish wrapped in rice and seaweed” (as they described it), they put their game faces on and gave it a go. There was a range of reactions, but everyone was happy to have tried something new and teaching them to eat with chopsticks was particularly entertaining. We chatted about our New Years resolutions and I was impressed to hear that they are all focused on setting high standards for themselves in their studies. We also talked about the ocean and surf, of course, and I was particularly delighted to hear that some of them have been having dreams about surfing!
After leaving our chopsticks behind, but taking our laughter with us, we headed to the movie theatre where we watched ‘Frozen’, or ‘Adventura Congelada’ as it’s titled in Spanish. It was the perfect movie to see together, as the theme is all about embracing who you are, living to your full potential and having fun at whatever you do. As we left the theatre we were all singing the theme songs in unison, in true Disney Fashion.
Overall the afternoon was wonderful, and as we parted ways with the girls, giving hugs and adios’s until next time. I was struck by that same feeling that came over me as we closed Camp Bella last December – that these girls have as much, if not more, to teach us than we have to teach them. Check out a short little video that summed up the day!!!
Noelani
Camp Operations Manager
