Youth Age 15

My name is Milton Vasquez Canales. I am 15 years old and about to enter the third year of high school (9 th grade). I usually study a lot, but right now we are on vacation. In my family we are seven all together: my dad, mom, three siblings, one niece and me. In my house we have a dog named Pucky. Things I enjoy doing are playing videogames and playing soccer and baseball. I play on the team that represents our town for my age group. I like practicing together with my team before our big games. The animals that I most like are squirrels and dogs. I love reading good books. My favorite is called The History of Soccer. In the library that Kristina donated to us I also like helping the littler-ones read and play educational games. I like watching traditional dances from Nicaragua as well as learning to draw and paint. With my friends I like to go to the river to swim, particularly when the river is filling up and there are lots of deep swimming holes. When I grow -up I'd love to be a professional soccer player. Something that I don't like watching older kids and adults hit little kids.

Hi! My name is Engel. I'm Nicaraguan and live in the town of Pueblo Nuevo. My town is small, but I like it a lot. Next year I'll be going into the fifth and last year of highschool (11 th grade). I love to draw and I think I do it well. I live with my parent and my brother and sister. My dad is a mechanic. He has his own bicycle workshop where I help him almost every day. My mom is one of the librarians that works in our community library, Centro Amigos. I am generally happy and fun to hang out with and I enjoy meeting new people, although sometimes I can be a little shy. My favorite sport is soccer, but I don't play very much any more since I broke my arm during a game last year. I'm interested in clothing fashion and shoes, which I buy when I can with my own money from working in the bicycle shop. At night, I generally go out to the central plaza in town to meet up with my friends and we usually have a good time. I really enjoy the Harry Potter series because they are all interesting and fun. All in all, I think my life is pretty normal and I look forward to making good friends with people like you.
My name is Lenard Pinto. I really like sports and I think that it helps me stay healthy. I'm 15 years old now and I think that by the time I'm 18 I'll be an even better player. Two of my favorite sports are soccer and basketball. I also am interested in doing well in school. I'm going into the 4 th year of high school (10 th grade) next year and I hope to be able to become a valuable worker in the jobs I have as an adult. I like animals a lot. One of my favorite animals is the leopard, although I have never had the chance to see one, yet - I've only seen them on tv. However, I never loose the hope of seeing one face to face somewhere here in Nicaragua. I have played soccer with my same team for three seasons now. Together we have two first place fropheys and one for second plaee. I am planning on playing with this same team during the next season coming up soon. We hold our practices in the large stadium outside of town. We have a coach that directs our practices when we are getting ready for a big game. Our games are all over the region. We have gone to other cities like Estelí, Condega and Palacaguina to play. During the season we have games every Saturday. But now that the season is over we just play barrio against barrio. I also enjoy playing basketball and once   my teacm took first place in the league. Reading is another thing I really enjoy doing. My favorite book in the library The History of Soccer . I have watched a few documentaries about the same topic, but really I enjoy reading about soccer better. One day I would love to have my own books about soccer and read them at home. I also enjoy reading books about nature and the natural habitats of animals.