Monday, February 28

After a relatively slow morning, Santa Elena took me and Luz Marina to the river to show me how she washes clothes. Luz Marina and I quickly returned to the house to change into swimming clothes and then spent a few hours playing in the river. It was so beautiful and peaceful, and I felt God's presence so clearly there. Luz Marina loved showing me tall rocks to jump off of and tricks she could do in the water. Yelena soon joined us and she brought a ball for us to play with. One of the women washing took a break and the four of us played beach volleyball for a while. We had a blast, but Luz had to leave to go to school after a while.

Yelena and I went back to swimming, and soon she decided to do some of her own laundry. I hung out in the water for a long time just soaking up the sun and resting in God's arms. When we finally made our way home, we got cleaned up and then visited Jake and Courtney. We spent quite a while at each of their houses and then went home in order to be there when my host dad got back from Managua where he works as a taxi driver. Santa Elena was feeling pretty antsy, so we went to the neighbor's house to grind some seeds to make juice for dinner. She taught me how to use the grinding stones and I tried rather unproductively to help. Once the seeds were ground, we went back to make dinner, and Santa Elena showed me how she cooks on the fire stove.

I was supposed to give my English lesson at 5:30, but dinner was just getting ready then, so Santa Elena said the kids would just have to wait. I didn't really like that idea, but we just ate quickly and left in a hurry. A bunch of kids were waiting when I got to the house where my lesson was to be held, and Courtney and I taught a basic lesson on numbers, colors, and letters in English. It was pretty rough, but everyone seemed to enjoy it. We took lots of pictures with the kids and when we got home I took pictures with my host family.

Their son came home from Managua to meet me and see his family. It was kind of awkward, but then some of his friends came over so it was a little more relaxed. We all sat out and watched the neighbors burn a huge pile of trash and brush, and then we star gazed for a while. It was a beautiful last night...this week flew by and I'm really going to miss it here! I can't believe I'm leaving already tomorrow!

Sunday, Feburary 27

I got up early this morning (5:30) to go with Santa Elena to help prepare for a birthday party at the neighbor's house. When we got there at 6, Santa Elena left me in the front room to help some kids blow up balloons. We blew up like 200 blue and white balloons and then decorated the tent set up in the front yard with them. I learned how to make a bunch of decorations and got fed a relatively normal-sized breakfast (yay!). When the yard was decorated and the rented chairs were set up, I rode along to pick up the cake.

You can imagine my surprise when I found out it was a 5 tier cake and that the party was for a one-year-old! We were greeted by a rehearsing band and a gathering crowd when we returned to the party house. Before the party really began, there was a 2 hour church service complete with a gringo “Shine, Jesus, Shine.” After church, everyone was fed a mountain of “Chinese Rice” and bread. Lunch was followed by the demolition of a massive “Go Diego, Go” piñata. Once the candy was collected and gift bags were handed out, most of the 100 people (church members, family and friends) in attendance left.

We stayed to watch the mom open all of the gifts and a group of girls asked me to teach them English tomorrow. I'm not sure how I will do it yet, but I agreed to give a lesson to their religion class tomorrow night. It should be a fun experience.

When we finally made it home around 4:00, we went inside the 90º house to cool off. My host mom showed me the duck nest in her bedroom and I got the coloring supplies out for Luz Marina and the neighbor girl to play with. Santa Elena passed the rest of the afternoon reading her Bible, and I wrote, read, and tried to prepare for tomorrow's English lesson.

Luz Marina helped me make some posers and practiced her English numbers and colors in order to help me tomorrow. When my host dad came home, we all sat together and talked about English and the US. Eventually the conversation turned to illegal immigration. Oh, the binds my limited Spanish vocabulary gets me into! We talked about how difficult it is for Nicaraguans to get a visa and then how long it would take to walk to Texas. My host dad kept emphasizing that you need lots of money to get across borders illegally. I was exhausted from the long day and excused myself to go to bed to avoid inadvertently encouraging illegal immigration.

Saturday, February 26

This morning before getting out of bed I gave myself a mental food pep-talk. “I can eat it!” As soon as I left my room I was given a huge plate of rice and beans, port and tortillas. Yikes! No one else had nearly as much food on their plate, and hopefully my slow eating showed my appreciation and level of fullness.

We went to buy tomatoes and peppers at a nearby farm a little while after we ate. On the way we passed the river where many people in the community bathe and wash their clothes. It was a beautiful walk and we ran into a herd of cows cooling off in the river. Right when we returned with our produce, Trevor and Javier came to see how things are going here. Santa Elena gave us all plates of fruit. It was delicious, but my goodness! I'm going to explode! Trevor and Javier gave me directions for Tuesday when we leave our home stays and then left to visit the other students.

We spent some time just hanging out and I saw parts of Titanic for the first time! Later, we broke out my coloring supplies, clay and jump rope. The toys attracted quite a crowd and we spent the whole afternoon playing with kids from the neighborhood. I tried to teach them the colors in English, but the pronunciation was really hard for them. Its interesting to note the sounds in each language that don't exist in the other.

Just as we were cleaning up, Rachel, who is staying with the pastor of my church here came to visit. My host mom and sister took Rachel, her host mom, and I to the river. I swam with Santa Elena and Luz Marina while Rachel and her mom waited on shore. Some of the neighbor kids came to see me swim and Santa Elena worried that it was too late for me to be swimming. I told her I shower at night at home, but she worried that swimming was different. It took a while to convince her it was alright, and we swam for a while before getting ready for church.

There was a lot of singing at church and the congregation asked us gringos to share some songs. Jake and Courtney had songs ready to go, but Rachel and I scrambled to come up with something. Eventually, the four of us sang a song together. Luckily, judging from the other performances, quality of voice doesn't seem to matter here and I'm grateful that's all we had to do. The rest of the service was much more enjoyable than that part ;)

After church we came home and watched part of Mama Mia in Spanish before bed. During commercials I tried to explain to Santa Elena that I never eat so much food in the United States. This revealed that she was convinced that Americans only eat fast food, so the conversation turned into a big explanation of what we really eat, and I'm afraid my point was lost. Hopefully she at least gets that I don't eat McDonald's every day.

Friday, February 25

This morning I woke up at 7:30, a time considered sleeping in to my host mom who woke up at 4:30 to see her husband off to work. I had breakfast complete with some outstanding coffee and then showered in the outdoor shower enclosed by plastic tarps. The heat outside made up for the cold water and I actually really enjoyed this intimidating experience.

Once we were ready to go, Santa Elena and I stopped at Jake's house to see how he was doing. He's been feeling a little sick, so we went to get the LASP medical supply bag from Courtney. When that situation was taken care of, Courtney and I got on the bus with our host moms to go to Managua to buy some things from the market. The bus is so much fun here. I loved people watching, seeing the beautiful scenery and trying some snacks that Santa Elena bought from the vendors who got on at some stops. We chose to pass on the magic pills being offered, but it was fun to hear about all the wacky things they promised to do. Courtney passed some time talking to the bus driver and he gave her his number..the two of us attracted a lot of attention as we walked through the market, and our host moms through it was hilarious.

Neither of us were even hungry yet, but our host moms took us to a restaurant for lunch. Since the the limits of our stomachs don't seem to matter much here, we were fed way more than enough. At least the food was pretty good, and once we finished we went about buying fruits and veggies at the market. I love markets, and it was fun to go to one during the week in order to avoid the crowds and see everything much more clearly. We loaded up heavy bags and made our way back to the bus where we crammed everything into the seat with us. It was a hot ride, but my fascination with the vendors that got on at every stop and the scenery made it go pretty quickly.

When we got home, I was encouraged to rest for a while, so I wrote a few entries in my LASP “critical thinking journal” (our assignment for the week). The neighbor girl came over to play with me, so I got out the jump rope, construction paper, and colored pencils that I brought. We colored and did some crafts for a while until it was time for dinner. After we ate, Santa Elena took her daughters and I to a church service a few kilometers down the street. It was an outdoor gathering of many church communities, and Santa Elena guided an elderly blind neighbor to the service. Many people shared songs with the group and there was a message given by the pastor of my host church. A lot of the other LASP students came with their families and Trevor and Javier were there. I enjoyed the gathering a lot and it was fun to see the other LASPers. On the way back from the service we stopped at a birthday party where I was served MORE food! We watched some TV when we got home and again had an early night.

Thrusday, February 24

What a fantastic day! I think Nicaragua might be my favorite part of this semester. Praise God! The dreaded challenges keep resulting in huge blessings, and I'm so grateful for His faithfulness.

This morning we had a slow, relaxed start at the hostile. Once the pastors taking us to the campo were ready, everyone got on the LASP bus to go to the market where we switched to a public bus. Street vendors swarmed our group and loaded onto the bus to sell everything from fruit, baked goods, and hot chicken to pens, coloring books, underwear, and razors. We had so much stuff with us already that it was funny to think of buying more to be crowded with. The community I will be staying in (La Cruz) is about 1 ½ hours from Managua, and at every stop more sales people piled on the bus, commenting on how strange it was to see so many gringos (people from the US) on the public bus.

I got off at the same stop as Courtney and Jake, the other two LASP students staying in La Cruz this week, and we went to Jake's host family's house to wait for the other host moms to pick up Courtney and me. It was nice to sit on the patio in big rocking chairs and chat a bit in Spanish after having a few English-intensive days. Courtney and I eventually had to pick which host mom we would go with, and Jake and Courtney came with me to my new home to see where I would be living. My host mom, Santa Elena, is super nice and friendly. She taught us how to make Nicaraguan rice and eggs and fed us all lunch. Then she took us to see Courtney's house where we hung out until the 3:30 church service started.

A small group of church members gathered to pray, sing and read, and it was a beautiful service. The church hosting us is Mennonite, so I won't be wearing my jeans and tank top back to church, butt they were incredibly welcoming and friendly. Our group was asked to introduce ourselves and everyone asked for English lessons...we'll see where that goes...I would love to work with a group sharing languages.

The church service was full of genuine faith and seeking God. Did I mention that I loved it? My host mom is one of the leaders in the church (like the pastor's assistant) and it was fun to see her as that role and talk to her about church afterward. She explained that she used to be Catholic but decided to join this church about 6 years ago. She told me about her desire to always put God first and to serve by treating all as brothers in Christ. I'm sure I'm going to learn a lot from this amazing woman, and I can't wait to get to know her better.

After church, my host mom encouraged me to take a nap, and I simply couldn't refuse. When I woke up, I got to meet Elena's 2 daughters, Yoheyling Yelena and Luz Marina. It's going to take me a while to get those names down! Santa Elena's son, Roberto lives and studies in Managua where he works at a juice factory. Yoheyling lives with her grandmother and goes to school each Sunday because it is too expensive for her to take the bus to school every day. Luz Marina lives with Santa Elena and her husband, Roberto and goes to school everyday. The two girls are a little shy, but we talked about school until dinner.

After we ate, I showed my hosts my family pictures, and they showed me there. Then I asked them a bunch of questions about Nicaraguan culture. It was great to hear their perspective after a few days of hearing what LASP had to say about the topic. I also got to share with them a little bit about the US. As the day went on, I began to feel more proficient in Spanish, and I really enjoyed talking with my hosts. Santa Elena set up the LASP mosquito net for me and we went to be around 9:00, a fairly late hour for them. The stars out here are marvelous and I hope to have a chance to see more of them. Santa Elena's husband came home really late due to some problems with the taxi he drives in Managua, so I didn't get to meet him, but hopefully this weekend I will.

What a beautiful life! I love the campo and I could definitely get used to the fresh air and friendly neighbors out here. I can't wait for a tranquillo week of learning more about his culture through talking, listening, trying new things, and no doubt stretching out of my comfort zone.

Wednesday, February 23

We spent this morning at a local shirt making cooperative called Nueva Vida. This project was started by women who knew how to make shirts but didn't want to work in the poor conditions of local sweatshops. They got together, and with the support (loans and customer contacts) of Jubilee House (a ministry based in the US), they opened their own factory. Here, they create high quality products while paying their workers a fair wage. They also maintain good working conditions and require reasonable working hours. It was interesting to learn about how Jubilee House enabled the project without creating dependence by keeping ownership and leadership in the hands of the locals taking initiative. We discussed the high risk of the loan they provided and the clear benefits of this type of loan. This type of international cooperation seems to hold a lot of potential for improving the conditions of poverty here and globally, provided that corporations with money are willing to take the risk to invest in this way.

After lunch, Don Mike gave another lecture on the church in Latin America. He summarized changes throughout church history and the basis of liberation theology. When everyone was thoroughly overwhelmed, he took us to two important churches in Managua (one pre-Vatican II church and a post-Vat. II church). There was a special celebration going on at the post-Vat II church that made our visit a little more chaotic than helpful, but it was interesting to see such a charismatic group in a Catholic church.

The second church we visited had been left to ruins after the Sandinista revolution, and we could only see it from the outside. It was located in a central square in Managua, so we also saw parts of the National Palace and the current government buildings. The center was eerily empty, and some of the few people there were street kids who offered us all gifts made out of psalm leaves. Javier took a group of us to see the National Theater, and one of the students in our group convinced the security guard to let us in to look around. We ended up sitting in on rehearsal for Nicaragua's national competition for their representative in the Miss Universe pageant. It was a private rehearsal, so it was kind of fun to see a little bit of it.

Later, dinner involved some good conversation about missions, and then we were introduced to some of the pastors of the communities we will be moving to tomorrow. I wasn't really looking forward to this home stay, but the orientation made me a little more enthusiastic. While we were all re-packing to fit the laundry detergent, toilet paper, and mosquito nets into our bags, the LASP staff called a meeting for us to say goodbye to Don Mike who is going back to the States tomorrow. He has really challenged us all and I'm really grateful that he has been a part of my experience here.

I was hoping to get by with drinking the local water in my community, but Trevor recommended bringing a gallon of filtered water just in case we need it. I'm really excited about being a part of the group leaving tomorrow at 7:30 instead of 3:00am. Its also exciting that LASP did a great job of mixing us up so that I will get to know some new people who will be staying in the same community as me this week. My time in the campo (Nicaraguan countryside) will also be a fabulous opportunity to get to know more about Nicaragua, the people and culture here, and most importantly, God. I'm looking forward to drawing near Him through this challenge.

Tuesday, February 22

I LOVED today! It was filled with more discussion and lectures than I've ever sat through in my life. We started out with a lecture by Don Mike about the simplified version of Nicaragua's history. He compared the Sandinista revolution to the American revolution, which was really helpful. After his lecture, we visited the site of Somoza's former palace. There we could see old and new Managua, developed based on Somoza's interests after the earthquake in 1972. We also saw the torture chambers under the palace and lots of Sandinista propaganda placed there by the current presidential administration.

On the way back to our hostile, we stopped at a tent city created by protestors of the use of Nemagon (a harmful pesticide) in banana plantations. While large companies have stopped using this chemical, reparations have not been made to the people who suffered from using it. Members of the community we visited have suffered many illnesses because of their exposure to Nemagon and have been protesting for 19 years. Only in the last 5 years did they move to Managua to establish their tent city in order to be more visible to the politicians they are trying to work with. Their plead is for the government to help them stand up to the corporations that required them to use Nemagon.

Unfortunately, while their claims are likely true (similar cases have been tried in other countries with victory going to the workers), they do not have concrete evidence, such as medical records or records of when they used the chemical and how, so their case has gone no where. The current Ortega administration (vying for votes) has given the Nemagon community food, plastic to build shelters and electricity as well as some healthcare but has been relatively unhelpful in their legal case. This visit sparked some good discussion about cultural dependency, the exploitation power of large companies, and ways to buy fruit (buying locally or through fair trade) in order to avoid enabling this exploitation.

After this visit, we went to a local Catholic church that was very involved with the Sandinista revolution and the development/spread of liberation theology in Nicaragua. There a nun showed us some beautiful murals depicting Nicaraguan history through the eyes of the people. The murals are typically covered because the church leadership has moved away from the activism they represent, but this nun invited us to uncover them and hear their stories. At the end, we saw a beautiful rendering of an indigenous Jesus that was being covered by the traditional European crucifix. It was interesting to note the presence of indigenous gods above the church doors, and on the bus back to the hostile I had an interesting conversation with Don Mike about this type of synchrotism in Latin America.

When we got back to the hostile, Antonio Lacayo, former “vice president” of Nicaragua, was waiting to talk with us. He presented the history of Nicaragua from his right-wing position and proposed some solutions (primarily foreign investment) to the country's current poverty. I really appreciated his view and it was helpful to hear about the logic that brought the country here. We asked him questions for almost an hour after his presentation and then went out for dinner.

It was a long, exhausting day, but I loved gaining a fuller grasp of reality here and trying to piece together perspectives in order to understand how things work and why while throwing in a few conversations about how to fix it all. ;)