Feliz Navidad

Well...we had a great time over the last two weeks checking out the communities we will be working in and also meeting a lot of great people. During our time, with spent several days with a group of college students from California. We traveled around to several of the project the Aso-Fenix (the organization we will be working with) in many different areas. We were impressed by the differences in the areas of Nicaragua, all with in 40 miles of each other. There were areas with large cliffs and spires, rolling hills, dry areas (where we will be working at) and lush green areas. We also had a time to see some of the projects that the MCC worker we a following has done. It was really awesome to see the affect he has had on the people and the relationships he has built.
Though it was a great two weeks, it was really busy and we are looking forward to relaxing this coming week. Hopefully, in the clear waters of the Pacific Ocean. We miss you all and wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Bromadero here we come

We has a wonderful time during our MCC retreat in the mountains of Nicaragua. We stayed at a Nicaraguan Young Life Camp, it was very pretty (we have put some pictures on our photo page). We had a business meeting the first day, and than the remaining two were a spiritual retreat. It was a great time to see what God has been doing in our lives and also what he has planned for our future. It was also a good time to get to know the rest of the MCC team and see what God has been doing in their lives. Though it may be hard to believe it was actually quite cool at the camp. During the nights, I imagine it got down in the upper 40s (pretty cold for here). It was very pleasant to be cool and escape the heat of Managua. The camp we stayed at was also a farm and it was very green and beautiful.
On Tuesday we will be leaving for 2 weeks to go to the area we will be working at. We will spend the time with Lydell, the MCC volunteer we will be replacing. We are very excited to see the projects he has been working on and the people he has gotten to know. During this time we will be looking for possible projects for us to work on as well as making contacts with the people in the towns.

December, already?

Well it is hard to believe we have already been here a month. We finished our first month of language training and will be taking the month of December off from language training. We will be going to Matagalpa (a city in the central northern region of Nicaragua) for the first week for a meeting and spiritual retreat with all the Nicaraguan MCC volunteers. After that week we will be going to visit projects in the area we will be working (Boaco region) for two weeks. The volunteer that we are taking over for will be showing us around. We are excited to be able to visit the projects and hope to be able to explore possibilities for our future work. We will have a week off for Christmas, but we are not sure what we will be doing. Then we will return to Managua in January for another month of language training.

Saturday Drive

On Saturday we had the opportunity to take a trip to Bromadero, one of the towns we will be working in. The community (with the help of MCC and ASO-FENIX, the organization we will be working with) completed a solar powered water pump to provide water for the community for the first time. Before this point, the women had to walk 45 min. one way during the dry season to get water. We will be coming in after this to help them learn to make the best of the new water they have with health techniques (hand washing, cleaning food), community gardens, and reforestation (many of the trees around the communities have been cut down for firewood, leaving the hills largely barren). Bromadero is only 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Teustepe, but because of the roads it took us 45 min (think of real bad forest service roads in the states). Believe it or there is a bus (old US yellow school bus) that goes up and down the road each day, I couldn't imagine the road during the rainy season. We were very excited to meet some of the people we will be working with, and the Bromadero is about 10 to 15 degrees cooler than Managua. It looks like we will get a house in Teustepe, but will have the option to spend some of the week nights in the MCC house in Bromadero. Which will save us the trip, which will be especially nice when I have to start work at 5am, oh the life of a farmer.

A Day in the Life

Life here in Nicaragua is passing by and things are going well, 3 weeks already. Every week day we go to the MCC office in the mornings to spend 2 hours with a tutor, which is a person the attends on of the Mennonite Churches in the area and receives a scholarship to attend University in partial exchange for their service. Then we go back to our host family for lunch. After a delicious meal (some times hot soup) we take the bus to our spanish school and have private lessons for 2 hours. We are both progressing very well in spanish and enjoy it most days. After that we head back to the office for some orientation and study time. Around 5 or so we head home and have a great dinner and spend time getting to know our host family better. Than being the studious people we are we usually study until we go to bed. So that is about what an average day looks like here in Nicaragua the land of lakes and volcanoes. And yes, Thanksgiving was just another Thursday down here ;(

God is in the Church

Today was our second time going to the local Mennonite Church. Although a different language is spoken from the pulpit, a different language is sung, and a different culture is present there are still many things that we have in common. This became very evident today. At the end of the service communion was served, and they invited us to come share with them. It was very nice because after we had finished everyone went around and greeted each other and shook hands. During the communion and talking with people we really felt that the God was there, and that He was helping us bridge the cultural and language gap by sharing that experience.

The Bible through different eyes....

While talking with my Spanish tutor I learned something very interesting about the state of mind of some of the Nicaraguan Christians. My tutor was talking about a sermon in her church about Solomon, specifically when God told Solomon that he could have anything he wanted. Well we all know that Solomon picked wisdom over all other earthly things. My tutor went on to explain that in Nicaragua there is not much food, money, or other earthly things, but as Christians they can be like Solomon and pick wisdom. They pray that God will grant them that, and as we see in Solomon´s case it was the wise choice.

So what does this mean to me (us) as a North American. I do not know exactly, but I do realize that it is easier to pick the right choice when you have fewer choices, but being an American I do enjoy my ¨right¨ to choose. I also realize that I do not always ask God for the thing I really need, the thing that will help me bring glory and honor to Him.

We made it!

We arrived in Managua, Nicaragua safely. We will be staying with a host family while learning language. We are living with Josefina and several of her daughters. She is a very nice grandmother type and we have enjoyed starting to get to know her and her daughters. We will be spending the first month learning spanish at a school in Managua. We will than spend about 3 weeks near the area we will be serving with Lydell, the current MCC volunteer in the area. After Christmas we will come back to Managua to do another month of language training, and than off to the campo (the country).

Time to become Snowbirds!!!

On Saturday we will be leaving for Nicaragua. We have really enjoyed our time here at MCC and feel very excited to serve with MCC. The organization really seems to fit our beliefs and we are excited to start meeting people and learning about the Nicaraguan culture. We are not sure when we will be able to add more to our blog, but it should be soon. Some MCC workers just returned from a tour of Nicaragua and went to the Teustepe. The pictures our up on our photo site, we will add our own soon.

Visiting the Big Apple

We spent the day in New York City yesterday. Using the Subway was a good experience, except it seemed like we missed out on so much of New York City while riding underground. We spent time in Chinatown and ate at a great Malaysian restaurant. We spent the majority of our time visiting the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, both were very interesting. We than went to Time Square and Central Park. We were amazed to actually hear birds chirping while sitting in Central Park, one can almost forget being in the city. We had pizza for dinner, we figured we needed to try New York style pizza. We enjoyed our time there, but also were glad when it was time to leave because we could only handle so much of the big apple.

Pennsylvania We Made It!!!

We arrived safely to Akron, PA and are enjoying the sunny weather, the beautiful country side, and the nice 21 hole disc golf course. During our time here we will learn about the nuts and bolts of going with MCC, and also information on living cross culturally. We also have the opportunity to go to New York City for a day, which will be fun since neither of us have been there. After our time in Akron we will be heading down to Nicaragua (3rd of November). We will spend the first six weeks in Managua, the capital. During this time we will live with a local family and begin our language training.

A little information on Nicaragua

Here are some points about Nicaragua (infomation taken from http://www.iexplore.com/)

Basic Information

• Area120,254 sq km (46,430 sq miles).


• Population5.7 million (UN estimate 2005).


• Current President: Daniel Ortega (elected in 2007)


• Capital: Managua


• Language: Predominately Spanish

Geography

Nicaragua borders Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. To the east lies the Caribbean, and to the west the Pacific. In the north are the Isabella Mountains, while the country’s main feature in the southwest is Lake Nicaragua, 148km (92 miles) long and about 55km (34 miles) at its widest. The island of Ometepe is the largest of the 310 islands on the lake. These islands have a reputation for great beauty and are one of the country’s main tourist attractions. Lake Managua is situated to the northwest. Volcanoes, including the famous Momotombo, protrude from the surrounding lowlands northwest of the lakes. The country’s main rivers are the San Juan, the lower reaches of which form the border with Costa Rica, and the Rio Grande. The Corn Islands (Islas del Maiz) in the Caribbean are two small beautiful islands fringed with white coral and palms. They are very popular as holiday resorts with both Nicaraguans and tourists. The majority of Nicaragua’s population lives and works in the lowland between the Pacific and western shores of Lake Nicaragua, the southwestern shore of Lake Managua and the southwestern sides of the range of volcanoes. It is only in recent years that settlers have taken to coffee growing and cattle farming in the highlands around Matagalpa and Jinotega.

History

• In 1838, Nicaragua declared itself a sovereign state with a democratic system of government. The fledgling nation was slow to stabilize and immediately became prey to what were now the most powerful foreign influences in the region – the British and the Americans. The Americans first appeared in the form of the freebooting William Walker. In 1855, one of the ‘liberal’ factions disputing power in Nicaragua invited the American mercenary to come and aid their cause. Walker took effective control of the government by taking over the national army. However, he was no liberal and planned to remodel Nicaragua as a slave colony annexed to the US. Walker was eventually defeated after a bitter struggle. After several unsuccessful attempts to re-invade Nicaragua, Walker was captured by the British, handed over to the Nicaraguan government and executed in 1865.


• From this point on, the struggle between supporters and opponents of the US – along with the propensity of Washington to intervene when it felt its interests threatened – came to dominate the political landscape of Nicaragua. In 1912, after 50-odd years of relative quiet, it was the conservatives who called upon US intervention to resolve serious domestic upheaval. This revolved around a number of issues, including the failure of Nicaragua to secure the construction of an Atlantic-Pacific canal, which was built in Panama instead, as well as the historic conflict between conservatives and liberals. The Americans maintained a constant military presence in Nicaragua for the next two decades. For the first 14 years, it was nominal, however, in 1926, worried about a possible radical election victory similar to what had occurred in Mexico, US marines arrived in force. Most Nicaraguan politicians acquiesced to American will. However, a radical group, led by Augusto César Sandino – who gave his name to the Sandinista movement – launched an effective guerrilla campaign that forced the Americans’ departure in 1933. Sandino’s guerrillas had agreed to stop fighting when the Americans left. This they did.


• However, a new power had arisen during the course of the campaign, in the form of the paramilitary National Guard, led by General Anastasio Somoza Garcia. Against the wishes of the government, Sandino and his senior commanders were arrested by Somoza and executed in February 1934. Two years later, Somoza – a wily and vicious politician – was elected president and duly established a military dictatorship. Characterised by brutality, despotism and systematic corruption, this lasted for almost half a century. Somoza was assassinated in 1956, at which point his son, Luis Somoza Delbaye, took over.


• At the turn of the 1960s, a rebel movement called the Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional (FSLN) began a guerrilla campaign, which finally overthrew the Somozas after 17 years, in 1979. The ‘Sandinistas’ established a Junta of National Reconstruction and began a program of agrarian reform, nationalization of industry and massive health and literacy schemes. However, in 1981, following the election of Ronald Reagan as US President, the Americans – under the banner of fighting communism – began a program of destabilization in Nicaragua, helping the ‘Contra’ guerrilla forces in Honduras and Costa Rica and mounting an economic boycott. The Contra war caused serious difficulties for the FSLN government. Repeated attempts to negotiate a settlement foundered upon the opposition of the USA, which was determined to bring down the Sandinistas. Finally, in 1989, a deal was agreed with Honduras – where most of the Contra bases were located – to end the insurgency. Elections in February 1990 showed how much Sandinista popularity suffered during the years of turmoil and austerity. Violeta Chamorro, widow of the publisher, Pedro Chamorro – who was killed by the Somoza regime – defeated Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega when she stood on behalf of the combined opposition UNO Alliance representing 14 of the 21 opposition parties in Nicaragua. Once in government, much of Chamorro’s energy was consumed by holding together the fractious UNO coalition. The President herself had little to do with the day-to-day business of government, which was mostly in the hands of her son-in-law, Antonio Lacayo Oyanguren. The new government found it difficult to handle the most pressing domestic issue: land reform. Neglect of claims of ownership, some of which dated back to the Somoza era, provoked a series of armed uprisings by disaffected soldiers from both Contras and Sandinistas. However, new legislation passed in 1998 put an effective end to the matter. The disintegration of the artificially-created UNO coalition in the mid-1990s was to be expected. More of a surprise was the split in the traditionally disciplined Sandinistas. In the summer of 1995, a moderate faction led by ex-Vice-President Sergio Ramirez broke away. Despite a further decline in his fortunes, including a sex scandal involving alleged abuse of his stepdaughter, Ortega survived as leader of the rump Sandinista party and has stood, unsuccessfully, at both the 1996 and 2001 presidential elections. In 1996, Ortega was defeated by Arnoldo Aleman Lacayo leading an alliance of liberal and centrist parties, and then in the most recent poll in 2001 by Aleman’s vice-president, Enrique Bolanos Geyer. By this time, the Sandinistas had restyled themselves as Convergencia and adopted a Blairite Christian Democrat program. The Bolanos government which took office in 2001 has a tiny majority in the national assembly, and its work was initially hamstrung by a dispute over the fate of his predecessor, Arnoldo Aleman. The former president had been arraigned for corruption during his term of office, but was protected by his parliamentary immunity. His immunity was eventually removed in September 2002. 14 months later, Aleman was convicted and sentenced to 20 years imprisonment. The government received some welcome good news at the start of 2004 however, when, following protracted negotiations, the World Bank agreed to write off 80 per cent of the country’s debt to the institution – a sum of around $3 billion.