Tis That Time of Year

Last weekend some of the MCC volunteers got together to make Christmas cookies. Each person had in mind the cookies/candy they wanted to make that was part of their Christmas customs. We made pepper nuts, peanut brittle, peanut butter fudge, short bread cookies, sugar cookies and chocolate peanut butter covered ritz crackers. My family's tradition is to make and decorate sugar cookies and peanut brittle. I had never heard of pepper nuts, but they are a small cookie (tastes like a snicker doodle) that both Beth and Matt make with their families for Christmas. The other recipes were things we wanted to try to make. We had a good time and it felt a little bit like being home, which was a blessing.
That same night Alan and Beth hosted an advent service at the MCC office. There was singing, scripture reading and we lit the four candles (they represented Peace, Hope, Joy and Love) of advent in one night. It was a great time to focus on God as the Christmas season is approaching.

Breaking and Entering

Being white (gringo or chele) here in Nicaragua we always have Nicaraguans telling us how dangerous Mangua is and we need to be very careful. Of course we are careful, but we feel for us it is no different then living in any big city in the states...the only difference here is we stand out more. We have always felt safe here in Nicaragua and still do, but have now experienced a piece of the danger everyone has warned us about.

This past weekend we returned to the MCC office after being out in the country side for a couple days to find the office had been broken into. Someone was staying in the office, but had been gone all day. Every house in Managua has bars covering everything, so I figured we were safe...and we were to an extent. Someone had broken in through a bedroom window by prying the bar that covered the window. The person rummaged through the directors room (she is on home leave so we don´t what was stolen from her) and then to our room. We had several things stolen (most of it only had moneterial importance, but a few things had sentimental value). The odd thing about the robbery was that there appeared to be poop smeared on the wall where the person entered and then the bathroom floor was covered in water and there were a pair of pants in the trash. After describing to the police what had happened they were certain who the perpetrator was. The young person has a colostomy bag (now the smeared poop and the pants in the trash make sense) and steals so he can get money for drugs. He was released from jail three days prior.

Once a ¨face¨ was put to the robber, I could not stop thinking about how sad that persons life must be. His life is ruled by his addiction, so much so that he did not even take the precautions to not get caught (the cops knew it was him as soon as we described the smeared poop on the wall). They mentioned he was young, so what hope does he have being an addict? I am sure he will get caught, end up in jail again, but get out and do it again. There is no money or governemental program here to help him to get off drugs or perhaps he does not want to get off. The thought that contiunes in my mind is that only God´s love can rescue him from his life of addiction, so that is my prayer that he will be open to know God´s love and through that God will change his life.

November already?

It is hard to believe that is has been over a month since our last post. What has happened in that time? Well, we celebrated our year anniversary of being in Nicaragua, spent a week in Costa Rica and have been slowly gearing up to start projects in the country side.
We meet up with Seth´s parents in San Jóse, Costa Rica, for a marriage retreat and then spent some time with them. The retreat gave us time to be together without distractions and focus on our relationship with each other and God. We also soaked up some rays and relaxed on the beach on the Northwest coast of Costa Rica.
We have become busier in our work here, preparing to start several renewable energy projects this next month. We have been in the country side a lot more this month doing community surveys and attending community meetings. We will be doing one solar powered water project. The solar panels provide the energy to pump the water from a well to a tank higher than all the houses and then gravity helps to take the water to the houses.
In another project we will be installing solar panels to provide energy to people who don't have any. We will also be doing two micro hydroelectric energy projects, but they don't start until January. Seth and I will be doing capacitations about health, hygiene, agriculture, nutrition, reforestation during the project in every community.
In December we will also be helping to translate for two learning tour groups from the states. The groups are interested in learning more about renewable energy projects and what our partner (Aso Fenix) is doing in Nicaragua. We are excited to get the projects started and see how God will use us.

Muddy Days

We spent the last several days visiting new communities where we will be starting projects with our partner in the San Jose de los Remates area. The only way to get into two of the communities was to walk in or ride a horse in (however, we were told it was too muddy for a horse for inexperienced riders), so we hiked in. Our journey began with a light misty rain with mountains covered in fog, but we were prepared we had our rain jackets and our boots for the rain/mud. We began hiking up the rocky trail and as time went on the trail continued to have a steady incline, Nicaraguans look for the most direct way to get somewhere, there are no switch backs, just straight up. Luckily the trail was not muddy, just rocky, so it made it easier to walk. Except the boots I had on were the typical black rubber boots that come up almost to your knee that Nicaraguans wear. They work great to keep your feet from getting wet or muddy, but there is no support, it is almost like going barefoot or like wearing jelly shoes to walk on rocks (I am dating myself by using this example, although I guess they are back in style).

After an hour of climbing in the rain up a steep mountainside in rubber boots we arrived to our destination, the village of Corozo, basically located on top of the mountain we were hiking up. As soon as we went into the first house the rain began to poor cats and dogs or the saying in Spanish is frogs and lizards. The rain let up a little and we needed to talk with someone else in community, so we left. We were told to take the "road" outside their property to get there, but the "road" was horrible. We were not quite sure what she meant by horrible until we saw it and then walked on it. The "road" was basically a bunch of big muddy holes. You did not want to step in the mud because you would sink, so we looked for rocks to jump to. Jaime, our partner, knew what he was doing, so I followed him. However, there was one spot that I think he got lucky and I did not.

We were crossing to the other side where it looked a little easier to walk, I saw the way Jaime went, so I began crossing in the same way. First couple steps were no problem, but the third one I took I sunk down into the mud a little ways and I thought I was going to lose my balance and fall face forward into the mud. Luckily I was able to keep my balance and I took a couple more steps when my left foot sunk into the mud up to my knee. I was trying to move my foot as much as I could to become unstuck and I thought I did until I pulled my foot out and the boot was not attached. Fortunately there was a rock within stretching distance that I was able to step on with my barefoot while I tried to get my boot out of the mud. I was unable to get the boot out of the mud, so Seth came to help me. He was struggling because the boot was not right next to us and it was almost covered completely in mud. Jaime saw what was going on, so he came to help. I was amazed because at first he was walking on top of the mud, like it was as hard as the ground and then the final step his right foot sunk into the mud up past his knee (he is quite a bit shorter than me). I am sure as he was coming to help me he was thinking how did she get stuck and then when he sunk into the mud his face was so shocked that it was hard not to crack up. While Jaime was trying to get himself unstuck, Seth was able to get my book out of the mud. The boot was full of muddy water, but I was glad I was not going to have to walk barefoot. Meanwhile, while all of this was happening another Aso Fenix volunteer was laughing hysterical and taking pictures of the adventure, so enjoy the pics.

Un Día Largísimo

We were heading to Bramadero to provide a learning tour for a group from MCC. We left Managua at 8:30 a.m. The group was in a microbus and we were in the MCC truck. We were heading up the rocky steep dirt road toward Bramadero when the microbus was not able to make it up due to too much weight, so everyone in the bus got out and as it backed down the hill to try again, a tire popped. Since we had the truck we drove half the group up to Bramadero, about 20 minutes from where we were, then Seth returned to pick up the rest of the group. The time in Bramadero was flawless; the food was good, people were friendly and the group was interested in the projects done in the community.

It was time to head out (around 2 p.m.) as the sky began to darken and it was obvious rain was coming, it was only a matter of when. Since the microbus and driver were waiting where we left them (or so we thought) and people did not want to get wet in the back of the truck the MCC group paid the owner of the local bus (an old school bus) to take them to the entrance. As we were driving down it began to pour and along the single lane dirt road, now a muddy road, we came upon the microbus, we were all astonished it had made it that far. The bus continued down the road, while we waited for the microbus to turn around, with the rain we knew it was going to have problems. We came upon a steep mainly muddy hill where the microbus was unable to climb due to only rear wheel drive and no weight. So, two people who were in our truck got out to sit in the back of the microbus, it backed up enough down the road and got going fast in order to make it up the hill. We finally made it to end of the road where we caught up with the group in the regular bus. Due to the rain the local bus was not able to return to the top and unfortunately the people would not have a bus ride the next day unless they walked all the way out.

We got out to the gravel road, where we all thought it would be smooth sailing, but the fun was going to continue. As we were behind the microbus going up another hill it just stopped. The microbus was unable to shift out of third gear. The rain is still pouring as the driver is trying to fix whatever was wrong underneath the bus, so his entire backside was covered in mud. He was not able to fix anything, but he thought he could continue on only with third gear. The group had to get out and push the bus up the hill and hopefully they would make it into Teustepe, the nearest town about 10 minutes away. After we got the bus up the hill Seth noticed the tire on the truck was flat. So the 5 of us in the truck got out to change the tire as the rain did not let up at all. We got our tire changed, but we were all soaked when we get back in the truck. We made it to Teustepe, where the microbus looked for a mechanic and the group waited in a restaurant for the microbus to be ready. Those of us in the truck went to get the flat tire fixed, which is at the entrance of the town where the main highway is located. Upon our arrival there was a long line of cars on the highway, waiting to cross the river. There is a river that passes there and people have been working on a new bridge since February, so there is a dirt road detour that is lower than the bridge and often when it rains is overtaken by the river and no one can pass, but normally it only takes an hour for the river to return to normal.

As the tire is being fixed, Seth is talking with a guy who said the river had been that full for two hours, so it was going to take a good two hours to lower. At that time it was about 4:30 p.m. In the mean time the microbus found out a cable to the shifter broke and the mechanic would not be able to repair it there. The group decided to find a bus heading for Managua, but they had to cross the river. At this point people had been walking to the other side of the river using the bridge under construction. The group found a bus that was turning around to return to Managua, but there was so much traffic that it was not moving. In the meantime, we were waiting on the other side when the police arrived and opened the bridge for only cars to pass. There were parts of rebar sticking up out of the cement that the police covered with planks of wood. Upon arriving to the other side (around 6:00 p.m.) there was utter chaos, three lanes (normally a two lane highway), cars/trucks/semis going in different directions and everyone was at a complete standstill. We saw the group on the bus headed for Managua, still in the same place where they got on at. The police were trying to get the traffic moving by getting vehicles turned in the correct direction, but there was not much room for turning around. We would move 10 feet and then be at standstill for another 20 minutes or longer then we would move another 10 feet and so forth. We did not get out of the traffic until 8:00 p.m. and finally made it back to Managua at 9 p.m. This was a very long day, but we were all glad we had a normal campo lunch (very filling) since no one got to eat dinner.

Living the Wanderers Life

Well it looks like our work with our partner, Aso Fenix, will be starting and we will be pretty busy. We are in charge of the internship program for foreigners, helping to lead-interprete for the rural tourism groups and helping out with the renewable energy projects. We will be working in a village to put in a water pump powered by solar panels, installing solar panels in another village to provide electricity and installing micro hydroelectric plants in two villages to provide electricity. Also, our partner continues to work in the villages for up to 10 years where projects have been completed to help with community development. Therefore, we will be in charge of doing all workshops relating to health, nutrition, hygeine, reforestation, water cycle and agriculture. It will be a great experience because we will get to use our expertise, but also have the opportunity to learn new things.

Since we will be doing projects all over the department of Boaco we will not be in one place for very long. For this reason, we actually have three places we call home. We still have the MCC house in Bramadero (the village we stayed at for the first 6 months), a house in San Jose de los Remates (we will be based out of the town to do projects in the surrounding area) and we have a room at the MCC office in Managua (when we are working out of the Aso Fenix office). At first it was hard to be moving so much, but we both realized this is just the way our life will be here and we have adjusted to this life style. Besides it gives us the opportunity to see more of Nicaragua.

Enjoy the pics on our photo website of each of our places we call home.

Seeing, Hearing and Feeling

I have been reading a devotional book called Free to Pray, Free to Love by Max Oliva. I was reading the chapter on Putting on the Mind and Heart of Christ talking about as one grows closer to Christ ¨we should see the world through his eyes, hear through his ears and feel with his heart¨. Basically, if we are not seeing others in this way we are not growing in Christ because the more we grow in him, our world perception should change. I Corinthians 12:26&27 says, ¨if one part suffers, all parts suffer with it and if one part is honored, all parts rejoice. All of you together are Christ’s body and each of you is part of it¨. Christ’s Love is what binds us together.

I feel in my walk with Christ my perception of the world has changed, especially since being here in Nicaragua. My mind and heart have been more open to the sorrows and joys of others; unfortunately I have seen fewer joys in the people here. I think the poverty and livelihood here is why I have seen more sorrow. There are numerous times to count that I have seen a child washing windows or a mother wheeling around her handicap child begging or people dressed up as clowns doing tricks at stop lights or people selling newspapers, hand towels and water at stop lights all to make money and the list goes on. I feel overwhelmed with sadness at the injustice of how people have to live. The thing that is harder though is poverty and injustice are everywhere here, how can I feel with every person and not become overwhelmed and be unable to function? However, if we are one in the body of Christ and growing in him means seeing and feeling the world more as Christ does, how can I not feel or see the world differently? Romans 12:9, 10 &13 states; ¨Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection and take delight in honoring each other...When God’s people are in need be ready to help them¨. I guess the real question is how does one continue to see and feel the world through Christ’s eyes and not become overwhelmed with helplessness? I am moved to help the people I see, but does that mean I help every person or the better question is what does that help look like? I think this is the question of every MCC volunteer here and I am sure of Christians all over the world.

And its one more day in Managua....

Hello all,

Well we have started to become more helpful to our partner Aso Fenix. Over the past several weeks we have been putting in a lot of office time (it is not as bad as it sounds). We have be helping Aso Fenix get more organized and be able to present itself better. Until recently, Aso Fenix, has just been really one person, Jamie, managing and working on a bunch of projects. Well the number of projects has been increasing and so has funding to do more projects, so it is time to grow. Unfortunately, most donors only provide funding for projects and not for helping the organization grow to meet these new demands. However, Aso Fenix has received a sizable donation from a group in the Netherlands to help it grow. So we have been working on many things. We have designed a webpage, made brochures for different programs, and other types of media to promote Aso Fenix. It has been fun and also given us something to invest ourselves into. We also are working with engineering inters that come down from 2 months to a year to help with projects. We are trying to organize the program by contacting them before they come down to answer questions, giving them an orientation, and trying not to be their mom and dad... So, what all this means, is that we have not be out in Bramadero for more than a month. But we do plan to get back there soon and have started thinking about projects to do. We do miss the country life, but it is the kids we miss most. But we have learned long ago to be flexible and open for what God has for you in His time.

Well Rested and Ready to Work

We got back a couple days ago from El Salvador and Honduras. We were in Suchitoto, El Salvador for a conference about Food Security and Sovereignty. Food Security means access to food (it may be food given to you that you have never eaten), whereas Food Sovereignty means the ability to grow what you want and do whatever you want with the food (consume or sell). We spent time in lectures, workshops and visiting local farmers. Some of the things we learned about were making compost using worms (vermiculture), how to make candy's from fruits in order to sell them and how to extract vitamins and minerals from certain vegetable leaves in order to supplement peoples diets. Also, we were able to met up with and old friend, Jenny Mason, who is working in Guatemala with Food for the Hungry, at the conference. It was nice to see her and hear about her experience in Guatemala. We had a little time to explore and found the country to be beautiful and the people extremely friendly and helpful.

Once the conference was over we decided to take a vacation and explore some of Honduras. We spent time on one of the Bay Islands, Roatan, where we snorkeled and swam in the clear turqoise water. In our snorkeling adventures we saw 6 hawksbill sea turtles, lobsters, star fish, various colorful fish and coral. After being on the island we spent time in one of Honduras's most well known national parks, Pico Bonito (Pretty Peak). It was a beautiful mountainous tropical rain forest. We hiked to a waterfall in the park where we also were able to cool off in the crystal clear river Zacate. We stayed in a small town that was trying to build up its tourism, El Pino. They had developed a nice eco-tourist center with a pool, restaurant, huts (mud walls, thatch roof, no electricity, but running water) and was very well landscaped with a view of Pico Bonito. It was nice to be able to support the local people and we would recommend this place to anyway. After enjoying Pico Bonito we went to a Tela, a town a little further north on the coast. We visited the world's second largest botanical garden (Lancetilla). It was started as a research center for united fruit company, but is now run by a Honduran university, whom continues doing research, but has opened the grounds for others to enjoy. Now keep in mind this is not the typical botanical garden we would think of in the states (lots and lots of flowers). Lancetilla is more about different tropical tree species. It was a beautiful place and Seth especially enjoyed all the fruit trees (because he was able to try many of the fruits). We enjoyed ourselves extremely and found Honduras to be an extremely beautiful mountainous country.

Spanglish

As spanish more learn we, english goes bye bye. Well we are not quite that bad, but there are times where english just doesn´t seem like our native tongue. Then again, Spanish is not easy all the time either. So we live with Spanglish, but between the two of us it works. It is hard to believe that we have been here 8 months, time is moving fast. We are enjoying our time here and the rainy season, though I am sure in a couple of months we will get sick of the mud. We have been spending the majority of our time in Bramadero building relationships and trying to make a "normal" life for ourselves. This last week we have had the opportunity to work in our partners office in Managua. We have been working on a proposal for the World Bank, which has been a stretching experience since all the information is in English and we have to translate it for our partner. But we are enjoying our time building on our relationship with Jamie (our boss).

Sarah´s mom is also here doing some volunteering work for a month. She has been here a week and half and seems to be enjoying herself. It has worked out nicely that we are working more out of Managua than normal in order to spend more time with her. Last weekend we went to a natural reserve (cloud forest) here called Selva Negra. We spent time relaxing, hiking and looking for the howler monkeys that called to us from the mist.

Last month Sarah celebrated her 30th bithday, it did not turn out to be the best day, but it was one to remember. We were in the community and decided we would take the motor bike to Teustepe where we would spend the day at a hot spring. Since we are in the rainy season, it rained most of the night. We left around 10 a.m. and made it to the next village where we spun out in the clay mud and before we knew it we were lying in the mud with the bike. We decided that if we were able to make it out the likely hood of us being able to return because the roads are steeper coming back was very small. We opted to return to Bramadero where we could clean off the mud from our clothes. As we were driving back Seth was unable to shift because the shifter had bent in the fall, so we drove very slowly back to Bramadero, but at least we made it back. Of course, when we made it back everyone wanted to know why we were back so soon and then they saw the mud caked clothes and figured out we had fallen. We were both dissapointed, but glad we were not injured. We decided any other special days during the rainy season we will be taking the bus. Therefore, we will be taking the bus to Granada to celebrate our 9th anniversary on the 9th of this month (the time sure flies by when your in love).

The parable of the sower

Matt. 13
3Then he told them many things in parables, saying: "A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9He who has ears, let him hear."

During the last several weeks, I have had the opportunity of becoming the farmer, becoming the sower, and it has been a mind opening experience. While I am planting beans, I make a small hole and throw beans in it. Now, were I am planting is not exactly a smooth level plain, instead it is rocky, weedy, and usually on the side of a mountain. What has occurred to me is that when the soil is shallow, we plant beans. When we are on the path, we plant beans. When we are on a rocky area, we plant beans. When we are in the weeds, we plant beans. Were there is ground (any type of ground), we plant beans. And we do not just plant one bean, we plant 3 or 4. I often think as we are planting, why are we planting here. The likelihood of a plant growing well is small, but still we plant. And than I think, well let's just plant one bean in this hole, so we don't waist the others because nothing will grow here. But still we plant 3 or 4.

Than it dawned on me. When we sow our seeds of Jesus never ending love in peoples hearts, we shouldn't be concerned about were we are sowing them, even if it appears we are sowing them into solid rock. And we don't just sow one seed, we sow many. And wouldn't you know it, beans can grow on the path, beans can grow on rocks, beans can grow in the weeds, and beans can grow in fertile soil.

Back in Bramadero

Well this news a little late, but better late than never. The bus strike finished two weeks ago and we have been in Bramadero for the last week and a half. Also, the water system is back to normal in Bramadero, so it is good to have things back to the way we are used to.

The rainy season has started so everything is turning very green, but also very muddy. It rains almost every day in the afternoon, but some days all day and night. In order to get to our house we have to cross a stream or river if it recently rained, so that adds to our excitement. Seth has started to plant with the men, so he works most days from 5 a.m. to 1 p.m. and often comes home very dirty. I planted one day with one family, but mostly spend my time with the kids and with the women. I have gone swimming, taught bible stories, played games and read to the kids. Also, I had the opportunity to cook with some of the women in their houses. We will be heading to Managua for a team meeting the 10th and 11th of this month.

Bus Strike and Water Outage

I am sure many of you are unaware there is a large bus, taxi and semi-truck strike going here in Nicaragua. The strike is going on it's 11 day and the government is not willing to meet their demands. The buses in Managua have gas subsidies, but the rest of the transportation industry has not, so they are striking to receive the same subsidies. The president basically told them to work it out themselves, so who knows how long the strike will last. Unlike in the states the country relies heavily on buses and taxis for transportation, so unless you have your own car (which is few and far between) you are stuck. Some people are stuck in other towns, while others are stuck in their own villages. You probably are thinking they are the lucky ones, but the thing is they use the bus daily to go to work or to go get food in a bigger nearby town, so in reality they are not lucky.

Seth and I are in Managua, stuck here for who knows how long. Seth's parents were here for two weeks. They had the opportunity to see the strike, but thanks be to God we were using the MCC truck and not public transportation. So our plans were not affected. We spent time relaxing with them on the island Ometepe on lake Nicaragua and in Granada and they also got a glimpse of what it is like to live in our village. They had the opportunity to play with the kids, make tortillas, wash clothes by hand on a rock, work in the fields and visit families. Although, there was one thing we all got to experience for the first time while in Bramadero, a water outage.

When we got up to Bramadero we found out the pump for the water had quit working and they were waiting on Jaime (our boss, who put the pump in) to come and fix it. Due to the strike he was not able to get to Bramadero as soon as would have liked. The village had been out of water for 4 days before he was able to come and try and fix the problem. In the meantime, people (mainly the women) were walking 30-45 min. to carry water back to their homes for drinking water. This was the way of life for the women until 7 months ago when a well was dug and a pump run by solar energy was put in. No longer did the women have to walk to a well, but each house had a spicket and the water came right to the house. This is the Bramadero we have always known, so we were not even sure where to walk to get water. Fortunately for us, we have a large cement tank that collects rain water and were able to filter the rain water to drink and take some showers. Jaime and the men in the community (Seth and his dad helped out) were able to fix a tube that broke and that is why the pump stopped working, but still for some reason unknown to us is they are only opening the water to the houses once a day for people to fill up tanks for drinking water. So, we are unsure when our water system will get back to normal in Bramadero or if this is the way it will be.

We enjoyed our time with Seth's parents and we are glad that got to experience more of Nicaragua than most tourists do.

Home coming

This week we got to experience the cross cultural event of young adults returning home after several months’ away learning. The reunion was typical, parents hugging their kids, kids trying to act cool in front of their hometown friends, and of course lots of talk about how things have changed around home. It was a blessing to take part in this activity, as it is one of the few times we have been able to see the intimate connection between parents and kids in the community. It is a connection that usually remains below the surface, but the extended absence made it all visible.

Many of you may be thinking of the first time you came home from college, or the even the first time your kids came back from a mind liberating semester of college (with the biggest pile of laundry you have ever seen). But here in Nicaragua, college is not even an idea dreamt about on lazy afternoons. The home coming we witnessed where several youth coming back after working several months in Costa Rica picking coffee. The average age of this group was probably sixteen, making the reunion that much more special. However, teenagers are not the only ones that go to Costa Rica during the dry season to earn a living. For the few lucky ones the whole family will go to Costa Rica, though this means that the kids that go miss several months of school. But still they are the lucky ones. Many times it is a father that goes to work, some just for two months, while others have been gone for almost five months. Families left behind have learned how to live life with out them. The oldest son that is left at home (usually not more the thirteen) will take some of the burden left by the father, sharing the rest of the load with the younger siblings. In some cases both the mother and father leave, causing their children to rely on their relatives for support. In one family the mother and father left (for 5 months) behind a one and half year old and a three year old to live with their grandma, who incidentally has five kids of her own under the age of 16 living at home.

However appalling this may seem it is a fact of life here, and it is a necessary fact of life. During the dry season there is no work in the community. In fact, the community would not survive if people did not bring in money from Costa Rica. People use this money to construct houses, buy clothes, shoes, and food. Though it has taken me a lot of time to see that even though the fathers, and sometimes mothers, leave their children behind it is a sacrifice of love. They know that by being gone they can provide things for their children that they would not have been able to otherwise. Although sometimes what they do buy does not make up for the time lost, however many children would not have a future with out this sacrifice.

Another day in the Life

Since most of you are not here with us..... We thought we would describe to you a typical day in Bramadero. As we happily dream in bed the bus starts to make its journey down from the town above us. At 5:30 am the horn sounds, letting all the people know the bus is coming. The bus is called the trumpet, and not because it is yellow. From this point on we know that it is possible for someone to come to our house at any time. So we sleep with our ears open, waiting for the pitter patter of little or big feet on the path outside. We have a rule with the kids, that they can't come to our house till after 7am, but there is always the chance that an adult will come. Usually to drop off a battery or cell phone to charge on our solar panel. Between 6 and 7 we have time to eat breakfast, have devotions, or take a nice bucket shower.

The rest of the day is spent between playing with kids at our house (shoots and ladders, memory, cars, coloring, reading, or running around outside) and visiting peoples houses in the community. We are working on building a base line so we can see the changes that have taken place in the community during our next 3 years. So we talk with people, eat with people, and basically just live life with them. Most days we are back to the house by 5, and it is time to cook dinner. We have about 5 or so "junior" chefs that prepare our meal, with Seth directing the symphony. We have many options to choose for dinner, spaghetti with vegetables or rice with vegetables, or you guessed it spaghetti and rice with vegetables. But the kids enjoy cooking, especially the boys. We then try to shoo the kids about by 7 so we have some time to ourselves again. Some nights we watch movies, some nights we read, or some nights we just crash. But we are usually in bed by 8 or 9 dreaming of the "trumpet".

Nica Rica

We are back in Nicaragua and had a great time with Sarah's parents and in Costa Rica with the Rimrock team (from South Dakota). It was a great time to see family and friends as well as to do a little relaxing. In Costa Rica we met some very exciting pastors and pastor trainers who really have a heart for the Lord. It was really good for us to see people who really love the Lord and continually strive to live in Him. We enjoy the church we attend in Nicaragua, but there is something really different about a church that really cares about the community around it and is trying to show Christ's love in every aspect of their lives.

We will be heading back to Bromadero and will be starting a survey of the community. We will be asking questions focused on health and nutrition (how often do you wash your hands, how often do you eat vegetables, etc.). This will not only give us a better idea on what projects we can start, but also give us another opportunity to go and talk with all the families again.

We also are in the process of fixing up a house in a town called San Jose de los Remates, which is about one hour from where we are in Bromadero. We will be working in several of the communities around San Jose with our partner Fenix. We will be hiring several men from one of the communities we have projects in to do the work not only to benefit us but to provide jobs for them. We are looking forward to getting the house ready, so we can use it as a place to relax and also to read and work.

Time sure flies

We have almost been here 5 months, hard to believe. We are doing well. Sarah's parents are here visiting for 13 days. We have already visited a lake, a volcano, and the oldest colonial city in Central America (Granada). We will be heading to Bromadero, the village we live in, tomorrow. We are excited to be able to share this with our family and we look forward sharing it with other family members in the future.

We will be heading to Costa Rica the second of April to visit Seth's dad, Mike. He will be there with a short term medical mission team. Unfortunately, we will not be able to be there the entire time they are in Costa Rica, but at least we will be able to go visit for 4 days. We will probably be helping out in the clinics and hanging out with Mike. Once we return to Nicaragua we will be starting some projects in our community.

Bubbles and Cheese

Well Seth and I are back in Managua for a quick respite after being in the campo for 2 weeks. We had a great first couple weeks out there, but found it hard to have time for ourselves. We constantly have kids at our house or are visiting families in the community. People in Bromadero are very friendly and nice. We are welcomed eagerly when we visit people’s house and are always given a tortilla with cuajada (a dry, salty cheese) and a cafecito (coffee). People are very generous, even when they do not have much to give. We have been invited to several houses for lunch and dinner, so we have only made 5 meals for ourselves in the last two weeks.

The kids are a lot of fun to play with, making the time pass. We introduced bubbles to them and they loved it. Every time they come to our house they ask to play with them. One thing in the last two weeks we have noticed with the kids is that many of them don’t wear shoes while running around, though most of them have shoes/sandals of some sort. It seems that parents don’t make them wear them. Seth and I have made a rule, if kids want to play at our house they have to wear there shoes/sandals. Also, we are talking to the kids about the importance of wearing shoes. There are cows, pigs and chickens everywhere, therefore their feces all over, so this is a public health issue we need to work on, but we figured we needed to start somewhere.

Another thing we trying is to always have fruits and veggies in our house to give to kids as snacks so they will get used to eating them. We will do workshops with families about nutrition and and growing vegetables in home gardens. Right now the area is very dry and people don’t grow things during this time, so we will have to try in our own yard to see how things work.

We have been attending the Mennonite church in the village 20 minutes from where we live. The Sunday church service lasts 3 hours, which is something we are still trying to adjust to. We are trying to be open to see how God is working in the church and not focus on the things that are different from what we are used to. We are constantly reminded that the reason we are here is most of all to show Christ’s love to others and not to complete projects, so we are really trying to focus on relationship building in the communities. Right now our focus is on the community we live in, Bromadero.

Off to the Campo

We are heading off to the campo, countryside, Saturday. We will be living there the majority of time this year as we build relationships and start projects. We will have another house, but are still looking to find one to rent. Will update the blog as we can since we will not have as easy access to internet as we have had. Check out the new pictures on our photo link.

Machismo

Before coming down to Nicaragua I was aware that the men here can be very machista. This word means that they treat woman as objects, not as equals. For example, it is a regular occurrence to walk down the street and get whistled at and then be called somebody's amor (love), even while walking with my husband. I did not realize how much this would bother me. I see the inequality between men and women everywhere I go. I have ridden many buses and taxis and I have never seen a woman driving. At first I did not think much of it, but the more I observe the more stuff creeps up that screams inequality. In the city one can see women and men both working, but in the country one will only see the men working in the fields with other men. Don't get me wrong the women work, probably harder than the men, but they are cooking, cleaning, watching the kids, carrying water, gathering fire wood, and other things I am sure I have not mentioned.
I saw this first hand a week ago while I was working on a small micro-hydroelectric plant in the country. Seth and I showed up to help the community to build a sand trap, but when we arrived I noticed I was the only female and remained the only female working the entire time. At first I was a bit intimidated, feeling inadequate about how I could really help, then I realized this is a rare occasion to show them that men and woman can work together on projects. For the two days of work not one of them talked with me, except for Seth and my boss. I worked as hard as I could trying to prove a point and at the end of it all I felt pleased. At the very end one man asked me my name and it felt like a small victory.
Nicaraguan women are starting to rise up, but not in the best manner. There is a group of women called the feministas that think women should be over men. I consider myself a free liberated woman, but I don't agree with this mentality. God created men and women as equals, not for one to be over the other. Look at Christ's example about how he treated women and not just the righteous ones, ones that were outcasts. If God wanted women to be treated less than human then would Christ have interacted with so many women in the bible? Both women and men were created in God's image, so equal in God's eyes. Men and women were given different attributes of God, so we can better know God.
I know this is something I will not be able to change in my three year term here, but I feel that God can use me and my husband to show that we are equal in our marriage.

We have come along way...3 months already?

We finished Spanish training on Friday, so we are now fluent...not really. We have learned all the grammar, but far from being able to speak correctly. It seems like the more we have learned the less comfortable we feel speaking because there are so many mistakes that we make...but people are very patient and gracious with us. Seth is more willing to speak, whereas I have become more timid in my speaking...which has switched since when we first got here. I just need to try and not get nervous about making mistakes. Our goal by this time next year is to be able to speak Spanish sufficiently. One thing that will help our progress with speaking Spanish is we are getting ready to start our jobs, so we will be forced to speak Spanish a lot more than we are now.

This week we will be helping with repairs on a small hydroelectric generator in a small community called Malacatoya. Obviously those of you who know us know that this is not our area of expertise. Our partner, Aso-Fenix, has expertise in renewable energy, so we are learning from them. We will be working there for this next week, and then we will be heading to Esteli for a wedding of a former MCC volunteer and then we have our team meeting in Matagalpa.

After that we will be moving close to the communities we will be working in. We had previously thought we would be living in Teustepe, but plans have changed. We will have a house in a town called San Jose de los Remates and we also have access to a house owned by the Mennonite church in a village called Bromadero, so we will be living in two places. The reason for the change is because we will be working in two different regions, Teustepe and San Jose de los Remates. One of the houses only has water and an hour of electricity for 1-2 hours a day from a solar panel, so there is no electricity in the village. The other house will have water and electricity. We are excited to get started building relationships with the communities and begin the work God has laid out for us.

...at least I won't die of hunger (Nicaraguan saying)

I have heard this saying several times during my three months in Nicaragua, and though it might not be the happiest of sayings at least there is a silver lining in the clouds. Though as my journey into Nicaraguan life and culture deepens, some light has been shed on these words through the increasingly darkening sky. Since I have been here the price of beans, one of the three staples, has skyrocketed. Rising from 8 cords (40 cents) a pound to over 20 (little over a dollar) with no plateau insight. Now granted for most of you reading this the price might not seem that bad, but than again we have to look at all factors. First of all, rice which is another staple food has nearly doubled in price over the last year. Second, it is not only food that has risen in price, in the last 8 months almost all products found on the shelves of stores, or in the hot, dusty clamor of a busy market has at the least gone up 30-40%, with most having doubled. Now we citizens of the world are all used to inflation, so let us delve deeper into the storm. Currently the minimum basic salary to live off of (includes food, rent, transportation to and from a job, etc) is around 3500 -4000 cords a month (roughly around 200 dollars or so). Well that actually seems quite doable, I mean if you made only 5 dollars an hour at your job working 40 hours a week, heck you would have more than enough. In fact you would be living in the lap of luxury. As I have heard form various people that most people make around 80 cents to 1 dollar a day, translating to about 2500 cords a month. Now I'm not talking street vendors, beggars, and all those people with out an education (because with an education you can reach the stars), public school teachers earn this, low level civil employees and so on. So this begs the question, how do you make up the extra money. Second job would probably go along way, but sadly to say you don't have that option. About 30-40% of Nicaraguans are unemployed, out of the remaining 60-70%, 70% of those are underemployed. So most of the people that are working won't make that full dollar a day, and because of the lack of finding full time first jobs find a second job is out of the question. This underemployment is fairly even spread throughout the social ladder (except the very wealthy), causing most college grads (even lawyers and doctors, though they have a slight advantage) to have a hard time finding full time work.

So what does all this mean to my recently turned 30 year old mind. That life can be a bit rough down here.....to say the least. Nicaraguans are generally overlooked by the world because they are not starving in the streets (at least not yet) like they are in Africa, or killing each other in civil wars. But I am happy to report that Nicaraguans are a smart, kind, and infinitely resourceful group of people. One small family can not survive here on their own, but with the help of relatives and neighbors they can all work together to get by and even thrive. Nicaraguans can also make businesses out of anything. Whether it be washing windows at stoplights, selling anything and everything on buses (towels, food, pop rocks, and even Spyrographs), to repairing anything to keep working forever, to sadly (for me and them) begging on the street.

So I keep coming back to my role here in Nicaragua, trying to think what I can do in the face of such odds. Well, to be honest, nothing at all. In Jesus time people lived and died and suffered and rejoiced just like those around me. And what did He do, He lived and died and suffered and rejoiced with them. But through His life he changed them and helped them and I believe they impacted Him too. So as I sit here working on my plan for the following three years, I find I can only offer Jesus to these people through myself, my life, my actions, my culture, and my gifts that He has given. And I pray that I will be changed to be more like those I serve who live life simply, sharing time and resources with any in need, and of course rice, beans, tortilla, and a nice sweet cup of coffee with plenty of milk and sugar.

A Long December

We had a busy December, but also had the opportunity to relax the last week. We went to a beach down south in Nicaragua called San Juan del Sur. We spent time reading, swimming, body surfing, searching tide pools and hiking. We had some friends from MCC join us for part of the time, we really enjoyed ourselves. We spent New Year's eve in a town up north called Matagalpa with the other MCC volunteers. There is an MCC family that lives there and we spent time playing games and eating great deserts until we felt sick (a true North American holiday tradition). Another US tradition we did not miss out on was seeing the ball drop on TV.

You may be asking yourself, what does a traditional Nicaraguan Christmas and New Year's look like? I am glad you asked. In Nicaragua it is more common to celebrate Christmas the night of the 24th and although we did not get to celebrate with a nican family, we have been told what is normal. Normally family's get together and eat a lot of food, specifically a food called relleno (chicken, butter, oil, raisins, vegetables, bread, salt). This may not sound good, but we have been told be a North American that it is good. Often gifts are exchanged as in the states, but it depends on the family situation. For New Years it is very common for people to make an effigy of the past year and then burn it New Year's Eve. They take old clothes and stuff it with newspaper and it ends up looking like a person. Unfortunately, we did not actually get to take part in this New Year's tradition, but there is always next year. However, we did get to take part in the another New Year's Eve tradition staying up until midnight and watching all the fireworks being lit. Everyone buys fireworks and waits until midnight to light them and then they go off for 15-30 min, it is impossible to sleep until they are done.

We started back at Viva Spanish School on the 2nd and we will be taking classes the month of January. We will be living with other MCC volunteers in Managua for this month. We will start looking for a house of our own this month in the area we are going to live.