Throw a clock out the window (how to make time fly)

Well, its 2009 and time is really flying by. It is hard to believe that it has been over a month since we posted, but the month has really flown by. We have been very busy, but it was nice to see some things come together that we have been planing for a long time.


We had two tourism/working and learning groups come down. We spent time in several of the communities we work in, including Bramadero. The groups spent several days in the different communities working on small projects, getting to know the locals, and understanding what rural life is like in Nicaragua. It was a good time to catch up with people from the US and make some new friends. But it was also a little strange being in a large group of North Americans, with everyone speaking English and talking about "normal" things from the states. All in all it was a great experience, and we were glad to be part of if.

We had two days free between the groups 24th and 25th and went to Granada to spend some time relaxing by the pool, sleeping in, and eating good food. We found a new grocery store that had just opened up and had some fun things from the states. So for Christmas day we ate real cheddar cheese, humus, wheatables, cashews, honey roasted peanuts, and twix bars. It was actually a really nice treat. We also visited several restuarants and had a nice turkey Christmas Eve dinner.

We spent New Years in Bramadero with the group, but were so tired we went to bed at about 9:30. But we did have a nice dinner with 5 of the families that had helped us with the groups, it was a nice time of sharing.

The day our last group left we started a spiritual retreat with the entire Central American MCC staff. There were about 60 people in all. It was a nice of reflection and time with others who share a similar vision.

Tomorrow, we had off to Bramadero to work on a small irrigation project that we installed with one of the groups. It looks like we will have a pretty busy several months, working on different projects and what not. But as with the tourism groups it is nice to see our work paying off.

This is just a small account of what has been happening, we will be sharing more detailed stories of these experiences in the next several weeks when we have more time to sit down.

Happy New Year to all

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.