Rice and Beans

Handing out rice and beans was sort of crazy. People from the group that have come times before this said this was nothing. But to me it was crazy. They have a good system down but it was really anoying because the kids mainly boys wanted to come up behind where you were handing out the rice and beans and steal some out of the bag. I had to continue to say vayan and push boys away. I did not like doing that. Because the amount of people was much smaller than what was expected we gave the extra rice and beans to the pastor of the church.
The church wanted to hold a grand goodbye with presents and everything. It was nice the pastor told me that he did not have a present for me and that he did not want me to feel bad. Of course I did not feel bad, because there was no reason to give me a present. I really hope that I will be able to return for services. I hope Courtney would want to go also.
We shall see what God has in store for the rest of the summer.

Paz

Pecan Grove

Today was a fantastic day. For the past few days there has been a group from a church called Pecan Grove out of Richmond, Texas. They work with a local church on the outskirts of Jinotega. The church´s name escapes me at the moment. The people from Pecan Grove have been extremely nice. They allowed me to travel with them today. Courtney would have gone also but she was not feeling herself today. I ate breakfast with the group, and after their daily time of worship we were off to work. While the men began working on the roofs of some houses the women and I walked up a hill and went inviting people to the church service that was being held at 6:30. I was asked to help translate. For everday conversation I can do okay, but when it come to praying, I have no clue. Translating for religous events is much more difficult than I expected. And for me translating from English to Spanish is much more difficult anyway. I was able to talk around words that I did not know, and I can not for the life of me remember the word for pray. But here it is thanks to wordreference.com ORAR now hopefully I will be able to remember the word. If Jose wants me to interepret for him in the fall I have a lot more practicing.

Anyways, after we finished inviting people to chruch two women from the group their names are Leah and Shonda, and I went to a house to work with a girl who has ceberal palsy. Shonda is a physical therapist and God had put a burden on her heart about this girl named Rubenia. So, I went with her because one I could help this time, and I think that I might be able to help with this girl while I am here. Rubenia is taken care of by her older sister during the morning and when her sister has to go to school Rubenia is left with a neighbor. Shonda showed me what she has been donig with Rubenia, and I also did it so I could return in the future to help her. In the past 3 days Rubenia has had a months worth of progress. 3 days for 1 month, how incredible is that. Another great thing is that I have worked with a cerberal palsy patient for 6 months with hipotheropy. There so happens to me a young man about my age who has a horse, who is willing to help with the hipotherapy when Rubenia is strong enough.

Last night I spent some time with Leah and Shonda, I have now been deemed a prospect for Jose, the man who has the horse. They spent about half an hour last night telling me how great he is. So now this will be interesting, to say the least.
Jim the pastor also told me today while we were inviting people to the church service that I was getting fought over. Appearently, Jose being one of them. Which is compeltely different from the states. So yes, I am a little flatered by the fact that I am getting fought over. So the entire day I have been the topic of the men in the church and the group from Pecan Grove. Okay so maybe not the entire day but the better part of it at least.

We returned to the hotel after eating a wonderful lunch. We had tacos that were made by the pastor or his wife. We returned to the hotel to rest so I read a little bit and was about to hit real sleep when I was awoken by Shonda´s voice, saying that we were leaving at 5. I was kind of sad but I will just sleep well tonight.

They bought some rice and beans to be given at the church service and we were headed back to the church. The service was held outside and it was wonderful. I enjoyed the music so much. Shonda gave a testimony about how God provides. It was about me being here and how it is not a accident and that God had planned for us to meet, and me to go today and see Rubenia. She also happen to say, while saying that Jose has a horse that he so happens to be single and I so happen to be single, and that we do not know what might happen. So as soon as she said that I am sure you could of looked at my face and seen 6 different shades of red. I think that moment was one of my most embarrassing moments of my life. Not only does he kow I am single but now everyone who is in that commuity knows that both of us are single. I am still in shock about the whole situation. I mean you never know what God will be but now it seems like there is a lot more pressure on just a friendship with Jose.


More to come Paz

Honduras

Just to let everyone know, Nicaragua is not really effected by what is going on in Honduras. And now what is going on in Honduras. The president was forced out of office by congress and the military because he was trying to extend his presidency. But his presidency can not be extended. Sunday, the military forced the president out of power. He was exiled to Costa Rica but now there is a large meeting in Managua with all of the presidents from most of Latin America.

Please be keeping Honduras in your prayers. Remember our brothers and sisters and how this is effecting them as well.

Paz

Tomorrow

Because of the lack of internet and the fact that I would have needed to carry my computer with me to the hotel I have not been able to blog. So tomorrow and saturday will be my catch up day. Including photos

Paz

Medical Group

I have really enjoyed having the medical group here. Everyone is so nice, and just a lot of fun. There was a couple from CA, who invited me to dinner last night. We talked about all sorts of different things, one of which being religion. It was fun to here what they believe, I think that it is also interesting that when a person is not a Christian and they have a conversation with a Christian they ask all of these questions about God, and religion, and everything. Questions that sometimes the answer is "I don't know." I think they assume that we have all of the answers. But, the first thing I realized with my relationship with Christ is that there are many things that I will not be able to answer.

Today I was able to go with the group. I do not remember where we went, only the ride up there. The bus driver Orlando was incredible, he backed the bus up without any problems even when there was really no place to back up to. Also, we had to cross this little creek. The bride that was there was not going to hold the bus. I do not even think it was going to hold us as we walked a cross it. There was a place for buses and other cars to cross the creek. After we all loaded the bus again we were off once again to the unknown destination. We arrived to the School only after a few hours, and school was in session. I was told that this is very abnormal, but when we arrived classes were dismissed. We started unloading the truck. At this point I was taking pictures of people unloading the truck.


Almost every doctor had their own room or their own area. The peds had three doctors to a room and the dentists were all in one room. There was also one room that was for starting the paper work. When I was asked to help this was one of the main jobs I had. I would ask for names and ages. When they were giving their information the patients were also receiving deworming medicine. After they leave the room someone takes them to a line for a doctor. This was also one of my jobs. I would run around almost like a chicken with my head cut off, but with more purpose.

The patients would see the doctors and then head to the Pharmacy. Where their medicines would be filled and given to them. This was my third Job. I was asked to help translate what the medicines were for and how often they needed to talk them. I do not think I will ever say take this 2 times a day every day that many times again.


Overall I had a great time. I worked hard, and did a lot of things that I did not think I was going to do when I am here. I met a lot of nice people, and maybe one day I will be able to work with them again. Who knows. here are some more photos from the morning.

La Pena de La Cruz

Today we went to the cross with the group from Shelby. It was a trying experience. Courtney had a little trouble with her hip but she made it. One the way down my knee hurt a little bit but not much. The view was amazing. being able to see the entire of Jinotega was wonderful. Because, sometime I leap before I think, I slipped a couple of times, Including when I was squatting taking a picture. I can be so off balance sometimes but other times I have all the balance I need. When we got down I had to go back to the hotel and grab the key for the Convention Center, where Courtney was waiting. The pants I wore got really dirty and I knew that there was no way I could get them washed at the hotel, so Courtney and I decided that we needed to hand wash our pants. So we did. And, not a bad job. At least they were clean enough to go with the Medical Group that was here.

In the photo of Courtney and me I was literally clinging/ holding on to the cross. There was enough room for my foot and that was it. So this experience brought many songs to mind but this past week I have been sining Clinging to the Cross. So here are the words if you do not know the song. Tim Hughs wrote the song.


My soul is weak my heart is numb
I cannot see
but still my hope is found in you
I'll hold on tightly, you will never let me go
For Jesus you will never fail.

My soul is weak my heart is numb
I cannot see
but still my hope is found in you
I'll hold on tightly, you will never let me go
Jesus you will never fail 2x

Chorus:
Simply to the cross I cling letting go of all earthly things,
I'm clinging to the cross
Mercy's found a way for me
Hope is here as I am free
Jesus you are all I need I'm cling to the cross

Even Darkness is as light, to you my lord
so light the way and lead me home
to that place where every tear is wiped away
For Jesus you will never fail 2x

Chorus
What a Savior, What a Story
You were crucified but now you are alive
So amazing, Such a mystory
You were crucified, but now you are alive
Chrous

Horses

After we hung out around the Plantation Andy took us horseback ridding. Parts were sort of scary. He allowed me to run up the hills. that was a load of fun.

Better Late then Never

Forgive me for the lack of blogging. I am not a huge fan of sitting in front of a computer. Here are photos from the Coffee Plantation. I enjoyed going to the plantation for a couple of reasons. One, I love coffee and it was really cool to see the plants and learn how they are harvested and everything, and two Andy the owner of the plantation tries to be as self sustaining and he tries to reuse everything that is possible. I was extremely excited about that part.
So coffee plants are naturally shaded by banana plants. Allowing the harvest of bananas also. Andy also grows other vegetables and he raises cattle.

Courtney has decided that she wants to touch every animal that she can. It is rather funny sometimes. She wanted to touch the animal that is used for pulling the tractor.

She was rather frightened by it. But she eventually petted the animal. Andy has a generator that is powered by water. He said that it helps but it does not produce enough electricity for what the plantation needs.

But the water from the generator flows down a slide and when they plug up the hole under the bridge, the water fills up and you can go down the slide. It is pretty interesting. He also has water flowing into a swimming pool and when the pool overflows it gives water to the houses.

When the coffee beans are ready for harvest they are either red or yellow, depending on the type of coffee. When they pick them they take them out of their red or yellow shells. What is in my hand is the beans right after they are picked. After that the beans are set out for a day in the slimy sweet mucus that gives the coffee more flavor. Then the beans are washed and the thin shell is taken off of the bean then they are dried by the sun and bagged and sent off if they have been bought. And once they are at their destination they are roasted, ground and brewed.

Moving

We are moving to Tere's other hotel. Well it is not really a hotel it is a convention center with three rooms. We will be staying there with her for the duration of the two groups stay at the hotel. 54 people will be arriving on friday. That is a lot of people. I am excited to see Becca and the rest of her group. Courtney and I asked Becca to bring us some Heath bars. I hope the is able to bring them. We will see. Courtney and I have all of the paperwork for from Datanli and Los Robles. So we are now processing that information into spreadsheets. I emailed the application to the engineer with Water Missions. We were told told that getting the water project in before we leave could be a long shot. But, the two Peace Corps volunteers who live in Datanli said that they would be able to help with that also.


Paz

Sunday with Fanny

Today we went to Fanny's house after church. I had so much fun. We ate lunch and we had yuca, which is like a potato but blander. We also ate pork rines which is a normal thing for Nicaraguans to eat. Personally, I am not a big fan of them so I ate very few. After lunch we played cards. That was a lot of fun. Courtney and I taught Fanny, her husband and her son how to play Golf, and Egyptian Rat. He son had a lot of fun with that one. After that Courtney and I were able to ride their motorcycle I enjoyed that very much. I played ball with her son a lot, and when it started to rain we all stayed inside and played catch and monkey in the middle. For dinner we ate quesidillas spelling?< type of things. and played more ball. Her son is so cute.
I like being at her house because it gives a different aspect of her life. For one thing we only spoke Spanish. I can see how living with a family helps you learn another language quickly. I have decided that I want a motorcycle one day. I like it very much.

Paz

Cheese Factory?

Today we are off to Kilimanjaro. Yes, everyone we are going Africa. We are hopping into a plane and we are going to climb the mountain. Okay so we are going to Kilimanjaro but it is not the one in Africa. We have been invited by Tere's nephew Andres to visit his Coffee Plantation, which is named Kilimanjaro, because it is a mountain among the hills. We were picked up around 10:00, in a van that said tourismo/tourism. Not the most inconspicuous of cars. We also picked up on of the other men from the Rotary Club. He lived in Canada for over 20 years. He speaks English which came in handy when Andres was talking about Coffee and there were things that I did not understand. I liked him. He was funny, at times he was sort of weird, but he had this cool raspy voice.

We turned into a some sort of factory. I did not read the sign so I did not know where we were. Apparently it was a cheese factory. For some unknown reason we were went on a tour of the factory.
I started searching my mind for memories of a show I have watched about making cheese. Thank you shows like, America Eats, How it's Made, and maybe even Dirty Jobs. Whatever the show I found that memory. It was interesting to say the least. I understood about half of the things the tour guide was saying. There was another couple visiting Andres also. The husband is Andres' brother-in-law, he is from Nicaragua and the wife is from California. She was in Nicaragua with the Peace Corps in the 70's.

Datanli

This morning we are on our way to Datanli. The one day that Miguel is early, he had to wait on us for a few minutes. We begin walking to the officina de el alcade office of the mayor. I am hoping that we will be able to being the paperwork. But, I am not sure what today will be like.
We arrive at the office and see a truck being worked. on. After a few minutes we assume that this is the truck that we are taking. How lucky are we. :) We wait a little longer for the people going to all show up and paperwork to be finished and then we are off. The ride to Datanli is not bad. We arrive in Datanli and find out that no one has prepared for our arrival. No one knows that we are going to have a meeting. I sort have expected that by now. We also got to see the new church building for the Church in Datanli. It is rather nice, large too. It should be finished in 2 months and I hope that we will be able to see it finished before we leave. I also got to meet with the new pastor of the church. He seems very nice.

We went to the community building. While we were waiting for the meeting to start. Courtney and I met two Peace Corps volunteers. Kara and Simon, a married couple from California. I was really excited to meet them. After talking with them for a while, they said that they would help us on Thursday.

The meeting started with Courtney and me introducing ourselves and the water project. The meeting lasted a long time. There was a lot of talk about future things that could not happen if we do not get paperwork done, and the engineer here. After the meeting was over we arrived at the conclusion that Thursday we will return and have a meeting to get the committee started. And Friday there is another meeting with other people that I am not sure why but Courtney and I do not have to go to it.

After we left the meeting we went to see the water system. I have not been able to fully understand the water system. I hope that after seeing it will help me understand it better. And I was right I do.


The water system is very simple. A pump, pumps the water into the tank. Once a week a guy puts two handfuls of Chlorine into the tank. The water flows under the pump house down the mountain and to both communities: Datanli and Los Robles. Here are the photos.

One the way back Courtney and I were offered unripe mangos. They were delicious. The green mangos were very sour and hard. They reminded me of the yellow warheads. Man I loved those. We arrived at the hotel around 4:30. We had not eaten much all day. Fanny was very worried about us, so she made us order food and eat it right away. I was not complaining because I was very hungry. It was like the Early Bird Special when we were eating. After relaxing a few hours, Courtney, Fanny and I took a taxi to the Pali. Not a horrible day.

Paz

Monday

Today a lot of people checked into the hotel. Nothing much happened after that. We were not able to teach English at the hotel because of the work load that the new guests but the staff under.

Today we taught our first English Class at Shalom. We waited until 5:30 for anyone to come. Only one boy showed up. He is a 10 year old who looks like he is 7 or 8 named Orenestes. A very cule little boy. We tried working on the alphabet but it was difficult for him to get it until I put how to pronounce it in Spanish underneath each letter. I try to remember how I first began learning Spanish. Mrs. Hurnandez. Senior Year of High School. All I remember doing is a lot of writing, and finishing my class assignments early and getting in trouble for starting on my homework early.

I do not know how to teach English, as a second language it would be so much easier to do so. Second language means that you are in the country where it language is spoken. Here English is a foreign language, and extremely hard to teach.

Tonight we also met with the Rotary Club of Jinotega. We presented the water project to them. They agreed that they would provide the chlorine tablets for the filter. We stayed a little longer in the meeting, they began talking about different things that hey had to do, meetings they had to go to. We found out that hey are going to Leon the last week of July and it is possible that we will be able to go with Tere. Who knows.

Paz

Not Much

Today I was awaken by loud noises, foot steps, talking and anything else you could imagine going on at a hotel at 6:30 in the morning. I knew if the noises woke me up, Courtney had to wake by now, she is such a light sleeper. By the use of pillows over our ears we were able to get a little bit more sleep. I finally got up, showered, and dressed. I walked in the the lobby/restaurant of the hotel expecting to see Domingo or Lester to be there but neither of them were there. I was kind of sad. I usually see them everyday, instead there was another guy named Rene, who will work when Lester and Domingo have the day off.

So I ordered my normal for breakfast and then I talked with Magda and Nohemi. Magda had talked to Fanny and she told me that the church was not having normal services. The service started at 9 and I was told this at 9:20. Oh well..... Maybe we will go out again today.

For lunch I was fortunately able to eat gallo pinot again and a salad. How grand a meal.

No More Meat...

Today we were suppose to go to Datanli with Miguel. Unfortunately, the pastor was not in Datanli. So we did not go. Courtney and I got ready and waited for Miguel when Fanny walked over and told us that the trip was canceled. Oh well... We both had rough nights sleep so we went back to our beds for a little nap.
We did not have anything else planned today. We did not know how long the trip to Datanli was going to be so we did not plan the rest of the afternoon. After talking to Amada and finding out that she is busy studying for her finals, we were forced to hang out around the hotel.

I want to start reading New Moon, but I did not bring Twilight in English so to build that emotional attachment that I needed. I also began to read Midnight Sun. Oh my goodness Stephenie Meyer is a wonderful author. I continue to have my wonderful problem that I have always had and I was finally sick of it. Courtney and I went to a pharmacy to talk to the pharmacist to see what I need to talk. Don't worry, it is nothing serious, if you are my family and my roommates you know what I am talking about.

So I told her what the problem was and now I will be known as the American with this particular problem. Not, the best reputation that I would like to have, but I can not control it. She told me that I am not able to eat meat (I hope for only the next few days.) and I can only drink water.

Which means......I can only really eat the typical breakfast that they have on the menu.

1st Century Church, Friday

Courtney and I were invited to go with a group from Shalom to la Cruz. So I thought that we were going up to the Cross. The pastor came and met us at the hotel and so we went. So we got on a bus and we had to wait. First experience with the bus system. Not so bad, people will reach in to the buses to sell things and they would see Courtney and I and think, ohh Gringas will buy something.
So we waited and a couple other people from the church go on the same bus. Normal, yes but, the women was wearing a skirt. Maybe we are not going to the cross. ummmm....... We took the bus to a community, about 15 minutes outside of Jinotega. Getting off the bus was fun. People jammed into it that was fun. So you pay when you get off the bus which is different.
We started to walk down the street and the women stopped at every house. They were inviting people to a church service. Every Friday a group from Shalom travels to this community to host a church service. I was able to take some photos of some children. I hope that if I go again I will be able to talk more photos of the service and the women at the houses.

The church service was held outside of someone's house. It was really neat, A van came and brought chairs and a guitar. The pastor played the guitar and a women from the community lead the songs and a women who lives in Jinotega preached. From a miscommunication turned to a wonderful experience.


Paz

Talking in Circles

Courtney and I had a meeting at 8:30 this morning to talk more about the water project. So we left a little late because of a little stomach issue, so we arrived around 8:35. Which to people in the states that is a little, late but for Nicaraguans that is still on time, or even early. So we waited.....8:45....still waiting.....9:00......still waiting.......Courtney, "At 9:30 I'm leaving".......still waiting....9:20ish One of the women from our meeting yesterday walked in the door. So the meeting did not start until 9:30. We waited an hour. Not best thing when you did not have anything to do with you. The meeting consisted of us, and two other people, and then later a guy who spoke some English. Yesterday, Miguel asked us if we could handle the meeting on our own, so it was just us. Which is fine.

So we were told that two communities use the same water system. Which, is news to everyone from Shelby. So we do not know if they are telling us the truth, or the people in Datanli never told the people from Shelby about Los Robles. We will not know for sure until we go an visit Datanli.

We found out that we are not able to visit Datanli until we have permission from the Mayor. So they will call us on Thursday if we can go ahead with this project or not. We have to email the woman contact information about, Water Missions, Shelby Rotary Club, GCCBA. And that is if I can get the email address to work that she gave me. Once we get the permission it will be great. We will not be able to go up on Thursday but Friday will be the best. Verémos

So the meeting lasted about 2 hours to long. Rodney told us that they would like to talk in circles but it was crazy. We had to repeat ourselves many times. But there was a lot accomplished, at least compared to yesterday's meeting.

Paz

Can You Say Intimidating Much

It is hard to believe that today will make it 2 weeks in Nicaragua. If it were not for my watch and that once a week we go to Shalom, I would forget what day it is. I do not mind that feeling that much at all. I woke up this morning and was going to take a shower.

Yesterday, after our meeting we switched rooms. Because this new room has windows which means we do not need to use the air conditioning. So we moved into room 25. Anyways, Courtney told me that the water was cold, but I did not realize how cold. I turned on the shower and hopped into the coldest water I have ever felt in a shower. After the shock went through my body, I decided that showering was not worth this cold water. You know, I normally shower every two days in the states, why change it now.

So I went out to eat breakfast and to read my Bible. I am continuing with my study of 30 days with Jesus, by reading Matthew 5. As I begin to read the guests who arrived yesterday start appearing in the lobby. A group no more than 10 people arrived from the US Embassy yesterday. As Domingo brought my breakfast I look up at the front doors of the hotel and see two Army soldiers standing with rather large rifles. I was not afraid of them but was intimidated by them. The fact that I am in another country and here are two rather large guys with rather large rifles, is sort of intimidating.

They are here for the protection of the group from the Embassy. I think, not completely sure. But, if they are here for their protection, then why are we walking around Jinotega by ourselves? What an enigma.