Well due to my computer getting a virus, I have not been able to post anything since March 16...which is most unfortunate...b/c that's like a month and a half ago. MUCH has happened since then and I will try to summarize my adventures or fun and misery within the next week for all who read this here blog. Right now I am editing the documentary I shot in Leon which is 2 hours north from Managua by bus. So far I a rough edit of about 15 minutes of it and have about 5-10 minutes to go! I return to the States in 9 days! Down to single digits! My time here has GREATLY improved which is another story but I am still excited to return back home! God is so good!
Only by His strength,
Stephen
Monday, May 4, 2009
Monday, March 16, 2009
Birthday and week prior
March 7-14, 2009
This past week has been CRAZY! But before the craziness inundated me and I had to surf the wave of homework and projects, we took a Saturday trip to the Volcano Mombacho as well as the city of Granada with the provost of Trinity Christian College and her husband and another important figure from Dordt College. We took a ride in the back of a big tourist truck up the volcano and at the top is a little ranger station that we stopped at and bought some snacks and coffee because it was COLD up there! I was in jeans and a short-sleeved shirt but it was legitimately cold to me! Maybe that’s because I’ve gotten used to it being so hot but still. It was REALLY foggy up there and we couldn’t see ANYTHING at the lookout points and were quite disappointed. We chose a couple hikes that we wanted to go on and then headed out. We trekked through the foliage, flora and fauna of the Nicaraguan forest and jungle until we came to a beautiful lookout over the entire city of Granada that lies beside a large lake with TONS of islands…like literally. We had moved down in altitude, the fog had lifted and it was also warmer…a wonderful series of events. We saw one of the many vents of the volcano that guarantee the pressure won’t build up and create another explosion, the first of which created all the islands in the lake. We then headed back to the station to catch out ride to our awaiting canopy tour of zip lining through the forest/jungle. The zip lining was a lot of fun and even the provost, her husband and the other man from Dordt did the zip lining. For the first time I did the “superman” which is where you are attached to the zip line by your back and go with one of the guides soaring through the air like superman. Then I did it upside down! We failed to see some foliage that I could hit because of my lanky body and I barely escaped a face full of brush. Then we descended into Granada for lunch and watched a good game of soccer on TV while eating. I got the Chales burger that had an egg on it with some fries and a fake orange juice. It was great except for the orange juice. We then headed towards the islets to take a tour amongst them. What an amazing experience! We saw so many islands and many had a house on them! I thought of you Dan, wanting to get your own private island…ahem. There were many for sale too! For like $50,000 or so. We visited a small but old Spanish fort on one of the islands and then went to Monkey Island! It’s a very small island with 3-4 monkeys on it that a professor put there and all the boat tours go to it so the monkeys get PLENTY of food and attention. I took lots of pictures of this and one of the monkeys came right on our boat and we had a hard time getting it to leave…and the girls with us couldn’t have been happier when we did. We headed back through Granada and on to Managua after a great day! On the car ride back we saw a Quinceañera of a girl who had reached her 15th birthday. At first we passed the church at which it would take place and a little further down the road we saw the procession of girls and family members as they walked from her house to the church. Here the Quinceañera is almost bigger than the wedding of the girl depending on how she lives her life after her 15th birthday (if she keeps herself pure or is loose). On the bus back to my house in Acahualinca, I saw a fight between two men on the side of the road as we stopped at a red light. One was stuffing his back pack up his shirt as if to protect it and was quite upset with the other man who seemed like he was trying to calmly get past the other man. The Backpack Man would have none of that and I wondered if the other man had tried to take something out of the back pack or the bag itself. I don’t know how it ended as we drove away but the whole bus was busy watching as long as they could.
Ok, so I told you about the rabbit incident, but here’s an even better one. We came home from church on Sunday and Henry hadn’t even been at church and he’s the pastor so I asked Jacqueline where Henry, Pilar and Sarai were and they had gone to León for a pastor’s convention or something to do with the Nehemiah Center. When they came back they brought a little surprise back…an iguana! I think they must have found it or something or maybe they bought but Doña Pilar tied its front legs so it couldn’t run off and then the next day Don Henry grabbed the iguana by its tail…which came off but of course was still wiggling around……I don’t know what happened to that Iguana…I haven’t seen it for a while. I can’t remember if I said this before but I seem to have quite the animal population in my room. The little geckos called “perros son popo” chirp at night, the ants crawl on the walls and ceiling in their little trails, the mouse that scurries across my floor and I can’t catch it yet and then the other day a toadly looking frog hopped across my floor…which I caught and offered to Jacqueline. She didn’t like it at all. That same Sunday while Henry, Pilar and Sarai were gone, one of the women from the congregation who was actually from Panama preached a great sermon from what I could understand. She held back no punches as she talked about how we as the body of Christ have a HUGE responsibility because each of our personal actions affects the body! She had read the passage in the Old Testament about Achan and his sin of taking what was forbidden and it affected ALL of Israel and caused many deaths in the camp. She addressed the modesty problem of Latin American women that is quite evident even within the church because it is such a part of their culture. But she gave no excuses as she addressed both men and women and how they should dress and react to those dressed like that. I was saying “Amen sister! Preach it!” Then we had a time of prayer at the end that the Holy Spirit would fill us and probably a lot of other stuff I didn’t catch. She went around and was praying over a few people and I just felt like she really needed to pray over me and asked God that she would. At first she went by me and prayed for someone else but then looked at me and came and prayed over me as well. I don’t know all that she said because she was a REALLY fast talker but she said “Holy Spirit” a lot and afterwards I felt a peace in my heart as I reflected on a difficult past month and looked ahead to the next few weeks.
One night early in the week, Shalom brought me a brown/grey bag. She wanted to know what it was and what you do with it. I found that quite interesting as it was something quite normal and familiar to North American culture. It was a bag of instant oatmeal! I explained that you put it in hot water or milk and they understood that but still didn’t know what it was. I couldn’t find the Spanish word for oatmeal so I couldn’t explain what it was! Oh well, I wonder what they will do with it.
This week’s workload has been heavy and hard with a teach back lesson for video class where I had to watch Memento and then break down the structure of the film and teach it to the class for 10-15 minutes. Then I had a huge load of Spanish homework this week and I still have 2 video projects to shoot and edit before this upcoming Thursday and then I had a presentation of Liberation Theology in Nicaraguan History that had to be 30 minutes to an hour. More specifically it was about the Sandinista revolution and how Liberation Theology played a role in it and how it applies to today and what churches and Christians are doing with it today. I stayed up until 4 AM the night before it was due to finish it because I had no time to work on it earlier in the week which was EXTREMELY late because I usually go to bed at 10…and the earlier the better. I was afraid I wouldn’t have enough material for the time allotted but ended up going for an hour and five minutes! The teachers seemed impressed and told me I did a great job so that was a relief! I seriously started the PowerPoint and writing it all out the previous night.
Then yesterday on Friday the 13th during a break between history presentations I got a big birthday surprise which is usually very hard to do. But I didn’t think many people knew it was my birthday and even if they did it’d not like I’m great friends with anyone here. So for some reason we took our break in the Ranchón where we eat lunch during the week and I was greeted with a Spanish happy birthday song that I hadn’t heard before with a Spanish guitar and a tambourine! They brought out a cake that read “Feliz Cumpleaños Stephen!” and Dan pointed out to me that there was a HUGE tweety bird piñata awaiting me. So they blindfolded me, spun me around and made a fool of me as a 6’7” man swung blindly at a big yellow bird. Don Juan who is a hilarious short older man held the rope and I think was having more fun than anyone making me miss the piñata. I gave it several good cracks and whenever candy fell out, grown men and women would rush in to get the candy. It was seriously a mass return to childhood. It was so much fun and a complete surprise…even with Jeff standing there with his camera telling us to go out to the Ranchón. In fact I wasn’t sure if it was for me when I first saw them but then thought “Who else would a birthday celebration be for?” I got to talk with my Mom, Dad and Katie after class which was great because they have a webcam now! I love seeing their faces and did get to see Jonathan the day previous. On the way home, I rode with Doña Mercedes is a lovely 54 year old woman who is one of the cooks at the Nehemiah Center for the teams that come through. She also was the one who ran all over town looking for the biggest piñata she could find for me! So anyway, on the ride home I sat with her and talked a little bit. I asked what she was doing that night and she said she was going to church with some friends of hers. I was about to turn and ask her where she lives when she pulls a parrot fledgling out of her purse! I started laughing and pet the little guy and THEN asked her where she lived. She explained it but I couldn’t keep up so I just smiled and nodded. Then she told me she wanted to have me over to her house at some time to which I agreed would be great! Then I just chilled at home for the night…tranquilo! I slept in this morning until 8:09 which was much needed. And….I’ve done nothing else but write this post, tidy up my room and miss my family and friends back home. Maybe something will happen tonight. Jacqueline and Shalom have both wished me a Happy Birthday and tried to get Belen to do so as well but she is still scared of me or shy or something.
This past week has been CRAZY! But before the craziness inundated me and I had to surf the wave of homework and projects, we took a Saturday trip to the Volcano Mombacho as well as the city of Granada with the provost of Trinity Christian College and her husband and another important figure from Dordt College. We took a ride in the back of a big tourist truck up the volcano and at the top is a little ranger station that we stopped at and bought some snacks and coffee because it was COLD up there! I was in jeans and a short-sleeved shirt but it was legitimately cold to me! Maybe that’s because I’ve gotten used to it being so hot but still. It was REALLY foggy up there and we couldn’t see ANYTHING at the lookout points and were quite disappointed. We chose a couple hikes that we wanted to go on and then headed out. We trekked through the foliage, flora and fauna of the Nicaraguan forest and jungle until we came to a beautiful lookout over the entire city of Granada that lies beside a large lake with TONS of islands…like literally. We had moved down in altitude, the fog had lifted and it was also warmer…a wonderful series of events. We saw one of the many vents of the volcano that guarantee the pressure won’t build up and create another explosion, the first of which created all the islands in the lake. We then headed back to the station to catch out ride to our awaiting canopy tour of zip lining through the forest/jungle. The zip lining was a lot of fun and even the provost, her husband and the other man from Dordt did the zip lining. For the first time I did the “superman” which is where you are attached to the zip line by your back and go with one of the guides soaring through the air like superman. Then I did it upside down! We failed to see some foliage that I could hit because of my lanky body and I barely escaped a face full of brush. Then we descended into Granada for lunch and watched a good game of soccer on TV while eating. I got the Chales burger that had an egg on it with some fries and a fake orange juice. It was great except for the orange juice. We then headed towards the islets to take a tour amongst them. What an amazing experience! We saw so many islands and many had a house on them! I thought of you Dan, wanting to get your own private island…ahem. There were many for sale too! For like $50,000 or so. We visited a small but old Spanish fort on one of the islands and then went to Monkey Island! It’s a very small island with 3-4 monkeys on it that a professor put there and all the boat tours go to it so the monkeys get PLENTY of food and attention. I took lots of pictures of this and one of the monkeys came right on our boat and we had a hard time getting it to leave…and the girls with us couldn’t have been happier when we did. We headed back through Granada and on to Managua after a great day! On the car ride back we saw a Quinceañera of a girl who had reached her 15th birthday. At first we passed the church at which it would take place and a little further down the road we saw the procession of girls and family members as they walked from her house to the church. Here the Quinceañera is almost bigger than the wedding of the girl depending on how she lives her life after her 15th birthday (if she keeps herself pure or is loose). On the bus back to my house in Acahualinca, I saw a fight between two men on the side of the road as we stopped at a red light. One was stuffing his back pack up his shirt as if to protect it and was quite upset with the other man who seemed like he was trying to calmly get past the other man. The Backpack Man would have none of that and I wondered if the other man had tried to take something out of the back pack or the bag itself. I don’t know how it ended as we drove away but the whole bus was busy watching as long as they could.
Ok, so I told you about the rabbit incident, but here’s an even better one. We came home from church on Sunday and Henry hadn’t even been at church and he’s the pastor so I asked Jacqueline where Henry, Pilar and Sarai were and they had gone to León for a pastor’s convention or something to do with the Nehemiah Center. When they came back they brought a little surprise back…an iguana! I think they must have found it or something or maybe they bought but Doña Pilar tied its front legs so it couldn’t run off and then the next day Don Henry grabbed the iguana by its tail…which came off but of course was still wiggling around……I don’t know what happened to that Iguana…I haven’t seen it for a while. I can’t remember if I said this before but I seem to have quite the animal population in my room. The little geckos called “perros son popo” chirp at night, the ants crawl on the walls and ceiling in their little trails, the mouse that scurries across my floor and I can’t catch it yet and then the other day a toadly looking frog hopped across my floor…which I caught and offered to Jacqueline. She didn’t like it at all. That same Sunday while Henry, Pilar and Sarai were gone, one of the women from the congregation who was actually from Panama preached a great sermon from what I could understand. She held back no punches as she talked about how we as the body of Christ have a HUGE responsibility because each of our personal actions affects the body! She had read the passage in the Old Testament about Achan and his sin of taking what was forbidden and it affected ALL of Israel and caused many deaths in the camp. She addressed the modesty problem of Latin American women that is quite evident even within the church because it is such a part of their culture. But she gave no excuses as she addressed both men and women and how they should dress and react to those dressed like that. I was saying “Amen sister! Preach it!” Then we had a time of prayer at the end that the Holy Spirit would fill us and probably a lot of other stuff I didn’t catch. She went around and was praying over a few people and I just felt like she really needed to pray over me and asked God that she would. At first she went by me and prayed for someone else but then looked at me and came and prayed over me as well. I don’t know all that she said because she was a REALLY fast talker but she said “Holy Spirit” a lot and afterwards I felt a peace in my heart as I reflected on a difficult past month and looked ahead to the next few weeks.
One night early in the week, Shalom brought me a brown/grey bag. She wanted to know what it was and what you do with it. I found that quite interesting as it was something quite normal and familiar to North American culture. It was a bag of instant oatmeal! I explained that you put it in hot water or milk and they understood that but still didn’t know what it was. I couldn’t find the Spanish word for oatmeal so I couldn’t explain what it was! Oh well, I wonder what they will do with it.
This week’s workload has been heavy and hard with a teach back lesson for video class where I had to watch Memento and then break down the structure of the film and teach it to the class for 10-15 minutes. Then I had a huge load of Spanish homework this week and I still have 2 video projects to shoot and edit before this upcoming Thursday and then I had a presentation of Liberation Theology in Nicaraguan History that had to be 30 minutes to an hour. More specifically it was about the Sandinista revolution and how Liberation Theology played a role in it and how it applies to today and what churches and Christians are doing with it today. I stayed up until 4 AM the night before it was due to finish it because I had no time to work on it earlier in the week which was EXTREMELY late because I usually go to bed at 10…and the earlier the better. I was afraid I wouldn’t have enough material for the time allotted but ended up going for an hour and five minutes! The teachers seemed impressed and told me I did a great job so that was a relief! I seriously started the PowerPoint and writing it all out the previous night.
Then yesterday on Friday the 13th during a break between history presentations I got a big birthday surprise which is usually very hard to do. But I didn’t think many people knew it was my birthday and even if they did it’d not like I’m great friends with anyone here. So for some reason we took our break in the Ranchón where we eat lunch during the week and I was greeted with a Spanish happy birthday song that I hadn’t heard before with a Spanish guitar and a tambourine! They brought out a cake that read “Feliz Cumpleaños Stephen!” and Dan pointed out to me that there was a HUGE tweety bird piñata awaiting me. So they blindfolded me, spun me around and made a fool of me as a 6’7” man swung blindly at a big yellow bird. Don Juan who is a hilarious short older man held the rope and I think was having more fun than anyone making me miss the piñata. I gave it several good cracks and whenever candy fell out, grown men and women would rush in to get the candy. It was seriously a mass return to childhood. It was so much fun and a complete surprise…even with Jeff standing there with his camera telling us to go out to the Ranchón. In fact I wasn’t sure if it was for me when I first saw them but then thought “Who else would a birthday celebration be for?” I got to talk with my Mom, Dad and Katie after class which was great because they have a webcam now! I love seeing their faces and did get to see Jonathan the day previous. On the way home, I rode with Doña Mercedes is a lovely 54 year old woman who is one of the cooks at the Nehemiah Center for the teams that come through. She also was the one who ran all over town looking for the biggest piñata she could find for me! So anyway, on the ride home I sat with her and talked a little bit. I asked what she was doing that night and she said she was going to church with some friends of hers. I was about to turn and ask her where she lives when she pulls a parrot fledgling out of her purse! I started laughing and pet the little guy and THEN asked her where she lived. She explained it but I couldn’t keep up so I just smiled and nodded. Then she told me she wanted to have me over to her house at some time to which I agreed would be great! Then I just chilled at home for the night…tranquilo! I slept in this morning until 8:09 which was much needed. And….I’ve done nothing else but write this post, tidy up my room and miss my family and friends back home. Maybe something will happen tonight. Jacqueline and Shalom have both wished me a Happy Birthday and tried to get Belen to do so as well but she is still scared of me or shy or something.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Interesting Day
March 4, 2009
Today was quite interesting. After Spanish class in which I had an oral exam AND written exam that I think I did decently on, I went directly home with Don Henry…or so I thought I would. We dropped one of the guys from the Nehemiah Center off at the bus stop and then drove for a long time before coming to a store finally that Don Henry went into. I was in the car forEVER…but not really…and then he came out with a satchel for his computer. He had been looking for one the previous day as well but after a couple stores…they were just too expensive. When he came out he asked me if I knew much about digital cameras because he wanted to get one. I said I knew a little bit about it but when he mentioned the name of the camera he had been looking at I was not familiar with the name…I think it was Codex or something like that but I told him that my professor Jeff at the Nehemiah Center would know a lot about cameras. Then we went to Metro Center which has a mall there and I thought he was looking for a camera again so I told Henry that I did know SOME about cameras and what is good to have in them and junk like that. We walked for a while and went to what seemed like a dead end…but turned out to be a pet store. I’m thinking, “Why are we in a pet store?” There were a lot of birds, some cute dogs, rabbits, and maybe a few other animals. Don Henry picked out a rabbit to my surprise and handed it to me while the lady got a box for us. I asked Henry who the rabbit was for and it was for Belen, his granddaughter who lives within the surrounding houses who is just under 3 years old. Then on our way home we went past some government building and a very important looking convoy of cars exited right in front of us escorted by the police and everything. Don Henry said that it was the president of something or somewhere but I don’t know who it was. I asked if it was the president of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega, but it was not. I’m not sure if Belen liked the rabbit when we got home but she is still afraid/shy around me which is disappointing. She was warming up to me a little bit before I left for Costa Rica and Blas said that she even wondered where I was while I was gone, but seems that my progress has regressed with this little girl who I guess just can’t get over the strangeness of a giant gringo in her home. I had a great time of talking with Blas and Jacqueline and Raquel and Sarai even joined as I taught Jacqueline a little English. She wanted to learn how to say you didn’t want something when someone is trying to sell you their merchandise so I translated “No quiero comprar eso” into “I don’t want to buy that!” It was quite humorous as they all tried to pronounce the English…Sarai is probably the best at getting the correct vowel sound and accent. So there is my uncommon and interesting day for you…or rather for me…to tell YOU about.
Today was quite interesting. After Spanish class in which I had an oral exam AND written exam that I think I did decently on, I went directly home with Don Henry…or so I thought I would. We dropped one of the guys from the Nehemiah Center off at the bus stop and then drove for a long time before coming to a store finally that Don Henry went into. I was in the car forEVER…but not really…and then he came out with a satchel for his computer. He had been looking for one the previous day as well but after a couple stores…they were just too expensive. When he came out he asked me if I knew much about digital cameras because he wanted to get one. I said I knew a little bit about it but when he mentioned the name of the camera he had been looking at I was not familiar with the name…I think it was Codex or something like that but I told him that my professor Jeff at the Nehemiah Center would know a lot about cameras. Then we went to Metro Center which has a mall there and I thought he was looking for a camera again so I told Henry that I did know SOME about cameras and what is good to have in them and junk like that. We walked for a while and went to what seemed like a dead end…but turned out to be a pet store. I’m thinking, “Why are we in a pet store?” There were a lot of birds, some cute dogs, rabbits, and maybe a few other animals. Don Henry picked out a rabbit to my surprise and handed it to me while the lady got a box for us. I asked Henry who the rabbit was for and it was for Belen, his granddaughter who lives within the surrounding houses who is just under 3 years old. Then on our way home we went past some government building and a very important looking convoy of cars exited right in front of us escorted by the police and everything. Don Henry said that it was the president of something or somewhere but I don’t know who it was. I asked if it was the president of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega, but it was not. I’m not sure if Belen liked the rabbit when we got home but she is still afraid/shy around me which is disappointing. She was warming up to me a little bit before I left for Costa Rica and Blas said that she even wondered where I was while I was gone, but seems that my progress has regressed with this little girl who I guess just can’t get over the strangeness of a giant gringo in her home. I had a great time of talking with Blas and Jacqueline and Raquel and Sarai even joined as I taught Jacqueline a little English. She wanted to learn how to say you didn’t want something when someone is trying to sell you their merchandise so I translated “No quiero comprar eso” into “I don’t want to buy that!” It was quite humorous as they all tried to pronounce the English…Sarai is probably the best at getting the correct vowel sound and accent. So there is my uncommon and interesting day for you…or rather for me…to tell YOU about.
Monday, March 2, 2009
COSTA RICA
March 1, 2009
For the past 4 days, February 26-March 1, I have been to San Jose, Costa Rica and back again! We left early Thursday morning at 6 to get to the bus station where we would take TransNica to San Jose. It was only 2 hours to the border but from then on out it took quite a long time. It took 1 hour at the border to get our passports checked OUT of Nicaragua and INTO Costa Rica. Then we sat for 8 more hours all the way to the capital of San Jose; but we did get to watch 2 films on the way. The Tale of Desperoux which was in Spanish so I’ll have to watch it again and…I can’t remember the name of the 2nd one but it starred Liam Neesan and his daughter is kidnapped and he tracks her down and gets her back. Pretty intense movie. I didn’t realize how excited I would be to go back to Costa Rica until I got there. As we neared San Jose I started recognizing several land marks and roads that I had driven 15 passenger vans on just this past summer! It really lifted my spirits and gave me a new energy in the wake on the month I’ve spent in Nicaragua so far that has been quite difficult and trying for me. I can’t remember if I have talked about it much and I’m not going to go look to see what I’ve said in previous posts but basically it’s been hard because of the lack of common standards and morals of those around me here in Nicaragua…or at least those I am most around including one of the students and the professor. It just seems like not many people really stand strong in Biblical principles…and maybe it’s just because they don’t talk about their faith a lot, which is still a big change for me. So it has been a bit of a discouragement and certainly a big change from my awesome friends at Cornerstone University and my family at home…all of whom I miss very much. This weekend however, was very good for me because I DID get to see the faith of those I went with and was encouraged by what I saw. “So anyways…” on the way to our destination, we went by the Alajuela Airport that I flew in to Costa Rica and I saw the road that led to Pura Vida Missions that I had driven a few times and knew I could find my way again to my “home” from memory. As we went further into San Jose I recognized the road we traversed to go to San Francisco de Dos Rios for our second outreach last summer…oh my goodness what good memories of those trips!! We arrived around 4 or so and got a little tour of the area around the university we stayed at called UNELA. We then arrived at UNELA at Dan and I were in a pretty nice sized room with 3 beds, a table and a sink and stove…that looked like it hadn’t been working for a very long time. We ate supper and for some reason, we thought just about everything was funny. Dan of course was the jokester and we all were adding to the fray. I haven’t laughed that hard for a long time. We played rummy in our room and had a great time just chillin. The next day we went to part of the legislative branch of the government: the defense of human rights. We were there to find out about the emigration policies and practices of Nicaraguans. Nicaraguans are protected by the Costa Rican government for their human rights but are still often treated badly and Costa Ricans stereotypically have a very bad view and attitude towards Nicaraguans saying that they come into Costa Rica (CR) bringing only violence and problems and that they take up all the jobs of the Costa Ricans (Ticos). However, we watched a documentary that told of the role that Nicaraguans play in Costa Rica. Without the Nicaraguans, many plantations growing Coffee, pineapples, and many other fruits and foods would simply rot in the sun because the Costa Ricans don’t want to do those jobs anymore. So much for “taking jobs from Costa Ricans”. Next we went to a Museum of Costa Rican history that had a great view over the city. The structure itself used to be a prison but has been turned into a children’s museum. After the Museum we went to lunch at a nice restaurant and then went to the open air market where I made my first souvenir purchase in the month we have been here. I got a pullover made from alpaca fur at the same place I got my first one…but this one is blue and white and quite different from the other one. After the market we went to the Gold Museum in San Jose which was also a great time and a good look into the history of Costa Rican money and gold.
On Saturday we started out the morning on a journey to Volcan Irazú, a volcano that has been dormant since 1994. To our surprise, we were accompanied by a man whose cousin worked at UNELA. At first it was rather awkward as he didn’t speak and didn’t seem like he wanted to be there with 5 gringos. Pamela, our leader for the trip started talking to him in Spanish about his sweatshirt which said “Niagara Falls”. Alicia, our other leader is from Canada right by Niagara Falls and when they were talking to Roberto we noticed that he pronounced the English words like “Niagara Falls” and “Wal-Mart” with a very American accent. So we asked him if he spoke English and of course he did. It was funny to realize that Pamela had been translating what he had been saying and we had said to each other, “Oh look, he’s got a Niagara Falls sweatshirt on” when he spoke English! He said he wanted to see what we would say and I think I would have done the same thing. So after a while Robert turned out to be quite sociable and learned that he was Peruvian and had been adopted by missionaries and that English was his first language and Spanish he second. We all shared some stories of our lives and realized how small the world is with connections here and there in our stories. Volcan Irazú was great! It was VERY clear which is not normal and actually turned out to be quite warm which is ALSO quite unnatural for the place. This was my 2nd time at Irazú but was even better sightseeing this time. After Irazú we ate lunch at a restaurant on the way down the mountain which was a BEAUTIFUL ride. I had guanábana con leche for lunch! It was SOOOO good! Guanábana is a fruit that grows almost exclusively in CR and you can make a white liquid with it. ¡Muy delicioso! With milk it is a sweet, creamy party in the mouth. Off we went to the largest Catholic Church in Costa Rica which I had also been to before and it was just as beautiful and enjoyable. I even drank from the water they believe can bring about miracles just in case I would need one…and I bought a rosary. Don’t worry I am not converting to Catholicism! Then we went to the ruins of an old Catholic Church that now has a garden in the middle of it. It is rumored that a priest was assassinated there and because of that, they were never been able to put a roof on the old church because of his ghost. We briefly stopped back at UNELA and then proceeded on to La Carpio, a community made up of mostly Nicaraguans…a little Nicaragua if you will. It was great to go there and talk to the people there and a lady who is from North America but has lived in La Carpio for many years working with Christ for the City. They are also in La Cuenca near Heredia that Pura Vida works with. We heard from Alexis and his wife about their trek to Costa Rica and about how God has blessed them so much! It was AWESOME to hear how strong his faith is and just how thankful he is to God for the unlimited air that God provides for us and that we have nothing to complain about. It really inspired and humbled me to hear what he said and made me wish I could really get to know him better. The stereotype of La Carpio is that it is full of illegals and that it is very dangerous in there and they will probably kill you! Hahahaha That is SOOO not the case. Yes there is crime and recently a couple people were killed, but that kind of crime happens outside La Carpio in Costa Rica as well! On May 31 a couple years ago, the police raided La Carpio which only has one way in and one way out. The police were ruthless and arrested over 600 people using tear gas and a lot of brutal force. It didn’t help that some of the gangs in La Carpio started throwing rocks and anything else at the police force. Out of approximately 620 people detained…only 23 were found to be illegal and were than deported! And so the question arises, “WAS THAT NECESSARY?!” It seriously makes you upset to see women and children choking on the tear gas and men being chased down, handcuffed and beaten almost entirely because they are Nicaraguan and MIGHT be illegally there. And a ratio of 1:30 being illegal is not a good reason to carry out such a task and in many senses dehumanizes the Nicaraguans when in reality…Costa Ricans and Nicaraguans are brothers! They have the same blood, the same heritage, the same geography, the same religion and yet there is this great injustice. I would like to do another documentary about that someday if I could to show Nicaraguans in Costa Rica and then come back here to Nicaragua and film on this part of the story as well. But we will see where God leads. After we a had a great time in La Carpio we went back to UNELA to chill for an hour before heading to Taco Bell for a bit of American food…it really wasn’t worth it. For some reason I just didn’t like what I got as much as I do in the States. I think it’s because I could almost feel the grease and artificial junk going into my body and have been used to beans and rice for a while now. I tried and tried to get into contact with DeLynn Hoover at Pura Vida but I think everything was working against me and sadly didn’t get to spend time with my friends at Pura Vida but I do plan to go there for Spring Break from March 20-30 and see my host brother Rizzo and his family! We went to bed a little early and then woke up at 3:45 AM to get to the bus station on time!! We slept a lot of the way to Nicaragua on the bus to make up for it but didn’t feel like we caught up with our sleep. When I got home it was great to see the expressions of those at home who were happy I was back! Please pray that I will be able to continue to learn Spanish but at an unnaturally rapid pace!! I desperately desire to be able to speak with my Nica family and those around me. ¡Gloria a Dios!
Only by His strength,
Stephen
For the past 4 days, February 26-March 1, I have been to San Jose, Costa Rica and back again! We left early Thursday morning at 6 to get to the bus station where we would take TransNica to San Jose. It was only 2 hours to the border but from then on out it took quite a long time. It took 1 hour at the border to get our passports checked OUT of Nicaragua and INTO Costa Rica. Then we sat for 8 more hours all the way to the capital of San Jose; but we did get to watch 2 films on the way. The Tale of Desperoux which was in Spanish so I’ll have to watch it again and…I can’t remember the name of the 2nd one but it starred Liam Neesan and his daughter is kidnapped and he tracks her down and gets her back. Pretty intense movie. I didn’t realize how excited I would be to go back to Costa Rica until I got there. As we neared San Jose I started recognizing several land marks and roads that I had driven 15 passenger vans on just this past summer! It really lifted my spirits and gave me a new energy in the wake on the month I’ve spent in Nicaragua so far that has been quite difficult and trying for me. I can’t remember if I have talked about it much and I’m not going to go look to see what I’ve said in previous posts but basically it’s been hard because of the lack of common standards and morals of those around me here in Nicaragua…or at least those I am most around including one of the students and the professor. It just seems like not many people really stand strong in Biblical principles…and maybe it’s just because they don’t talk about their faith a lot, which is still a big change for me. So it has been a bit of a discouragement and certainly a big change from my awesome friends at Cornerstone University and my family at home…all of whom I miss very much. This weekend however, was very good for me because I DID get to see the faith of those I went with and was encouraged by what I saw. “So anyways…” on the way to our destination, we went by the Alajuela Airport that I flew in to Costa Rica and I saw the road that led to Pura Vida Missions that I had driven a few times and knew I could find my way again to my “home” from memory. As we went further into San Jose I recognized the road we traversed to go to San Francisco de Dos Rios for our second outreach last summer…oh my goodness what good memories of those trips!! We arrived around 4 or so and got a little tour of the area around the university we stayed at called UNELA. We then arrived at UNELA at Dan and I were in a pretty nice sized room with 3 beds, a table and a sink and stove…that looked like it hadn’t been working for a very long time. We ate supper and for some reason, we thought just about everything was funny. Dan of course was the jokester and we all were adding to the fray. I haven’t laughed that hard for a long time. We played rummy in our room and had a great time just chillin. The next day we went to part of the legislative branch of the government: the defense of human rights. We were there to find out about the emigration policies and practices of Nicaraguans. Nicaraguans are protected by the Costa Rican government for their human rights but are still often treated badly and Costa Ricans stereotypically have a very bad view and attitude towards Nicaraguans saying that they come into Costa Rica (CR) bringing only violence and problems and that they take up all the jobs of the Costa Ricans (Ticos). However, we watched a documentary that told of the role that Nicaraguans play in Costa Rica. Without the Nicaraguans, many plantations growing Coffee, pineapples, and many other fruits and foods would simply rot in the sun because the Costa Ricans don’t want to do those jobs anymore. So much for “taking jobs from Costa Ricans”. Next we went to a Museum of Costa Rican history that had a great view over the city. The structure itself used to be a prison but has been turned into a children’s museum. After the Museum we went to lunch at a nice restaurant and then went to the open air market where I made my first souvenir purchase in the month we have been here. I got a pullover made from alpaca fur at the same place I got my first one…but this one is blue and white and quite different from the other one. After the market we went to the Gold Museum in San Jose which was also a great time and a good look into the history of Costa Rican money and gold.
On Saturday we started out the morning on a journey to Volcan Irazú, a volcano that has been dormant since 1994. To our surprise, we were accompanied by a man whose cousin worked at UNELA. At first it was rather awkward as he didn’t speak and didn’t seem like he wanted to be there with 5 gringos. Pamela, our leader for the trip started talking to him in Spanish about his sweatshirt which said “Niagara Falls”. Alicia, our other leader is from Canada right by Niagara Falls and when they were talking to Roberto we noticed that he pronounced the English words like “Niagara Falls” and “Wal-Mart” with a very American accent. So we asked him if he spoke English and of course he did. It was funny to realize that Pamela had been translating what he had been saying and we had said to each other, “Oh look, he’s got a Niagara Falls sweatshirt on” when he spoke English! He said he wanted to see what we would say and I think I would have done the same thing. So after a while Robert turned out to be quite sociable and learned that he was Peruvian and had been adopted by missionaries and that English was his first language and Spanish he second. We all shared some stories of our lives and realized how small the world is with connections here and there in our stories. Volcan Irazú was great! It was VERY clear which is not normal and actually turned out to be quite warm which is ALSO quite unnatural for the place. This was my 2nd time at Irazú but was even better sightseeing this time. After Irazú we ate lunch at a restaurant on the way down the mountain which was a BEAUTIFUL ride. I had guanábana con leche for lunch! It was SOOOO good! Guanábana is a fruit that grows almost exclusively in CR and you can make a white liquid with it. ¡Muy delicioso! With milk it is a sweet, creamy party in the mouth. Off we went to the largest Catholic Church in Costa Rica which I had also been to before and it was just as beautiful and enjoyable. I even drank from the water they believe can bring about miracles just in case I would need one…and I bought a rosary. Don’t worry I am not converting to Catholicism! Then we went to the ruins of an old Catholic Church that now has a garden in the middle of it. It is rumored that a priest was assassinated there and because of that, they were never been able to put a roof on the old church because of his ghost. We briefly stopped back at UNELA and then proceeded on to La Carpio, a community made up of mostly Nicaraguans…a little Nicaragua if you will. It was great to go there and talk to the people there and a lady who is from North America but has lived in La Carpio for many years working with Christ for the City. They are also in La Cuenca near Heredia that Pura Vida works with. We heard from Alexis and his wife about their trek to Costa Rica and about how God has blessed them so much! It was AWESOME to hear how strong his faith is and just how thankful he is to God for the unlimited air that God provides for us and that we have nothing to complain about. It really inspired and humbled me to hear what he said and made me wish I could really get to know him better. The stereotype of La Carpio is that it is full of illegals and that it is very dangerous in there and they will probably kill you! Hahahaha That is SOOO not the case. Yes there is crime and recently a couple people were killed, but that kind of crime happens outside La Carpio in Costa Rica as well! On May 31 a couple years ago, the police raided La Carpio which only has one way in and one way out. The police were ruthless and arrested over 600 people using tear gas and a lot of brutal force. It didn’t help that some of the gangs in La Carpio started throwing rocks and anything else at the police force. Out of approximately 620 people detained…only 23 were found to be illegal and were than deported! And so the question arises, “WAS THAT NECESSARY?!” It seriously makes you upset to see women and children choking on the tear gas and men being chased down, handcuffed and beaten almost entirely because they are Nicaraguan and MIGHT be illegally there. And a ratio of 1:30 being illegal is not a good reason to carry out such a task and in many senses dehumanizes the Nicaraguans when in reality…Costa Ricans and Nicaraguans are brothers! They have the same blood, the same heritage, the same geography, the same religion and yet there is this great injustice. I would like to do another documentary about that someday if I could to show Nicaraguans in Costa Rica and then come back here to Nicaragua and film on this part of the story as well. But we will see where God leads. After we a had a great time in La Carpio we went back to UNELA to chill for an hour before heading to Taco Bell for a bit of American food…it really wasn’t worth it. For some reason I just didn’t like what I got as much as I do in the States. I think it’s because I could almost feel the grease and artificial junk going into my body and have been used to beans and rice for a while now. I tried and tried to get into contact with DeLynn Hoover at Pura Vida but I think everything was working against me and sadly didn’t get to spend time with my friends at Pura Vida but I do plan to go there for Spring Break from March 20-30 and see my host brother Rizzo and his family! We went to bed a little early and then woke up at 3:45 AM to get to the bus station on time!! We slept a lot of the way to Nicaragua on the bus to make up for it but didn’t feel like we caught up with our sleep. When I got home it was great to see the expressions of those at home who were happy I was back! Please pray that I will be able to continue to learn Spanish but at an unnaturally rapid pace!! I desperately desire to be able to speak with my Nica family and those around me. ¡Gloria a Dios!
Only by His strength,
Stephen
Monday, February 23, 2009
Beach fun...and not so fun
January 21-22
This past weekend we went to the beach of León and stayed and REALLY nice house right on the beach! Because it was only overnight we could afford to stay there. It was our video professor Jeff DeKock along with the other 2 students, Dan and Dilaun. Two of our Nicaraguan friends Jason and Edimes (or Homer) joined us as well as Kate, a friend of Dilaun. We left Managua at about 11 AM and headed off to the beach. We went in Jason’s pickup truck so there were 4 of us in the back and 3 in the truck cab. It took about an hour and forty minutes to get there but the house and the view of the ocean were beautiful! I got my own room thankfully and Jeff went and got us 3 surf boards. Now I’ve never surfed before and didn’t really know what I was doing so I had Jason tell me the basics (he knows English because he was born in the USA and served in the Marines). So off I went to try my hand…or rather feet at surfing. I paddled out to deeper water through the oncoming waves and battled my way out to where I would catch my waves, dudes! So the first couple times were just me riding the board in on my stomach to get the feeling of it and then I tried to stand up. My first several attempts all failed but THEN I TOTALLY…almost stood up, but I didn’t and fell off. After a few more tries and was pretty tired and just rode a wave in on my stomach. I only tried to surf on Saturday because I got pretty badly burnt on my legs on the way to the beach. Me…not thinking AT ALL, put sunscreen on my face, neck, arms and ears but not my legs which in the back of the truck were totally exposed. Now I will say that I didn’t think I would need the sunscreen because I don’t usually get burnt on my legs but then they aren’t usually horizontal either. They are now very red and quite painful and it will take probably 5-7 days before they stop hurting. However I did have fun taking many pictures as well as filming for my Video Poem project due this upcoming Thursday. We played and card game of golf and then went out to eat for dinner…which took FOREVER to be made. After supper, several people had said I needed to go out to the beach and look at the stars and how there was no way to describe it to me. So after supper, Dilaun, Kate and I went out to the beach with Jeff’s camera to try to get some pictures of Orion using the long exposure setting on his camera. It was BEAUTIFUL out there and we could see the Big Dipper, Orion, Cassiopeia, the 7 sisters the Milky Way as well as several shooting stars. I only saw one shooting star and only after getting excited about what ended up being a bat reflecting the light behind us. We went to bed at about 11 and got up at 9:30 for a breakfast of scrambled eggs. For some reason I was still pretty tired and since I didn’t want to go in the sun because of my legs, I took about an hour nap after breakfast. It was hard to get comfortable during the night and my nap because of my sunburn but managed to doze off eventually. We also had a pool there at the house which was nice and cool and felt great to my legs. After a great lunch made by Homer and a few games of Rummy with Dan, I packed up my stuff and went back to Managua at 2 with Dilaun and Kate since there was no point in me staying later if I wasn’t going to do anything there in the sun. The ride home was…not the best, but a good experience nonetheless. The bus from the beach into León wasn’t bad as I had a whole seat to myself (I need one with my long legs). The bust to Managua was not nearly as good. I had to stand up for the whole hour and a half trip except for the last 10 minutes or so. Please pray for my sunburn…it’s really painful and hurts to walk a little bit too. Now I have to finish some reading for homework and head to bed to start another school week. God help me.
This past weekend we went to the beach of León and stayed and REALLY nice house right on the beach! Because it was only overnight we could afford to stay there. It was our video professor Jeff DeKock along with the other 2 students, Dan and Dilaun. Two of our Nicaraguan friends Jason and Edimes (or Homer) joined us as well as Kate, a friend of Dilaun. We left Managua at about 11 AM and headed off to the beach. We went in Jason’s pickup truck so there were 4 of us in the back and 3 in the truck cab. It took about an hour and forty minutes to get there but the house and the view of the ocean were beautiful! I got my own room thankfully and Jeff went and got us 3 surf boards. Now I’ve never surfed before and didn’t really know what I was doing so I had Jason tell me the basics (he knows English because he was born in the USA and served in the Marines). So off I went to try my hand…or rather feet at surfing. I paddled out to deeper water through the oncoming waves and battled my way out to where I would catch my waves, dudes! So the first couple times were just me riding the board in on my stomach to get the feeling of it and then I tried to stand up. My first several attempts all failed but THEN I TOTALLY…almost stood up, but I didn’t and fell off. After a few more tries and was pretty tired and just rode a wave in on my stomach. I only tried to surf on Saturday because I got pretty badly burnt on my legs on the way to the beach. Me…not thinking AT ALL, put sunscreen on my face, neck, arms and ears but not my legs which in the back of the truck were totally exposed. Now I will say that I didn’t think I would need the sunscreen because I don’t usually get burnt on my legs but then they aren’t usually horizontal either. They are now very red and quite painful and it will take probably 5-7 days before they stop hurting. However I did have fun taking many pictures as well as filming for my Video Poem project due this upcoming Thursday. We played and card game of golf and then went out to eat for dinner…which took FOREVER to be made. After supper, several people had said I needed to go out to the beach and look at the stars and how there was no way to describe it to me. So after supper, Dilaun, Kate and I went out to the beach with Jeff’s camera to try to get some pictures of Orion using the long exposure setting on his camera. It was BEAUTIFUL out there and we could see the Big Dipper, Orion, Cassiopeia, the 7 sisters the Milky Way as well as several shooting stars. I only saw one shooting star and only after getting excited about what ended up being a bat reflecting the light behind us. We went to bed at about 11 and got up at 9:30 for a breakfast of scrambled eggs. For some reason I was still pretty tired and since I didn’t want to go in the sun because of my legs, I took about an hour nap after breakfast. It was hard to get comfortable during the night and my nap because of my sunburn but managed to doze off eventually. We also had a pool there at the house which was nice and cool and felt great to my legs. After a great lunch made by Homer and a few games of Rummy with Dan, I packed up my stuff and went back to Managua at 2 with Dilaun and Kate since there was no point in me staying later if I wasn’t going to do anything there in the sun. The ride home was…not the best, but a good experience nonetheless. The bus from the beach into León wasn’t bad as I had a whole seat to myself (I need one with my long legs). The bust to Managua was not nearly as good. I had to stand up for the whole hour and a half trip except for the last 10 minutes or so. Please pray for my sunburn…it’s really painful and hurts to walk a little bit too. Now I have to finish some reading for homework and head to bed to start another school week. God help me.
Summary
January 8 – January 20
Sorry I haven’t posted in a while…things have been picking up with studies, projects and exams!! So here is an overview of the last two weeks:
I have been making a lot of head way in my Spanish classes and can now carry on a conversation with my host family! I also had an exam on the 20 in Spanish and feel that I did pretty well! I have my own Spanish teacher apart from the other students and she talks in zero English which is good for me but is often a stretch and is mentally exhausting at times to keep up with what she is saying.
I locked my keys in my room AGAIN! But this time I just asked if they had a spare key for the lock…and of course that was the only key so up I went again over the wall only this time while Raquel and Sarai were watching and giggling at the whole ordeal. I got the keys and didn’t want to crawl through the window or over the wall again so I asked Raquel to unlock it for me. It was quite the comical scene.
We’ve started some video projects lately and I will soon have a video blog of what a typical day at the Nehemiah Center is like and you will be able to see what my world done here looks like! Next we’ll be doing a video poem and I have chosen “The Promise of Peace” by Robinson Jeffers which is a poem that can really relate to the history of Nicaragua.
Dan and I played basketball with some of the kids at the school near the Nehemiah Center and now whenever we go over to the school we have many of the kids saying hi to us and asking us our names.
OH YES! Last Saturday, the 14th of February, I played in my first official soccer game here. I got the jersey and everything and played with 10 other guys in a league playoff game. All of us were North Americans except one man who was Nicaraguan. The other team was all Nicaraguan and be honest…I was thinking, “Crud…this is going to be hard. They have mad foot skills and are wicked fast and we are all white…except one of us.” It started to look like I thought it would when by halftime we were losing 3-1. I felt bad because I am out of shape and was NOT smart and hadn’t drank any water that day and was really out of energy and I felt responsible for at least 1 of the goals. At halftime we hydrated ourselves with some quality di-hydrogen oxide and went over what we needed to do to keep up. We switched sides, had the wind in our favor and new energy set out to show the Nicas that not all Gringos are bad at futbol. We made some position changes that really worked and one of our guys, Dan, scored a hat trick with 3 goals in a row and we ended up winning 4-3!! It was “pretty dang exciting”! After the game I went home, showered and got ready for the party at Alex and Maria’s house where one of the other students, Dilaun, is staying. In Nicaragua, 14 February is not just for lovers and boyfriend and girlfriends but is celebrated as a day of friendship. At Alex and Maria’s house we mingled with North Americans and Nicaraguans alike and played games with mixed groups to make the competition a little more difficult. My group of 4 had to present 6 memorized Bible verses to the whole group. At first they had to be about friendship and I was having a hard time thinking of any references for friendship verses. Apparently they changed it to ANY verse and forgot to tell me about the change. So to impress everyone there I chose a very long verse I could remember in Spanish and when we presented our verses I said the reference, paused for dramatic effect, and then said, “Jesus lluró”…which is John 11:35 “Jesus wept”. Everyone burst out laughing and so did I and enjoyed making everyone laugh. Everyone had to say who they were and what they did here in Nicaragua. It was great day and I even brought friend Blas to the party and we all had a great time.
Only by His strength,
Stephen
P.S. - Please feel free to leave comments on these posts as I would greatly enjoy hearing any of your responses and/or questions. Each post has the option of leaving a comment at the bottom of the post!
P.P.S.-If any of you would like to write me via snail mail (which I would absolutely LOVE!) here is the address for here at the Nehemiah Center. It is:
Stephen Winkelman
Apartado 1076, Managua, Nicaragua
*This post is not necessarily in chronological order
Sorry I haven’t posted in a while…things have been picking up with studies, projects and exams!! So here is an overview of the last two weeks:
I have been making a lot of head way in my Spanish classes and can now carry on a conversation with my host family! I also had an exam on the 20 in Spanish and feel that I did pretty well! I have my own Spanish teacher apart from the other students and she talks in zero English which is good for me but is often a stretch and is mentally exhausting at times to keep up with what she is saying.
I locked my keys in my room AGAIN! But this time I just asked if they had a spare key for the lock…and of course that was the only key so up I went again over the wall only this time while Raquel and Sarai were watching and giggling at the whole ordeal. I got the keys and didn’t want to crawl through the window or over the wall again so I asked Raquel to unlock it for me. It was quite the comical scene.
We’ve started some video projects lately and I will soon have a video blog of what a typical day at the Nehemiah Center is like and you will be able to see what my world done here looks like! Next we’ll be doing a video poem and I have chosen “The Promise of Peace” by Robinson Jeffers which is a poem that can really relate to the history of Nicaragua.
Dan and I played basketball with some of the kids at the school near the Nehemiah Center and now whenever we go over to the school we have many of the kids saying hi to us and asking us our names.
OH YES! Last Saturday, the 14th of February, I played in my first official soccer game here. I got the jersey and everything and played with 10 other guys in a league playoff game. All of us were North Americans except one man who was Nicaraguan. The other team was all Nicaraguan and be honest…I was thinking, “Crud…this is going to be hard. They have mad foot skills and are wicked fast and we are all white…except one of us.” It started to look like I thought it would when by halftime we were losing 3-1. I felt bad because I am out of shape and was NOT smart and hadn’t drank any water that day and was really out of energy and I felt responsible for at least 1 of the goals. At halftime we hydrated ourselves with some quality di-hydrogen oxide and went over what we needed to do to keep up. We switched sides, had the wind in our favor and new energy set out to show the Nicas that not all Gringos are bad at futbol. We made some position changes that really worked and one of our guys, Dan, scored a hat trick with 3 goals in a row and we ended up winning 4-3!! It was “pretty dang exciting”! After the game I went home, showered and got ready for the party at Alex and Maria’s house where one of the other students, Dilaun, is staying. In Nicaragua, 14 February is not just for lovers and boyfriend and girlfriends but is celebrated as a day of friendship. At Alex and Maria’s house we mingled with North Americans and Nicaraguans alike and played games with mixed groups to make the competition a little more difficult. My group of 4 had to present 6 memorized Bible verses to the whole group. At first they had to be about friendship and I was having a hard time thinking of any references for friendship verses. Apparently they changed it to ANY verse and forgot to tell me about the change. So to impress everyone there I chose a very long verse I could remember in Spanish and when we presented our verses I said the reference, paused for dramatic effect, and then said, “Jesus lluró”…which is John 11:35 “Jesus wept”. Everyone burst out laughing and so did I and enjoyed making everyone laugh. Everyone had to say who they were and what they did here in Nicaragua. It was great day and I even brought friend Blas to the party and we all had a great time.
Only by His strength,
Stephen
P.S. - Please feel free to leave comments on these posts as I would greatly enjoy hearing any of your responses and/or questions. Each post has the option of leaving a comment at the bottom of the post!
P.P.S.-If any of you would like to write me via snail mail (which I would absolutely LOVE!) here is the address for here at the Nehemiah Center. It is:
Stephen Winkelman
Apartado 1076, Managua, Nicaragua
*This post is not necessarily in chronological order
Monday, February 9, 2009
The Great Key Mishap
January 6, 2009
Today was great! I had a great sleep despite the wind last night because I remembered I had put ear plugs in my toiletry bag from my last trip…but of course only one earplug was in there. Good thing I have one bad ear, eh? Soon after I awoke, Doña Pilar informed me that Don Henry was not going to the Nehemiah Center which meant that I had to either ride the bus or get a taxi…so I did both. I first caught a taxi to Siete Sur and then caught a bus up to the cemetery and then walked to the Nehemiah Center. There was a new security guard at the gate so I had to give him my license so he could record my personal information and for some reason whenever I say I am from Ohio, the Nicas say, “Iowa?” I made it there with plenty of time to spare…a successful trip! Spanish class started at 9 and ended at 12 with lunch following shortly after. Iskra came in and talked to us for a while (she’s the receptionist who speaks both English and Spanish) and then I was able to talk to Dilaun for a while about our experiences in Nicaragua so far and about life experiences. Dan and I played a little one-on-one basketball at the school on the property to 5…I’m out of shape but won 5-1! We went out to wait for a bus that comes by the Nehemiah Center…but it took forever and a guy came out of the Nehemiah Center with a big bus that we all hopped into and rode to the bus stop. Oh yes! When I had left the house earlier that morning I had realized that I had locked my keys, mis llaves, in my room but there was nothing I could do about that now so I decided to worry about it later…so now it was later, so I had to worry about it. When I got home, only Sarai was home, or at least in sight when I remembered I had locked my keys INSIDE my room. I had to come up with a plan. I put down my backpack and sat down where Sarai was watching TV and thought it out. I had already checked my window to see if there was any way I could unlock it…there wasn’t. So I knew the only way to get into my room was over the wall (the walls don’t go all the way to the top of the roof in many Latin American homes). Sarai left the house to go to her house next door and it looked like I would have to step on the kitchen table and jump/hoist myself up over the wall (pared en Español). I took off my shoes so as not to dirty the table cloth and threw them over the wall onto my bed and then took the chance. I quickly stepped onto the table, looked over the wall, placed my hands and jumped up. Those walls are less stable than they even look…but no worries as I was able to get over AND down without anything happening. Once I was in the room I grabbed the keys…HOME FREE! Except that the lock is on the OUTSIDE of the door. So then I had to open my window and check if anyone was coming but I could see one of the doors to the sister’s houses was open but I had to go so I went feet first out the window and went around to my door and unlocked it! I thought I got away clean but then the daughter-in-law came in the house and started asking me about it…I had been caught! I had a REALLY hard time understanding what she was saying after more than 2 tries got the impression with our GREAT communication, I had told her I had left my keys in the room and that the door had been locked. She had apparently seen me check my window the first time and knew that it was locked up and so she had asked me, “¿Como este?” or “How is this?” When I finally understood what she was saying, I sheepishly gestured I had come over the wall. She was content, and I think astonished, with my answer and I don’t know if she told anyone else about it but if she did it wasn’t brought up at all. So there is some adventure for you…and me for that matter. I still consider it a success as I was able to problem solve the situation…however, afterwards I wondered if maybe they had an extra key for the lock but it is one of those cheap lock too…so I don’t know. After that great experience I set about labeling with note cards all the things in my room that I didn’t already know or could remember at that moment in Spanish. Fan, bed, mattress, interior wall, exterior wall, floor, ceiling, clothing basket, rug, toilet paper, mirror, and rocking chair. Then I went out to watch the news wit h the rest of the family. The news here is a lot different in the area of gruesome images. They will show blood and bloody people and bodies which I view as something both good and bad. Bad because the images are disturbing and who really WANTS to see all that? But it is good in a way for us to see that because then it really hits home as to what is really happening and could move people to action in the case of injustice or exploitation and violence. However, a culture will get desensitized to it after a while and the effect will most likely fade after a while. The moral of the story is that is was a good dose of reality and I still need to think about it more as it pertains to media’s influence on a population and society. On to dinner! They keep feeding me these, like cheese squares that are REALLY salty and I feel like it’s sucking all the water out of my body and I think it’s fried…I don’t really like but I tried to eat half of one tonight out of the two given me. They just bought one of those coffee pitchers that conserve the heat for a long time which is great because the occasion cold coffee wasn’t terribly appealing. So anyways…now the coffee is really hot and to make conversation I exclaimed, “¡Caliente!” and Don Henry agreed and sorta expressed to his wife that is was TOO hot. Her response was hilarious and I almost missed what she said until I heard the word “hacer” which means “to do” and I caught that she had quite humorously said something my own mother would have said, “What do you want me to do about it?” I laughed and when she understood I knew what she had said, we all laughed. Then right after Don Henry got up from the table to do something, a piece of bark fell off from the branches that support the roof right on the spot he had been sitting! He turned around and said, “Que…” or “What…” as if he were going to say “What the heck” or something of the sort. Everyone once again burst out laughing. That is one thing I am very grateful for in this house…laughter. All the daughters love to laugh and mess around with each other and when they laugh it makes you want to laugh too…even though I have no idea sometimes what I am laughing at. For all I know it very well could be me!
Switching subjects real quickly, here are some oddities of my house here in Nicaragua. There are those geckos or “perros son popos” barking in my room right now, the toilet here has no toilet seat…just the back and the bowl, and bark is constantly falling from the branches from the roof because of the wind.
Blas Morales (that’s the boyfriend’s name I finally found out) came over and brought me some small chocolate covered bananas, 3 to be exact, which I really like! He’s a really nice guy and always has a smile on his face when I see him and we greet each other with handshake of “hermanos” or brothers (that’s not what it’s called I just thought it sounded legit). I finished watching Oceans 12 and am now in bed at 10:49 PM signing off. ¡Buenos noches!
Today was great! I had a great sleep despite the wind last night because I remembered I had put ear plugs in my toiletry bag from my last trip…but of course only one earplug was in there. Good thing I have one bad ear, eh? Soon after I awoke, Doña Pilar informed me that Don Henry was not going to the Nehemiah Center which meant that I had to either ride the bus or get a taxi…so I did both. I first caught a taxi to Siete Sur and then caught a bus up to the cemetery and then walked to the Nehemiah Center. There was a new security guard at the gate so I had to give him my license so he could record my personal information and for some reason whenever I say I am from Ohio, the Nicas say, “Iowa?” I made it there with plenty of time to spare…a successful trip! Spanish class started at 9 and ended at 12 with lunch following shortly after. Iskra came in and talked to us for a while (she’s the receptionist who speaks both English and Spanish) and then I was able to talk to Dilaun for a while about our experiences in Nicaragua so far and about life experiences. Dan and I played a little one-on-one basketball at the school on the property to 5…I’m out of shape but won 5-1! We went out to wait for a bus that comes by the Nehemiah Center…but it took forever and a guy came out of the Nehemiah Center with a big bus that we all hopped into and rode to the bus stop. Oh yes! When I had left the house earlier that morning I had realized that I had locked my keys, mis llaves, in my room but there was nothing I could do about that now so I decided to worry about it later…so now it was later, so I had to worry about it. When I got home, only Sarai was home, or at least in sight when I remembered I had locked my keys INSIDE my room. I had to come up with a plan. I put down my backpack and sat down where Sarai was watching TV and thought it out. I had already checked my window to see if there was any way I could unlock it…there wasn’t. So I knew the only way to get into my room was over the wall (the walls don’t go all the way to the top of the roof in many Latin American homes). Sarai left the house to go to her house next door and it looked like I would have to step on the kitchen table and jump/hoist myself up over the wall (pared en Español). I took off my shoes so as not to dirty the table cloth and threw them over the wall onto my bed and then took the chance. I quickly stepped onto the table, looked over the wall, placed my hands and jumped up. Those walls are less stable than they even look…but no worries as I was able to get over AND down without anything happening. Once I was in the room I grabbed the keys…HOME FREE! Except that the lock is on the OUTSIDE of the door. So then I had to open my window and check if anyone was coming but I could see one of the doors to the sister’s houses was open but I had to go so I went feet first out the window and went around to my door and unlocked it! I thought I got away clean but then the daughter-in-law came in the house and started asking me about it…I had been caught! I had a REALLY hard time understanding what she was saying after more than 2 tries got the impression with our GREAT communication, I had told her I had left my keys in the room and that the door had been locked. She had apparently seen me check my window the first time and knew that it was locked up and so she had asked me, “¿Como este?” or “How is this?” When I finally understood what she was saying, I sheepishly gestured I had come over the wall. She was content, and I think astonished, with my answer and I don’t know if she told anyone else about it but if she did it wasn’t brought up at all. So there is some adventure for you…and me for that matter. I still consider it a success as I was able to problem solve the situation…however, afterwards I wondered if maybe they had an extra key for the lock but it is one of those cheap lock too…so I don’t know. After that great experience I set about labeling with note cards all the things in my room that I didn’t already know or could remember at that moment in Spanish. Fan, bed, mattress, interior wall, exterior wall, floor, ceiling, clothing basket, rug, toilet paper, mirror, and rocking chair. Then I went out to watch the news wit h the rest of the family. The news here is a lot different in the area of gruesome images. They will show blood and bloody people and bodies which I view as something both good and bad. Bad because the images are disturbing and who really WANTS to see all that? But it is good in a way for us to see that because then it really hits home as to what is really happening and could move people to action in the case of injustice or exploitation and violence. However, a culture will get desensitized to it after a while and the effect will most likely fade after a while. The moral of the story is that is was a good dose of reality and I still need to think about it more as it pertains to media’s influence on a population and society. On to dinner! They keep feeding me these, like cheese squares that are REALLY salty and I feel like it’s sucking all the water out of my body and I think it’s fried…I don’t really like but I tried to eat half of one tonight out of the two given me. They just bought one of those coffee pitchers that conserve the heat for a long time which is great because the occasion cold coffee wasn’t terribly appealing. So anyways…now the coffee is really hot and to make conversation I exclaimed, “¡Caliente!” and Don Henry agreed and sorta expressed to his wife that is was TOO hot. Her response was hilarious and I almost missed what she said until I heard the word “hacer” which means “to do” and I caught that she had quite humorously said something my own mother would have said, “What do you want me to do about it?” I laughed and when she understood I knew what she had said, we all laughed. Then right after Don Henry got up from the table to do something, a piece of bark fell off from the branches that support the roof right on the spot he had been sitting! He turned around and said, “Que…” or “What…” as if he were going to say “What the heck” or something of the sort. Everyone once again burst out laughing. That is one thing I am very grateful for in this house…laughter. All the daughters love to laugh and mess around with each other and when they laugh it makes you want to laugh too…even though I have no idea sometimes what I am laughing at. For all I know it very well could be me!
Switching subjects real quickly, here are some oddities of my house here in Nicaragua. There are those geckos or “perros son popos” barking in my room right now, the toilet here has no toilet seat…just the back and the bowl, and bark is constantly falling from the branches from the roof because of the wind.
Blas Morales (that’s the boyfriend’s name I finally found out) came over and brought me some small chocolate covered bananas, 3 to be exact, which I really like! He’s a really nice guy and always has a smile on his face when I see him and we greet each other with handshake of “hermanos” or brothers (that’s not what it’s called I just thought it sounded legit). I finished watching Oceans 12 and am now in bed at 10:49 PM signing off. ¡Buenos noches!
Friday, February 6, 2009
Grumpy on the Inside
January 5
Today, waking up was not fun…because I did it so many times during the night. It was extremely windy and the roof rattled and slammed all night and so I have NO idea how much sleep I even got. When I awoke, I was even more tired than when I went to bed…and I was upset that I wouldn’t get any more rest and so I had a terrible attitude to start the day off with. For those who understand, yes I was g.o.t.i., grumpy on the inside. There were some annoying birds making a racket, cats meowing and the day started out with grey skies. I asked myself what I was even doing here in a strange country where I can’t speak the language very well. I didn’t bother taking a shower and it seemed like my day was going to end up miserable…what a bad day. However, I was then reminded that every day is a good day…it just depends on how you look at it. I asked God to give me His joy and His strength to make it through the day because I sure wasn’t going to be able to do it on my own. As I went with Don Henry to the Nehemiah Center for class, I realized that the day had brightened and that I had somehow come out of my bad mood…thanks God. I am so thankful for a God who gives when I least deserve it. I was worried about my cross-cultural filmmaking class because I was only able to read about half of the 90 pages but it ended up being ok and I was able to contribute to the conversation about the reading without looking foolish. We took a break for class and went around and went over the names of everyone who works at the Nehemiah Center. Then we went over the history of photography which was VERY interesting and we got to see the evolution of photography. We went to lunch at the school that is next to the Center and I got to talk to Jeff about what he has done with media in his life so far…it was a LOT and mostly in other countries. I hitched a ride home with Don Henry and when I got home, they fed me almost right when we got home around 5 which was a little soon for me. Then I watched Aladdin with Raquel, Jacqueline and Sarai. When I walked into my room later, I discovered Donia Pilar had cleaned my room, put new sheets on my bed and tidied things up a bit! I thanked her very much for doing so! I am very tired tonight so I am going to bed now at 9:15. Buenos noches!
Today, waking up was not fun…because I did it so many times during the night. It was extremely windy and the roof rattled and slammed all night and so I have NO idea how much sleep I even got. When I awoke, I was even more tired than when I went to bed…and I was upset that I wouldn’t get any more rest and so I had a terrible attitude to start the day off with. For those who understand, yes I was g.o.t.i., grumpy on the inside. There were some annoying birds making a racket, cats meowing and the day started out with grey skies. I asked myself what I was even doing here in a strange country where I can’t speak the language very well. I didn’t bother taking a shower and it seemed like my day was going to end up miserable…what a bad day. However, I was then reminded that every day is a good day…it just depends on how you look at it. I asked God to give me His joy and His strength to make it through the day because I sure wasn’t going to be able to do it on my own. As I went with Don Henry to the Nehemiah Center for class, I realized that the day had brightened and that I had somehow come out of my bad mood…thanks God. I am so thankful for a God who gives when I least deserve it. I was worried about my cross-cultural filmmaking class because I was only able to read about half of the 90 pages but it ended up being ok and I was able to contribute to the conversation about the reading without looking foolish. We took a break for class and went around and went over the names of everyone who works at the Nehemiah Center. Then we went over the history of photography which was VERY interesting and we got to see the evolution of photography. We went to lunch at the school that is next to the Center and I got to talk to Jeff about what he has done with media in his life so far…it was a LOT and mostly in other countries. I hitched a ride home with Don Henry and when I got home, they fed me almost right when we got home around 5 which was a little soon for me. Then I watched Aladdin with Raquel, Jacqueline and Sarai. When I walked into my room later, I discovered Donia Pilar had cleaned my room, put new sheets on my bed and tidied things up a bit! I thanked her very much for doing so! I am very tired tonight so I am going to bed now at 9:15. Buenos noches!
Liver
January 4
The only thing that really happened out of the ordinary today was dinner. I was served some kind of meat this I knew but I did not know what kind of meat it was. I thought maybe it was the cow stomach I had heard about and I also thought it might be liver of some sort…it was liver of some sort. I waited until I had eaten most of it to ask what it was so when I knew what it was I wouldn’t be totally grossed out or anything I found out I don’t really like liver of that sort and don’t wish to eat it again anytime soon.
The only thing that really happened out of the ordinary today was dinner. I was served some kind of meat this I knew but I did not know what kind of meat it was. I thought maybe it was the cow stomach I had heard about and I also thought it might be liver of some sort…it was liver of some sort. I waited until I had eaten most of it to ask what it was so when I knew what it was I wouldn’t be totally grossed out or anything I found out I don’t really like liver of that sort and don’t wish to eat it again anytime soon.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Happy Birthday Katie!
February 2, 2009
It’s Katie’s birthday today! She is 17! Seven-stinkin-teen! Wow. So anyways…today was the first day of class and Don Henry took me to the Nehemiah Center for classes because he works there! We had devotions with the staff at about 8:20 and then started class at 9:15 with the History of Nicaragua. Very interesting stuff! We have a 3 hour class every day which may not seem like much but we are cramming a whole semester into 7 weeks so we can work on the internship/documentary part of the semester for a good amount of time. I have to read and summarize 43 pages by Wednesday which won’t be too bad. It’s on the patriarchy and folk of Nicaragua if you were wondering. I took a little siesta in a hammock after class and lunch and took the bus home at about 5:00 PM. I never really know what to do when I get home because I can’t talk to my family very well……I’ll have to think about that, but I got home with no problems and am thankful for the experience in Costa Rica of getting to know directions by landmarks because they have no street signs in Nicaragua either. I had a great meal and actually went out front of the house for the first time to sit with Donia Pilar, Shalon, Raquel, and Sara for a while which kinda broke the ice of me never knowing when and if I should go out there! I tried asking some questions as well as answering some…sometimes it was good sometimes I don’t know what I said or agreed to. After calling Katie to wish her a happy birthday…HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATIE! I LOVE YOU!...I went back out towards the front of the house and played my guitar first for many members of the family and then with Jacqueline’s b/f…I guess I should find out his name since that would be a lot shorter than writing out “Jacqueline’s boyfriend” every time, eh? After a most enjoyable morning, day and evening I am finally going to bed. Oh yeah, and I found my sheets…they were under one of my pillows…so they were here the whole time! Que embarozaso! It really made me laugh…at myself of course! Goodnight!
It’s Katie’s birthday today! She is 17! Seven-stinkin-teen! Wow. So anyways…today was the first day of class and Don Henry took me to the Nehemiah Center for classes because he works there! We had devotions with the staff at about 8:20 and then started class at 9:15 with the History of Nicaragua. Very interesting stuff! We have a 3 hour class every day which may not seem like much but we are cramming a whole semester into 7 weeks so we can work on the internship/documentary part of the semester for a good amount of time. I have to read and summarize 43 pages by Wednesday which won’t be too bad. It’s on the patriarchy and folk of Nicaragua if you were wondering. I took a little siesta in a hammock after class and lunch and took the bus home at about 5:00 PM. I never really know what to do when I get home because I can’t talk to my family very well……I’ll have to think about that, but I got home with no problems and am thankful for the experience in Costa Rica of getting to know directions by landmarks because they have no street signs in Nicaragua either. I had a great meal and actually went out front of the house for the first time to sit with Donia Pilar, Shalon, Raquel, and Sara for a while which kinda broke the ice of me never knowing when and if I should go out there! I tried asking some questions as well as answering some…sometimes it was good sometimes I don’t know what I said or agreed to. After calling Katie to wish her a happy birthday…HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATIE! I LOVE YOU!...I went back out towards the front of the house and played my guitar first for many members of the family and then with Jacqueline’s b/f…I guess I should find out his name since that would be a lot shorter than writing out “Jacqueline’s boyfriend” every time, eh? After a most enjoyable morning, day and evening I am finally going to bed. Oh yeah, and I found my sheets…they were under one of my pillows…so they were here the whole time! Que embarozaso! It really made me laugh…at myself of course! Goodnight!
Sunday and Superbowl
February 1, 2009
Today is the first Sunday since I have been here and I have been looking forward to hearing Don Henry (Don is a title of respect) preach and try to understand at least the gist of his message. It was a great time of worship, Bible reading and teaching. Both Don Henry and his wife told the congregation of about 30 or so about me and pointed me out and I felt very welcomed by the church with all the smiles and warm greetings. Some even try to talk to me but most of the time not understanding…which is very frustrating and I am definitely learning just to keep laughing at myself and take it easy or I could easily get very discouragement and upset at myself for not knowing the language. I would really appreciate your prayers for quick learning of the language and long term retention of what I do learn! After church, the family ate somewhat of a family meal which was great because had just been me and Don Henry eating at the table every meal and I love it when the family is all together because they are so happy and I enjoy laughing with them even though half I don’t know what I am laughing at!! It’s great! I am picking up bits and pieces though and learning little by little what things mean. The geckos are called “perro son popos” just fyi. We all just rested during the afternoon, taking it easy and it did feel very restful. Then at 4, one of the guys (I think he is the boyfriend of Jacqueline) took me to the bus stop and rode with me to show me the way to La Union, the local super market, to meet up with the rest of the group of gringos who were going to a restaurant to watch the Super Bowl. We ate at a place called Hippos which has some pretty good food and we watched the Cardinals barely lose to the Steelers. We were for Arizona as were many of the other fans there and were sorely disappointed by their loss despite their amazing comeback! I got back late to my home and went promptly to bed!
Today is the first Sunday since I have been here and I have been looking forward to hearing Don Henry (Don is a title of respect) preach and try to understand at least the gist of his message. It was a great time of worship, Bible reading and teaching. Both Don Henry and his wife told the congregation of about 30 or so about me and pointed me out and I felt very welcomed by the church with all the smiles and warm greetings. Some even try to talk to me but most of the time not understanding…which is very frustrating and I am definitely learning just to keep laughing at myself and take it easy or I could easily get very discouragement and upset at myself for not knowing the language. I would really appreciate your prayers for quick learning of the language and long term retention of what I do learn! After church, the family ate somewhat of a family meal which was great because had just been me and Don Henry eating at the table every meal and I love it when the family is all together because they are so happy and I enjoy laughing with them even though half I don’t know what I am laughing at!! It’s great! I am picking up bits and pieces though and learning little by little what things mean. The geckos are called “perro son popos” just fyi. We all just rested during the afternoon, taking it easy and it did feel very restful. Then at 4, one of the guys (I think he is the boyfriend of Jacqueline) took me to the bus stop and rode with me to show me the way to La Union, the local super market, to meet up with the rest of the group of gringos who were going to a restaurant to watch the Super Bowl. We ate at a place called Hippos which has some pretty good food and we watched the Cardinals barely lose to the Steelers. We were for Arizona as were many of the other fans there and were sorely disappointed by their loss despite their amazing comeback! I got back late to my home and went promptly to bed!
January 31
I woke up this morning at 6:26 and waited to use the shower…a cold/cool shower, because they have no hot water here but really that is just fine because it is so hot here and will only get hotter as we near March and May. As I waited I thought I say another gecko but it turned out to be a little mouse! He was a cute little guy…but I put some of my stuff on the bed nonetheless. After a cold shower I had a breakfast of ham, a fried egg, and coffee. I then showed some pictures of my family and my trip to Dubai and then headed off to meet up with Alicia, Dan, Dilaun as well as Matt and Silen who would be our guide and translator for the scavenger hunt today. We went all over Managua to Mercado Huembes, Metro Centro, Laguna de Tiscapa and the monuments there to Sandino and Samosa. We also went near to Lake Managua and saw the palace of the president although he does not live there because he wants to live among the people. There was the old cathedral that is actually a beautiful condemned building and then there is the new cathedral as well. Like it, there is the “old” part of Managua and the “new” part that was built after the great earthquake in 1972. After a couple weeks of class I should know all sorts of facts of the history of Nicaragua! Oh yes! Before the cathedral and such we had lunch, or comida, at Comedor El Guegüensa where I had some rice and beans or course, along with chicken, tomatoes and peppers mixed in with a plantain on the side and washed it down with a Fanta. After lunch and the cathedral, we went down to the waterfront of Lake Managua…and the water is pretty gross. I guess for a long time all the waste of the city was just dumped into the lake and it’s COMPLETELY unsanitary and so after our swim in it we had to……haha no we didn’t swim in it!! But we did take some pictures of the beautiful scenery around the lake and then took a taxi back to rendezvous with Alicia at the coffee shop to show the pictures as proof of completing everything on the scavenger hunt agenda. Then we went home to our families for the night.
Monday, February 2, 2009
First Day in Nicaragua!
January 30, 2009
Today was our first full day in Managua and what a long and new day it was. Last night on the flight to Managua I was able to sit with some brothers and sisters of the faith! We had struck up a conversation before even boarding the plane because both I and another man had a guitar and we started talking about guitars and such. During the flight I was able to hear a lot of what their group will be doing in Leon, Nicaragua from Emily and Chad. I found out that the man in front of me attends an E-free church just like me and we started talking about the Theology and Doctrinal statements of our churches that had just been updated from 1950 and other related topics. I felt so at home and blessed to be around fellow believers that believe almost the exact same things as I do. He then told a little bit of his past and it reminded me a lot of Matt Elmore’s story and Matt if you read this he talked about some of the feelings of guilt that are sometimes had but more importantly the story of God’s grace and how much that experience and story can be a blessing and encouragement to others. When we flew in to Managua, Nicaragua at 8:43 PM and we were picked up by Alicia Hamming and then taken to Quinta Shalom where we stayed the night where, ironically, the people I had ridden with on the plane were also staying for the night! We had some time talking and I played some guitar and then we went to bed for a good night’s rest! In the morning we ate a breakfast of gallo pinto and fresh fruit and set out for the Nehemiah Center for an orientation day. The center is BEAUTIFUL! It has a large area under a thatched roof with hammocks for resting and chairs and tables for eating, working and fellowshipping. The office and classroom area is also nice with all the offices in a square with a gazebo-like structure in the middle with grass around it and rocking chairs and a table in it. We met a LOT of people and I only remember some of their names. We had a lot of meeting people and a tour and then like 3 orientations on different topics like culture shock, culture transition and culture sensitivity. Then we went off to met and stay with our host families for the night! We dropped Dan Sealy off at la casa de Silvia where he was a little nervous and I soon experienced the same thing! Then we proceeded to drop Dilaun off at her host family who was very excited to have her there. Then on to the family with which I am staying! I am staying with Henry and Pilar Cruz and their 3 daughters live in the house next door: Sarai, Raquel and Jacqueline along with their son Jonathan and his wife Shalon and their little daughter Belen. It was pretty awkward the first night not knowing what to say and if so not always knowing how to say it! But I got by and made use of my Spanish/English dictionary. I have a room all to myself with a twin bed, a desk, a slightly broken rocking chair and one lone light. I’ve seen some geckos on the wall here and apparently they are quite useful as they eat the mosquitoes here. I went to bed around 10 and had a good sleep despite waking up several times due to noises that I was not used to but I know that they won’t bother me in time. However, the bed has no sheets…just a bed cover for decoration and so during the night I used my towel as a blanket but that’s supposedly going to change.
Today was our first full day in Managua and what a long and new day it was. Last night on the flight to Managua I was able to sit with some brothers and sisters of the faith! We had struck up a conversation before even boarding the plane because both I and another man had a guitar and we started talking about guitars and such. During the flight I was able to hear a lot of what their group will be doing in Leon, Nicaragua from Emily and Chad. I found out that the man in front of me attends an E-free church just like me and we started talking about the Theology and Doctrinal statements of our churches that had just been updated from 1950 and other related topics. I felt so at home and blessed to be around fellow believers that believe almost the exact same things as I do. He then told a little bit of his past and it reminded me a lot of Matt Elmore’s story and Matt if you read this he talked about some of the feelings of guilt that are sometimes had but more importantly the story of God’s grace and how much that experience and story can be a blessing and encouragement to others. When we flew in to Managua, Nicaragua at 8:43 PM and we were picked up by Alicia Hamming and then taken to Quinta Shalom where we stayed the night where, ironically, the people I had ridden with on the plane were also staying for the night! We had some time talking and I played some guitar and then we went to bed for a good night’s rest! In the morning we ate a breakfast of gallo pinto and fresh fruit and set out for the Nehemiah Center for an orientation day. The center is BEAUTIFUL! It has a large area under a thatched roof with hammocks for resting and chairs and tables for eating, working and fellowshipping. The office and classroom area is also nice with all the offices in a square with a gazebo-like structure in the middle with grass around it and rocking chairs and a table in it. We met a LOT of people and I only remember some of their names. We had a lot of meeting people and a tour and then like 3 orientations on different topics like culture shock, culture transition and culture sensitivity. Then we went off to met and stay with our host families for the night! We dropped Dan Sealy off at la casa de Silvia where he was a little nervous and I soon experienced the same thing! Then we proceeded to drop Dilaun off at her host family who was very excited to have her there. Then on to the family with which I am staying! I am staying with Henry and Pilar Cruz and their 3 daughters live in the house next door: Sarai, Raquel and Jacqueline along with their son Jonathan and his wife Shalon and their little daughter Belen. It was pretty awkward the first night not knowing what to say and if so not always knowing how to say it! But I got by and made use of my Spanish/English dictionary. I have a room all to myself with a twin bed, a desk, a slightly broken rocking chair and one lone light. I’ve seen some geckos on the wall here and apparently they are quite useful as they eat the mosquitoes here. I went to bed around 10 and had a good sleep despite waking up several times due to noises that I was not used to but I know that they won’t bother me in time. However, the bed has no sheets…just a bed cover for decoration and so during the night I used my towel as a blanket but that’s supposedly going to change.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Journal Entry from January 5, 2009
Today the girls went to the royal palace to visit with the President of the UAE’s mother and they apparently had a great time…meanwhile the guys went to the zoo wasn’t quite as interesting but was good nonetheless. We toured with Mr. Donald who works with the zoo and plays a big part in its expansion that will be happening soon. We then met up with the women for lunch at some friends of Gerald’s parents, Fahd and Fatima and their extended family. The women had visited other homes than just the President’s mother and by the time we had lunch it was their 4th or 5th meal! We visited with Fahd and Fatima’s family which was quite large! All the children still live with them even when they get married…except for the women who go live with their husband’s family. Fahd had 13 or 14 children and almost all of them lived with him in his LARGE house that cost him millions of dollars. Lunch was again on the ground but more extravagant then at Abrahim’s because of Fahd’s wealth. We also ate with our hands again a meal of rice, goat meat, bread, carrots in yogurt, and Pepsi. They served us WAY too much food and we couldn’t possibly eat it all! As Westerners we think that eating everything on your plate is polite and needs to be done but in the Arab culture if you do that then they just give you more because you must be hungry to be able to finish what they gave you! So by now we knew that and left enough on our plate for them to let them know we were full. It helped that they didn’t eat with us. Even though it would have been nice to eat with them it was nice just to eat by ourselves without having to be careful to do everything right because here all the traditions and rules applied! I had some of the goat meat…which I didn’t really care for because of the texture. It was very tender but also smooth almost like fat and my mind couldn’t get past it no matter how hard I tried to tell myself it was fine! I had to cover up the texture with a LOT of Nan (pronounced “non”)…Arabic bread. After the meal, more visiting and a tour of their house, we parted with gifts being given to us from the family and headed to their “garden”. Upon arrival we realized that a “garden” is where you keep all your stock animals and has nothing to do with lush greenery and plants…especially in the dessert. We got to see their goats (many different kinds), camels, bulls, cows and a VERY beautiful and trained horse. It was half Arabian and half English and was pretty small but it was powerful, responsive and obedient. James was on it before a minute passed after our arrival. He, Owen and Micah all got to ride the horse. The family was extremely nice and hospitable. Then we drove all the way to Fujairah to stay with the Johnsons for the night. Mrs. Johnson is Gerald’s cousin and they are a lovely Mennonite family with 9 kids. We had a lot of fun hanging out with them playing basketball, four square, SPUD, Navy and the Army as well as heading to a fruit drink shop later that night where James talked the guy who delivered drinks for the shop to let him ride his motorcycle. It was pretty late when we got back and we headed off to bed. For the first time on the trip I finally got my OWN bed and slept very well!
Journal Entry from January 3, 2009
Today we got up and went to meet with Bossi and Taylor (not his real name) about business and media. We were provided with food and I had 2 small subs and a latte and then headed with Taylor to his work place. So many great things are on the brink of happening there and already have as God is using him in the mainstream media in Dubai as he seeks to train local Emirates to excel in Media and also put programs into the mainstream that have Christian principles and beliefs behind them but that are not overtly Christian but are telling of the Kingdom. He has cartoons on Al Jazera and MTV Arabia! How awesome is that?! Thank you Jesus! Then we went and picked up our luggage for 3 days and headed out for Al Ain. We met up with Kyle, Brick, and another friend of the Longjohns who were also going to Al Ain. Kyle is our age and heading to Al Ain for some intense language training in Arabic and then possibly to Yemen as a missionary. He seemed like a great guy and someone ready to do whatever it takes to serve the LORD. God bless him and make his strong in You! Then we made it to our Hilton hotel and had dinner with Gerald’s parents and some friends at the house of Abrahim, the man who was the gardener of the hospital Gerald’s parents started when they came to Dubai in 1964. We ate Arabic food from real Boshi (sp?) people who came from the land between Iran and one of its neighbors but is not actually a country anymore which leaves them country-less and without a passport. We ate in classic Arab tradition on the floor and took our shoes off at the door. We didn’t use our left hand for eating because that is the unclean hand used for…well unclean things. We sat cross-legged or with one knee up and one down so as not to show the bottom of our feet as that is a GREAT offense. We did this even though Abrahim and his family would have been all right with it since they were to Western ways. Abrahim had 5 or 6 daughters who were there with their children as well…and one had 7 or 8 children! Then after our HUGE meal (Arab families are never satisfied that you have had enough to eat and will always say, “Eat! You have had nothing to eat!”) we were served 2 rounds sweet Chai tea and his son came during that time after the dinner and the men sat in one room and the women in another room and talked for a great while. Then we headed back to the hotel after briefly playing keep away with some of the young kids and a soccer ball. Back in our room there was a lot on the news about Israel entering Gaza. We heard 2 different news reports and both were quite biased, one towards Israel and other towards Hamas in Gaza. Both sides definitely have their faults. Lord God, please bring peace between Israel and Gaza and really the Muslim world and around the world, but more importantly may Your will be done. Amen.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
January 1, 2009
We slept in from 8:30 AM to 2:00 PM and then went to talk to Michelle and his wife and daughter at the Summer’s. He is a business man in the Middle East and at the same time a sort of missionary, only they don’t call themselves missionaries but rather tentmakers like Paul does in the New Testament. He simply seeks to live out his faith among those he works with and people naturally ask him about what he believes because his life is so different! He only talks to people one-on-one about Christ because it is dangerous to do otherwise as it is illegal to proselytize or evangelize in the Middle East and it is illegal for Muslims to convert to anything else. Depending on where they live, if Muslims convert they are either very secret about it, are imprisoned for it, or in some cases killed for it either by family members or the government. Michelle had had AMAZING opportunities in the work place and at home to lead people to Christ and to hand out Bibles. His wife has people literally knocking on her asking her to lead Bible studies in her compound! We had a great time talking to them and were greatly encouraged to hear what our brothers and sisters are doing in the Middle East and how much God is at work there! For supper we had shwarmas which is a kind of bread wrap with chicken, fries, pickles and a special sauce in it. Either that or you can have lamb in it if you fancy…I prefer the chicken personally. We were pretty tired after all that and were glad to go to bed.
December 31, 2008
This morning I woke up 5 minutes before my alarm went off but I didn’t mind, because God provided a beautiful songbird outside our window somewhere in the courtyard outside Jaco’s apartment. It’s foggy today, but I suspect it won’t last long in the sun of Dubai. Surprisingly, when I stepped out on the porch I could see my breath, yet it was 63.5 degrees F, 17.5 degrees C. We actually met Jaco this morning! He’s a great guy and offered us anything in his refrigerator. Jaco is a quantity surveyor for various projects in Dubai including the islands in the shape of palm trees and also the island in the shape of the universe! When he left for work he said to us, “Enjoy the day.” There’s something profound about that. Simply enjoy this day that God has given us! Amen! The rest of the day was spent at the Spice Souk and the Gold Souk where we met up with Beth Longjohn’s best friend who is from Kenya along with her two boys and the daughter of one of her friends. All three kids hung all over me asking for piggy back rides and to be thrown into the air and ride on my shoulders. It was a lot of fun to be around young kids but I also had to be quite firm because they always wanted “one more” turn…so it was good training if I ever have kids someday. At one of the Souks I bought my sister, Katie, a souvenir spoon with a camel attached to it. Nancy Gavina and Katie Beachy bought some Pashminas and James Bjorlie bought a tradition head covering and a fake 8GB iPod that was clearly a cheap version of the real thing but still worked well, and was only 100 Durham…or $25. I bought a long dishdash, a skull-cap head covering, a scarf-like head covering (think Yasser Arafat), and another religious hat and ALL for 110 Durham which is like $27.50! Good buy eh? I didn’t even have to haggle with the guy to get a better price and he threw in the hat for free. Of course he still got a profit because they won’t sell you something there if they lose anything on it. I’ve been taking a lot of pictures so far so I can show what I am talking about here. We then went to a museum and got to investigate Dubai’s relatively short history. It was a very interesting and educational place. Then we headed back to Jaco’s place for a nap for a few hours until 8:30 PM in preparation for the all night lock-in at the church, DECC (Dubai Evangelical Church Center). What a blast we had at the lock-in! At first it was rather awkward being an outsider yet having been put in a leadership position at the lock-in, but we all made friends quickly. We were all split into groups and each group had to make a short 5 minute film that loosely followed a children’s book that each group was given. The event was called the “Orville Awards” after the Oscar Awards and a little trophy is given away to the best supporting actor and the best director. My group got the book Cinderella…yeah…and I was all about giving them ideas and supporting but then the youth in my group asked me to Cinderella! I was a little hesitant but agreed to do so…if we changed a lot of the story.
So I changed my name to C-Dog and then proceeded to turn Cinderella into a gangster story of a guy with 3 studly-step brothers who were merciless against their brother C-Dog in the “dart game” (those at Cornerstone will for most likely understand this game). So news reaches C-Dog that there is to be a dance off at the town dance floor but before he can go his brothers dart him and leave him on the floor while they head off to the dance floor. However, C-Dog’s Fairy Moo Mother appears in the form of a plush toy cow and not only pulls the dart out of his neck but gives him an Alpaca Sweatshirt that repels all darts and gives him some sweet dancing skills! So C-Dog goes to the dance off where no one recognizes this gangsta and everyone is simply amazed at his dance moves. I had thought to myself that this was already going to be embarrassing so I thought I might as well go all out with the final “dance”. So I start my hip hop routine spinning around a little and then getting down with one shoulder to the ground and my feet in the air, push myself up to my feet and got on my back to flip myself to my feet by pushing off with my hands and fling my legs up so I landed on my feet. I then did a cartwheel into the splits (I definitely pulled a muscle when I did that) and stand to everyone’s cheers on the dance floor and everyone loved C-Dog from then on out…and he never got shot with those darts again either.
It was a lot of fun and got to know a lot of people during the process and even won the Orville Award (which was a porcelain statue of a fat Arab man with sunglasses and arms folded across his chest) for the best supporting actor! Nancy got a trophy for best director which was named Ahmed and was a little bobble head bearded Arab man. We stayed up until 8 AM before we went to bed and during that time Shehan and I went on a 5-0 winning streak in ping-pong before finally being defeated by Johnny and Jamaila. Leslie, Wes and I went to the gas station nearby and cleaned out all 48 of their Dunkin Donuts along with many croissants for everyone’s breakfast at 4 AM…nutritious I know. It was great getting to know people and making friends. The youth here are so friendly and make friends quickly and easily because they have to. Pretty much everyone in the church comes in and out of Dubai within 2 years and so they have learned to develop friendships quickly as well.
So I changed my name to C-Dog and then proceeded to turn Cinderella into a gangster story of a guy with 3 studly-step brothers who were merciless against their brother C-Dog in the “dart game” (those at Cornerstone will for most likely understand this game). So news reaches C-Dog that there is to be a dance off at the town dance floor but before he can go his brothers dart him and leave him on the floor while they head off to the dance floor. However, C-Dog’s Fairy Moo Mother appears in the form of a plush toy cow and not only pulls the dart out of his neck but gives him an Alpaca Sweatshirt that repels all darts and gives him some sweet dancing skills! So C-Dog goes to the dance off where no one recognizes this gangsta and everyone is simply amazed at his dance moves. I had thought to myself that this was already going to be embarrassing so I thought I might as well go all out with the final “dance”. So I start my hip hop routine spinning around a little and then getting down with one shoulder to the ground and my feet in the air, push myself up to my feet and got on my back to flip myself to my feet by pushing off with my hands and fling my legs up so I landed on my feet. I then did a cartwheel into the splits (I definitely pulled a muscle when I did that) and stand to everyone’s cheers on the dance floor and everyone loved C-Dog from then on out…and he never got shot with those darts again either.
It was a lot of fun and got to know a lot of people during the process and even won the Orville Award (which was a porcelain statue of a fat Arab man with sunglasses and arms folded across his chest) for the best supporting actor! Nancy got a trophy for best director which was named Ahmed and was a little bobble head bearded Arab man. We stayed up until 8 AM before we went to bed and during that time Shehan and I went on a 5-0 winning streak in ping-pong before finally being defeated by Johnny and Jamaila. Leslie, Wes and I went to the gas station nearby and cleaned out all 48 of their Dunkin Donuts along with many croissants for everyone’s breakfast at 4 AM…nutritious I know. It was great getting to know people and making friends. The youth here are so friendly and make friends quickly and easily because they have to. Pretty much everyone in the church comes in and out of Dubai within 2 years and so they have learned to develop friendships quickly as well.
Friday, January 16, 2009
December 30, 2008
Today was quite interesting. After leaving Chicago to Manchester, England at 5:30 PM we arrived in Manchester at 7:30 AM which would be 2:30 AM in MI and OH and I didn't sleep at all on the flight. The headrests were too short for me and with no leg room I found it most difficult to sleep and very uncomfortable. In Manchester, we did some researching and then headed via train to go eat some breakfast away from the airport. I had a classic English breakfast called the Breakfast Special which was made up of toast, a fried egg, baked beans, sausage, mushrooms (didn't eat those...sick), something else I can't remember and all that will some English coffee. We stopped at a bakery for some pastries and drinks and then headed back to the airport. Another looooong 8 hour flight ensued leaving Manchester at 1:30 PM and arriving in Dubai at 12:45 AM Dubai time, 10:45 PM Manchester time and 5:45 PM Ohio time! I stayed up more than 24 hours but it was much more comfortable on Emirate Airlines than American Airlines! I watched Eagle Eye on my personal movie screen and even got some sleep with the increased legroom and a headrest that actually could be adjusted to my head height! We finally got into Dubai and into bed by 4 AM at the place we stayed in with our new friend Jaco. We woke up at 10 AM very much refreshed by the much needed sleep. Upon entering the van which became our second home because we traveled so much, we ventured to the church and met with the youth pastor, John, and some of the other people that would be helping with the youth group's lock-in for New Year's that we too would be helping with. We met Wes, Johnny, Shehan and Jamaila who were our co-leaders and then headed off to Al Safa park to play ultimate Frisbee with the youth group. It was so much fun but most of us got very sweaty and ... "a-stinky". James (the other Cornerstone male student) got his lips busted open pretty deep with a Frisbee during the game but wanted no stitches or pity!
So before we got to Dubai, we had all joked about how James and I would have to end up sleeping together...then we got to the place we were staying and sure enough we were sharing a nice big queen sized bed which we found quite humorous. It's quite comfortable and nothing awkward happened so all is good! After Ultimate Frisbee we showered up and then went out to eat with Sharri and Leandi who were from South Africa, as is Jaco, with whom we are staying. It is truly amazing how different cultures are! Leandi was very inquisitive about out lives in the US and the way of life there: schools, churches, politics, accents, etc. I'd never had the opportunity or the need to really explain our culture and way of life and it really makes you think about the things we do and why we do them. Then we met Leandi's brother Solomon and his first girlfriend Leslie. Solomon is a passionate believer at age 22 and is VERY passionate about music and even has a CD out which I now have! For the first time he has considered dating I guess and his girlfriend Leslie is a flight attendant for Emirate Airlines. We looked around the restaurant we ate at, Dome, and looked in several shops in the area. They had lots of wood furniture along with clothing and old trinkets. Then James and I went back to Jaco's apartment in the Gardens, whom we had yet to even meet and went to bed! We went to bed at 11:20 PM and had a 7:ooAM rise! Good night!
So before we got to Dubai, we had all joked about how James and I would have to end up sleeping together...then we got to the place we were staying and sure enough we were sharing a nice big queen sized bed which we found quite humorous. It's quite comfortable and nothing awkward happened so all is good! After Ultimate Frisbee we showered up and then went out to eat with Sharri and Leandi who were from South Africa, as is Jaco, with whom we are staying. It is truly amazing how different cultures are! Leandi was very inquisitive about out lives in the US and the way of life there: schools, churches, politics, accents, etc. I'd never had the opportunity or the need to really explain our culture and way of life and it really makes you think about the things we do and why we do them. Then we met Leandi's brother Solomon and his first girlfriend Leslie. Solomon is a passionate believer at age 22 and is VERY passionate about music and even has a CD out which I now have! For the first time he has considered dating I guess and his girlfriend Leslie is a flight attendant for Emirate Airlines. We looked around the restaurant we ate at, Dome, and looked in several shops in the area. They had lots of wood furniture along with clothing and old trinkets. Then James and I went back to Jaco's apartment in the Gardens, whom we had yet to even meet and went to bed! We went to bed at 11:20 PM and had a 7:ooAM rise! Good night!
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