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.
Monday, February 23, 2009
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.
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