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.