Hey family and friends. Sorry that this blog is so long. There are so many new sights and concepts here and so if you are interested, here is a little taste of Nicaragua...

Arrival

     On Monday evening my team arrived safely, healthly and exhasted in Jinotepe (Eenoetepae) Nicaragua after four plane rides and a dark, 1000km/h bus ride up a dark mountain.

     It was seven thirty local time and I woke up sweaty in my top bunk for the next two-three months. I hadn't seen outside yet on account of entering after nightfall. I sauntered from the room full of sleeping girls into the courtyard of the Neuva Vida community center, church and missionary compound. A central garden was steaming, last nights storm evapourating into a fog the wrapped around the braodleafed banana and tall flowering fruit trees. Leaving the courtyard I could see kids playfighting in the bushes and a horse with a makeshift carriage, bony cows feed on tall grasses and butterflies flutter all over. I walked across a rickety stone path to a gate. Women walked by with children on there shoulders.

     "Hola"

     "Hola, blah blah blah blah blah," smile, nod, wave.

     Trucks roared by. A man with a megaphone advertises something in Spanish. 

 

Town

     Jinotepe is full of colour. People are everywhere. Children, bony dogs, street vendors whisping away flys. Buildings are incredibly rundown by Canadian standards, but it doesn't matter. An outdoor market runs through the center of the town. Dozens of Nicas crowd their things into barrels or piles for sale - baked goods, fruits, sandals and soaps. A single isle runs through the center and people squeeze through with makeshift carts and bussels of food for sale, dogs scrounge for dropped seeds and fruits. People yell for passerbys to come purchase their product, the place is a tarp fortress. Beggars reach their cupped hands out in alleyways between deep holes in the sidewalks that make up the sewage system. Taxis and trucks, that would never have passed an emmisions test, drive quickly as there are no traffic laws or signs. The most amazing thing though is how people sit on overturned buckets, in the back of trucks or on high curbs and just wait for time to pass. Every dozen meters there is someone who is just sitting, letting the hot day pass on the street before them.

 

Barrios

     The Barrios are the neighbourhoods surrounding the town where the lower class lives. We had an oppurtunity to visit them yesterday. Shacks are all packed together, dug into the hillside. Kids and dogs are everywhere playing with wooden tops, branches, cockroaches or just sitting. People sit outside their doors in homemade rocking chairs or on boards and stones, some with parrots and birds on thier shoulders or hands. Trees make a canopy overhead and the place is vibrant with gardens and fruit trees. Even the sewage canal, covered in beautiful foilages, is beautiful. It was hard to talk to people due to the language barrier but we made some friends. One thirteen year old girl named Helen welcomed me into her home. In Spanish she insisted I come with her. We walked down a path and into one of the smaller shacks. She waved for me to come in. 

     "Me Casa!" She excalimed smiling. It was smaller than my room at home and two of four walls were dirt since the house was built into the hillside. The dirt floor was uneven and muddy. The room housed one doorless cupboard, a small fridge and a patchy curtain that concealed a mattress on the floor. She showed me where water flows in when it rains in slow, using careful Spanish and many exagerated points. I didn't know what to say. She offered me a palm sized bag of juice and insisted I have it. I didn't want to take anything from her and I knew it could make me sick because I'm not used to the local water, but I smiled.

      "Muchos Gracious, Gracious!" and I drank it. She was beautiful.

Neuva Vida

     The place we are living is also a community center and church so during the day, when there is light, it is buzzing with people, mostly teenagers and kids. Yesterday we had nothing planned so we just hung out on the compound and made friends. Some of our team helped teach an english class and some played a "Gringos vs. Nicas" futbal game. We... lost. Then we just sat around and talked with the teens and chased kids. I rode a bike around with kids sitting on the handle bars and they laughed. I also had a legit wrestling match in the dirt with some 12 year old boys. It's really awesome because you just sit around joking and chasing each other, all covered in dirt and sweat and there is nothing else that you have to do but be yourself. 

     We also went to their church service and it was fantastic. They worship with so much joy here! The church of 70ish meets in a essentally a barn, with minimal equipment but they rock it and love each other sincerely. They made a big poster for us that said:

"Welcome to the team imertion!" and they were so welcoming.

I love it here, although I'm not sure if it has really sunk in yet. Thanks for your prayers. I will post updates about life and ministry soon.

See facebook for pictures...