A Day In the Life

Today work continued on Ricardo's home. 

Helen Williams and  Joan Lester

We erected the framing for the interior walls, and completed the remainder of the roof supports for the kitchen. Tomorrow we expect to do some painting and install the corrugated metal on the kitchen roof. It is looking very nice.

The differences in language sometimes create some comical situations. Some of the group are fluent in Spanish, while others, like myself, can barely get by. I know enough to be polite but beyond that I am hopeless. Others have taken some Spanish language classes and are attempting to converse in the native tongue. Today I heard what can be best described as "Spanglish." The local carpenter who has been helping us was trying to get one of our group to cut a board and I heard her say, "No esta even." I think I would give her an "A" for effort but I am not sure the carpenter understood that the end of the board was not square.

That afternoon we did some touring around San Ramon. Some took a bus to Madagalpa to do some shopping while others took a bus into the mountains to see the entry to an old gold mine and then hike further into the mountains to visit several communities still beyond the reach of the electric utility. I can only imagine how dark it must be there when the sun sets. 

Sister and best friends.

The forests are lush with fruit trees including mangos, papayas, limes, star fruit and others varieties that I do not recognize that may only be edible by wildlife. Some of the trees were spectacular in size. I am glad that the Nicaraguan government has chosen to protect their forests versus exploiting them for profit. We saw a group of our "cousins" sitting in trees waving at us — or was it sticks they were throwing? 

It was the first time I have seen monkeys without the bars of a zoo between us.

I must mention the buses here. If all you think of is CAT buses, forget everything you know. 

Typical Mountain Public Transportation

All buses here are retired school buses from America that have been outfitted with ladders and roof racks to carry not just luggage but bags of foodstuffs and sometimes even brave passengers who can't squeeze inside. The outsides are painted in every color of the rainbow with pictures of Jesus Christ and/or the Virgin Mary painted on the back door. Once you are inside the real adventure begins. Besides being surrounded with smiling faces you are entertained by loud Latin music. The walls over the windows are painted with bible verses. On our bus, the one over the exit door read in Spanish, "Nothing is impossible for God." I was happy to feel surrounded by God. It made me feel a bit safer as we traveled down the road weaving around washouts and boulders that had fallen onto the road, all the time looking out the windows at spectacular views and sheer cliffs.  Guard rails have not made it this far south, by the way.

That night after eating dinner at our guest houses, we all gathered the belongings we brought to give away at a central home. As we began to sort and organize the stuff we realized just how much we had brought with us. It really had a Christmas atmosphere knowing that everything was to be given away. The biggest pile was toys of all kinds destined for Los Patitos, an organization that works with handicapped children. It is the same place that Pastor Bev and the LSM students volunteered when they traveled to Nicaragua last year.

—Pastor Larry (San Ramon, Nicaragua)