Wrapping up the summer

Sorry it's taken me almost two weeks of being home to write this final post! It's been a whirlwind of catching up with friends and family and getting ready to go back to school in a week.

My last week in Nicaragua was a great wrap-up week. Tuesday was a full work day - we decided to push our charla on lice back to Thursday because school was out (another random Nicaraguan school holiday). Of course, I ended up digging for about an hour and then going to hang out with one of the Chonco kids, Guadalupe, and her family. We stopped to buy tortillas at another house before heading to her home, where she lives with her mom and dad, a baby brother, two older sisters, and two baby nephews (each sister has a son). Guadalupe's two sisters are 18 and 16, and the younger of the two had a second baby on the way. This is pretty common in Nicaragua, but it still caught me off-guard.

Guadalupe's mom gave me some seafood soup to eat. I was hesitant to eat it, but I didn't know what else to do. It was really generous of her considering how many mouths she had to feed! I ended up feeding most of it to Guadalupe's little brother. We chatted about their lives and about U.S. area codes (they wanted to call a missionary they had befriended and were having trouble getting her number to work), and then they took pictures on my camera (well, my friend's camera - mine was broken at this point in the trip) of me with one of the baby nephews. By the time I made it back to the group, it was lunch time.

I don't remember what I did the rest of the afternoon (probably dug trenches with the group), but I do remember talking again with Guadalupe at the school at the end of the day. She told me that when she grows up, she wants to be a nurse. I thought about her two sisters, at home with babies. Guadalupe is thirteen right now, so she's only a few years from what is sort of the normal age in Nicaragua to have a kid herself. But I hope that, instead, she can stay in school and that her dreams of becoming a nurse can come true.

On Wednesday, I got to go to the mothers' and childrens' hospital and see two babies being born. The first was born by C-section. It was a cool thing to see, but I don't think I would want to see it day in and day out. Maybe I won't be a surgical nurse.

The second birth we saw was a natural birth. The girl having the baby was only 16, and this was her first baby. It was just her, the doctor, and Brittany and I. I held her hand, gave her encouragement, and thought about how glad I was that it wasn't me having a baby. But even though it was gross, it was also beautiful. This girl was so happy to see her little newborn baby boy. I don't think I've ever seen anyone so happy or so unsure of what to do with a baby. They put the baby on her stomach the second after he was born, and she just kind of tapped him lightly a couple of times with the tips of her fingers. It was such a reminder to me that she was just a kid having a baby. She probably wasn't really ready, but she would have to be. It was a neat day overall, and I'm glad to have experienced it all.

Thursday was our final charla (on head lice - we played a game where we gave the kids strips of paper with facts about lice and they had to put them in either the "true" or "false" column on a piece of posterboard). It was also the day I said goodbye to all of my Chonco friends and my little Chonco babies. I cried on multiple occasions as I made my rounds. Anna gave me a picture of herself, Sarai, and Kerin when the kids were younger, and it was really touching. It's not like she can just go and print another one whenever she feels like it. I'm going to send her some pictures that I took of and with her family.

Saying goodbye to all of the kids was the hardest. I gave gifts to a few of the kids that I bonded the most with. When I gave Marie-Angelica gifts for her and her sisters (just a few photos and a Beanie Baby doll for each of them), she was touched. Her expression made me think she had never received a gift in her life. Her family is poorer than most in Chonco, and she is usually left at home to take care of her younger siblings. I was glad that she could feel special for once, if only for a few minutes.

It was especially hard to say goodbye to my little friend Juana. She was always full of joy and sass, and she came up to me that day with a smile. But when I told her that that was my last day in Chonco, her face dropped. She was really sad, and so was I. She is definitely one of my favorite Chonco kids - there is so much life and potential inside this little girl! I can't wait to go back to El Chonco and see how Juana and all of my other little friends are doing.

Friday was a great day to end on because I got to meet the Bead Amigas ladies in Los Rotarios and I got to see the Villa Catalina kids put on a production of Peter Pan! Seeing the Bead Amigas ladies and learning how they made the beads was really great. It was cool to see where what is now a very successful business all started and how these women are able to support their families and their community through the sale of these beads.

Peter Pan was really great. I can't believe the kids in Villa sat still long enough to learn all of those lines! I couldn't believe what a beautiful set Tomas and Katie had made, and I was so proud of them and of all of the kids. It was a great day for the community, the missions group, and all of the staff and interns.

It was hard to leave the next morning, but I know it won't be my last time in Nicaragua. God has taught me a lot through the Nicaraguan people. I've gained a lot of perspective on what I actually need (God, love, community) versus what I want (everything else), what's important and what I waste time on. I also learned how to just go with it - there are so many things that can go wrong and keep things from happening on time or at all in Nicaragua, and worrying about it doesn't change that. I need to be able to have a Nicaraguan mindset in the things I do in America. I do so much needless worrying, and it's not worth it. I need to trust that God is going to work it out, that He is the most powerful, and that he has my best interest in mind.

I think that I will slowly learn more and more from my experiences in Nicaragua as time goes on. I know that God has more to show me, and I can't wait to see what that is! And hopefully, I'll get to visit Nicaragua again soon :)

Thanks to everyone who read my blog this summer - I'm so glad that I could share these experiences with all of you!

Milta

I wrote two posts today, so if you're keeping up, make sure to read the one right before this also! :)

The word "emotional" doesn't even begin to describe the past few days. Sunday was my fifth and final Cerro Negro climb of the summer. I prayed with friends at the top, enjoyed quiet reflection and then a time of worship with the St. Louis group that's here this week, and watched the sunset at the bottom of the volcano. The few moments in which we stood watching the sunset were the greatest of the day by far. I don't know that I've ever seen a more beautiful sunset, and it felt like God had made it just for our little group. I felt the Lord saying to me, "How much greater and more beautiful than this sunset are the plans that I have for you?"

On Monday, we experienced a totally opposite set of emotions. We found out that we had lost a loved one - a little El Chonco girl named Milta.

On the way to Chonco yesterday, Benito, our bus driver, told Kelly (who told me) that an 11-year-old girl from Chonco had been hit by a car and killed over the weekend. We immediately started thinking of who it could have been. Surely it wasn't one of our girls. They don't live near the main road, and they never have any reason to go out near the street.

All I could think about was getting off of the bus, and when I finally did, I ran to find an answer to our question of who. I had seen Bianca and Patricia, two of my beloved Chonco kids, as we were pulling in and ran and hugged them. I was glad to see them alive. "¿Quien se murió ayer?," I asked them ("Who died yesterday?"). They responded,"Milta," and I was in disbelief. There must be another Milta. They can't be talking about the girl I met on my first day in Chonco, the first Chonco kid I met and befriended, the girl I played with regularly and who attended my charlas, my sassy little smarty-pants Milta.

I looked down the street and saw that Kelly had found out, too. I went and hugged her, and we cried. I've never felt such despair. I've never experienced the loss of a loved one outside of my great uncle's passing (and he was close to ninety years old and more than ready for Heaven). How could this possibly have happened? All that this community has is each other - how could God have let this happen?

I stayed off to the side of where the group was, in tears, while Kelly made a few phone calls. Jackie, one of Milta's closest friends, came over and immediately started crying, too. She knew exactly why Kelly and I were crying. I knelt down to comfort her, and she started comforting me, hugging me and wiping away my tears. I hugged her as tightly as I could. This poor little 8-year-old girl was mourning one of her best friends, and it broke my heart.

Jackie continued to touch my heart as she, Kelly, some of the other little Chonco girls, and I went out to invite the people of the community to a memorial service we were having for Milta later that afternoon. Jackie was, at many of the houses, the first to run up and tell people about the service. You could tell that she desired for her community to come together and mourn and remember with her.

The service we had was beautifully sad. We sang a song called "Hold my Hand," and I stood holding the hand of Vanessa, another of my Chonco babies. I felt the Lord saying, "This is Jesus whose hand you're holding," and I thought of how Jesus also lived in Milta. I know that Jesus walked Milta right through the gates of Heaven last Saturday at 2 PM.

I learned a lot yesterday about community and about friendship. A lot of my little Chonco friends were hugging me after the memorial service because they knew I was sad, and I knew that they accepted me as a part of their family. I will miss our little Milta, and I know that the united community of Amigos and Chonco will never ever forget her.

Milta on my first day in El Chonco

Milta working on an activity at our Food Pyramid charla

Tough days and family times

Written yesterday, posted today...

The week before last ended sort of roughly. I had an emotionally Thursday full of bumps and bruises - we had communication and organization issues, nothing went as planned, and I was totally forgotten and left behind at one point. I took a couple of ladies from the mission group with me to visit the paralyzed patient in Corinto with Dr. Christian and then to Dr. Christian's charla in Santa Matilde. We ended up with two trips to Corinto (the patient was out working the first time, which is actually pretty amazing), a trip to Betania to do some tiny cosmetic operations on two of the interns (Brittany's dad was visiting, and he's a plastic surgeon), and a visit to Santa Matilde. Lots of driving, lots of exhaustion, lots of emotional stress from being left behind when the group left for Betania.

But I learned a lot that day about myself, my insecurities, and depending on the Lord for strength and miracles. We had a really touching experience praying for the patient in Corinto, and I made a really close friend and mentor that day in one of the women, Elizabeth. I was in tears when she left on Saturday, but I know I'll keep in touch with her and visit her when I get back to Atlanta.

This past week was the best yet because my dad was here! And he and the rest of the Sugarloaf UMC group impressed and entertained me all week long. On Sunday, we climbed Cerro Negro. I was convinced that my dad would choose to go the easier way, but I totally underestimated him. Jeff, Tom, Maureen, one of the long-termers (Scott), my dad and I ended up going up the medium (or "harder") way. And everyone in our little group conquered that volcano. It was a huge challenge, and it was such a special thing for me to get to share with my dad. I always think of my dad as a strong and talented man, but this was a whole new facet of him that I had never really gotten to see before.

On Monday, I experienced going to the dump at El Limonal with him and the rest of the Sugarloaf UMC group. I got to go with him to Villa Catalina, see Wilfredo's house and family again, and introduce him to the family that hosted me for a night. I then went home to prepare for my charla on iron that I would be doing the next day.

I really enjoyed my charla last week, and I was so excited to bring my dad and Sharon. I talked about the importance of iron in your diet and how to get more iron in your diet, and I also passed out tortillas that I had made with parsley (which is a great source of iron, if you didn't know that already). It turned into a great time to chat with my favorite ladies of El Chonco and introduce them all to my father. I love those ladies, and I love that I got to share them with someone who is so important in my life. After my charla, we got to go to Alex's party to celebrate the end of her fitness class. We had a great time dancing with the ladies and the kids, but it was so sad to see Alex leave for the states the next day. She is such a beautiful member of our little intern family, and it was really hard to say goodbye.

Wednesday was a really special day for a lot of reasons. My dad, Rick, Wilfredo and I went on an adventure to Santa Matilde to find and meet the boy that Rick sponsors. We thought we would be looking for him for at least an hour because Santa Matilde has over 300 families. But God clearly had his hands all over that day because Rick's sponsor kid was standing about twenty feet away from the spot where we got out of the taxi. We got to meet his grandmother, his two brothers, and his mom. We even got to visit the church and hear him sing the Spanish version of "Here I am to Worship" with one of his friends. Of course, my dad and I couldn't resist getting up there and singing the English version right afterward.

It was a great morning, and to make it even better, we followed it with lunch at Tip Top (which is basically fast food fried chicken, so I went and got a salad at Subway) and an afternoon at the pool with Sharon and Steve! They stayed at Hotel Los Volcanes, which is only about ten minutes from the Amigos house. I had an incredible time relaxing at the pool with the SUMC folks, eating some yummy appetizers, and taking a hot shower (thanks again Sharon and Steve :) ).

On Thursday, the interns said goodbye to two more beloved members of our intern family - Courtney and Christian. But I know I'll see them back in Atlanta in the fall, and I already can't wait!

Thursday morning was a busy day of digging. The group finished up the last bit of work on the main line of the water system in El Chonco! It was a hugely exciting day, and it means that this week, we will be able to turn on the water in El Chonco for the first time!!! After lunch, though my dad was anxious to head back to work digging trenches to lay pipe leading up to people's houses, I dragged my dad to the home of my friend Ana. After my charla on Tuesday, she promised me a Thursday cooking lesson.

Ana showed me how to make sopa de guajada, and it was undoubtedly one of the best things I've eaten all summer. You first mix corn flour and water to make a dough. Then you mix in chiltoma (green pepper), onions, some kind of spice that might have been cumin, crumbled up guajada cheese, and one egg. You make little patties out of that and fry them, but you leave some of the mix aside to make the soup. You add water to the left over mix, boil it, at salt to taste, and then throw in the fried patties. It sounds sort of weird and different, but I promise you that it was delicious. And best of all, it was gluten free!

I thought that maybe Ana would just give us a taste of what she was making, but she sat us down in her house for a full meal. She even set up her fan to cool us off while we ate. She didn't really have a dining table, so she put us at the table where she prepared the food. I wish more than anything that we could build Ana a new kitchen like the one Amigos is working on for her neighbor, Lucia. She is so generous and loving, and if anyone deserves a dining table where her family can enjoy a meal together, it is this beautiful woman.

We thanked Ana profusely and left to meet up with the group. We had the usual hour or so to play with the kids before piling onto the bus. Just before we headed out, Ana's little daughter, Sarai, came running up with yet more food for me! She gave me the biggest corn tortilla I'd ever seen in my life and some kind of delicious jam. I just couldn't believe the generosity and friendship that Ana had shown to me that day. It made me reflect on all of the things I guard and keep to myself. How important are material possessions really, and how much more joy could I get out of sharing them? Ana taught me so much more that day than how to make soup, and I will always be thankful for that.

Friday was a morning of work at Villa Catalina for the group (I took that time to enjoy my first couple of hours of office time in weeks) and an evening at the beach. It was really great to hang out with my dad on the bus ride and then chill at the beach with the Sugarloaf guys, Maureen, Charlotte, and Sandy (three of the ladies in the mission group).

It was hard to say goodbye to my dad and SUMC the next morning, but I was really glad that they all came down. It was definitely a week that I won't forget.

Nica homestay

Yesterday was pretty surreal. I had pretty much my normal day – charla in El Chonco in the early morning, hang out with my best Chonco friends until lunch (yesterday it was Ana, a 26-year-old mother of two who is as sweet as can be and really fun to chat with), work a bit in the early afternoon, and take shelter from the pouring rain until we left around five. There were a few medical consults with Brittany’s dad (a pediatric plastic surgeon who is down for the week) and with Dr. Christian sprinkled into the mix, but it was pretty much a typical Tuesday.

When I left El Chonco, my Tuesday shifted from my normal to a more Nicaraguan normal. My evening pretty much turned into Wilfredo’s day. Wilfredo is one of my Nicaraguan friends. He lives in Villa Catalina, a community that Amigos pretty much built. They built the houses there, put in a school and health center, and have several ongoing projects there, like Young Life (Vida Joven) and the after school programs. Villa is where they moved people from the Chinandega garbage dump, people who were placed in the dump by the government when Hurricane Mitch struck and who were basically stuck.

Villa Catalina is Wilfredo’s home. His house, like all of the houses that Amigos built there, is small and sturdy, with two bedrooms and a main room, a kitchen in the back, and a latrine and shower in the backyard. On this particular Tuesday night, I stayed in a home in Villa just like his with a woman named Fatima and her two children, Junyelki and Sol. My friend Megan, a nurse from Minnesota who lives in Nicaragua full time, has been staying with Fatima two or three nights a week for the past few weeks. She’s been thinking of moving out to Villa Catalina full time, so this is kind of a trial run. I asked Fatima (in my nervous, broken Spanish) if I could come and stay one night that Megan was staying, and she instantly welcomed me to stay any night I wanted.

So when the bus pulled over to drop Wilfredo off on the way back from Chonco, I got off, too. As usual, Benito, the bus driver, forgot to stop at Villa and stopped instead about a third of a mile down the road, but it gave Wilfredo and I a chance to catch up. It was surreal walking to Villa knowing that I wouldn’t be returning to Casa Blanca for dinner or taking a shower like I usually would after a normal work day. The sun was setting, and I was about to settle in for the night at the home of a woman I had met twice. In rural Nicaragua. Weird.

I got there and was welcomed in by Junyelki, who had clearly been awaiting my arrival, and then by Megan, who was watching a sketchy copy of Jungle Book with Junyelki. Fatima came out to say hello and show me to my bed for the night. As I dropped my stuff off and changed into a clean, dry shirt, she fixed me a plate of food (rice, some chicken dish with tomatoes and onions, and a corn tortilla) and then headed out for a special church service. I ate and hung out with Megan and Junyelki, and when Fatima came home and the kids went to bed, we sat around and talked for about an hour and a half.

It was fun to hear Fatima’s stories. She told us about how things were going at the health center and told stories about the Bland kids and some of the other people who have been down here several years in a row. She also told us about her husband, who works 24 hour shifts every other day. And about the neighbor, who gets up at 3:30 AM to start making tortillas because people start coming to buy them at 5. But tomorrow the neighbor probably wouldn’t be making tortillas because her daughter has something akin to the measles. Everyone knows everyone in Villa Catalina in a way that no one seems to know their neighbors in Atlanta.

We went to bed at 9:30 because Megan and I had to leave around 6 this morning (the Amigos staff were leaving to climb San Cristobal, so Megan had to be back for that). I had never experienced darkness as black as when we turned the lights off in Fatima’s house last night. Rural Nicaragua is DARK. The only time I really sit and think about the fact that I’m in Nicaragua is when the sun goes down, and it’s much darker in the rural communities than in Monserrat, where the interns live. It was really cool.

My bed was hard, almost like a bed frame that is meant to have a mattress on top of it, but I slept really well anyway. Fatima made Megan and I some sort of fried cheese-filled tortilla for breakfast, and we went on our way. It was a really fun night and a great experience. I would love to spend a whole summer living full time in Villa and working full time at the health center. Maybe it’s something I’ll consider for my summer off between my two years of nursing school...

Vacation Week!

This past week, the whole Amigos staff and all of the interns took a much needed week off to go on vacation. We first headed to Playa El Coco, a beautiful beach on the Pacific coast near San Juan del Sur (which is pretty much the closest you can get to Costa Rica on the Pacific side). We stayed in big beach houses, lounged at the beach, cooked a lot of great food, and just enjoyed spending time with each other away from the mission teams.

After four nights at the beach, we headed to Granada, an artsy, bohemian city near Managua. We stayed there for a night in a hotel with both air conditioned rooms and hot showers! After 8 weeks, I had forgotten how much I appreciated a hot shower. Granada is a beautiful colonial city with great architecture and great restaurants. We had salads at the Garden Cafe and omelets at Kathy's Waffle House. I almost felt like I was back in the States, and it was sort of nice to be in a little more tourist-y town for a day.

Here are some pictures from my week on vacation:

Annie and I chilling in front of the restaurant

Me, Brittany, and Courtney at the beach

Rock climbing adventure with Annie, Caitlin, Nidia

Breakfast at Kathy's Waffle House in Granada

Part of the main square in Granada

The main cathedral in Granada

More of beautiful Granada :)

Boat tour (notice the monkey's in the tree)

Sick Days

The lifestyle of a missionary can be difficult because it's often busy and physically demanding. So when you're sick, everything sort of stops.

This was my experience this week. I started out the week with strangely swollen lymph nodes. My whole throat seemed swollen, and I was popping ibuprofen and tylenol as much as possible to combat the pain. I had an ultrasound to make sure it was nothing more than an infection, and thankfully, it wasn't. But that pretty much consumed my entire Monday because of the associated waiting. We went to the ultrasound place and had to come back later because they were so busy. Then we had to wait for about an hour and a half when we came back because the doctor was out to lunch and there were several patients ahead of me. So there goes Monday.

Tuesday, I struggle through a little charla on gardening. It actually played out as Sabrina and I planting carrot seeds in about 10 families' gardens in El Chonco. It was really neat to see the existing gardens that people in El Chonco had - pretty much every house we went to had some sort of garden, and some of them were incredible! They grew all sorts of herbs, peppers, cucumbers, limes, and probably several other things that I can't remember. It was fun, and I was glad that Sabrina was willing to sort of take the reigns because I still felt miserable. But I stuck out a whole day in El Chonco and had a great time digging and chatting with the group in the afternoon. We had a stellar group this week, and though I got to talk to most of them, I wish I had had time to get to know each and every person. They never complained, worked harder than any group I had ever seen, and had great hearts for the Lord and for the work we're doing here in Nicaragua.

Wednesday was rough. It was a definite sick day, and I didn't want to talk to anyone. But on Thursday, I switched to a new antibiotic, and by yesterday, I was feeling way better. I'm almost back to 100%, and it's just in time for vacation week! Tomorrow, we're heading to the beach for four nights and then Grenada for one night. I can't wait to have a fun, restful week with all of the awesome staff and interns :)

Clinics, Charlas, and San Cristóbal

It's been an insane and awesome past week. On Thursday, I took a group of girls with Dr. Christian and I to Villa Catalina to observe medical consults. I helped with Dr. Christian's charla on how to keep a broken bone immobilized before heading to the hospital (which is especially useful in a place where it may take a long time to get to a hospital and be seen by a doctor). I also translated the charla into English for the girls I brought with. The girls and I then watched a couple of consults, but there weren't many patients to see that day. And because Dr. Christian and Roberto had sort of disappeared to do some other things, I was left in charge of the group. We ultimately decided to take taxis back to the house, and Roberto and Dr. Christian showed up just in time to go with us. And just before we left I got to ride on the back of Roberto's motorcycle! So. much. fun.

Friday was really great, too. We went to see a patient in Corinto, a community near Leon. The patient was paralyzed from the waist down after having fallen from a tree and hit an electrical wire. We were visiting to check on the huge pressure sore that turned into a huge would on his lower back and buttocks. We gave him plenty of wound dressing and antibiotics (Medicine is socialized in Nicaragua, and he can see a doctor for free. However, he has to buy all of his own medical supplies). We also gave him a cushioned seat to prevent his condition from worsening. And for part of the time while the doctor was doctoring, I took some pictures of the beautiful children shown below :)

The best part of Friday was hanging out with Sabrina and hearing about here experiences in international missions. She lived in Paraguay for two years as part of the Peace Corps. She lived in a rural village and even had her first child in a clinic there! She's also spent lots and lots of time in Nicaragua - Amigos for Christ was started about 12 years ago, and she was in it from the beginning (her husband is the founder). She's done a lot of health education in a lot of communities, and she's a great resource for me and the other healthcare interns. She also has great insight into international missions, living abroad, and the practical aspects of life as a missionary.

It was really great to hear about Sabrina's life and experiences as a missionary, and it was super awesome to hear her charla wisdom! She suggested doing street charlas to make them less formal. She told us that when charlas are hosted at the school, moms feel like they are a formal occasion that they have to get ready for. I guess it's just like women in the U.S. - we won't usually run our errands in our cleaning or yard-work clothes, but we'd probably chat with our neighbor across the street in them. So I did a charla on Vitamin A this past Tuesday, and it was a big success. I also expounded on Sabrina's idea of having someone dress up as a giant carrot and had a skit where Super Zanahoria (Super Carrot) was the main character. He saved people's eyesight and helped their immune systems. Josh, one of the nurses down here, was Super Zanahoria, and Laura, the newest addition to our group of interns, was the blind person who needed her eyesight saved. They did a really great job, and everyone laughed.

After the skit, I handed out bags of carrot sticks and had a little five minute lecture on the importance of Vitamin A and what foods contain a lot of it. It was informative, and I actually felt like the women and kids learned something from it - one of them even asked a question! After doing the charla three times on three different streets, we had a group of about 10 or 15 kids following us and chanting "Super Zanahoria, mucho Vitamina A!" It was tons of fun and super affirming for me that I was learning how to relate to and teach the people of El Chonco.

Yesterday, the Covenant Catholic boys and many of the staff and interns conquered San Cristóbal, the highest volcano in Nicaragua. San Cristóbal is 1,745 meters (5,725 feet) high, and the climb took all day long. It was a steady climb, but it took mental and physical endurance. The first couple of hours was jungle, the next hour or so was grassy, and the final couple of hours was volcanic gravel. The worst part for me was the last hour or so. At that point, all visibility was lost because we were inside of a very sulfuric cloud. It was hard to breathe and impossible to see more than 10 or 15 feet in front of me. I got really panicked toward the end because I was tired and very afraid of losing the group I was climbing with in the mist. I was almost sure I wouldn't make it to the top, but fear, the desire to conquer the volcano, and remembrance of the last four hours of climbing drove me onward. And I did it! I made it to the top! Tearfully and joyfully I enjoyed the moment with my fellow interns and the Cov Cath boys.

Because one of the older men who was a teacher and chaperone with the Covenant Catholic group had chosen to climb with us, the day was much longer than expected. Most people waited over an hour at the freezing cold top of the volcano. The climb down took nearly five hours instead of three. We didn't make it home until almost 11 PM, and everyone was pretty tired, sore, hungry, and miserable. But it was totally worth it, and everyone was glad that he climbed with us - it was a great exercise in patience and a great victory to witness! I hope I'm that much of a go-getter when I am older.

Here are a few pictures from my experiences in the past week or so:

Doctor Christian and Doctor Steve Martin with the patient in Corinto

Brittany, Me, Caroline, and Sabrina. Corinto was so beautiful!!

Faces of Corinto - David, Ingrid, Sara (from left to right)

Checking out El Ayudante, another non-profit located about an hour from Amigos for Christ

A dental group from California was working in the clinic at El Ayudante

My mom could probably handle a mission trip here :). It was a pretty swanky place.

My charla on Vitamin A - attendees eating carrots

Me teaching my charla on Vitamin A

Super Zanahoria (Super Carrot) saving Laura's vision!

Sabrina, the director's wife and experienced charla teacher, helping me out with my charla

Maerling and I

Nayeli, Theresa, and I

A little bit of the way up San Cristóbal

San Cristóbal

At the top of the highest peak in Nicaragua!

Lots of people and lots of reflection

We have a HUGE group down this week - around 90 people! That makes around 120 people including staff, interns, and long-termers. We were all a little stressed leading up to this week in anticipation of shortages on everything (food, chairs, beds, etc.), but God has been providing. Food never runs out at dinner, everyone's got a place to sleep, and the interns haven't minded sitting on the floor or on top of tables in the back.

Monday was a lot of fun. I prepped for my Tuesday charla all morning and went with the group to Villa Catalina and El Chonco in the afternoon. I made a little nine-year-old friend named Eliseo in Villa. He walked around with me, sometimes engaging in conversation, sometimes just enjoying the walk. He pointed out his friends, told me about things we passed, and gave me the signature Nica finger-wag when I asked him if he had a "novia" (girlfriend). Visits to Villa Catalina are always great - the people who live there are happy and thriving, and it's a great thing for the groups to be able to see. It's almost like a finished-product example of Amigos' work. Of course, it's never finished. The community is growing and improving, and people there are taking initiative to continue to make it better. But much of Amigos' work there is done because the people are taking so much initiative. It's a beautiful thing.

Our Monday afternoon visit to El Chonco was one of the best so far. I hadn't seen my little Chonclets in almost a week. The first kid that I saw when we were walking to the work site was Anayelle, and she ran over and gave me a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. I saw all of my other little friends that day, too, and after we finished work on the water system for the day, I got to play with them for an hour or so. Siri and Patricia gave me their regular sass, but we worked through it. These kids need you to be stern just like any other kids need it.

Sometimes I feel like I haven't been able to teach them much about healthcare, but I do feel like I'm helping some of them to learn respect and discipline. I love my little Chonco girls, and I know that they are going to grow up to be strong and beautiful women. There's a song that we often play on the bus going to and from the work site. It's by R. Kelly, and it's called "The World's Greatest." I get chills every time it's played while we're driving in Nicaragua because I truly see these kids as the greatest. God made each of them unique and special, put careful time into designing them for greatness. There is so much potential inside of these little Nica kids, and I can only imagine what they could accomplish with just a little more opportunity. Giving these kids clean, running water is putting them one big step closer to reaching their full potential, and I'm so excited to be a part of it. And I am reminded that what I'm doing to teach them is putting them a little bit closer, too. Whether it's how to wash your hands or how to prevent the spread of disease or how to respect your friends and neighbors, I'm making a little difference to them. It might be hard for me to see and discouraging at times, but I have to trust God that he is using me to make a difference.

Yesterday was a full day. I did a charla on vitamins, and the kids played BINGO. Mostly the kids just enjoyed playing the game - I'm not sure I was able to teach them much at all. But it's an experience to grow from and learn from. I just wish I had more time than just this summer to learn and to improve!

Tuesday afternoon was work work work, dig dig dig. I helped dig a huge trench to lay pipe in (another part of the El Chonco water system). We had a lot of people in our group, which meant a little bit of down time when they were doing the actual pipe laying (a job for three or four people who actually know what they're doing). I got to hang out with a few of the Sacred Heart girls that I've gotten to know the past couple of days and a couple I had just met. They are so nice and so much fun. We talked about life and stuff we like and don't like and prom and just pretty regular things. I love getting to know and spend time with the group members. It's where my heart is a lot of the time here. These are great girls, and the ones who fall in love with Amigos and our work here are going to take that love back to the U.S. and maybe invest more into the organization (whether it be time/money/getting others involved). It's cool to be a part of the growth of the organization. And it's even cooler to see people's lives transformed when they come here, even if it's in a small way.

On the way back from El Chonco yesterday, I was still feeling a little discouraged about my charla. Why am I here? What's my purpose? What is God really using me for? Am I really of any use here in Nicaragua? I was looking out the window of the bus, and I was taken aback by the scenery. The sun was peeking through the clouds in the most delicately beautiful way. The Nicaraguan landscape was radiant, with lush green grass and trees, cows and horses grazing lazily, and quiet little houses all in a row. God has been speaking to me a lot through imagery lately, and I felt him speaking clearly to me at this moment. He said, "I created all of this, all of the beauty you see in front of you. And I am the same God who created you. I put the same time and thought and heart into designing you. I made you just as beautiful and just as special." I felt the Holy Spirit encouraging me, and I really needed it. It's exhausting to work in missions abroad. There are people around all of the time, the ultimate problem of poverty seems overwhelmingly huge, and home seems really, really far away. But I know God has a plan for me this summer, and I know that, little by little, I learn what that is and He'll use me to make an impact on the people I am working with here in Nicaragua.

Villa Catalina and Our Nutrition Charla

The new mural

Judith working on her section of the mural

Prepping for the race!

The beginning

Craig being interviewed by John. He was the only gringo to participate!

Brittany, Wil and I at the race

Nutrition Charla

I love these chicas! Catherine, Bianca, Juanita, and Lacy

Melvin and I in Villa Catalina. Oh, and Rachel that cat, haha.

Alex, the sports and fitness intern, with a little girl in Villa Catalina.

This week has been tons of fun! I got to go back to Villa Catalina on Monday. It was the first time I'd been back since I was here two years ago, and it was really cool to see the town and Wilfredo's house and family and everything again. It's such a beautiful and thriving community now. Amigos has really done a great job there, and the people living there have made it there own, stepped up, and taken over most of the responsibility of keeping it up. We met the lady who is basically the president, the one who oversees the board. It was cool to know that they have a board of community members to keep it organized and growing and thriving.

We went to El Chonco after that to advertise for our nutrition charla. We invited maybe thirty or so moms to our charla (as many as we could in the few hours we had to walk around to houses in the community).

Our Tuesday charla was on nutrition, and it was pretty successful and definitely fun. We had about 7 or 8 moms and maybe 20 kids in attendance. We made food pyramid posters and let the kids and moms fill them in. Then we talked about the importance of each food group and prepared a salad for the moms and kids to try. The kids were loud and crazy, but kids and moms alike really got into the poster-making, and the salad went over well. At the very least, we provided a serving of veggies for these people, which is something rare in this community. It was a small thing, but it was fun and informative and made everyone smile. I can't wait to start planning the next one!

Bike race!

One of the most enjoyable events we've had since I've been here happened on Wednesday - the bike program kick-off! Amigos hosted a huge bike race for the people participating in their new bike program. The program allows people in rural communities who have no means of transportation to rent bikes for a very small amount (like $2 a month, I think). This allows them to get to work, healthcare facilities, etc. much more quickly. It's life-changing for them, and it was awesome to see so many people come out to celebrate the new program!

The course was a 7 kilometer loop, and participants had to bike the loop twice. The winner received $150, which is a LOT for a poor Nicaraguan. Second prize was $100, and third prize was $50. It was funny to see Nicaraguans participating in an organized race. I sort of wondered if any of them had ever seen a race like that before. Instead of finishing the race, nearly everyone dropped out once they figured out they weren't going to come in first, second, or third place. One of the "gringos," Craig, jumped in and biked behind the Nicaraguans. We were all really impressed with him - the course was treacherous, winding through rivers, boulders, and all sorts of other obstacles. But he finished like a champ!

There was lots of celebrating surrounding the bike race. The kids enjoyed piñatas, crafts, and face-painting while the rest of the crowd ate, watched the race, and cheered on participants. It was tons of fun.

Another exciting event of the week was the start of a huge mural at new property that Amigos for Christ has slowly been moving to. Five artists from Tannery Artist Colony are here this week to paint a sixty-square-foot mural on the outside wall of the new warehouse. It depicts all of the ways that Amigos is working in Nicaragua, and it is breathtaking so far. I can't wait to see it when it is all finished in a couple of days.

Pictures of the bike race and of the progress on the mural to come!

Hospital Espana and Santa Matilde

This past Friday and Saturday were super relaxing. Friday afternoon was spent at the beach (the interns are lucky – we get to go to the beach with the groups EVERY Friday!), and Saturday was spent prepping for the next group. The group this week is from all over – a few are from Crossroads in Cincinnati, a few are from Canada, a few are people who’ve invested in the bike program, a few are artists who are painting a mural at the new property, etc. It’s been really fun to get to know everyone and to have lots of adults around. It also seems to be dad week, though, and it makes me wish more than ever that my dad was here!

On Sunday, I went on my second volcano climb. This time, I took the hardest route up Cerro Negro. This way is the steepest and requires you to climb on all fours. Plus, this side of the mountain is basically gravel, so when you take two steps forward, you slide one step backward. It’s mentally and physically exhausting, but it was worth it at the top. The view seemed so much better than it had when I took the easy way, and my lunch tasted better at the top, too. It was awesome to watch the rest of the group climb, as well. One of my friends, who had given up last time she tried the hard way, made it up to the top. Another person who impressed me was a 63-year-old woman who climbed. She made it up before I did! It was an all-around awesome day.

Yesterday, I went with part of the Purdue group to one of the general hospitals. Mostly I felt like I was in the way of the nurses and doctors because I have no medical skills and sub-par Spanish, but the experience was worth it for sure. I was heartbroken when I first entered the hospital, it was hot and smelly, and there were flies everywhere. There were patient beds in the hallways because there weren’t rooms left to put them in. Supplies and staff were limited. I couldn’t imagine having to come to that hospital for any sort of illness.

I was also heartbroken for the diabetes patients. We saw probably thirty patients with missing toes and huge open wounds. Clearly these people had gone undiagnosed and untreated for a long time before they ended up at the hospital. The nurses let each of us help clean and dress the wounds of one patient. I actually enjoyed getting to help, which proved to me that I have a strong stomach. I also really enjoyed talking to and comforting the patients, and I was reminded of why I want to become a nurse.

Today, Brittany (my fellow healthcare intern) and I went to Santa Matilde to help the Purdue group with lessons on first aid and dental hygiene. I helped with the first aid lesson, and Brittany helped with the dental hygiene one. The kids were so great and so willing to participate. It was a great opportunity for me to practice my Spanish and see how to improve on the charlas that Brittany and I want to plan. We can’t wait to do our nutrition charlas and our community clean-up day in El Chonco!

Week two and our first charla

This week started out kind of rough. Inevitably, I got sick, probably from my body trying to adjust to the weather, so I slept for most of Sunday and Monday. Tuesday we were back out in El Chonco. We were putting pipe and spigots in at all of the houses in the community. It was exciting to start to see the light at the end of the tunnel that is the El Chonco water project. We are just weeks away from 1200 people having hundreds of gallons a day of clean water right at their doorsteps! Now, these people don’t have to walk miles a day for only a few gallons of water.

On Wednesday, we visited the handicapped orphanage again. Here are a few pictures of some of the Amigos crew and the Purdue group members spending time with the kids:

Yesterday, we had our first charla (“chat,” or lesson) at the school in El Chonco. The topic was handwashing, and our lesson had three components. The first was a skit about germs and the ways you can get them. I pretended to cough into my hands, Brittany pretended to sneeze, another person pretended to have a cut, and another pretended to pet their dog. We put glitter on our hands to represent the germs, and we shook hands with and gave high fives to some of the kids in the front to show how easily germs are passed.

The second part of our lesson involved a mascot, Mario la Mano, who showed us the steps of washing your hands. Rinse, soap, lather, rinse, and dry were the five steps that we went over with them. Pretty basic, but always important to reinforce for a group of kids. The last thing we did was sing a song about when you need to wash your hands (before you eat, when you touch animals, when you go to the bathroom, etc.). It was both fun and funny. A group of gringos teaching a lesson in their broken Spanish was probably sort of hilarious to these kids, but it was an all-around good time and a good start to our charla series.

We were hoping to do our charla in each classroom (so maybe six times total), but the whole school was together in one room to celebrate Mother’s Day. The best part was that all of the moms were there. They were super supportive of us and even participated when we asked questions (which may not have happened if it were just the kids). It was an unexpected blessing, I think, because it was great exposure for us. Now more of the moms know that we’re here.Hopefully it will help our attendance levels when we start to have afternoon charlas for adults!

Here are some pictures from our time at the school yesterday:

Picture time

Here are a few pictures from the past week...

At the base of Cerro Negro

At the top of Cerro Negro! Babs and I

Cutest kid in El Chonco

Chonco kids

Lacy

One of the kids actually took this picture, but I really liked it

Bianca, my shadow

Maren and Isidra