A little bit on some things

Happy Friday! This time I really don’t have a lot to say but sometimes (always?) that is better. I think for ease of use I will go with the trusty bullet points.
• I’ve been spending some time in the library this week; this is good since I’m the librarian.
• In order to get to the library I walk about 25 minutes. Sometimes this walk is filled with people who think it is appropriate to park their car and start walking with me so they can practice their English. I think the word for that is stalking.
• This week started my three-week block of not having to teach domestic arts this week. Hallelujah!
• The next unit I am teaching is sewing and I bought fabric on Tuesday so I could do some sample projects.
• Shopping for fabric in this country quickly became one of my least favorite past-times. Why is everything either a nasty polyester blend or Winnie the Pooh?
• Because of this, and various other frustrating things about living here, Tuesday is what I like to call a “bad day.”
• Most of the things that were driving me crazy on Tuesday got resolved on Wednesday. Like I even had a car for part of the day so I could go shopping without being on someone else’s schedule. So God is faithful even in the small things, imagine that.
• Wednesday Lori and I spent running around town getting the papers in order so that her car can leave the country. She picked me up at 7:30am to get started and we didn’t make it back until 6pm.
• We got these papers because on Sunday the two of us are driving to Panama! We’re planning on getting to Panama City Monday afternoon and spending a few days there before we start heading North to hit some beaches on the way back to Nicaragua where we hope to arrive some time the following Sunday.
• Tomorrow we’ll finish collecting food and music for the car and making photocopies of important papers and maybe getting the oil checked somewhere in there.
• I am really excited about this trip and you should be excited about the update you’ll get when it’s over.
• I was just sitting in my friend’s backyard and the neighbors were burning something. My hair was already greasy but now it smells like smoke too.
• Shouldn’t there be regulations against having outdoor fires on windy days during the dry season?
• Well it seems like I still found plenty of things to say, I’m guessing you’re not surprised.
Love, Joy

Semana Santa, Biblioteca, y Quinceañera

Semana Santa

Being that Sunday is Easter, this week is Semana Santa.   Having a week free has been very nice but since for the most part I make my own schedule, I guess the good part was other people having the week free as well.  Last year I went to Costa Rica for the week but this year was way more low key.  I went with a  group of friends to Laguna de Apoyo.  We stayed at this little hotelish place and spent the greater part of two days napping in hammocks and swimming in  the lake.  It was perfect. 

Yesterday I went to a conference for the day with the Nica church I used to go to.  I haven’t been exposed to as much Spanish as one may expect since I’ve been back but yesterday more than made up for it.  Boy was I tired by the time I got home.  But it was a really good time and I got to see some people I haven’t seen in a while. 

So enough details about that, I know you really wanted to hear about how we got there.  We went to this town called Dolores that is up in the hills probably about 45 minutes away in good conditions.  The conditions yesterday were not what one would really consider good.  I rode in a five-passenger car with four other people, this is acceptable.  But one of the cars we were caravanning with was an old Datsun pickup.  There was room for 2.5 inside but another 15 in the bed, so yes that is tough on any car but this one wasn’t that great to start off with.  Not only did we have to stop every 15 minutes to put in water to keep it from over heating but one of the wheels only had 2 lug nuts.  I can’t really say safety comes first in this country.  Did I mention that one of the 15 passengers in the back was a 13 month-old in her stroller?

Biblioteca

Things are coming along in my library.  I have successfully entered 170 books in our database.  I thought that we only had about 300 books to do but then I realized that books aren’t very big and that I am a terrible estimator.  I could explain more about this process but then maybe you would know how much of a nerd I really am.  Good thing you’re not here or I would have no hope hiding it from you. 

Quinceañera

Last Sunday was my birthday.   Last year no one knew it was my birthday until the day or so before but this year was much better.  My roommates were all out of town but some friends brought me muffins for breakfast and sang to me at the door.  For lunch I went to the Ferrer’s house and some people from Nica church were there.  The lunch was all in Spanish and I just sat there awkwardly.  I mean if you think I’m awkward in large groups normally stick a foreign language on me.

On Sunday night my friends threw me a party.  A few weeks ago this man asked me if I had turned 15 yet (and then if I was married or had kids) so the theme of my birthday party was quinceañera/luau.  For your viewing pleasure I’ve put in some pictures of this quintessential event.  I got to wear a nice headband for the occasion instead of the traditional tiara because that goes better with the luau theme

With BFF Lori.

With Lilo.

With cake in my face. 

 The next picture would show me spitting the frosting out onto the girl that shoved my face in. 

Monday night my roommates came home and took me out to dinner, and I’m still waiting for my gift from you so really my birthday was stretched out nicely.

Happy Easter! “He has risen”…you know the rest.

La Chureca

Wednesday marked one and a half years of me living in Nicaragua.  In that time I’ve written 67 of these posts.  I was thinking I could use this as a time to reflect on the past 18 months, but you can reflect on your own and instead I’ll do a little spotlight on La Chureca

I have mentioned the city dump, La Chureca, before.  It has the normal mountains of trash and squalor that you would expect from a dump but also has 1,000 to 1,500 residents, a school, a clinic, a church, and a few other community service organizations.  There is a battle of wills between some of the non-profits that serve there on what way the people can best be helped.   On Thursday there was an event to raise awareness of both the people that live there and of the organizations that are stationed there. 

The day was called Dia de Luz. Since the group, Manna Project International, that I am working with helps out at the clinic in La Chureca I went to the event.  It was a very interesting day.  There were about 300 gringos there, mostly mission teams that are down for spring break projects.  They got together and walked through the dumps flying kites and kicking soccer balls, like a big parade.  I checked out at this part and went to the clinic.  There I got the basics about the basic services offered there so I would be ready to explain to the visitors when the parade passed by.  I am probably, out of all the people at MPI, the least qualified to give tours of  the clinic,  but I got pretty good at skirting around questions when I didn’t know the answer. My favorite thing to tell them was that  “we are expanding really rapidly,” this works for everything from questions about how much it costs to run to how many people come in daily.  My favorite was when people assumed that I work there every day, then I had to admit that it was only my forth time at La Chureca and my first time in the clinic then I  would quickly draw their attention to things that I do know about.  To finish of the day there was a free concert, by the group Braddigan who sponsored the event. 

Besides being completely exhausting physically, Dia de Luz made me do some thinking.  Why am I no longer absolutely blown away by the extreme poverty that surrounds me?  How can people be helped?  How can I help people?  Is it true that any little bit counts?  I know in theory that sounds fine, but what about the whole “one step forward two steps back” concept?  With all these conflicting ideas I was reminded of grace.  A friend pointed out that more than we realize we commit cultural faux pas yet the Nicaraguans still graciously welcome us into their lives.  I am learning more and more that I am responsible for my own thoughts and actions and not those of others.  Who am I to say God can’t work in people’s lives using a parade of gringos and a concert?  And if that is what He wants to do I can’t get in the way by having a cynical attitude.  And I can’t help anyone if I am focused on myself and my problems.       

I got a new cell phone this week.  I am now on a corporate plan with Manna, I get cheaper calls and unlimited texting within network.   This is exciting because cell phone fees are atrocious in this country and now I don’t have to worry about them.

I hope you have lovely Monday.

Love, Joy