oh, how i've missed you

So it’s been a little stretch since my last update.  You can deduce that I have a lot to say but right now I am really just thinking about how the power is out.  Since my return in February the power has been on very faithfully (just out a few hours here or there) but I was just informed that today is the start of rationing again.  So we’re on the blackout from 5pm to 10pm, or so it seems.  I’m writing this at 7:45 so I’m right about in the middle.  Normally on Wednesday nights I have Bible study but that was cancelled because of the darkness, all of my roommates had a meeting to go to.  So this power outage is hitting me hard.  On the other hand, this is part of the adventure of being down here.  What is the point of living in the third world if there aren’t any inconveniences.

 There is another energy crisis going on here too, with gasoline/diesel.  This week public transportation (that used by the masses) went on strike demanding the government help subsidize their fuel costs.  Because of the multi-step conversion rate I often over look the fact that fuel is expensive, what does 23 cords a liter really mean? Well cords to dollar is 19 so that takes us to $1.20 a liter and then liter to gallon is 3.79 so that brings us up to 4.59 a gallon.  When I used to get paid I made $95 a month, if fuel was my only cost for the month I would only be able to buy 20 gallons worth.  So yes, the busses and taxis are legitimately distressed. 

But enough on things I don’t understand.  Out of the past five weekends I have been traveling four of them.  This is fun but draining, and leaves me feeling a little disconnected.  I am a homebody, or at least wish I were. 

This past weekend I went to a women’s retreat for the English speaking church here in Managua (ICF).  It went from Friday morning to Sunday afternoon and was a great time of fellowship, and learning, and lying by the pool, and playing speed scrabble, and getting beat up by the waves.  Now I have a nice tan and am better equipped to be a “strong woman of God.” 

One side story, in our folders for the week there was a list of all the names of the women and something quirky or embarrassing about them.  My fact was that I don’t own a comb or brush (no surprise there).  My friend Morgan was also there and she has dread-locks so this lady walked up to her and asked if she was Joy and offered her a comb from the gift table.  Morgan clarified that no that wasn’t her fact, and then pointed me out as the scrub, once she was redirected she gifted me the comb.  Someone else gave me conditioner (another thing I don’t use).

The weekend before that I went with my co-workers Lori and Amanda (and Amanda’s seven-month-old, Samantha) to San Juan del Sur to check out the library system they have.  Our meetings with the founder, Jane, were extremely informative and encouraging.  We were able to see how she has things running and ask a lot of questions about processes she has previously tested.  Also we bought a “library in a box” from her that had lots of stuff like books and registration cards so that I no longer feel as if I’m starting from scratch.  Another good thing on the trip is that we were able to stay at the good hotel both nights, and we got a 20% discount.  The actual beaches in San Juan are not very clean but the hotel is up on a hotel with gorgeous pools overlooking the bay there.  And you know what they say about how things look “from a distance.” 

Now I think my traveling schedule has calmed down and that is exciting and also it is exciting to see progress in my work here.  Today the library was officially opened.  We’re not having our grand opening yet and still have quite a bit of preparation before kids can actually check out books but today was a start.  We wanted kids to get used to the idea of having a educational place to hang out so today I put out books to read at one table, puzzles at another, and coloring books at a third.  It is fun to finally have my job require interaction with others (even though they are dirty kids) and I am looking forward to the library developing more.

The coloring table

Lori reading to some smaller kids

Seeing the kids in action really just reaffirmed to me the need this country has for libraries or places to supplement their educational journey. Wow that came out cheesy.  After a little bit of time a two of the boys that were inside we starting to get bored with the books so I decided to get out a puzzle for them to do.  They were both around ten years old so I brought out a really simple maybe thirty-piece puzzle.  They were completely lost as to what to do.  They didn’t know how to separate out the edges or corners, or to match colors, or even the whole in/out concept.   After about twenty minuets together we got the border put together, I told them to come back tomorrow and we can fill in the middle.  Then there were other boys about six and eight that I gave a wooden board puzzle to, the kind where the design of the puzzle is painted onto the base, even that was taking them a substantial amount of time.  In how many other areas are they lacking from what we consider basic skills?  For now I am going to be open Tuesday-Thursday from 2:30 to 4:30 and we’ll see how to expand later        

And other news...

-One of my friends is moving back to the states tomorrow so today we went to coffee and on a picnic. 

-It has been grossly hot this week so just the six-minute walk to the picnic location left me literally dripping with sweat, or glistening.

-My roommates are thinking of moving, my rent is extremely cheap right now and I can only commit to living with them until December so I don’t really have a say in the matter.  There is a chance that in June I’ll be homeless, but not really because the library is pretty big and has    wi-fi and I semi-own my own bed. 

-I took the plunge and bought a ticket to come to California in July from the 8^th to 24^th.  I am already looking forward to it. 

-It’s 9:14 and the power is back on, why was I complaining.

My trip to the ranch, and some other things...

The Ranch

Location:  Chontales, Nicaragua, about three hours away from Managua in the mountains.  It is known for its rivers being of milk and rocks of cheese, figuratively.

Accommodations: We stayed at a clean hotel that was only $9 a night for a double room.  The price was good but the location was right off the main road so very loud and morning showers were virtually impossible because of the frigidness of the water.

Food: Although we slept in a hotel, a family that some of my roommates know hosted us.  They fed us amazing meals prepared by their household staff.   There was good cheese involved.

Activities: Friday eight of us drove there, that was an activity in and of itself.   Friday night we had a bonfire on our host family’s ranch.  I, oddly enough, was cold.  We had s’mores and hotdogs.  Saturday we went to the ranch and alternated between the activities of riding horses and napping in hammocks.  I was a little nervous about the horse riding but my equestrian skills didn’t fail me. 

Me with a borrowed hat sitting on Angel

I just had one mishap with a tree but with the help of a Swiss Army knife damage was easily undone.  The napping in a hammock didn’t cause any problems.  On Saturday night we went to a rodeo, which was probably one of the most boring things ever.  My favorite act was this father son pair riding their horses in matching outfits while reciting poetry.  I learned that the whole rodeo thing is just an excuse to get dressed up, hang out, and drink.  Since my cowboy hat is in California I wasn’t able to fully participate.   

Sitting on our hosts' porch, waiting to leave for the rodeo (thus my pigtail braids)

Sunday we spent picking tics off of ourselves and eating amazing food until it was time to drive home. 

Home Again   

Monday I went to work at the library my scanner came in but I didn’t have batteries so I wasn’t able to use it.   Then it took me two days to figure out the software I was supposed to have downloaded but now it works and sometime soon I can start using it.  I know that you are really excited to hear this, but honestly what type of updates do you expect to hear from a librarian.  This week I also finished putting all of the books on the shelves, not really in any order but there are no more suitcases full.

Speaking of suitcases and libraries I am leaving again today to go to check out the library system in San Juan.  Actually as I was typing that sentence the lady, Jane that we are meeting with called.  Crazy.  (And while I got up to answer the phone our maid started changing the sheets on my bed.)  More good news on San Juan, we were able to get one room tonight at the nice hotel that wasn’t ridiculously expensive.     

I guess I should mention my Domestic Arts job as well.  We are sewing now, which is a slow process.  We are finishing up making pillowcases, in theory not that difficult.  Then we are starting on blankets, also not really that hard.  I guess back in the Domestic Arts day, they used to make whole outfits.  I told my students that they should appreciate the fact that I am not having them do that.    

 

Progression

Happy mid-April!  How are you doing?  The quality of my week has been steadily increasing, and it is Thursday so I am doing quite fine. 

Things have actually been happening in the library and I figured I’d fill you in on the progress.  A few weeks ago all the data I had entered in our library database was magically erased.  Since I had entered, by hand, 500 books, I was a little discouraged, but in the way where I just tried not to think about it.  Next week we have a barcode scanner coming in and that should make the process exponentially easier, I am holding out on that aspect of librarianism.  But, there are more things to do.  I met with the three ladies that are involved with the library (Kathy, Amanda, and Lori) on Monday and we discussed what practical things we should be doing.  It is a little hard balancing responsibility when there is a lack of communication so this was a good step. 

Our goal now is to open the library the week of the 28^th for in-house reading (no borrowing yet), we want to get the kids re-accustomed to being on the property in a educational setting (there used to be reading/activity times).  In order to get to this step the building itself needs a lot of work.  Yesterday Lori and I went and invested a large sum of money into furniture for the library: tables, desks, chairs, and storage cabinets.  They will all be delivered next week. We also met with a man that makes bookshelves to get a price quote.  His finished work is very good and highly recommended but he is a little on the shady side business-wise, so we need to ponder that one for a while.   

Through some connections at a bookstore here in Managua we were finally able to get a hold of a lady that has set up the only lending library system in the country.  We are making plans to meet with her next week and see her system.  Her library happens to be at the nicest beach town in the country so we are making it a two-night trip.  We were hoping to stay at the super nice hotel there but I just got an e-mail saying they are full except for there $200/night houses.  That includes breakfast but is still a little out of our price range.  

This morning I spent a few hours getting books onto the shelves we have in some sort of organized manner.  I am shocked by how full our empty shelves are getting.  And by how many geckos like to hide out in boxes.

Also this week I got my own set of keys for the library and got business cards made.  Now I am way official.

Now for the non-library related news, except in the manner that it is related to the librarian, tomorrow I am going to a farm or something until Sunday.  I have no details except that we are leaving at three and it will be cold and I should bring $25.  I don’t even know who the “we” is but I’m sure it will be fine.

For your viewing pleasure here is a picture of me taken on my computer while writing this, I know, exciting...

and a picture of my business card.  I realize that my middle name is misspelled but it is less confusing for my client-base that way...

 Much love, Joy

Panama Road Trip Debrief

In attempts to write this update I discovered that I am not good at editing down what I have written.  I obviously think that everything I write is valuable and worth your time to read.  I, however, do know that uncontrollable events may arise in your life that could prevent you from reading everything I’ve written.  If this is the case, you can just read the first paragraph and look at the pictures (more at http://picasaweb.google.com/yojchristina/PanamaRoadtrip)    If that whets your appetite feel free to continue reading.

Sunday March 30, I left with two of my friends, Lori and Morgan, on a road trip down to Panama in a 96 Buick sedan.  

You can only imagine how many stories I could tell about this adventure.   So now I’m here trying to summarize 180 hours and 405 pictures in a way that will take less than 180 hours of your time (hopefully a lot less).  But maybe you want to go on a trip like this for yourself, so in that case I will try to give you some important tips.  My desire in sharing these tips is that on your trip you can have just as much fun with a little less stress. 

Preparation and Packing:  I would strongly recommend bringing a large vehicle with lots of storage on this trip, even if only 3 people are going.  It is important that you pack things like: trail mix, tortillas, water, frijoles molidos, hammocks, sheets, blankets, matches, CD’s, money, books, towels, pillows, cameras, and bathing suits. Some other things that were over looked by us that would have been useful include: non-expired drivers licenses, a map, and maybe a travel book that is less than 7 years old and that has more than 20 pages on the destination country.

Departure:  In many ways leaving at 5am is a good idea.  If this is what you want to do you should try to go to be early the night before.  Complete exhaustion is not the best way to start a trip.  Fortunately the initial route is easy, turn left out of the apartment complex, drive 2 km, turn right.  In theory after this one right turn you can keep driving straight for 900 km or so.

Boarder crossing #1, Nicaragua/Costa Rica:  This is where they are going to expect you to have a recent license if you want Costa Rican drivers insurance.  Even if it is just recently expired they won’t accept it.  Another confusion to avoid is the cost to leave Nicaragua.  It is $2 a person or 40 cordobas.  You should try to remember to bring money. 

Costa Rican Driving:  Although Km-wise Costa Rica is not very long do not get excited thinking you are going to drive through it faster than all your predecessors.  There are lots of winding mountain roads, big trucks, rain, darkness, and San Jose.  Maybe if you bring an accurate map, passing through San Jose won’t be a stressful disaster.  Or you can not see it as a disaster and waste of time but an opportunity to see a broader perspective of Central American cities.  They have Denny’s.

Costa Rican Lodging:  There are a few methods of finding a hotel to stay at in Costa Rica.  I will touch on one method here and an alternative during our return North.  The first step is picking a town.  We chose Neily for its size and proximity to the Panamanian boarder.  When you get off the main road you may get pulled over for having suspicious Nicaraguan license plates (there is a little animosity between the two countries).  Maybe here the cops will see that the driver is uninsured and try to give you a $500 fine for this.  At this point in time one person should talk two cops out of the ticket and explain the confusion of foreign road rules. Another person can ask the third officer to recommend a place to stay for the night and make other various small talks. He may recommend Hotel Andrea, a fine place to rest your head and eat the beans, cream cheese, and tortilla dinner and watch some Chinese TV.

      Boarder Crossing #2, Costa Rica/Panama:  Not to much to say here.  The people are friendly and it is free.  The police station shares a building with a barber shop and there is a really big Zona Libre.  They don’t check expiration dates on licenses when giving permission to drive.

Panamanian Driving:  The first large town after crossing the boarder is David.  They have a mall and the pharmacy sells phone chips to activate your cell phone in the country.  Being able to call home makes the parents happy.  The next large town is Santiago, they have a McDonalds with a large play area and a $.85 menu.  

In Panama the left lane is for passing, not driving.   If you get pulled over for this and they notice your license is expired they will threaten to fine you $150 and take away your car.   But they are friendly and don’t want to hurt tourism so after 10 minutes or so they might let you go.   In all interactions with the police it is best to play dumb.  Once driving again you should keep your eyes open for signs that say “Ciudad Central” and follow them.  Don’t be deceived by “Autopista” signs they don’t go where you want to go.

Panama City:  If you ever make it to Panama City, congratulations!  If you aren’t sure if you’re in the right big city, it is the one with all the really tall buildings and tons of traffic.   If you are still confused you can roll down the window and ask someone, “What city is this?”  They will answer while your traveling companions who made you ask laugh.  

Walking through the city is a great leisure activity, you aren't confined by the one way streets that aren’t labeled on maps.  The canal is pretty cool, and the Miraflores locks.  There are also some ‘botanical gardens’ and a zoo you can visit for just one dollar.  You might want to pay a little extra to encourage them to water the gardens and get a few more lively/alive animals. 

 Panama city also has great shopping, right now I am wearing shoes I bought for $1.99, I also got a cool gold watch and some shirts.   In the Panama bay there are a string of islands connected by a bridge called the Causeway.  There are lots of nice restaurants on it and probably a pretty sweet view.  In order to see the view  it is important to allot at least one hour of driving time to get there.  Those inaccurate maps, unlabeled streets, one-way streets, and sketchy neighborhoods take up more time than you’d expect

Panamanian driving – return trip:  It is good to give extra time on the way home so you can stop as much as you want.  Not just the city has good shopping, and the Buick has a big trunk that can fit lots of bags. 

Central Panamanian Accommodations and the Internet:  If you spend more time shopping than intended you may have to stop overnight somewhere in central Panama.  It is best to not veer off of the main road and not really necessary because there are plenty of fine establishments right on the Pan American Highway.  One hotel was only $15/night and could probably sleep five but we saw cockroaches crawling on the sheets so decided to pass.  Hotel David was in the guidebook listed as the best option in the area, but the cheapest room we could find didn’t have enough beds.  So for $21 I recommend staying at Hotel Hong, they’ll bring you a fan. 

I am sure there were cockroaches here too but at least we couldn’t see them.  The following day we decided to do some checking up on the internet, it was $.25 an hour and that included printing.  I spent a little time printing a copy of a non-expired license and then Morgan and I took advantage of the tables outside and played speed Scrabble.  This is fun and works the brain but may cause a scene and draw a small crowd.

Isla Brava:  For our last two nights in Panama we went to an island off the Pacific Coast.  Beware that the road out to the docks is a little rough.   The problem with rough roads is that you can tell if you have a flat tire and you may continue driving on it in your ignorance and then when you finally do realize it your tire will destroyed beyond repair.  The island itself is pretty, you can hear monkeys, and other creatures all night long.  The downside is that there isn’t a whole lot of sand on the island itself.  But for $15 you can take a boat to a nearby deserted island and do deserted island activities. 

Back on the main island there is one hotel with rooms varying in prices.  If you are planning on spending time in the room itself or like to have a bathroom go for the more expensive room.  If you are quickly running out of money go for the cheaper rooms.  In theory you could save money and sleep in your hammocks but that may be hard if you brought 3 suitcases, 3 backpacks, and two cardboard boxes with you.  Panamanians offer special bread called hojaldras, it is fried and wonderful and $.20 for two pieces, I highly recommend it.

Exiting Panama:  If your goal is to get back to Managua at a reasonable hour on Sunday I recommend starting the journey back on Saturday morning.  Now, remember, if you are driving on the spare tire you need to go super slow.  But don’t be too worried, there is a nice taxi driver, Cesar, who wanders the roads and will offer to be your escort in case of emergency, and you won’t even have to pay him (we didn’t have any money).  He’ll show you the way to Auto Centro where you can replace the demolished tire and they might suggest replacing the other one with a bulge so that it doesn’t explode in route.  

After getting new tires, ease away your stress by shopping again, you’re already in David and they have that mall where you bought the phone trip on day one.  This mall also offers toilets with no seats and some 50% off sales.  After a few hours of trying on clothes, get back on the road again.  The boarder is close and full of tax-free shopping.  Tax-free means stressful, especially if you know exactly what you want and all they have is not what you want.  Eventually you’ll find OK substitutes for the souvenirs that you have put off buying and make it past the horse parade back into Costa Rica.

Costa Rica Again:  If you didn’t like the first way of finding a hotel in Costa Rica the other option is picking an area on the map and driving towards it.  One such area that you may want to stay in is the mountains so you can wake up to the coolness and the sunrise.  On the way to this mystical place you should stop by the town with the burnt down roller rink.  You might miss it if you have a recent guidebook but it is called Rancho Azteca if you’re interested.   Even if it is 10pm when you find the roller rink you will probably be so pumped up that you want to keep driving to find the mountain paradise.  The main problem with this is there aren’t a whole lot of cheap hotels/cabins in the Costa Rican mountains.  You may try out a few places to see that they are already closed (because it is 1am) or they want $70.  If and when this happens you can break into Hotel/Bar Abierto.  

Abierto may mean open but it doesn’t mean that the place is actually open.  But you can still try to sleep in their parking lot in the freezing cold car, using a dress from one of your recent shopping trips as a blanket.  Closing your eyes and attempting to sleep even if just between 1:30 and 4am, does help some.  At this time get up open the gate again and keep on trekking.  There are lots of towns after San Jose that have parks you can sleep in.  The problem is that you may look a little out of place and then people will want to ask you questions thus hindering your nap.  When this is thoroughly annoying, get back in the car, go to a gas station bathroom to clean yourself up, stop at some souvenir shops and find a bakery where you can have a nice breakfast of Coca Cola and chocolate cake.   

Lord willing, this breakfast of champions will give you the strength to drive the 6 more hours to Managua with few glitches. 

Home Sweet Home: In Managua, drag out the road trip some more by getting an iced coffee.  Maybe this will help steady the internal shaking you have from the combination of driving, not sleeping, and being dehydrated.  Or maybe it won’t help but at least you won’t have to end the trip, because honestly who wants to end a road trip?  

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