Another beautiful morning. I love waking up to the birds cawing and other critter noises.
Charlie left at 7:30 with German to head into Managua to pick up the team who arrive at noon-ish. I think they were secretly planning on grabbing pizza at the airport before the team got in.
Mary and I worked around the house for awhile and then took a stroll along the beach. I wasn't expecting to be gone very long and didn't put on sunscreen. I know better than to go without it, but oh well. After a 45 minute walk this morning, I'm burnt on my face and neck. One of my meds says not to be in direct sunlight (Like that's going to happen-ha), so I burn very easily. It usually goes away quickly, though. I'm hoping that it won't bother me too much tomorrow and will be gone by Monday. If not, it's what I get for not listening to my own advice!
There was a few families on the beach this morning. One had 2 little black, long haired dogs. They were hilarious to watch in the waves. One loved the waves and would run into them and then hop straight up and down. The other didn't like the water much and would high-tail it back up the beach when the waves came in. Other than that, they chased each other around and played a lot. The dad of the family spoke English and said that he lived in Minneapolis for 23 years. He said that he still visits there and brings items back to the people here. We were telling him about Voice of Hope and how we bring things to the Nica people when we have teams in.
I forgot to mention yesterday when we were shopping at La Union grocery store that we met a man named Alfonso. The store is owned by Walmart and the employees are actually Walmart associates. He has been working for them for 11 years. He asked where we are from and when he heard Arkansas, he smiled really big. He said that he had just been there in June for the Walmart shareholders meeting. Kinda cool. Charlie had me take his picture with Alfonso. I took a lot of pictures of the store. It was looking very nice. Alfonso should be proud.
Walking along the beach this morning was so nice. The waves come crashing in. One will be right at your feet, the next up to your knees and the next will stop about 10 away from you. You never know how strong or far reaching it will be. The ocean is to huge and beautiful and strong. These waves will knock you off your feet in an instant. They will also drag you back out into the water very quickly. I can stand still and the retreating wave will pull the sand from around my feet and even pull my flip-flops off of my feet while I'm standing perfectly still. What a force. We take so much of life for granted and at face value. When you take time to look deeper, you see how marvelous God's handiwork is.
We washed a load of our dirty clothes and hung them out to dry this afternoon so we wouldn't have do so when the team is here. During the next week we will be too busy to mess with the laundry and the cleaning ladies will have the machine going each day keeping up with the towels for the total of 28 people staying here.
The drivers stay here in a little room each night during a team week. We also include them in the meals. They work hard keeping the vans running and clean for us each day. They are very good drivers, especially here where traffic rules are so different (um, non-existent sometimes). I feel very safe in their capable hands and I don't pay attention to the seemingly close calls on the road. I remember one team this summer had a UPS driver on it and he couldn't get over the driving here. He was a little frightened at first, but then had the utmost respect for the way guys handle the road. I guess we each notice the part of the culture that we identify with best.
German said that the team was finishing lunch and would be here about 4:30pm. We're ready. When they get in, they'll figure out room assignments, unpack a little, hear the house rules, and I'm sure hit the beach for awhile. Dinner tonight will be sandwiches and chips and cookies. I'm sure they will just like to relax a little this evening. Traveling seems to take a lot out of a person these days.
While I'm waiting on the team to get here, I think I'll study a little Spanish and nurse my sunburn. :)
Well, the team finally got here about 5ish. They had stopped at the mall in Managua. They also stopped along the road to buy 3 iguanas. more on that later... Everyone was pretty tired from traveling. We listened to Mary discuss the house rules and then everyone found beds and rested or went out to the beach. It was getting a little dark, since it was overcast, but they took flashlights and looked around anyway.
Mary and I fixed dinner of ham and cheese sandwiches, Nica chips, cookies and drinks. Of course, there is always the option of peanut butter and jelly, which some of the team was excited about. I had a sandwich of lettuce, tomato and cucumber. It was so good, I had a second one! Yum! I'm loving getting some good veggies! I've had a cucumber every day. Mary thinks I'm funny.
After dinner, everyone just hung out and visited and relaxed. It is so good to see Manuel and Fabio again. And Danilo has been with us the last 2 days. I can't wait to practice my spanish as they practice their english while we are traveling in the vans.
Now about those iguanas...
Saturnino took them home to make soup out of them. The drivers were looking forward to eating some. I walked outside our gate and sat on the sidewalk with Fabio and Danilo to chat. (by the way, they think my spanish is improving a little bit) We always have fun with the quirky things that happen during our conversations. Anyway... they were trying to talk me into waiting for the soup and trying it. They say it is very good. They said it 'tastes just like chicken'. Uh-oh! Those are words that bring fear into my heart. I told them that everyone in the world says that every weird thing tastes just like chicken and that I wasn't brave enough to eat any. We also talked about some traditional Nica Christmas foods. It's amazing how much we can converse with a little bit of spanish, even less English and a some body language.
Oh, speaking of body language... yesterday, when we were ate Tip Top Chicken, Charlie wanted to know if this description of a meal was wings. German was busy on the phone, so I asked the waiter myself. I pointed to the description and then flapped my bent arms like a chicken. He said yes and we all laughed. He seemed proud of me for trying. And Charlie got to order his favorite dish of chicken wings. I'm not afraid to try anything to communicate. And if it makes us laugh, all the better.
It's really quiet around here. I think the team may have went to bed even earlier than the 10pm curfew. I don't hear a peep. They will be really tired later in the week when we are out for 12 hours at a time and going to bed at midnight and getting up at 6am. But by then, we will have wonderful stories and memories of all that God is doing while we are out there getting tired.
It's been a great day. I like this team so far. It will be interesting to get to know each of them as the week goes on. I love meeting the people that God has created for this world of His. Isn't He amazing???
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