Nicaragua Day 1

As soon as we stepped of the plane in Nicaragua I knew we were in a whole different world. These skinny little boys would try to grab our luggage and help us with them. We were warned not to give them any money because we would be swarmed by other children wanting handouts. It was so hard not to give them anything! We were told that they probably wouldn't keep the money for themselves anyway. A lot of times adults send them out to beg and then the kids have to bring the money back to them.

We all piled into a yellow school bus and headed for the guesthouse where we would be staying. We were told that we would be stopping at a restaurant on the way for lunch. Boy was I surprised when the driver pulled into an abandoned gas station. We all just kind of sat there for a minute thinking maybe he was lost. Then he told us that this was the place. It ended up having a little fast food restaurant attached to the other side. The food was actually really good. It was kind of like a KFC.

After that the driver, Victor, took us to the Samaritano Fundacion. It is a property run by an awesome couple, Carolyn and Noor. Since they moved to Nicaragua, they have opened several schools and hospitals. Noor is a doctor and he has an office and operating room on the property where we stayed. Most of our group stayed at the guesthouse on the property. There are 4 large rooms filled with bunk beds, a living area, kitchen, and screened patio. Bailey and I ended up staying at "la casita" which is a little house behind the guesthouse. We stayed with Jo, Lily, Tara and Caroline. (All moms and daughters.) Luckily we all brought little fans because it was really hot and their is no air conditioning anywhere in the guesthouses. When we used the toilets we had to throw our tp in the trash and if we forgot, they had latex gloves on the back of the toilet so that we could fish the tp back out of the toilet. And yes, most of us had to go "fishing" once or twice. The shower trickled only cold water and you usually are joined by a handful of bugs. I had the pleasure of sharing a shower with a gecko one night. I was not pleased.

Our meals were prepared by two local women who work on the property. For breakfast, we would have things like pancakes and rice and beans or eggs and rice and beans. For dinner, we would have tacos and rice and beans or chicken and rice and beans. Yep, there was rice and beans for every meal. We would drink things like cantaloupe juice, pineapple juice or passion fruit juice, all of them made fresh by Anna Lucia or Teresa.

Every night before I got into bed I had to "dust" the bugs off of my bed. We slept with the windows open. It took some getting used to because of all the different creature noises. The first night Tara and I were convinced that one noise we heard was either a bird or monkey. We found out later it was the geckos. I couldn't believe how loud they were. And for some reason they chose me to torture! They were always over my bed. Ick!

I have to admit when I sat down on my bed that first night I thought, what was I thinking?! I miss my babies, I'm hot, the creatures are freaking me out. I prayed for a long time before I went to sleep, asking God to relieve my worries, to help me come out of my shell and be able to build relationships there, to open my eyes and my heart for what he wanted me to experience there, to give me peace. After praying for a VERY long time, I lay down on my stomach and hid my face in my arm (so that I wouldn't get any bugs in my mouth while I was sleeping) and actually slept extremely well.