Upon arrival in Nicaragua, I realized how much I am accustomed to the climate of where we are living in Costa Rica. It was hot, hot, hot in Managua!
These were my two life savers upon arrival: fan, and rocking chair...both allowing for air flow!
Here we have the 10 Nicaraguans who came and stayed with us for the week - this is one of the few moments that they weren't joking around and teasing each other. In fact, they were discussing "what is normal" from a Nicaraguan perspective.
And here is the 10 from Virginia, discussing "what is normal for an American" - the resulting discussion between both groups was a highlight of the week for me.
Here we find one of the many Sandonista references and propoganda...Daniel Ortega, the current president, his fist raised in a type of encouragement, I suppose, with the words "Rise up, the poor of the world!" along with a catch phrase at the bottom "More democracy, more power": 
Here we have one of the last evenings together. The group from Virginia had gifts for each of the youth - the guys received jerseys and shorts for soccer, the girls received shorts, little backpacks, and travel-sized shampoos, etc. While the girls look very serious in this picture, I can assure you they were really happy with their gifts. 
The youth pastor of the Nicaraguan group, Marcos, really impressed me. He has great vision for his youth and desires much of their own ministry. Marcos in university studied the arts, and so includes a lot of dance and drama with the youth. Here they are, performing a dance in front of the church (this is one of the first times they have allowed any type of dance in the church...Marcos is pushing for more of it as it is such a huge part of their culture, and can really speak to a lot of people!)
One of the evenings, we all split up and went to have dinner with one of the Nicaraguan youths. I went with Heidi to her house to meet her parents and her brother. We had a great dinner, and I chatted with her brother for a long time about Pura Vida Missions, about what we do, about life in Canada and how it is different from life in Nicaragua. It was a great time spent together.
Here I am again with Heidi, and her great-niece (I'm serious) - Heidi is somehow the aunt of Marcos (the youth pastor) - and yet, she is 4 years younger than him. (I didn't ask). Here we are with Issha (Marcos' adopted 7-month old daughter) - she is a beautiful baby girl, and I have to admit she grabbed my heart. It was also confirmed that I have the baby gift in Central America - we thought it was only with the babies that I live with in Canada...but Issha took to me, and even one day fell asleep while I was holding her. She cried with everyone else that took her... You can just call me the "baby whisperer"... :)
Overall...it was a great trip and I am so thankful that I had the chance to go to Nicaragua and meet such beautiful people. On to the next adventures... 
No comments:
Post a Comment