Clean water!
Acting like I know what I'm doing...
Beautiful picture taken by Ryan of the sunset at Poneloya
Playing in the mud/dumping Yader over
Fútbol game!
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Now if that smile doesn't melt your heart...
Angel. Don't know if the name is fitting, but he's precious. He was probably saying something to me like, "Francisco, I'm about to splash water on you!"
Giving a kiss to Jorge after a long day of work. ¡Dale prix!
Our drill got stuck 60 feet down and this was the culprit. Clogged clay.
First day drilling!
It's too dusty prix!
Whew. It's been quite the week! Sorry for not updating the blog in a while. I didn't have too much internet access all week in Leon. But boy did I have such a great time. Let me give you a run down.
So Sunday after going to church with Raf and his family, as well as the Messers, we headed to eat lunch at a legit pizza place. I love when we come upon another great restaurant in Matagalpa! And then we headed back to the house where I rushed to get all of my stuff together. But Doña Fide made sure to pack me with some leftover pizza just in case I got hungry on the bus. :) Raf and the Messers dropped me off at the bus to head to Leon. What an experience! I was sort of nervous at first, watching my stuff the whole time, eyes darting everywhere. But I soon got used to it. Ha, boy did I stick out like a sore thumb as usual. Only blonde haired/blue eyed person on that bus. At one point I looked to the guy beside me and asked him a question in Spanish and he jumped like he was surprised. Haha, he was quite taken back that I was able to speak Spanish. Most of the ride I felt like I was in a music video with reggaeton/Daddy Yankee playing the whole time. I just had to laugh and enjoy it. But Jorge was there ready to pick me up once I got there. And before you knew it, I was assimilated into the group he had there. We quickly all became friends when we killed a bat in the second floor of his house. Haha, it was quite a scene.
The week of drilling the well went something like this: Monday/Tuesday we "explored" to see if we could find clean water. We drilled down 110 feet and found clean water from about 60-90 ft with 90-11o ft being clay. So we decided to make the well 85 feet deep with the screen for the clean water coming in from 70-80 ft. Drilling and building the well was so much fun, but what I enjoyed the most was being in a community I've never been to before and building relationships with people I'd never met. The community we worked in was called Nueva Vida/New Life and by the end of the week I had a little posse of boys that I played fútbol with, had water wars with, and even wrestled with. Haha, pictures soon to come. But really, I learned so much this week about being even more intentional with everything I do in the communities. We talked in one of our group meetings at the team house about how we had to make sure that we were focusing on harvesting people for the Lord instead of getting caught up in just planting seeds. Sometimes in communities I always think, "Well I'll just be shining the Father's light today," when I'm missing out on divine opportunities to really let people know of the Father's love. So when opportunities came up this past week to share the Father's love through conversation and action, I made sure to take advantage of it.
Other happenings this week included going out to see a movie, "Knight and Day" with the team, as well as going to the beach on Thursday evening after working. It was such a blessing to be in Leon and really get to see the work of Living Water International. Being able to share in granting people with clean drinking water as well as the living water of the Holy Spirit was absolutely incredible. I feel so lucky that Jorge was willing to let me come out there and share in that experience with them.
So the trip was great and I even got to know the kid sitting beside me on the bus on the way back to Matagalpa. It was neat because we were both the same age and studying the same thing in college. Ha, I love building those random relationships with people here in Nica. Last night I enjoyed catching up with Don Omar, Doña Fide, and Morgan for a while. So many stories to share between me and Mo. Today I've just been chilling out a bit, doing laundry, and enjoying some great conversation with Doña Fide. Raf and I dropped Mo off at the church for her trip to Jinotepe at 11 this morning, with a fresh batido in hand. I just finished talking and catching up with Raf for a little bit and it looks like I'll be going to play outside for a bit with the neighborhood kids. From hanging out with them last night, it seems like they've been lost without me. haha. Love you all and praying for you.
sb
So Sunday after going to church with Raf and his family, as well as the Messers, we headed to eat lunch at a legit pizza place. I love when we come upon another great restaurant in Matagalpa! And then we headed back to the house where I rushed to get all of my stuff together. But Doña Fide made sure to pack me with some leftover pizza just in case I got hungry on the bus. :) Raf and the Messers dropped me off at the bus to head to Leon. What an experience! I was sort of nervous at first, watching my stuff the whole time, eyes darting everywhere. But I soon got used to it. Ha, boy did I stick out like a sore thumb as usual. Only blonde haired/blue eyed person on that bus. At one point I looked to the guy beside me and asked him a question in Spanish and he jumped like he was surprised. Haha, he was quite taken back that I was able to speak Spanish. Most of the ride I felt like I was in a music video with reggaeton/Daddy Yankee playing the whole time. I just had to laugh and enjoy it. But Jorge was there ready to pick me up once I got there. And before you knew it, I was assimilated into the group he had there. We quickly all became friends when we killed a bat in the second floor of his house. Haha, it was quite a scene.
The week of drilling the well went something like this: Monday/Tuesday we "explored" to see if we could find clean water. We drilled down 110 feet and found clean water from about 60-90 ft with 90-11o ft being clay. So we decided to make the well 85 feet deep with the screen for the clean water coming in from 70-80 ft. Drilling and building the well was so much fun, but what I enjoyed the most was being in a community I've never been to before and building relationships with people I'd never met. The community we worked in was called Nueva Vida/New Life and by the end of the week I had a little posse of boys that I played fútbol with, had water wars with, and even wrestled with. Haha, pictures soon to come. But really, I learned so much this week about being even more intentional with everything I do in the communities. We talked in one of our group meetings at the team house about how we had to make sure that we were focusing on harvesting people for the Lord instead of getting caught up in just planting seeds. Sometimes in communities I always think, "Well I'll just be shining the Father's light today," when I'm missing out on divine opportunities to really let people know of the Father's love. So when opportunities came up this past week to share the Father's love through conversation and action, I made sure to take advantage of it.
Other happenings this week included going out to see a movie, "Knight and Day" with the team, as well as going to the beach on Thursday evening after working. It was such a blessing to be in Leon and really get to see the work of Living Water International. Being able to share in granting people with clean drinking water as well as the living water of the Holy Spirit was absolutely incredible. I feel so lucky that Jorge was willing to let me come out there and share in that experience with them.
So the trip was great and I even got to know the kid sitting beside me on the bus on the way back to Matagalpa. It was neat because we were both the same age and studying the same thing in college. Ha, I love building those random relationships with people here in Nica. Last night I enjoyed catching up with Don Omar, Doña Fide, and Morgan for a while. So many stories to share between me and Mo. Today I've just been chilling out a bit, doing laundry, and enjoying some great conversation with Doña Fide. Raf and I dropped Mo off at the church for her trip to Jinotepe at 11 this morning, with a fresh batido in hand. I just finished talking and catching up with Raf for a little bit and it looks like I'll be going to play outside for a bit with the neighborhood kids. From hanging out with them last night, it seems like they've been lost without me. haha. Love you all and praying for you.
sb
Thursday, July 29, 2010
SuperGod
Talk about a whirlwind of activities and happenings. These past few days have been una locura...in a good way!
Chris and Heidi left yesterday to go back to the states. It's really exciting to see the Lord moving in their hearts and seeking His face. I've been hanging out at the school a lot. and the church. I had my first cow tail soup this week. Mom I'll bring that recipe home too! ;) I went to a lunch at the church for the people involved in ministries there and that was the meal. I'm so glad to be getting exposed to all these new things. Everyday I seem to catch myself in situations that I've never been in before. Impossible to be bored here. Every moment is an adventure.
Spenc has been in Leon since Sunday. I as well as the boys of the hood have definitely missed him here. He'll be home today before dinner though so everyone here is ready to get him back. He went to stay with Jorge and his team to drill a well with them a experience that. How cool is that!? Can't wait to hear the stories.
Last night I went to practice at church for the concert we're playing this Saturday night. Man was I unprepared. Everyone else knew the songs like they had been listening to them for forever...because they have. I, however, had listened to each one like twice. And I found out that they wanted me to sing lead on some of them. Ouch. Needless to say, at this moment I am currently listening to/studying/trying to memorize these songs. Please pray that the Lord's strength will be magnified in my weakness. I will trust in Him!
I hope everyone at home as wonderful. We will see you all sooner rather than later.:)
LOVE!
M.
Chris and Heidi left yesterday to go back to the states. It's really exciting to see the Lord moving in their hearts and seeking His face. I've been hanging out at the school a lot. and the church. I had my first cow tail soup this week. Mom I'll bring that recipe home too! ;) I went to a lunch at the church for the people involved in ministries there and that was the meal. I'm so glad to be getting exposed to all these new things. Everyday I seem to catch myself in situations that I've never been in before. Impossible to be bored here. Every moment is an adventure.
Spenc has been in Leon since Sunday. I as well as the boys of the hood have definitely missed him here. He'll be home today before dinner though so everyone here is ready to get him back. He went to stay with Jorge and his team to drill a well with them a experience that. How cool is that!? Can't wait to hear the stories.
Last night I went to practice at church for the concert we're playing this Saturday night. Man was I unprepared. Everyone else knew the songs like they had been listening to them for forever...because they have. I, however, had listened to each one like twice. And I found out that they wanted me to sing lead on some of them. Ouch. Needless to say, at this moment I am currently listening to/studying/trying to memorize these songs. Please pray that the Lord's strength will be magnified in my weakness. I will trust in Him!
I hope everyone at home as wonderful. We will see you all sooner rather than later.:)
LOVE!
M.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Apante boys. Celebrating Oscar's Birthday! Oscar is the boy to my left.
Family laying blocks working on their new house. Mom and Dad are working while Bismark and Dorlin are just chilling.
Norvin and Jasmir. I'd say they look alike.
Jasmir showing off his new bed. He was very proud to show me his own green bed. The doors are coming up!
Best view of Matagalpa!
lo que quiera
soooo! After a month straight of teams, we dropped the last team off at the hotel last night. We've got two weeks left here, an extremely bittersweet reality. Chris and Heidi are here with us until Wednesday and Spenc takes off tomorrow for Leon to work with one of Jorge's LivingWater groups digging a well until Wednesday. As for me, I'm staying here and singing all weekend at church for the anniversary. Then I'll be busy practicing for this coming weekend's concert in a city on the coast with the band from church.
This past week, as with all the other groups, was crazy busy. Their pastor and youth director both played guitar and sang so I got out my guitar with them some nights and we played for a good while. The youth director had the most beautiful voice so I loved just sitting with her and listening to all the stuff she wrote. Probably will be famous someday so I'm just waiting to get that first CD. We worked hard in construction. Lots of mixing cement, laying blocks, laying floors. Even after all the hard, hot days out there, I can still honestly say that I feel more blessed than ever to be here every minute. Even though it was frustrating at times, really hot, or just overwhelming, I wouldn't have wanted to miss a moment of any of it. I can't even express to you what a blessing this time has been on my heart and for me as a person.
We took the group yesterday to the market and ziplining for their tourist day. Everyone was exhausted, including me. It's a good tierd though. One of hard work and joy.
So now we're back at home. Dona Fide and Don Omar just left to go play baseball with their grandkids and just spend time with them now that there's no team. Chris and Spenc and Raf are headed up to San Jose to check on everything there and Heidi and I are going shopping. I have to buy certain color shirts to sing with the band this weekend because they decided to coordinate colors. Wish me luck :).
Two weeks! Be praying over the transition back. We love y'all. See you soon!
LOVE!
M.
This past week, as with all the other groups, was crazy busy. Their pastor and youth director both played guitar and sang so I got out my guitar with them some nights and we played for a good while. The youth director had the most beautiful voice so I loved just sitting with her and listening to all the stuff she wrote. Probably will be famous someday so I'm just waiting to get that first CD. We worked hard in construction. Lots of mixing cement, laying blocks, laying floors. Even after all the hard, hot days out there, I can still honestly say that I feel more blessed than ever to be here every minute. Even though it was frustrating at times, really hot, or just overwhelming, I wouldn't have wanted to miss a moment of any of it. I can't even express to you what a blessing this time has been on my heart and for me as a person.
We took the group yesterday to the market and ziplining for their tourist day. Everyone was exhausted, including me. It's a good tierd though. One of hard work and joy.
So now we're back at home. Dona Fide and Don Omar just left to go play baseball with their grandkids and just spend time with them now that there's no team. Chris and Spenc and Raf are headed up to San Jose to check on everything there and Heidi and I are going shopping. I have to buy certain color shirts to sing with the band this weekend because they decided to coordinate colors. Wish me luck :).
Two weeks! Be praying over the transition back. We love y'all. See you soon!
LOVE!
M.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Tap that
Whew what a good feeling to be tired after a long day's work! Sorry for not blogging last night. We had quite an eventful evening with another trip to Managua to pick up my favorite couple, Chris and Heidi Messer.
Yesterday was a long day of work with us starting to lay the foundation for the new house, none other than the home of Chubby Gallup himself. For those of you who don't know, the high school team dubbed one of the cute little 3 year olds the name "Chubby Gallup" and it stuck. So we arrived in San Jose to find that the bus couldn't make it very far due to the torrential rain this past weekend and the dirt from the water project. So after carrying the supplies in we got to work on the foundation. We were able to get most of the forms for the foundation in yesterday so that we could start laying blocks today.
Mo, Raf, and I hurried back from San Jose yesterday to leave for Managua by 4:30 with Jorge. We were so exhausted from the day, but we were able to get some good conversations in between dozing. Things were quite eventful with yesterday being Day of the Revolution, so the traffic with the buses in and out of Managua was unreal. Unlike anything I'd ever seen. Lines of buses and dumptrucks 20 long, with people hanging off the sides. Naturally I stuck out my head occassionally flashing the peace sign/aka Sandinista party and screaming "¡Viva Daniel!" who is the new President of Nica.
Today we were able to lay an unbelievable amount of blocks with teams of making concrete, mezcla, and everything in between. Sorry I'm cutting the blog short tonight, but I'm fighting to keep my eyes open. Haha. Love you all!
sb
Yesterday was a long day of work with us starting to lay the foundation for the new house, none other than the home of Chubby Gallup himself. For those of you who don't know, the high school team dubbed one of the cute little 3 year olds the name "Chubby Gallup" and it stuck. So we arrived in San Jose to find that the bus couldn't make it very far due to the torrential rain this past weekend and the dirt from the water project. So after carrying the supplies in we got to work on the foundation. We were able to get most of the forms for the foundation in yesterday so that we could start laying blocks today.
Mo, Raf, and I hurried back from San Jose yesterday to leave for Managua by 4:30 with Jorge. We were so exhausted from the day, but we were able to get some good conversations in between dozing. Things were quite eventful with yesterday being Day of the Revolution, so the traffic with the buses in and out of Managua was unreal. Unlike anything I'd ever seen. Lines of buses and dumptrucks 20 long, with people hanging off the sides. Naturally I stuck out my head occassionally flashing the peace sign/aka Sandinista party and screaming "¡Viva Daniel!" who is the new President of Nica.
Today we were able to lay an unbelievable amount of blocks with teams of making concrete, mezcla, and everything in between. Sorry I'm cutting the blog short tonight, but I'm fighting to keep my eyes open. Haha. Love you all!
sb
Sunday, July 18, 2010
we took the box this time.
Wow has it been a crazy couple of days.
RECAP.
We took the college team to the zipline in Managua for their tourist day on Friday. Everyone had a great time :). I'm seriously going to miss them. On the way back to the start of the line you have to ride in a truck. We rocked it Nica style with like 12 of us in the back. Awesome...painful, but awesome. Saying goodbye is always difficult and saying bye to Chris and Big was obviously hard because they'd been with us for 6 weeks. We will greatly miss y'all!
Yesterday we headed back to Managua to pick up the next team. Big- we went to PriceMart before picking up the team and bought an Apple Cake in your honor! Jorge and his family came up from Leon, Dona Fide and Don Omar's youngest boy. It was great to get to see them :) They're a beautiful fam.
The new team's from Cokesbury Methodist in Florida. I'm excited to work with them. They seem like a great group. Today we all went to church and had a wonderful lunch back here at the team house. We're about to take them on a little tour of Matagalpa around the park and the Cathedral. However, we've got to get back before too late because tomorrow is day of the revolution for Nica and lots of festivities have already begun. It could get crazy.
I hope that all of you at home are having a wonderful day. You're all in our prayers. We've got 3 more weeks here and I am taking in every moment and counting them as such blessings in my life.
LOVE.
M.
RECAP.
We took the college team to the zipline in Managua for their tourist day on Friday. Everyone had a great time :). I'm seriously going to miss them. On the way back to the start of the line you have to ride in a truck. We rocked it Nica style with like 12 of us in the back. Awesome...painful, but awesome. Saying goodbye is always difficult and saying bye to Chris and Big was obviously hard because they'd been with us for 6 weeks. We will greatly miss y'all!
Yesterday we headed back to Managua to pick up the next team. Big- we went to PriceMart before picking up the team and bought an Apple Cake in your honor! Jorge and his family came up from Leon, Dona Fide and Don Omar's youngest boy. It was great to get to see them :) They're a beautiful fam.
The new team's from Cokesbury Methodist in Florida. I'm excited to work with them. They seem like a great group. Today we all went to church and had a wonderful lunch back here at the team house. We're about to take them on a little tour of Matagalpa around the park and the Cathedral. However, we've got to get back before too late because tomorrow is day of the revolution for Nica and lots of festivities have already begun. It could get crazy.
I hope that all of you at home are having a wonderful day. You're all in our prayers. We've got 3 more weeks here and I am taking in every moment and counting them as such blessings in my life.
LOVE.
M.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
All good things must come to an end
So today was the last day of work in San Jose for the college team, Big, and myself. Right when we got there we started off working. Some of the team went to get the roof on the new house while the rest of the team started making volcanoes for different projects to finish the house.
Before lunch Mo, Holly, and my mom went with Chico to deliver a bed and some cots to the kids at their school that the team decided to help out with. From the stories the family seemed so happy and grateful to receive the gifts.
After lunch we got back to work to try and finish the house. When the older kids had recess I got to speak to some of the kids and we just joked around and it was a blast. At the end of the workday we all gathered around the house that we had been working on and prayed over the house and the family. We got everything done but the wall that fell and the windows and doors. So Manuel will finish that up this weekend.
Today was the steakhouse dinner which was fun like always. Of course there was the usual food ordered and a order of juevos de toro for the group to try if they wanted to. After dinner we came home to do our nightly devotion and we watched a slide show Big made of the house we had been working on. It was great to see and Raf was there to enjoy it all with us.
Everyone is starting to pack and head to bed for an exciting tour day tomorrow of zip lining. I am pretty sad to have to leave. This place has been my home for the last 6 weeks and these people have become part of my family. It will be hard to say goodbye tomorrow to them all but I know I will see them soon and our memories will always remain.
Love to all,
Chris
Before lunch Mo, Holly, and my mom went with Chico to deliver a bed and some cots to the kids at their school that the team decided to help out with. From the stories the family seemed so happy and grateful to receive the gifts.
After lunch we got back to work to try and finish the house. When the older kids had recess I got to speak to some of the kids and we just joked around and it was a blast. At the end of the workday we all gathered around the house that we had been working on and prayed over the house and the family. We got everything done but the wall that fell and the windows and doors. So Manuel will finish that up this weekend.
Today was the steakhouse dinner which was fun like always. Of course there was the usual food ordered and a order of juevos de toro for the group to try if they wanted to. After dinner we came home to do our nightly devotion and we watched a slide show Big made of the house we had been working on. It was great to see and Raf was there to enjoy it all with us.
Everyone is starting to pack and head to bed for an exciting tour day tomorrow of zip lining. I am pretty sad to have to leave. This place has been my home for the last 6 weeks and these people have become part of my family. It will be hard to say goodbye tomorrow to them all but I know I will see them soon and our memories will always remain.
Love to all,
Chris
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Muerte Negro...
Today as with any day started bright and early at 7 with a delicious breakfast of pancakes. After breakfast the group got ready to go to La Amistad(Mo and Spence's School) to go do VBS and hang out with the kids, while me, Mace, Raf, Austin, and Doc all headed back to San Jose.
We went back to continue to work on the house so that we would be able to finish it while the team is still here. When we got there we got right to work placing the blocks on the walls. Austin started to mix cement and haul the half blocks, while Mace got back to his usual job of cutting the blocks but this time he was at the house, while me, doc, and raf started to lay. After we had gotten most of the blocks layed it was time for lunch, which was a delicious ham sandwich. The team on the other hand had my favorite meal, breaded chicken.
After lunch was over we headed back to the house where doc continued to lay blocks while the rest of us started to level out the floor. We got most of it leveled so today was a successful day. By the time that was finished it was time to pour some cement to cap of the day. After which we left.
We got back to see Morgan and Ally heading to the baptist church in town for band practice, which they both said was good. So we all ate and then hung out and enjoyed each others company. Raf took some people to the store to get some stuff, where he said that Daniel Ortega(president of Nicaragua) was just down the street for the opening of some center, which is pretty cool.
So now everybody is starting to head to bed cause tomorrow is both theirs and mines last day in San Jose, hopefully it goes well. So I am off to take a shower then off to bed for me.
Love you all
BIG
We went back to continue to work on the house so that we would be able to finish it while the team is still here. When we got there we got right to work placing the blocks on the walls. Austin started to mix cement and haul the half blocks, while Mace got back to his usual job of cutting the blocks but this time he was at the house, while me, doc, and raf started to lay. After we had gotten most of the blocks layed it was time for lunch, which was a delicious ham sandwich. The team on the other hand had my favorite meal, breaded chicken.
After lunch was over we headed back to the house where doc continued to lay blocks while the rest of us started to level out the floor. We got most of it leveled so today was a successful day. By the time that was finished it was time to pour some cement to cap of the day. After which we left.
We got back to see Morgan and Ally heading to the baptist church in town for band practice, which they both said was good. So we all ate and then hung out and enjoyed each others company. Raf took some people to the store to get some stuff, where he said that Daniel Ortega(president of Nicaragua) was just down the street for the opening of some center, which is pretty cool.
So now everybody is starting to head to bed cause tomorrow is both theirs and mines last day in San Jose, hopefully it goes well. So I am off to take a shower then off to bed for me.
Love you all
BIG
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
That's not what I meant by leave your mark on the house...
I can tell it's going to be a good night! Mace and PK are strumming the guitars right now and we're all getting prepared for Mafia right now. Mo just announced that the two minute warning is out to play Mafia soon. Woohoo!
We all went back to San Jose this morning and started the day off right at the work site. Don Omar yesterday suggested that we all pray as a group before we get started, so it was so great to gather around in a circle with some of the community to pray over our day. The team split up this morning with some doing VBS, and others working on making mezcla/concrete mix. I hear all went well with VBS, as the kids marched around the church dressed in the armor of God. Ha, I hear it was precious. Doc and I finished one wall before lunch, and Big and Mo worked on the other wall. By the end of the day, we had almost finished two more walls! So hopefully tomorrow we'll be able to finish all of the walls.
Tonight we all enjoyed dinner and getting fresh showers, while also playing and singing random songs on the guitar. Ahh, what a night. Tomorrow we are heading to La Amistad in the morning with the team and then on to the hospital after lunch. A few of the team are going back to San Jose to finish up. Divide and conquer! Pray that we will continue to seek the Father's strength and community throughout the next through days, relying on Him alone, while we work together. Well mafia is about to start. Love enjoying the nights with Snellville!
sb
We all went back to San Jose this morning and started the day off right at the work site. Don Omar yesterday suggested that we all pray as a group before we get started, so it was so great to gather around in a circle with some of the community to pray over our day. The team split up this morning with some doing VBS, and others working on making mezcla/concrete mix. I hear all went well with VBS, as the kids marched around the church dressed in the armor of God. Ha, I hear it was precious. Doc and I finished one wall before lunch, and Big and Mo worked on the other wall. By the end of the day, we had almost finished two more walls! So hopefully tomorrow we'll be able to finish all of the walls.
Tonight we all enjoyed dinner and getting fresh showers, while also playing and singing random songs on the guitar. Ahh, what a night. Tomorrow we are heading to La Amistad in the morning with the team and then on to the hospital after lunch. A few of the team are going back to San Jose to finish up. Divide and conquer! Pray that we will continue to seek the Father's strength and community throughout the next through days, relying on Him alone, while we work together. Well mafia is about to start. Love enjoying the nights with Snellville!
sb
Monday, July 12, 2010
Jasper Turns 22
Today was an eventful day for sure! This morning we got up with the team and had my favorite breakfast here...gallo pinto (rice and beans) , fried sweet plantains, and eggs with cheese and ham. Yummm.
Spenc and I went to the school today and ended up going to visit the house of a couple of our students. Their home life broke my heart. The two kids are in 1st grade and are 7 and 8 even though they appear to be 4 and 5 because of malnutrition Their mom is in jail and their dad is no where to be found. They're living with their grandmother who is extremely sick and cannot work. They have one small cot/bed and all the kids (they have two smaller siblings) sleep on a wood platform. We went to visit them with a couple of the other teachers to see how we might be able to support them. It broke my heart but we got to pray with them and over the family. This is why we're here. To love on the people and show them Christ in everything we do. That's not only why we're here but why we are alive.
The rest of the team headed to San Jose this morning and as I've heard they worked really hard. By the time I got there with lunch some of them had already started getting things ready for the next team coming. The rest of the afternoon I worked in the house setting the rocks for the walls and filling in holes with mortar. I love what I do. :) Everyone on the team is working so hard and the spirit that they carry with them all day makes every job enjoyable for sure. A few of them worked on the first house and put the roof on.Everyone's getting excited to have the family actually move in and start enjoying the blessing of a new house! That should be in the next few days. WHOO HOO!
This afternoon we all kept working hard and came home to a beautifully decorated team house because it's JASPER'S BIRTHDAY! We had a fun dance party after an amazing chicken lasagna from the ladies in the kitchen and a wonderful birthday cake. Fun was had by all. Now we just fininshed up getting things ready for VBS in the morning and it's devotional time so I better run but God bless y'all and have an awesome night!
Que Dios les bendiga!
M.
Spenc and I went to the school today and ended up going to visit the house of a couple of our students. Their home life broke my heart. The two kids are in 1st grade and are 7 and 8 even though they appear to be 4 and 5 because of malnutrition Their mom is in jail and their dad is no where to be found. They're living with their grandmother who is extremely sick and cannot work. They have one small cot/bed and all the kids (they have two smaller siblings) sleep on a wood platform. We went to visit them with a couple of the other teachers to see how we might be able to support them. It broke my heart but we got to pray with them and over the family. This is why we're here. To love on the people and show them Christ in everything we do. That's not only why we're here but why we are alive.
The rest of the team headed to San Jose this morning and as I've heard they worked really hard. By the time I got there with lunch some of them had already started getting things ready for the next team coming. The rest of the afternoon I worked in the house setting the rocks for the walls and filling in holes with mortar. I love what I do. :) Everyone on the team is working so hard and the spirit that they carry with them all day makes every job enjoyable for sure. A few of them worked on the first house and put the roof on.Everyone's getting excited to have the family actually move in and start enjoying the blessing of a new house! That should be in the next few days. WHOO HOO!
This afternoon we all kept working hard and came home to a beautifully decorated team house because it's JASPER'S BIRTHDAY! We had a fun dance party after an amazing chicken lasagna from the ladies in the kitchen and a wonderful birthday cake. Fun was had by all. Now we just fininshed up getting things ready for VBS in the morning and it's devotional time so I better run but God bless y'all and have an awesome night!
Que Dios les bendiga!
M.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
No tuani below the waist
So sorry for not updating this weekend. We were gone on the weekend trip and didn't bring any computers with us.
Friday on the worksite started not so good. We saw that one of the walls that we built the day before had been knocked down so we had to worry about that. After that bad news it just kept coming when we learned that our water source for the volcanoes had ran out and we had to fetch water from the river. But we all are troopers and kept working anyway. Spencer and Raf worked on the roof of the high school team's house. The house will be down most likely Monday. After a hard day of work we headed home a littler early to get showers.
The bus ride to Omar's place took forever. Once we finally got there we ate pizza, which was way better than the first time we had it. After dinner we just hung out and went to bed early so we could be ready for a nice fun day.
The next morning we got up at 6 am and had breakfast. After breakfast we headed off for the volcano. Everyone had a good time and made it up in one piece and thanks to the help of Big my mom even made it up to the top. Everyone enjoyed the trip down a lot. After that we went back to the team house and ate lunch and watched the Germany and Uruguay game. It was a fun game to watch because of all the goal scoring that happened. After the game everyone went and changed into their bathing suits and jumped on the bus. After what seemed like forever we finally got to the beach and had a blast there. We found some great sea shells.
That night after devotion we had a great time playing a huge game of mafia. Austin did a great job of narrating like always. After one huge game we didn't have time to play another and we all headed to bed. We got to sleep in "late" which was great to do and after breakfast it was time to go home.
On the trip back to the team house we stopped at the mud pits for a little exploring time. After the mud pits we came back home and had a great lunch and saw the game winning goal of the World Cup finals. After lunch a bunch of people took naps while some people helped out with vbs crafts. We went to church tonight and watched Mo sing with the church band. Some of our girls sang with Mo one song and they did a great job singing. Now we are at the team house and we are playing mafia. I hope all is well with everyone.
Everyone keep us in your prayers,
Chris
Friday on the worksite started not so good. We saw that one of the walls that we built the day before had been knocked down so we had to worry about that. After that bad news it just kept coming when we learned that our water source for the volcanoes had ran out and we had to fetch water from the river. But we all are troopers and kept working anyway. Spencer and Raf worked on the roof of the high school team's house. The house will be down most likely Monday. After a hard day of work we headed home a littler early to get showers.
The bus ride to Omar's place took forever. Once we finally got there we ate pizza, which was way better than the first time we had it. After dinner we just hung out and went to bed early so we could be ready for a nice fun day.
The next morning we got up at 6 am and had breakfast. After breakfast we headed off for the volcano. Everyone had a good time and made it up in one piece and thanks to the help of Big my mom even made it up to the top. Everyone enjoyed the trip down a lot. After that we went back to the team house and ate lunch and watched the Germany and Uruguay game. It was a fun game to watch because of all the goal scoring that happened. After the game everyone went and changed into their bathing suits and jumped on the bus. After what seemed like forever we finally got to the beach and had a blast there. We found some great sea shells.
That night after devotion we had a great time playing a huge game of mafia. Austin did a great job of narrating like always. After one huge game we didn't have time to play another and we all headed to bed. We got to sleep in "late" which was great to do and after breakfast it was time to go home.
On the trip back to the team house we stopped at the mud pits for a little exploring time. After the mud pits we came back home and had a great lunch and saw the game winning goal of the World Cup finals. After lunch a bunch of people took naps while some people helped out with vbs crafts. We went to church tonight and watched Mo sing with the church band. Some of our girls sang with Mo one song and they did a great job singing. Now we are at the team house and we are playing mafia. I hope all is well with everyone.
Everyone keep us in your prayers,
Chris
Thursday, July 8, 2010
On the run...
So today was like any other day, started bright and early at 7 in the morning with a delicious breakfast of Mo's favorite(oatmeal cake thing). After we all finished eating we devoted and then loaded up the bus for another great day in San Jose. When we all got there we all got to work. Today was the day that we started to build the walls of the house, me, and morgan teamed up as one block laying team, while doc john and chris made up another team. We only got to work on 2 of the walls today because that is all the foundation that we had poured.
We got 2 layers of both of those walls done before it was time to break for lunch. Which was a delicious pasta salad with ham and cheese. It was good, like all the food is here. Once we got done eating our lunch it was time to head back to work, We split the team up into 2 groups, one for each of the houses that we are working on. They dug a trench around the first house to help with drainage, then poured part of the concrete for the roof, so that we can put the tin up tomorrow. The block layers got back to laying the bricks for the second house which was good.
Overall we got half of 2 of the walls done of the second house, a very successful day. Once we had the walls up we pouring the rest of the foundation. As we were passing the buckets of cement along I was trying to teach Ashley(one of the girls on the team) how to chew sunflower seeds correctly, which was a hilarious experience, but she eventually got the hang of it. Sunflower seeds have become a staple on the worksite. As we were leaving Candace(one of the leaders of the college trip) almost knocked over one of the sections, but all was saved thanks to some quick thinking by Doc John and Holly.
One of the coolest moments of the day was after we had finished pouring the concrete for the 1st house we had some left over so we made a little plaque out of the left over concrete. It was awesome to see the joy on their faces as they stuck there hands in the wet cement, as this was a step closer to getting into their new house. It was awesome.
When we got back to the house we had one of my favorite meals, Lemon Chicken, it was delicious as always. After we finished eating everybody went to take showers and clean up before devotions started, which were awesome as always. Now everybody is just hanging out until lights out at 10. So I am off to be social. Tomorrow we are heading to Chinadega in the afternoon for the weekend trip so it should be fun.
Love you all
BIG
We got 2 layers of both of those walls done before it was time to break for lunch. Which was a delicious pasta salad with ham and cheese. It was good, like all the food is here. Once we got done eating our lunch it was time to head back to work, We split the team up into 2 groups, one for each of the houses that we are working on. They dug a trench around the first house to help with drainage, then poured part of the concrete for the roof, so that we can put the tin up tomorrow. The block layers got back to laying the bricks for the second house which was good.
Overall we got half of 2 of the walls done of the second house, a very successful day. Once we had the walls up we pouring the rest of the foundation. As we were passing the buckets of cement along I was trying to teach Ashley(one of the girls on the team) how to chew sunflower seeds correctly, which was a hilarious experience, but she eventually got the hang of it. Sunflower seeds have become a staple on the worksite. As we were leaving Candace(one of the leaders of the college trip) almost knocked over one of the sections, but all was saved thanks to some quick thinking by Doc John and Holly.
One of the coolest moments of the day was after we had finished pouring the concrete for the 1st house we had some left over so we made a little plaque out of the left over concrete. It was awesome to see the joy on their faces as they stuck there hands in the wet cement, as this was a step closer to getting into their new house. It was awesome.
When we got back to the house we had one of my favorite meals, Lemon Chicken, it was delicious as always. After we finished eating everybody went to take showers and clean up before devotions started, which were awesome as always. Now everybody is just hanging out until lights out at 10. So I am off to be social. Tomorrow we are heading to Chinadega in the afternoon for the weekend trip so it should be fun.
Love you all
BIG
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
It's a tradition!
After gathering our still muddy and soaked boots, we packed up the bus and headed back to San Jose. The morning at San Jose started a little differently with VBS for the kids. There was an eventful skit with almost all of the Snellville team that I was blessed to see the dress reheasal last night. For some reason, all teams that come through enjoy doing activities with butterflies, which is funny because butterfly in Spanish also has a double meaning. So Mace starred as the fluttering butterfly this morning in the skit, and all of the kids now have a new nickname for him, needless to say.
I spent the day running around trying to keep everyone busy with rebar and making cement. We eventually doubled our rebar making capacity with two separate teams doing rebar which worked out well for the team. Mo started the morning cutting blocks, but after more generator problems, she helped with the rebar. Chris represented the States playing fútbol with some of the older kids in San Jose and then went on to help with passing cement at the house. Big was all over the place as well today, helping with the house, making cement, and sometimes even helping with rebar. We worked basically all day without rain, which was a blessing, but we did get poured on a bit at the end when we were all trying to load up. But honestly, we were able to get so much accomplished today, and we're hoping that we'll really start making progress tomorrow on putting up the walls tomorrow. This morning I was encouraged after reading Psalms to really try and "Praise the Lord" through all things throughout the day. So it was beautiful to see different ways how the Father was accepting his glory during the day.
Tonight we've enjoyed each other's company through devotions and spending time with the Father through worship. I was able to talk with some of the neighborhood boys again today, which is always a joy, and even later tonight I was called over to help color with John Carlos across the street. I love the culture here of neighbors being so close that they're almost like an extension of your family.
Well my eyes are starting to close permanently and Amanda's yawn further signifies how everyone is bedding down for the night. Ha, well I love you all and know that we're praying and thinking of yall.
sb
I spent the day running around trying to keep everyone busy with rebar and making cement. We eventually doubled our rebar making capacity with two separate teams doing rebar which worked out well for the team. Mo started the morning cutting blocks, but after more generator problems, she helped with the rebar. Chris represented the States playing fútbol with some of the older kids in San Jose and then went on to help with passing cement at the house. Big was all over the place as well today, helping with the house, making cement, and sometimes even helping with rebar. We worked basically all day without rain, which was a blessing, but we did get poured on a bit at the end when we were all trying to load up. But honestly, we were able to get so much accomplished today, and we're hoping that we'll really start making progress tomorrow on putting up the walls tomorrow. This morning I was encouraged after reading Psalms to really try and "Praise the Lord" through all things throughout the day. So it was beautiful to see different ways how the Father was accepting his glory during the day.
Tonight we've enjoyed each other's company through devotions and spending time with the Father through worship. I was able to talk with some of the neighborhood boys again today, which is always a joy, and even later tonight I was called over to help color with John Carlos across the street. I love the culture here of neighbors being so close that they're almost like an extension of your family.
Well my eyes are starting to close permanently and Amanda's yawn further signifies how everyone is bedding down for the night. Ha, well I love you all and know that we're praying and thinking of yall.
sb
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Every step I take...
So the college team is finally here! We got back late last night and everyone was so excited to be down here:) almost as excited as we were to have them here.
Yesterday was a good day. We got to rest up and recover from the past week of construction. Raf and the fam were awesome- they treated me to a pedicure. It was so sweet and it feels good to have clean feet after a week of hard work and mud! Afterwards, we went and picked up the team and that's always a good time.
Today was an excellent day of work. It rained like crazy so we got super soaked and the mud of outrageous but everyone worked really hard and had such a good time together. We had lots of kids from the community helping us and it was just a great time of a lot of laughs and the Lord's light spilling all over the place. That's the best way I can think to describe it.
Well it's ten and anyone who's been down here knows what that means...lights out!
Love!
M.
Yesterday was a good day. We got to rest up and recover from the past week of construction. Raf and the fam were awesome- they treated me to a pedicure. It was so sweet and it feels good to have clean feet after a week of hard work and mud! Afterwards, we went and picked up the team and that's always a good time.
Today was an excellent day of work. It rained like crazy so we got super soaked and the mud of outrageous but everyone worked really hard and had such a good time together. We had lots of kids from the community helping us and it was just a great time of a lot of laughs and the Lord's light spilling all over the place. That's the best way I can think to describe it.
Well it's ten and anyone who's been down here knows what that means...lights out!
Love!
M.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Oh, I thought this lake was salt water...
So today marked the last day for the high school team. Everyone was so exhausted that I think everyone woke up just in time for breakfast to start. After breakfast the team brought their bags out to the bus to load up and then said goodbye to Dona Fide and Don Omar. The first stop with the team was the Masaya market to do some shopping. After an hour of shopping everyone had bought what they wanted to and we were off to Papa John's for lunch. Mo and Spence decided with the help of Jared and Mrs. Brady to steal everyone's cheese sticks. Mo however did give me her ice cream to make peace. We then headed to Granada. At Granada we got on two separate boats and took a tour on the lake. We saw a couple different nice houses and then an island full of monkeys. The Granada lake is the only lake fresh water lake with sharks in it, for those who care to know. After the lake we headed to the hotel and dropped off the team. The high school team will be missed and worked hard this week. Tomorrow we go pick up the college team which includes my mom... very excited for that.
Happy 4th of July from all the interns
Hope all are well,
Chris
Happy 4th of July from all the interns
Hope all are well,
Chris
Saturday, July 3, 2010
I need more mud
So today was the last work day for the Snellville Youth Team, and it started like any other day which was a 7 with a breakfast of Mo's favorite the oatmeal cake thing, it was good. We all then headed to San Jose to continue to work on the house. Me and Mo rode in the back of the truck, NICA style, and it was a lot of fun. So once we got there, we got straight to work. Me and Raf got to work placing the concrete for the rebar at the top of one of the walls. After we had finished that we got to work working with the floor and the remaining wall.
Morgan and Chris were in front of the school cutting the blocks in half so that it would be easier for them to be carried back to the house. This went of for like the next few hours until lunch. When it was time for lunch we all headed back to the church and had a delicious lunch of meatballs and rice. Yum Yum.
Once we had all gotten our fill of food we headed back to work, which was controlled chaos at once point, with Stuart and Mark laying one half of the wall and me laying the other half. All of the pieces had to be special sizes so we were both yelling out measurement, over the sound of the generator, to Morgan and Raf who were the designated cutters. The wall went up fairly quickly but then it came time to pour the concrete on the top of the back wall and down the supports, whch was a pretty funny sight to witness.
Once we had finished that, Manuel, Chico, and Manuel's helper got right to work placing the supports for the roof while the rest of us made the finishing touches on the floor and the rebar on top of the newly finished wall. There was a scary moment when Jarred went up to the wall and went to step and placed his weight on the newly placed wall, which cant support weight and it nearly fell over, which would have been awful. But luckily it did not fall over. Needless to say Jarred was rather relieved.
Once we got back to the team house Lesbia and the women of the kitchen had a delicious meal of breaded chicken breast, rice, and mashed potatoes. So good. After dinner we all got cleaned up and the youth team did there evening devotion which was really good. By the time that was over with it was time for everybody to go to bed, which is where I need to head now cause tomorrow we have their tour day which is always a long day. But it will be good So I off to bed then.
Love you all
BIG
Morgan and Chris were in front of the school cutting the blocks in half so that it would be easier for them to be carried back to the house. This went of for like the next few hours until lunch. When it was time for lunch we all headed back to the church and had a delicious lunch of meatballs and rice. Yum Yum.
Once we had all gotten our fill of food we headed back to work, which was controlled chaos at once point, with Stuart and Mark laying one half of the wall and me laying the other half. All of the pieces had to be special sizes so we were both yelling out measurement, over the sound of the generator, to Morgan and Raf who were the designated cutters. The wall went up fairly quickly but then it came time to pour the concrete on the top of the back wall and down the supports, whch was a pretty funny sight to witness.
Once we had finished that, Manuel, Chico, and Manuel's helper got right to work placing the supports for the roof while the rest of us made the finishing touches on the floor and the rebar on top of the newly finished wall. There was a scary moment when Jarred went up to the wall and went to step and placed his weight on the newly placed wall, which cant support weight and it nearly fell over, which would have been awful. But luckily it did not fall over. Needless to say Jarred was rather relieved.
Once we got back to the team house Lesbia and the women of the kitchen had a delicious meal of breaded chicken breast, rice, and mashed potatoes. So good. After dinner we all got cleaned up and the youth team did there evening devotion which was really good. By the time that was over with it was time for everybody to go to bed, which is where I need to head now cause tomorrow we have their tour day which is always a long day. But it will be good So I off to bed then.
Love you all
BIG
Friday, July 2, 2010
My ears, my eyes, my nose, my mouth are officially concrete
Due to much more blocks that needed to be cut, and concrete that needed to be laid, Mo and I decided to not go into school this morning. Things just wouldn't have gotten done without the bosses being there!
So we got back into our routine this morning of Mo cutting blocks, Big and I working on placing blocks in the house, while Chris started cutting blocks today as well. Big and I worked together most of the day placing the blocks for the walls of the house. I also floated around and did some of the odd jobs around the house as well and helped where needed. By the end of the day, we had successfully completed three of the the four walls of the house, and well over half of the concrete floor. So tomorrow, we have only have of a wall to complete, the rest of the floor, and the roof. Before we left, I asked Manuel, the foreman, if he thought we could finish it off, and he quickly responded, "¡Sí se puede! Yes we can!" So I have faith that through the Father's strength we'll be able to get even more done tomorrow.
Mo and Chris went ahead with the team to get ready for dinner around 5, while Raf, Big, Stuart, Mark and I stayed behind to put the finishing touches on the last two walls. So by the time we got back to the house, we all quickly showered to meet the rest of the team at the restaurant. We all had such a great time at the restaurant, enjoying each others' company, and of course, the food. Naturally, the bull testicles were ordered, and Big successfully got almost everybody to at least try them, including Pam Brady! Haha, we got pictures.
Well everyone is winding down here at the team house, and I think I may be the last one up. Off to turn off the lights! One last thing. I was so encouraged this morning when I read in Psalms 98 how, "His right hand has won a mighty victory; his holy arm has shown his saving power! The Lord has announced his victory and has revealed his righteousness to every nation!" This was so encouraging to me because I knew how the Father would have to work through us today, and be our strength, because we were all so tired and struggling. And he has accomplished infinitely more through us than I could have imagined. Mom shared with the group this morning from Ephesians 3:20-21 how, "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." Love how the Lord encouraged us in different ways to be faithful, and trust in his strength to pull us through. Ahh so great. Well I love all of you. Buenos noches.
sb
So we got back into our routine this morning of Mo cutting blocks, Big and I working on placing blocks in the house, while Chris started cutting blocks today as well. Big and I worked together most of the day placing the blocks for the walls of the house. I also floated around and did some of the odd jobs around the house as well and helped where needed. By the end of the day, we had successfully completed three of the the four walls of the house, and well over half of the concrete floor. So tomorrow, we have only have of a wall to complete, the rest of the floor, and the roof. Before we left, I asked Manuel, the foreman, if he thought we could finish it off, and he quickly responded, "¡Sí se puede! Yes we can!" So I have faith that through the Father's strength we'll be able to get even more done tomorrow.
Mo and Chris went ahead with the team to get ready for dinner around 5, while Raf, Big, Stuart, Mark and I stayed behind to put the finishing touches on the last two walls. So by the time we got back to the house, we all quickly showered to meet the rest of the team at the restaurant. We all had such a great time at the restaurant, enjoying each others' company, and of course, the food. Naturally, the bull testicles were ordered, and Big successfully got almost everybody to at least try them, including Pam Brady! Haha, we got pictures.
Well everyone is winding down here at the team house, and I think I may be the last one up. Off to turn off the lights! One last thing. I was so encouraged this morning when I read in Psalms 98 how, "His right hand has won a mighty victory; his holy arm has shown his saving power! The L
sb
Thursday, July 1, 2010
25 X 24.5 X 28.5
whew! Today was a tough one, but I know that I'll get a good night sleep tonight that's for sure. This morning we all got up and had those delicious pancakes that we've all become so fond of for breakfast. We headed off to the site and split into VBS and construction for the morning. I worked the morning and afternoon cutting cement blocks in half and making special measurement pieces for them to put the walls up. Spenc and Big worked around the same area that I did and I saw how hard they worked. I know they're got to be exhausted too but we're all working hard to get this house finished before the team leaves so they can see the finished product. Oh and I'm sure Chris worked really hard today too but I didn't see him all day. I think he was by the school making cement volcanoes for them to lay the floor today.
So we got back to the team house late late for dinner but that didn't make the food any less satisfying. Lesbia and all the ladies in the kitchen work so hard and it's really obvious. Tonight was tacos. huhh yummy yummy que rrrrico. But really, so good.
Now it's only 8:30 but I could probably fall asleep this instant so I'm off of here.
Love and prayers always,
M.
So we got back to the team house late late for dinner but that didn't make the food any less satisfying. Lesbia and all the ladies in the kitchen work so hard and it's really obvious. Tonight was tacos. huhh yummy yummy que rrrrico. But really, so good.
Now it's only 8:30 but I could probably fall asleep this instant so I'm off of here.
Love and prayers always,
M.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
nica: where amazing happens
So today was an interesting day. The day started off with Mo's favorite breakfast, the oatmeal brownie thing. After breakfast the team made 200 sandwiches to give out to the kids at the special needs school. After they made the sandwiches they hoped onto the bus to go. Josh, Stuart, Mark, Payo, and I were off to the work site to try and get some more work done. While we were at the site for the morning, the rest of the team had an eventful day of vbs at the school, hospital visit, and a trip to a coffee plantation.
Mo came to the work site after lunch and brought us all some of the teams lunch, which was a TON better than 0ur turkey sandwiches. Mo jumped right into work cutting the blocks in half with the power saw. We got some of the local boys to carry the huge boulders for us which was a big help. Of course no Nica day would be complete without rain, and it conveniently started after we had knocked down the roof from the old house. So while everyone else was putting up a tarp to keep the ground dry, I got designated to hold all the electronics and stay dry. So i played rock paper scissors with a couple of the kids, counting my boy Eli. Finally we all piled into the truck, with me and Josh in the back and headed home.
We got back and everyone had already eaten the delicious dinner of lemon chicken. Spencer forced them to stop waiting for us and finally eat. Dinner was great like always. After dinner we prepared for tomorrow and now we are all just hanging out.
Much love,
Chris
Mo came to the work site after lunch and brought us all some of the teams lunch, which was a TON better than 0ur turkey sandwiches. Mo jumped right into work cutting the blocks in half with the power saw. We got some of the local boys to carry the huge boulders for us which was a big help. Of course no Nica day would be complete without rain, and it conveniently started after we had knocked down the roof from the old house. So while everyone else was putting up a tarp to keep the ground dry, I got designated to hold all the electronics and stay dry. So i played rock paper scissors with a couple of the kids, counting my boy Eli. Finally we all piled into the truck, with me and Josh in the back and headed home.
We got back and everyone had already eaten the delicious dinner of lemon chicken. Spencer forced them to stop waiting for us and finally eat. Dinner was great like always. After dinner we prepared for tomorrow and now we are all just hanging out.
Much love,
Chris
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
So today started like any other day with a team, around 7 with a delicious breakfast, soon after that some of the people from the team started to make sandwiches for the children that they did vbs for. After that we left to go to San Jose to continue working on the house. Me, Morgan, and Chris all rode in the truck, Morgan and Chris rode Nica style in the back, while i rode in the cab with Raf, Don Omar, and Pallito.
Once we got there it was straight to work. Me, Raf, and 2 of the men from the team (Stuart and Mark) got to work placing the blocks for the walls, which was exhausting. The rest of the high school team was busy doing VBS with the kids of the community, apparently they did it for over 100 kids which is awesome. We laid the first row of blocks on 2 sides of the house before it was time to break for lunch, which wasnt bad since it was most of ours first time laying those 110 pounds rocks.
When it was time to break for lunch it was my favorite, pollo de galletas (Cookie Chicken). It was delicious, I had like 8 pieces (so good). After we ate it was right back to work. when we got back to the work site the rest of the team was done with vbs, so they all pitched in and helped, either making, volcanos for concrete, making rebar, or moving those rocks around. The afternoon was a little more productive than the morning we got another 2 rows put on top of the first one that we did. So its coming along.
When it was time to leave we all got back in the bus and headed back to the team house. When we got there they had dinner ready for us which was a delicious spaghetti, which is one of Spence's favorites, one of his many. But after that we all played some card games and just hung out. Its completely different when a team is here, but its cool to see how they all interact with each other.
Well it is getting late and I am pretty tired, and I have another day of work tomorrow. So im off to bed.
Love you all
BIG
Once we got there it was straight to work. Me, Raf, and 2 of the men from the team (Stuart and Mark) got to work placing the blocks for the walls, which was exhausting. The rest of the high school team was busy doing VBS with the kids of the community, apparently they did it for over 100 kids which is awesome. We laid the first row of blocks on 2 sides of the house before it was time to break for lunch, which wasnt bad since it was most of ours first time laying those 110 pounds rocks.
When it was time to break for lunch it was my favorite, pollo de galletas (Cookie Chicken). It was delicious, I had like 8 pieces (so good). After we ate it was right back to work. when we got back to the work site the rest of the team was done with vbs, so they all pitched in and helped, either making, volcanos for concrete, making rebar, or moving those rocks around. The afternoon was a little more productive than the morning we got another 2 rows put on top of the first one that we did. So its coming along.
When it was time to leave we all got back in the bus and headed back to the team house. When we got there they had dinner ready for us which was a delicious spaghetti, which is one of Spence's favorites, one of his many. But after that we all played some card games and just hung out. Its completely different when a team is here, but its cool to see how they all interact with each other.
Well it is getting late and I am pretty tired, and I have another day of work tomorrow. So im off to bed.
Love you all
BIG
Monday, June 28, 2010
Easiest way to use a wheelbarrow: Have someone push your butt.
Yep. You guessed it! I've had a permanent smile smeared on my face for the past 26 hours since Mom has been with us. There's something about having Mama around that just makes everything joyful. :)
Surprisingly, after not going to bed until almost 1 AM Nica time, 3 AM Atlanta time, the majority of the Snellville team was up and running by 6 AM this morning. I was getting asked questions from my bed since I didn't expect the first person to be up until 7. Mo and I were both laughing at breakfast about being questioned while still cleaning off the drool from your pillow. I told Big it'd be a long week if everyone kept waking up before six every morning. Ha, but they were just so excited and ready to go! They left the team house a little after 8, and Mo, Mom, and I left for school at about 9 AM. We got to leave a little later since they were having, you guessed it, another celebration at school this morning. Today is "Day of the Teacher" so they had a special act at the school today and a holiday tomorrow for the teachers. Mom's word of the day has been overwhelmed, but I think she really enjoyed being able to relate to the teachers we help everyday. Come to find out, one of the teachers we help has been teaching for the exact same number of years as Mom. We all got a kick out of that. Mo sang beautifully this morning and really pulled at everyone's heartstrings. The chorus of that song is so sweet and Mo did an amazing job. I made sure to get it filmed on her new camera (thanks Babs!).
The three of us rode back with lunch to San Jose to find a hungry Snellville team. A few of the men in the group had been helping with construction in the morning, while most of the team had been going house to house praying for people and just getting to know them. I hear Chris was a great tour guide, and Big was doing what Big does best: carrying heavy objects. After lunch, we went back to work hauling the big cement blocks to the house. This is no easy task in general, but add water weight to a 100 pound block, slippery mud, long distances, and some steep inclines, and you have yourself an obstacle course. Mo and Mom quickly created a team of pushing the cement blocks in the wheelbarrow, while I attempted at catching up with Raf and Big's impressive accolade of who could carry the most blocks. We worked all day in the mud hauling cement, blocks, and sand, while also taking the time to get to know the family and the people in the community. Such an incredible day!
Tonight we came back to have another warm meal and warm showers to clean off all of the mud. Mom got to meet all of the neighborhood boys, as they know the schedule of when teams are coming in almost better than I do. We played some UNO, as usual, and enjoyed laughing in each other's company. Love having Snellville here because it always seems to me that the presence of the Father is so real and evident. We all had some time with the Father tonight after devotions just enjoying some authentic worship. So needless to say, the fireflies in the garden tonight were countless.
Well, the house is quiet and I'm tired and ready to hit the hay. Love you all so much,
sb
Surprisingly, after not going to bed until almost 1 AM Nica time, 3 AM Atlanta time, the majority of the Snellville team was up and running by 6 AM this morning. I was getting asked questions from my bed since I didn't expect the first person to be up until 7. Mo and I were both laughing at breakfast about being questioned while still cleaning off the drool from your pillow. I told Big it'd be a long week if everyone kept waking up before six every morning. Ha, but they were just so excited and ready to go! They left the team house a little after 8, and Mo, Mom, and I left for school at about 9 AM. We got to leave a little later since they were having, you guessed it, another celebration at school this morning. Today is "Day of the Teacher" so they had a special act at the school today and a holiday tomorrow for the teachers. Mom's word of the day has been overwhelmed, but I think she really enjoyed being able to relate to the teachers we help everyday. Come to find out, one of the teachers we help has been teaching for the exact same number of years as Mom. We all got a kick out of that. Mo sang beautifully this morning and really pulled at everyone's heartstrings. The chorus of that song is so sweet and Mo did an amazing job. I made sure to get it filmed on her new camera (thanks Babs!).
The three of us rode back with lunch to San Jose to find a hungry Snellville team. A few of the men in the group had been helping with construction in the morning, while most of the team had been going house to house praying for people and just getting to know them. I hear Chris was a great tour guide, and Big was doing what Big does best: carrying heavy objects. After lunch, we went back to work hauling the big cement blocks to the house. This is no easy task in general, but add water weight to a 100 pound block, slippery mud, long distances, and some steep inclines, and you have yourself an obstacle course. Mo and Mom quickly created a team of pushing the cement blocks in the wheelbarrow, while I attempted at catching up with Raf and Big's impressive accolade of who could carry the most blocks. We worked all day in the mud hauling cement, blocks, and sand, while also taking the time to get to know the family and the people in the community. Such an incredible day!
Tonight we came back to have another warm meal and warm showers to clean off all of the mud. Mom got to meet all of the neighborhood boys, as they know the schedule of when teams are coming in almost better than I do. We played some UNO, as usual, and enjoyed laughing in each other's company. Love having Snellville here because it always seems to me that the presence of the Father is so real and evident. We all had some time with the Father tonight after devotions just enjoying some authentic worship. So needless to say, the fireflies in the garden tonight were countless.
Well, the house is quiet and I'm tired and ready to hit the hay. Love you all so much,
sb
Big's Day Out- Finding the missing cord.
So I'm writing this blog the morning after the day I'm about to tell because we got in super late last night with the SNELLVILLE TEAM! Everyone's here at the team house safely. Currently they're doing their team devotion and I'm getting ready to head to the school. Yesterday was a fun day. We all got up and had breakfast together around the table. We set off for church with all eight of us. One of the neighborhood boys came with us. We were all really excited to have him come! I sang with the praise team the song "Hosanna" except obviously translated into spanish. I love singing with them. They also asked if I could go with them to a youth conference in another city in late July to sing with their band. I'm pumped! After church we rushed home and had a great lunch that Lesbia had made. We hung around with all the kids and played Uno, ran around (Spenc),and chilled with the fam until time to go to Managua to pick up the team. We had to stop at PriceMart for Big to get an AppleSnack cake thingy...4 to make sure there was enough to go around. Ay! We ate at Pizza Hut waiting for the team and they finally arrived around 8:30. We got back to the team house a little before midnight and everyone was a mixture of exhausted and wired with excitement. Everyone settled down after awhile and now everyone's up and going again. I better go, we have to get to school. Today I'm singing for fiesta so I best go and practice a bit first.
Love y'all, prayers always,
M.
Love y'all, prayers always,
M.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Hey Alex what's the score?
Today we woke up and ate breakfast.. just like we do everyday. Once Payo got to the team house we loaded up the truck for another adventure in San Jose. Once we got there it was back to work. I started back making the little connector re-bar pieces.. Manuel must have been impressed by my skills the day before because he requested that I do them again. We all started making the rebar when the rain started to come. This time we came prepared with a tarp to hang up to keep the rain out of the construction area. We continued to work the morning doing the same one re-bar section. We have all become experts at the art of re-barring. We then had lunch.
After lunch we tried to find out the score of the US game but the power was out in San Jose. After Manuel told us the score was US 1- Cuba 0 we decided to call someone. So we called our favorite translator, Alex, to get the score update. So we continued to work while trying to get score updates. We would literally call Alex like every 3 or 4 minutes and every time he would never be ready to give the score.. You think he would have learned. It was hard to get much done today due to the rain but we made the best of it and got 2 re-bars done. All of the re-bar for the house is pretty much done and the trench is coming along good. Hopefully tomorrow they can lay down the cement flooring.
Once we got back to the team house we all changed and showered and Spencer and me went out to play with the kids. They were playing a new game neither of us had seen before. They were playing them with spinning tops, the tops are apparently a big hit down here. We then at dinner which was steak, rice, and potatoes... It was great just like every other meal here. After dinner we all went and played uno with the boys from the neighborhood.
Now we are just hanging out. A couple of the grandkids are hear making a ruckus. It is great to hear the joy though. We are about to play spades on our last night without a team. High school team if any of you are reading this be safe flying tomorrow and we will see you tomorrow night.
Love to all,
Chris
After lunch we tried to find out the score of the US game but the power was out in San Jose. After Manuel told us the score was US 1- Cuba 0 we decided to call someone. So we called our favorite translator, Alex, to get the score update. So we continued to work while trying to get score updates. We would literally call Alex like every 3 or 4 minutes and every time he would never be ready to give the score.. You think he would have learned. It was hard to get much done today due to the rain but we made the best of it and got 2 re-bars done. All of the re-bar for the house is pretty much done and the trench is coming along good. Hopefully tomorrow they can lay down the cement flooring.
Once we got back to the team house we all changed and showered and Spencer and me went out to play with the kids. They were playing a new game neither of us had seen before. They were playing them with spinning tops, the tops are apparently a big hit down here. We then at dinner which was steak, rice, and potatoes... It was great just like every other meal here. After dinner we all went and played uno with the boys from the neighborhood.
Now we are just hanging out. A couple of the grandkids are hear making a ruckus. It is great to hear the joy though. We are about to play spades on our last night without a team. High school team if any of you are reading this be safe flying tomorrow and we will see you tomorrow night.
Love to all,
Chris
Friday, June 25, 2010
Nica Style
So today I woke up and felt fine which was a nice surprise as compared to the last 2. So we all got up and ate a delicious breakfast of french toast. Yum Yum. After that was done we waited for Raf to show up so that we could head to San Jose to continue working on the house. Well Raf showed up but he told us that he had to head into Managua for a meeting instead of going to San Jose. So he and Don Omar went down to the park to see if they could find anybody that would be able to take up to san jose. And along came Julio he was a nice guy and we were grateful that he was willing to drive us out there. Me, Spence, Mo, and Chris all got in the back of the truck and rode "NICA style". It was awesome.
When we got to San Jose Manuel and his helpers were already at work on the foundation. But when we got there we immediately jumped into the action, Chris got busy bending metal into squares for the rebar, and me, Spence, Mo, and Don Omar got to work on tying the rebar. My fingers are so sore from tying all those little wires. Well we did that until it was time to go to lunch, which was ham sandwiches at the church. When we got back we picked up right where we had left off. Tying wire around rebar. Thats pretty much what we did all day.
In between the rebars, while we waited for manuel we all got to take a break and relax for like 5 minutes. While I was waiting one time, 2 of the little kids that live in the same area as the house we are building came out and started to play. They couldnt have been more than 3, and they would say something to one another in spanish which i couldnt understand, then they would just laugh and smile. It was impossible not to laugh and smile along with them. It made my day. But then it was back to work. Overall we did 5 of the square things of rebar through out the day. The owners of the house and Manuel and his helpers got to work digging the trench for the foundation and they started laying the foundation. So it was a productive day
As we were finishing up the last of the rebars for the day, the rains came. It poured, there were times where I couldnt hear someone talking right in front of me it was so loud. But the whole time we stood under the tin roof, the only thing that was going through my head was the trip back to Matagalpa in the back of Julio's truck. Luckily it let up a little when it came time for us to head back. But we all jumped in the back of the truck, it was Spence, Mo, and Don Omar on the front, Chris was behind Mo using her as a shield it was pretty funny, and I was standing in the back Needless to say we were all soaked by the time that we got back to the team house. But it was still fun. Its yet another one of the great experience that I have had here. Its awesome.
When we got back, Dona Fide had dinner ready for us. Which was omelets which were delicious. Afterwards we played some spades which was fun, then Raf came back from Managua and we helped him unload the supplies for the next 3 weeks. But now everything is starting to wind down. Probably going to be going to bed pretty soon, got another busy day tomorrow.
Love you all
BIG
When we got to San Jose Manuel and his helpers were already at work on the foundation. But when we got there we immediately jumped into the action, Chris got busy bending metal into squares for the rebar, and me, Spence, Mo, and Don Omar got to work on tying the rebar. My fingers are so sore from tying all those little wires. Well we did that until it was time to go to lunch, which was ham sandwiches at the church. When we got back we picked up right where we had left off. Tying wire around rebar. Thats pretty much what we did all day.
In between the rebars, while we waited for manuel we all got to take a break and relax for like 5 minutes. While I was waiting one time, 2 of the little kids that live in the same area as the house we are building came out and started to play. They couldnt have been more than 3, and they would say something to one another in spanish which i couldnt understand, then they would just laugh and smile. It was impossible not to laugh and smile along with them. It made my day. But then it was back to work. Overall we did 5 of the square things of rebar through out the day. The owners of the house and Manuel and his helpers got to work digging the trench for the foundation and they started laying the foundation. So it was a productive day
As we were finishing up the last of the rebars for the day, the rains came. It poured, there were times where I couldnt hear someone talking right in front of me it was so loud. But the whole time we stood under the tin roof, the only thing that was going through my head was the trip back to Matagalpa in the back of Julio's truck. Luckily it let up a little when it came time for us to head back. But we all jumped in the back of the truck, it was Spence, Mo, and Don Omar on the front, Chris was behind Mo using her as a shield it was pretty funny, and I was standing in the back Needless to say we were all soaked by the time that we got back to the team house. But it was still fun. Its yet another one of the great experience that I have had here. Its awesome.
When we got back, Dona Fide had dinner ready for us. Which was omelets which were delicious. Afterwards we played some spades which was fun, then Raf came back from Managua and we helped him unload the supplies for the next 3 weeks. But now everything is starting to wind down. Probably going to be going to bed pretty soon, got another busy day tomorrow.
Love you all
BIG
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Didn't you say you like chocolate?
Mmhmm. Nothing like being a little worn out from a long day of work! Of course, it would be getting hotter here as our days of construction begin. But I'm okay with that since rain in the next few days may throw a kink into building the foundation of the house at San Jose.
I started off this morning without a run, which was nice being able to sleep in a little bit. After breakfast, we realized that Big was still a little under the weather, so he decided to stay behind and start some medicine to try to beat the sickness. We got to San Jose relatively early and immediately started helping with the destruction of the house. Yes you guessed it, we had a ball! Ha, we had to be careful that with every board we took out, all of the nails were out. We didn't want a repeat of Raf's finger almost falling off. When we started to move their wood pile, the roaches started coming out of the woodwork, literally. Raf and Chris scream like little girls when it comes to cockroaches for anyone wondering. After we had most of the walls taken apart, I looked down and saw a little head sticking out of a hole. I pointed it out to Raf, and with the crowbar in his hand, he started going at the hole. He had little faith at first, but before you knew it, we had little mice running around. Come to find out, we'd come on a nest! We had about ten mice running around when it was all said and done. Don't worry, I got to dissect one. Crazy to think that the dirt floor underneath where their beds were, there was another family, but of rodents. Good thing with their new house, they'll have cement floors!
I naturally had to take a break after too much work, and I walked with some of the boys to the river. When we got there, they said they were going for a swim and for me to strip down to my calzoncillos/underwear. I respectfully declined saying that I wasn't wearing any underwear. Ha, they sure did get a kick out of that! We came back for a lunch of sandwiches at the truck, and then Mo and I went with a couple of the San Jose boys to finish the census. Elizandro promised us that there were only 8 houses left, so we started off. Right when we finished, Mo and I both got pulled to different directions of places where we had missed houses. By this time, the whole community had heard of the census and the new project we started, so everyone wants to make sure they're counted. Mo got pulled off to do about 4 more houses and I went and checked the blood sugar of the lady who came to the clinic a couple of weeks ago. Her blood sugar spiked again today, so I'm hoping we can find something to help her out.
While Mo and I were "censusing" Raf and Chris and Don Omar were working on the rebar. Mo and I came and helped for the last hour or so, and then we headed back to Matagalpa. The boys were waiting on the front porch when I got there, so we started playing hand ball and then UNO when we had a quick rain shower. After an early dinner, Chris and I played "El mono en el medio" with the boys outside. One of Doña Fide's friend's, Tania, came by tonight to get some clean water from the house. She comes by every few days to get clean water, since she lives right up the street and her only access to water is from a dirty creek. So tonight, I helped her get the water back to her house. Little did I know it was quite a hike uphill to her house. But her family was so welcoming and they made sure to show me the BEST view I've ever seen of the city of Matagalpa. It was beautiful! Love the culture here of being so open to get to know people, and genuinely wanting to spend time with them. Tania said she wanted to meet my family, so Mom, get ready!
Well I love you all and I'm headed to bed. Chris and Big are already snoring, ha. Love yall,
sb
I started off this morning without a run, which was nice being able to sleep in a little bit. After breakfast, we realized that Big was still a little under the weather, so he decided to stay behind and start some medicine to try to beat the sickness. We got to San Jose relatively early and immediately started helping with the destruction of the house. Yes you guessed it, we had a ball! Ha, we had to be careful that with every board we took out, all of the nails were out. We didn't want a repeat of Raf's finger almost falling off. When we started to move their wood pile, the roaches started coming out of the woodwork, literally. Raf and Chris scream like little girls when it comes to cockroaches for anyone wondering. After we had most of the walls taken apart, I looked down and saw a little head sticking out of a hole. I pointed it out to Raf, and with the crowbar in his hand, he started going at the hole. He had little faith at first, but before you knew it, we had little mice running around. Come to find out, we'd come on a nest! We had about ten mice running around when it was all said and done. Don't worry, I got to dissect one. Crazy to think that the dirt floor underneath where their beds were, there was another family, but of rodents. Good thing with their new house, they'll have cement floors!
I naturally had to take a break after too much work, and I walked with some of the boys to the river. When we got there, they said they were going for a swim and for me to strip down to my calzoncillos/underwear. I respectfully declined saying that I wasn't wearing any underwear. Ha, they sure did get a kick out of that! We came back for a lunch of sandwiches at the truck, and then Mo and I went with a couple of the San Jose boys to finish the census. Elizandro promised us that there were only 8 houses left, so we started off. Right when we finished, Mo and I both got pulled to different directions of places where we had missed houses. By this time, the whole community had heard of the census and the new project we started, so everyone wants to make sure they're counted. Mo got pulled off to do about 4 more houses and I went and checked the blood sugar of the lady who came to the clinic a couple of weeks ago. Her blood sugar spiked again today, so I'm hoping we can find something to help her out.
While Mo and I were "censusing" Raf and Chris and Don Omar were working on the rebar. Mo and I came and helped for the last hour or so, and then we headed back to Matagalpa. The boys were waiting on the front porch when I got there, so we started playing hand ball and then UNO when we had a quick rain shower. After an early dinner, Chris and I played "El mono en el medio" with the boys outside. One of Doña Fide's friend's, Tania, came by tonight to get some clean water from the house. She comes by every few days to get clean water, since she lives right up the street and her only access to water is from a dirty creek. So tonight, I helped her get the water back to her house. Little did I know it was quite a hike uphill to her house. But her family was so welcoming and they made sure to show me the BEST view I've ever seen of the city of Matagalpa. It was beautiful! Love the culture here of being so open to get to know people, and genuinely wanting to spend time with them. Tania said she wanted to meet my family, so Mom, get ready!
Well I love you all and I'm headed to bed. Chris and Big are already snoring, ha. Love yall,
sb
A little bit of San Jose and La Amistad!
Passing out the boots!
Mo and Elizandro. Yeah, he's sporting a new set of kicks.
One of our students, Rafael, dancing with our teacher, Yadira, at the Father's Day Celebration.
Mo with the little girl whose house we're building.
SUMC! Get ready because you'll be seeing a lot of this when you get here. Where we are standing, there will be a new house in just over a week.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Psychoanal
My regrets again for missing my day of blogging. With Chris and Big down here and me not writing on here every other day, I forget!
Today was a colorful day though, as every day here is. Spenc and I went to the school with Soda and brownies for Dia del Padre this morning. Yes, another program/fiesta. It went well apart from there only being a few dads that came. A lot of the dads had to work and couldn't come, but the parties at the school are always fun. There's always students who dance and others who memorize poems. One of the girls came running up to me and was trying to give me a hot hot glue gun the teachers had been using to decorate but I got a pretty little burn on my arm because I couldn't turn fast enough to get it from her. She gave it to me after I jumped up from being burned and looked at me and said, umm it's hot. ha, you don't say. Ha, I couldn't even get mad, I just laughed.
After school we came home for a nice lunch! Big's a little under the weather, but hopefully by tomorrow he'll be back to 100%. But for today, he stayed home to rest and the rest of us went to San Jose to finish the census. Our "guides"/some boys from the community told us we only had 10 houses left to do but after we'd done 14 and they said we still had like 5 more, we called it a day. Spenc and I are going to finish it up tomorrow morning. But we're getting really excited because we have our first family that we're building the house for and today we went and mapped out how we're going to build and where and all that! Tomorrow we're going to be working on starting the Re-bar. :)
We got home from San Jose and of course the boys from the hood were out so Spenc went out to play with them and everyone kinda chilled before dinner. After dinner I left to go practice with the band at church to sing on Sunday. I love hanging out with them. They're awesome. Spenc and Chris came to fetch me around 9:30 and now I'm about to fall asleep.
We can't wait for the first Snellville team to come! We're getting ready for you all and praying for you. God bless!
M.
Today was a colorful day though, as every day here is. Spenc and I went to the school with Soda and brownies for Dia del Padre this morning. Yes, another program/fiesta. It went well apart from there only being a few dads that came. A lot of the dads had to work and couldn't come, but the parties at the school are always fun. There's always students who dance and others who memorize poems. One of the girls came running up to me and was trying to give me a hot hot glue gun the teachers had been using to decorate but I got a pretty little burn on my arm because I couldn't turn fast enough to get it from her. She gave it to me after I jumped up from being burned and looked at me and said, umm it's hot. ha, you don't say. Ha, I couldn't even get mad, I just laughed.
After school we came home for a nice lunch! Big's a little under the weather, but hopefully by tomorrow he'll be back to 100%. But for today, he stayed home to rest and the rest of us went to San Jose to finish the census. Our "guides"/some boys from the community told us we only had 10 houses left to do but after we'd done 14 and they said we still had like 5 more, we called it a day. Spenc and I are going to finish it up tomorrow morning. But we're getting really excited because we have our first family that we're building the house for and today we went and mapped out how we're going to build and where and all that! Tomorrow we're going to be working on starting the Re-bar. :)
We got home from San Jose and of course the boys from the hood were out so Spenc went out to play with them and everyone kinda chilled before dinner. After dinner I left to go practice with the band at church to sing on Sunday. I love hanging out with them. They're awesome. Spenc and Chris came to fetch me around 9:30 and now I'm about to fall asleep.
We can't wait for the first Snellville team to come! We're getting ready for you all and praying for you. God bless!
M.
Monday, June 21, 2010
It's all in the hips
This morning Josh and I went with Morgan and Spencer to the school that they help out at because Raf had a meeting in Managua the night before that ran late and he had to spend the night in Managua. It was an interesting experience to say the least. I was pretty excited to see how the schools here are set up since I want to be a teacher, even if the school wasn't a normal school. The first class we went to the kids were really nice. Spencer told us that there weren't as many kids there because the buses weren't running due to the rain from the night before. The kids were very well behaved and I even recognized a few from when we visited the year before. We just sat around and helped kids make puzzles and complete sentences that the teacher had made for them to complete. During the class a few of the other special needs students came in to sell bread that they had made. Mo bought a piece and shared it with us. It was very good. One of the boys was all dressed up with an apron and a chefs hat on. After that I went with Morgan to the other class, second grade, that they help out with while Josh and Spence stayed with third grade. The classes were night and day. The second grade class the kids were louder and more rowdy. I spent more time stopping kids from hitting each other than helping them color or finish other work. We spent probably 20 minutes if that in there before it was recess. At recess Josh and I were introduced to the principal of the school. He was really nice. We watched the end of the Chile/ Switzerland game in his office. After recess all four of us went into the second grade class. I think having all 4 of us there riled them even more up. We played bingo and musical chairs with them and then it was time for us to leave. I respect Spencer and Mo so much for what they have to go through helping out those kids and still loving it every day.
After lunch Raf came over and we organized all the boots to take to San Jose into bags. We then went to exchanged a few boots for different sizes and then off we went. On the way we had to stop and pick up some bags of cement for Manuel and Big learned the true art of making the rope to hold things down tight. We told him it was in the hips but he wouldn't listen... Once we got to San Jose we found out that bringing the boots was worthless because the kids didn't have school today or the next day. So Wednesday we will hand them out. We did some scouting out for the upcoming construction sites and then went over to the lady with the high blood pressures house to check up on her. When we were leaving Mo drove the truck out of the community. She did good driving the stick and stalled out only once. Big then drove a little bit more before he handed it back over to Raf. We went to Batidos like always and got some drinks.
Once we got back to the house we all started to relax and Mo and Spencer gave big and me our first Spanish lesson of the trip. They are really going out of their way along with Don Omar and Dona Fide to help us learn Spanish, which I'm so glad they are. For me I'm understanding a lot of what people are saying but when it comes time to talk I freeze up. Hopefully with the help of all the "teachers" I will be able to speak a little more fluently before I leave.
Well that is all I have for now. I hope everyone is doing great. Anyone on the high school team reading this we are looking forward to y'all coming.
Love,
Chris
After lunch Raf came over and we organized all the boots to take to San Jose into bags. We then went to exchanged a few boots for different sizes and then off we went. On the way we had to stop and pick up some bags of cement for Manuel and Big learned the true art of making the rope to hold things down tight. We told him it was in the hips but he wouldn't listen... Once we got to San Jose we found out that bringing the boots was worthless because the kids didn't have school today or the next day. So Wednesday we will hand them out. We did some scouting out for the upcoming construction sites and then went over to the lady with the high blood pressures house to check up on her. When we were leaving Mo drove the truck out of the community. She did good driving the stick and stalled out only once. Big then drove a little bit more before he handed it back over to Raf. We went to Batidos like always and got some drinks.
Once we got back to the house we all started to relax and Mo and Spencer gave big and me our first Spanish lesson of the trip. They are really going out of their way along with Don Omar and Dona Fide to help us learn Spanish, which I'm so glad they are. For me I'm understanding a lot of what people are saying but when it comes time to talk I freeze up. Hopefully with the help of all the "teachers" I will be able to speak a little more fluently before I leave.
Well that is all I have for now. I hope everyone is doing great. Anyone on the high school team reading this we are looking forward to y'all coming.
Love,
Chris
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Sunday... A day of rest
As yall probably read from Spence's post yesterday was a busy day, so we were all very excited that today was going to be a relaxing day. It started off at around 8 which is a welcome change from the usual 645, who would have thought that an hour would make a difference. But we all got up and ate breakfast then got ready to go to church. I ended staying back at the house cause I wasnt feeling good, while the others went to raf's church. They all said that it was really cool, but when they got back i was feeling as good as new, I just needed to sleep it off.
But when they got back to the house Raf and his family came over and we had a big lunch that Dona Fide, and Lesbia cooked, it was delicious. After we had eaten, me, chris, raf, and spence went in to catch some of the world cup game. It was brazil vs Ivory Coast. But after that we all just chilled around here for the afternoon. Mo sang at the night service at first baptist so she had to be there at 3 while me, chris, and spence all went with Dona Fide, and Don Omar at 5. It was cool to get to see Morgan sing at the service.
After church we came back to the house and had a dinner of grilled cheese it was good. Then I went and called my dad to wish him a happy fathers day. So overall it has been a relaxing day, one which all the interns needed. Well thats pretty much all I have for now.
Love you all
Big
p.s. happy fathers day to all the dads reading this
But when they got back to the house Raf and his family came over and we had a big lunch that Dona Fide, and Lesbia cooked, it was delicious. After we had eaten, me, chris, raf, and spence went in to catch some of the world cup game. It was brazil vs Ivory Coast. But after that we all just chilled around here for the afternoon. Mo sang at the night service at first baptist so she had to be there at 3 while me, chris, and spence all went with Dona Fide, and Don Omar at 5. It was cool to get to see Morgan sing at the service.
After church we came back to the house and had a dinner of grilled cheese it was good. Then I went and called my dad to wish him a happy fathers day. So overall it has been a relaxing day, one which all the interns needed. Well thats pretty much all I have for now.
Love you all
Big
p.s. happy fathers day to all the dads reading this
Saturday, June 19, 2010
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