Someone stop the ride.....I need to throw up :)

What a roller coaster ride this is proving to be ......

A highlight of the week has certainly been our going in service for the first time today. Not for the faint hearted.....but awesome. We meet up with the couple from New Mexico in the town square at 8 am (since we are up at 6 this proves no challenge, we still had time for a coffee on the Terrazzo & text before we headed out). This is a much cooler (relatively speaking) time of day. Since we are with the English congregation, we then set out for a area where the census of homes was complete (knew where there were English speaking people) witnessing along the way. The territory was a good 15 minute walk away. The men stopped to talk to one man who called out a greeting to them in English (he is Nicaraguan). He said he would come to the special talk on Sunday (how exciting). We eventually found our territory and did the handful of calls within it, Marlene talked to one lady in Spanish who was very depressed & crying. We ran out of territory within the hour and so as we walked back to town, hit a couple of stores that advertised English speaking. At one, a Lab, the doctor came out and chatted with us, eventually asking for some literature in Spanish to leave in her waiting room. We didn’t even have to beg :) It was funny too, she said that Nikki looked like a Halmark Card....not sure what that means but we’ll take it as a complement. I notice that people look at her a lot. Yesterday a lady even called out us to ask us where Nikki was from (what are we, chopped liver?) and then motioned to her blonde hair.
Eventually the heat became unbearable and Nikki no longer looked like a Halmark Card, more like your lawn in August, so we stopped for a Corneto like ice cream (50 cents each). Then about 11.15 we called it a day. We enjoyed ourselves immensely and look forward to going again.

A few quick comments & complaints,

My feet are KILLING me. All the time, even when I’m not standing on them!
Our skin in glowing! You end up with a fine layer of sweat all the time, so your pores are all clean as whistles!
I have given up on make-up...really, it’s true! It all sweats off and with the golden glow, who needs it? Its now just a quick layer of mascara and I’m good to go. I have not yet blow dried my hair (forget the flat iron, I’m embarrassed that I even bought it!) And with the light humidity it is curly most of the time. Kinda nice. So glad I grew my bangs out.

So now, the low light of our week happened last night. We are still struggling with the feelings of vulnerability. Mostly due to our lack of ability to communicate I’m sure. Last night, we sat down to a light dinner of beans (and those who know Gary know that this alone could have been the low light of the week.) that I am proud to say I had cooked up with a ton of veggies from scratch. Suddenly rocks, some quite large, starting being thrown into the villa, falling down the stairs from the terrazzo and some into the pool and dining area. We were horrified. Gary ran up the stairs and shouted. We then called the local property management company. We had assumed the worst, that it was someone targeting us because we are foreigners, but apparently it is a semi common occurrence. Kids in one of the houses down, likely bored and mischievous, tossing the rocks around. With all the houses attached and many open in the middle, it provides entertainment. Not for us mind you. We were reading to pack up and come home! Again, it is all part of the learning curve!

We had a tour of the islets this week too, including feeding the monkey (which was a little disappointing as you throw the food to them from the boat). It was cool though as when we got to the little island for lunch, we chatted with the tour guide, only to find out that he is a witness too. Cool! The houses were spectacular on the little islands and traditional fishermen were in the water, casting there nets. We saw an wide array of bird life and the flora was astounding.
I think that is all for now. We have been looking for a house to call home for the next six to 12 months (get us started) and think we may have found one close to the center of town. More than we wanted to spend but it is Granada and this is fully furnished and in a safe area. And we will have internet!

As always, our love to all :)