Moving Again....For The Last Time! Really!

The decision has been made and it looks like we will be staying in Nicaragua for the next year. Thanks for all the input we received, it was invaluable. We signed a years lease on the new house yesterday and bought our first piece of furniture, a three piece wicker living room set. We move in June 15! And we have lots of room for visitors!!

A challenge we didn't really forsee when we embarked on this journey, was the need to set up a home, somewhere to come home to everyday and feel at home, but also not spending too much money on things, as your have no idea when you will actually go home. If you don't buy enough things to make a home, you will get discouraged and not likely stay very long, if you buy too much, it will be a real waste when you have to leave. It's proving to be a real challenge for us to find the balance on this issue. A missionary couple told friends of ours here that you need to make a little Canada to come home to or you won't survive. We are going to try and do that within a limited budget. Having Nicola means we need to take her needs into additional consideration. When did we become the adults....and why didn't anyone tell me that I wouldn't have all the answers when I did??

We have also been told that you adapt but you never really adopt. That is a loaded statement and we are beginning to see the truth in that. The world around us doesn't seem quite as strange as it did when we arrived, but we feel no more like we belong.

We had our first day time rain this week and the night rain is intense so we have finally entered the wet season....and someone has definitley told the misquitoes! It is so exciting to experience all these seasons and what they bring, for the first time. The heat has yet to break as the day time rain is still lacking but we are well on our way. We have begun to notice that our bodies have adapted to the heat so that it is much less overwhelming than it was when we arrived....but after 3 hours in service you still think you may pass out and you need to hand all your clothes up to dry when you come up, literally. We have no washing machine where we are right now, and as the thought of a stranger cleaning my clothes for me is disturbing, I (we) have been washing them all by hand.

Gary is currently out on a study. Working with an English group has presented it's own challenges, in particular, the smallness of the group and the immenseness of the territory. Often you end up working alone as everyone has studies at different times in different parts of the city....and everyone needs to walk to them. The rewards are also great though and it is exciting to be able to be in on the ground floor like this. We are learning many things, like not having a podeum or a table for the school is okay and the humility that comes from being able to do little more than smile at most of the local friends. There is so much we will never take for granted again. Like air conditioning, and screens in the windows!

I have included a picture of the main market street in Granada. There are no traffic lights and on really busy days they have policemen trying to direct the crazy traffic. Yesterday we saw a woman on a motorbike try and overtake a taxi which ended up hitting her and sending her flying. She was alright, just badly shaken and a damaged leg. It was encouraging too to see how quickly the police responded to the accident.

I have also included a picture of our "twins". Named Fresca & Boots, brother & sister. We will be taking them with us to the new house. We hear they can catch scorpions (did we mention that we found another one here the other day, that makes two!! We definitley have a nest somewhere). Now just to get a puppy!!

Oh and if anyone comes to visit (Dec, Jan & Feb are fabulous)....bring your English talk outlines.....and peanut butter!! :)