It's a Love Hate Thing

Things we love about Nicaragua so far
1- Taking a cold shower
2- Walking everywhere
3- Going to bed exhausted at 9.30 but waking up completely refreshed at 6.30
4- Not feeling tired all the time
5- Not being congested (no more sinus head aches)
6- Huge, luscious & cheap fruits & veggies (often brought right to your door)
7- Never being cold
8- Not having to blow dry our hair (or me, wear foundation)
9- $5 bottles of Flor De Cana 7 year old rum
10- Losing weight without having to diet
11- The excitement of the market
12- The passion Nicaraguans have for live despite their often adverse conditions

Things we hate about Nicaragua so far
1- Feeling vulnerable
2- Dirtiness
3- Sharing our living space with an array of four legged creature who poop/pee in the house
4- Insects
5- Seeing badly treated & neglected animals
6- Not being able to communicate properly
7- Not being able to walk around freely once it’s dark (which is 6 pm)
8- Sweating profusely from areas we didn’t know could sweat (not very lady like)

9- The unseen "monster" leaving in the roof above our bed! (think it may be a Iguana) Last night it pee'd on the lamp beside my bed

I’m sure this list will adjust considerably after some time spent here!

Last night we had our evening meeting and for the first time didn’t have the school in English, so the vast majority of the meeting was in Spanish. I had worked on an answer in Spanish for the Service meeting that I was very proud of, even practicing and writing out the proper pronunciation. Much to my chagrin just as I had been about to put my hand up (which was no small feat as I had been having to listen with great effort to figure out where we were and when the right question was asked)
the little 5 year old boy next to me got all excited and stuck his hand up.....was picked...and then said exactly what I had spent the whole second half of the meeting preparing!!! This is a whole new lesson in humility!

Our group was excited last night to have a new sister join us who has just arrived here from Hawaii and has been assigned to join us. We have a great deal of respect for her coming on her own to a strange place. It’s challenging enough for our family and there are three of us!

After the meeting, for the first time, we had to walk in the dark out into the rough neighborhood that the hall in is and make our way to the main street in order to get a cab. Our hearts beat a little more rapidly than normal but we had no problems and were able to flag down a cab fairly quickly. We came home feeling quite elated as life here seems to be "do able" for us and we are feeling more and more confident as the days pass by. The heat is climbing steadily, as is the humidity and by mid afternoon Mombacho Volcano is usually completely covered in cloud which we are told by the locals is a sign that the rains will soon begin.....bring them on, we’ll be dancing in them! Literally last night at the meeting, sweat was pouring in streams down the backs of my legs, I had to stand away from the chair so that I didn’t create a little puddle during the song and have the guy behind me think I had had an "accident" :)

Again, a while new lesson in humility.......Onward.......