First Real Day in Nicaragua

I'm sending this from an internet cafe that makes to die for Latte's! We don't have internet at the villa. It makes us feel VERY isolated.

The villa is everything we hoped it would be....and a whole lot more. Amazing. I've told Gary that it's what I want him to build for me in the new system. Stunning. Nikki has been living in the pool!

The trip here was an adventure that I at first thought I could live without. The taxi arrived, it was supposed to be an SUV but it was instead a tiny little compact car....for all three of us and our luggage! I didn't think we would make it but he pulled it & shoved it and eventually had it all in but one large suitcase that was hanging out of the trunk tied on precariously with some string!! Nikki was having a heart attack, I said it was okay as long as it was Gary's case :)

We poured ourselves into the back seat (since the front was FULL of cases)the three of us, in almost 100 degrees F with the windows shut. I tried to open the window but it didn't work, and neither did the door when I tried to open it. My heart started racing and claustrophobia started to set in. The driver said he would turn the air on, and then we were off. The road noise was horrendous inside the car....not helping!! We kept bottoming out on bumps! Eventually I talked my panic down in my head and eventually as the air cooled down, we started to enjoy the journey. It was actually a really good road to Granada.

I have so much to say, Gary & Nikki are getting ansy....we went to the market for dinner food. Chaos. I LOVED it, Nikki found it a little overwhelming. Gary was on high alert :) Quite the adventure!

The evening set in and outside the house was loud with people in the street, kind of scary when you can't understand a word that is being said. We felt a little overwhelmed and wondered how we were going to manage. So much to learn. For the first time, we doubted ourselves. We went to bed early (as has become our routine bed at 9 up at 6) and this morning...knock knock ....Hola....the local brothers...an entire field service group of them with the brother "in charge" of the group being an English teacher here! Thanks Jehovah!!!! We invited them in for a drink and cookies and spend a half hour with them. The brother who teaches English is coming back with his family this evening for a visit. He has offered to teach us Spanish (which I know is going to be the making of us here).

The maid came this morning, I hated it. So awkward. I'd rather do it all myself. She's sweet though, must be around 18.

Oh yes, and we found our first cockroach this morning. It was dying but huge non the less. Gotta get used to the bug life around us.....quickly! Loads of Geiko's here too. The streets are all really narrow which will take some getting used to.

So much to say but I have to cut it short. I will write at home tomorrow and simply up load when we get to the cafe.

So much love to you all. Being away makes us appreciate you all so much more :) And you all speak English which rocks!!!

Being Thrown from The Nest!

We considered chaining ourselves to the home overseer and refusing to go but to no avail! Today we are being tossed out of the nest to learn to fly on our own. Reality is at our door and it looks a little scary........

And Giekos are no longer my friend or considered cute......! We have not one but three sharing our apartment with us and they chirp so loudly that one sister said when she first heard the sound she thought it was someone at the door. It's a knocking sound and with three of them communicating to each other it was like Nikky Nikky Nine Doors here last night. With all the tales of scorpion & trantuals that we have been hearing it set me on edge for bed (Raphael was telling us that he stood on a scorpion in the shower just recently). Nikki wouln't put her feet down to the bottom of the sheets!

But it is all still good and the morning bird song and all the hugs from the family here have set us up good for the day ahead.

I'm not sure when we will next have internet. We leave here in one hour. We can't wait to stop leaving out of the suitcases for a month! Will update as soon as we can. Love to all!!!!!!!!

Things That Go Chirp in The Night!

Today started much the same as all the days do apparently this time of year, no need to check the weather report, hot, no chance of rain with an occasional wisp of clouds.

Just before we headed to bed last night, I wanted to roll up the blinds to peak outside. Much to my horror a pale colored House Gecko rushed across the window just inches from where my hand was. Talk about an adrenaline rush! That wasn’t to be the last time they made themselves known though as they communicate to each other with LOUD chirps, all through the night. Our one consolation was the knowledge that they were eating up any little insects they found. One of the sisters told us this morning that all the houses have them in and most people don’t mind them since they do eat bugs.

I spent most of the night dreaming about scorpions & tarantulas (active imagination) and when I needed to get up mid night I refused to set foot out of the bed until I woke Gary up to get me a flash light J Nikki slept like a log, she needed it!! The heat of the day and the lack of sleep the night before had really taken it’s toll on her. This morning she is again her regular ray of sunshine (mixed with occasional thunder storm).

Breakfast was awesome (although we didn’t understand a word of morning worship). Local bananas which were much sweeter than home, then a fresh bun with a tray of Swiss cheese, onion, ham, tomato, olives & my favorite, Jalapeño peppers! My tummy is loving it! The coffee is amazing and we have noticed that they heat the milk (not cream) for it, giving you a beautiful steaming cup of strong, non bitter coffee. At the end of the meal, the Brother again came on to dismiss the meal and we heard our name and the word Canada and then a whole lot more. I asked the Brother (Moses) at the head of our table if they were saying nice things about us…..he said mostly! Anyway, they applauded heartily afterwards. A Brother we had met yesterday, Pedro, came over after the meal and was talking to Gary and Moses and told Moses that he hadn’t understood a word we said to him….and we were speaking Spanish…….back to the drawing board!!

So my day has barely begun and I have already had so much to say. Sorry. I want to have all our experiences down so we don’t forget anything. It’s like being a child all over again and everything is new and exciting.

I Better Write Again or I Won't Keep Up!

Someone pinch us...this can't really be happening.

It is hot and humid but not unbearable, although even the locals are saying that it is hotter than normal for this time of year. Perhaps we are still just too smitten to care, give us a month!

We spent the day at Bethel. We had been impressed with Patterson....but this is paradise. A Mountain sits behind the complex while the property itself is set on rolling hills of gardens that remind me of the Royal Botanical Gardens in Hamilton. The buildings are all seperate, connected by outdoor walkways. The apartment we have is at the end of one of the residence complex's which are one storey buildings with red tiled roof. The complex is surrounded by a high fence with wrought iron spikes on the top which has then had ivy & roses grown all through & around it, turning a necessary funstion into a piece of astounding beauty. Pedro, the gardener gave us a brief tour today, the advocodos are the biggest I have ever seen and the tree is heavily laden with them. We had one sliced with our lunch today, topped with a spicy homemade salsa, it melted in your mouth. It tasted NOTHING like what we pay $1.50 for in Nova Scotia!

The bethel family are incredibly friendly. They sent a lovely English Brother named Matthew to pick us up and he and his wife are "hosting" us. He stopped on the way and showed us a volcano which he explained was the fourth largest natural polluter in the world! We went down a number of roads that a lesser car would not have made it through! The homes that people live in are sad to see, but to them is apparently normal. We drove past one house where a woman was diligently sweeping the floor, despite the fact that it was a dirt one, and the roof of the house was corrugated steel roughly through over top of some wood that looked like scrap. Puts things in perspective as we worry about conserving funds!

We spent the afternoon with Raphael Martinez who is helping to settle us. He has asked us to consider two locations. One, Granada which hasa a newly formed English group in need. The other is in an area that we had not considered due to heat and distance from the capital, Chinandega. They are wanting to start an English group there but need an elder. The growth in that area is apparently outstanding, for example, at the last convention held for a publisher group of 1000 they had an actual attendance of 2900! We will visit both areas and go from there. I read in a book that the second area, you feel like a chicken being cooked over a hot rotisserie. Not too "hot" on that idea :)

So we are now settling down for the night. It is only 7 pm here but last nights adventure is catching up on us. Tomorrow we are having a tour of the bethel and then relaxing. Sounds awesome!

We Made it!!!

I could cry with joy as I write the heading to this post. This is unbelievable! The day was very long, we arrived at the Managua airport (which was surprisingly modern) at 2 am our time and were immediately rocketed into chaos and people suddenly started moving very quickly and we were pulled along with the crowd. We'd seen an American couple who obviously spoke excellent Spanish ahead of us, so we made it our goal to keep up with them (stalkers :D) incase we ran into trouble.....and thanks to Jehovah, we didn't. I almost kissed the ground when we pulled our last suitase off the carousal. A Spanish fellow had grabbed a cart for us and took charge of our luggage with without us asking so we were then responsible to tip him. Oh well, we were tired anyway.

I again gave silent thanks as we headed for customs and saw through the glass to outside, a smiling man with the name of our hotel and our names waving furiously to us. He was adorable...Anthony. We were waved through customs without a back ward glance and then next thing we knew we were hurtling through cobble stone streets (trying to avoid the dogs, one looked like Honey) weaving in around traffic and 20 minutes later.....this amazing hotel. I don't care what the bill is when we leave. This place is heavenly.

We settled into sleep around 4 am our time and were woken up this morning at 8 am our time by the bird song out the window overlooking the courtyard. The ceiling of the bathroom is glass and hanging overhead are massive mango & palm trees. We couldn't stay in bed and headed out in our PJ's to wander through the "hot house' which is what outdoors feels like already at 6.30 their time!! Like the Royal Botanical Gardens Mediteranian Indoor Gardens.

We just finished a heaving traditional breakfast of the best coffee I've ever had (Nikki had freshly made Melon Juice) Rice & Beans, Fresh local cheese lightly fried, eggs, sausage and tortilla. Even Nikki loved it. Oh yeah, and it was topped with an Jalopeno pepper.

Sorry, I have so much to say and could just go on, but the family is waiting for the pool. We will get back in touch. Oh yes and did I tell you that I just told the waiter that the breakfast was "Muy Benito" which Nikki tells me is actually "Very pretty"!! Oh well :)

Here we go.....for better or for worse :)

This is a picture of My Aunt Julie, my cousin Lauren & me ready for the memorial.

As surreal as it seems, we leave for the beginning of the rest of our lives tomorrow.....no pressure or anything. We keep reminding ourselves to just view it as a one month holiday. The rest will fall into place on it's own.

The congregation here in Lee said goodbye to us at the end of the meeting today....we're tired of having to say goodbye to good friends. We are really ready to make ourselves at home somewhere. The Lee group took us in and made us feel right at home. Hard to believe we will actually miss people we have only known for three and a half weeks!

Packing is finally done. No small feat! We leave here around 10 am tomorrow. The hotel where we are staying for the first night has Internet so I promise to let you know that we have arrived safe and sound..........

Gary & Jeff AKA Jesus

I couldn't resist adding this shot. Can you see the resemblance from the Greatest Man Book?