Bluefields (Part 2 of 3)

We took our taxi to our previously booked hotel which had been described in the Nicaraguan Handbook as "spotless with a cheerful restaurant and a lovely front veranda". HA!

But first before I jump ahead, chatting with our cab driver (a Caribbean fellow, born in Bluefields and never left!) it turned out his Mom had been a witness and had died 10 years earlier from lack of blood. Wouldn't have happened today but the means just weren't available to save her. Anyway, he was lovely and when he heard where we were staying, grimaced! Not good. We quickly found out why....it was a dive! What is considered "spotless" in Bluefields is NOT what we consider spotless. The hotel & rooms were dingy, smelly and nasty. What to do. We called him (he'd given us his cell) and he took us to what we now know is the only decent hotel in Bluefields (but also the most expensive, American prices, owned by an American) called the Oasis. And it was. Beautiful with views out over the water and really good security. He even negotiated reduced rates for us (although still twice what we had hoped to be paying). What a nice fellow!

Bluefields is a little wild. And not pretty. It is completely isolated from the rest of the world/Nicaragua and goods have to be brought in by plane or boat as there are no roads going to it. There is little law here, if any. No grocery store (wish we'd brought more food with us) and very few decent places to eat. And you do not want to go out at night! Everywhere we went, even in the day, people asked us outright for money. Debbie waved at a pretty little girl, about 4, who came out of her house and she immediately stuck her hand out for money! The Bay is brown and it is very dirty around you, causing someone to say to us that it should be called Brownfields not Bluefields.

But the Assembly was amazing. People had arrived from all over the isolated East Coast. Travelling by any means possible to get there. Some had taken a 12 hour journey over land and water, through terrible storms and rapids to get there. About 20% were Need Greaters and Special Pioneers who had been assigned to these difficult areas. The peak attendance to this English Special Day was 199. What a joy it was to all meet and be able to chat about experiences and simply connect. The Bethel speaker (who you can see in the picture grinning in the photo over Gary's shoulder & the photo at dinner that night) stayed with a local family. They are a British couple who originally came here as Need Greaters, then Special pioneers and now he is the home Overseer at Bethel. The home he stayed in was in a swampy area. They had to walk a wobbly plank just to get to it. He said they spent the humid night under a hot mosquito net listening to the mosquito's trying to find a way into them. Poor guys looked exhausted.

There was one baptism, a woman from an area called Pearl Lagoon who is now the first baptised publisher in that area...and she over came alot to do so! She was there with her three children! The area she is in is only accessible by water and the only other witnesses in the area are a Special Pioneer couple from the States who look like they are 12 (likely in there early 20's) who were recently assigned there and are holding the "meetings" in their very humble home. The Circuit Overseer and his Wife were lovely, telling Gary & I some stories from their circuit travels, like how to get to one congregation they have to travel by horse for 7 hours and in the wet season the horses are often over their knees in mud!!

It was over too fast....but now we were heading for another tiny plane....for a few days R&R in incredibly beautiful Corn Island.......

The Flight (Part 1 of 3)

I don't even know where too begin. So I'm going to do a couple short blogs with lots of pics (since that's much more interesting anyway.)

Our trip to The Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua was like going to a completely different world. It was a real adventure which started with a 1 1/4 hour ride on the smallest plane I've ever been on. And I tell no lie when I say that the pilot slept for most of the journey! I could tell, I was sat right behind him. The views were incredible as we flew low enough to see everything. The co pilot appeared to be in training and was confused when we arrived at our destination in the middle of a lightening storm. He woke the pilot who then pointed out to him where the runway was.......

We arrived in Bluefields in the middle of a tropical down pour and were greeted with umbrellas which promptly turned inside out in the wind. It was HOT though so who cares if you get wet! The electricity was out so we showed our passports (why we're not sure since we were still in the same country) to the guard who struggled to read them in the dark and then wrote the numbers in a spiral notebook (no high tech computers here!). Every airport we went through charged us an exit tax (to help pay for electricity???) of just over $2 each. Very odd. A throng of taxi drivers and baggage carriers descended on us the minute we walked out the doors. Very confusing. We again lost our luggage to two men who we thought were our taxi drivers (we needed two since there were 5 of us) but turned out to be guys looking for a tip. Drat!

So we had arrived in Bluefields for our Special Assembly Day.....

Don't Mess With a Woman & Her Credit Card!

Yesterday our kittens went to their forever homes. It was very difficult. The house seems even emptier than before. Intellectually we have no doubt that it was the right decision but emotionally it felt wrong. Finding a good home in Nicaragua for a cat you have come to love is almost impossible. They simply don't view animals the way we do in Canada & the US. Boots (who LOVED food and was a little simple) went to a family in the English Group who have three grown children. Fresca (who is fast, smart and affectionate) went to a local vet who also owns a pet food shop. She will be well fed if nothing else. I can't worry about it now (I keep telling myself).

Our excitement for the week happened on the way to the meeting on Sunday. We had no water in the morning so we were a little frazzled to start with. We had trouble getting a bus and when we finally did, it was full to the brim, standing room only. We soon discovered why as we came up to the baseball stadium. Suddenly the entire bus (or so it seemed) started to push past us to get off. There was a big game at the stadium. We were being pushed by men from all sides even above us as they tried to hold on to the bar above our head. We ducked down and tried to slide into some newly emptied seat. I was holding onto Nikki, my umbrella, my bag with my walking shoes in it and my purse was on my shoulder. We sat down and as my bag swung around I seemed to instinctively look in it and saw that my main little inside bag (that stupidly held all three of our passports, both my credit cards that we have with us & my International drivers licence plus my money as we had been into the city to immigration the day before) was GONE! I jumped up and swung round yelling someone stole my purse (brilliant...like anyone other than my family could understand).

I stood in the way of all the people trying to get off. No one was getting off until I got my purse I couldn't afford to lose it. Again, instinctively I saw a man and I knew it was him. I hit him in the stomach and yelled "Malo, malo". As I hit him, his sweater he was carrying moved and I saw my bag under it. I grabbed it. He scurried off the bus as fast as he could (Gary, who was way at the front of the bus and unable to get back to me through the crowd, yelled at him as he scurried by). The bus driver asked if we wanted to go after him but we said no. I was just SO grateful that somehow we had got it back. It would have been a disaster. I felt so violated! More so then when, the week before, the bus attendant had grabbed my bottom as I got on the bus!

The entire event likely lasted less than a minute but it is indelibly ingrained in my mind. I have learnt a valuable lesson. Never allow ourselves to be that vulnerable on a bus or in a crowd!

We need a car.....working on it (still).

We have arranged security for our house while we are gone next week. A couple from Halifax Nova Scotia will be here when we get back and we are really looking forward to their visit. Plus the goodies from home (like a camping bag shower and a potato masher, hooray) they are bringing us! We plan on going zip lining with them on Mombacho Volcano and are very excited. It is best done with friends so we have been eagerly waiting.

Laundry awaits me so I must go. Funny how the same mundane daily things need to be done here as back home. When your imagining it ahead of time, it's somehow skipped in the dream.....;)

Kingdom Hall Kerfuffle

What to do when the light go out?? This particular evening we decided to play a game of dominoes. We don't have a table as we have put a hold on buying anything else until we decided about the house. It was quite a memorable evening and fun.....even though Gary won both games.

Our water issue here is beyond hope so we will be on the move again. We have come to the conclusion after speaking with many other expats here that this is par the course. Finding acceptable accommodation is like the search for the Holy Grail. We are learning to roll with it. Having water only 20% of the time and at no time that you can actually count on (we regularly go 36 hours without any) is not something we can live with. Our priorities are falling into place.

We had a kerfuffle at the Kingdom Hall this week after our Thursday night meeting. I was talking to Spanish Sister when I heard some excitement outside, yelling and running. My immediate thought was "Nikki" so I ran for the door. Outside, as I looked frantically for Nikki, a girl was being attacked & beaten by two guys, her two hysterical friends had come running over to the Kingdom Hall looking for aid. By now others had come running and a group of brothers including Gary started to rush across the street to try and help the girl. A short scuffle ensued, punctuated by a shout, "he has a gun". One guy pulled a gun on the brothers and the other one was holding a knife. I, along with many other sisters then ran back in the hall, where I finally found Nikki happily sat with some other youngsters in the front corner of the hall. I ushered them all into the second school and shut all the windows. The trouble makers eventually ran off, and then girl who had been beaten too. The police weren't answering their phone (apparently there is only one police vehicle in all of Granada, the rest are on foot) and two brother had to go on a motor bike to try and get them to come and help.

It turns out the guys were gang members (we hear that there is not the gang issue here as elsewhere but obviously it still exists) and they had attacked the girls as they were going to a party. The girl who was beaten is from Costa Rica and she refused to file a complaint as the two girls she was with are local and they are afraid for themselves and their families should it get taken any further (I can understand as the police just don't/can't help).

So that was the excitement for the week. The reality is that this sort of thing could happen anywhere (when I lived in England there was a double murder just doors down from our house). It does remind us of the need to use caution when walking in town. Our hall has a security light outside that isn't on most of the time because they can't afford the electricity. We're going to try and do something about that.

One week and we are off to Bluefields and Corn Island. We are so excited!

Political Moods.....

Yesterday was the big celebration in Managua for the Sandinista Government. We watched from our front window as bus after bus of cheering, red flag waving Nicaraguans headed into the city to join in the festivities. No less than 15 buses, with people hanging out the windows and sitting on top, sped past the house singing and shouting slogans. Police & emergency vehicles joined in the procession with their sirens wailing. We were hesitant to leave to catch a bus the other way into the meeting. Yesterday was called "Happy Day" and today is a holiday so government offices are closed.

Today in the news we see that Ortega has announced that he feels, much like the Honduran President, that he should be allowed to stay in power despite the laws in place to stop that from happening. Similar to what already happened in Venezuela. For a country that has had so little peace, this ignites much passion among the people. No doubt interesting days lay ahead......we will keep a close eye on it.

So, updates;

One of Gary's studies is a teacher at the local University. He has asked Gary to come in this week and make a biblical presentation to his class. Very exciting.

We are now up to 10 scorpions that we have found in the house.....and counting.

The water issue continues to be a real drain (no pun intended). Last week from Thursday at 2 pm until Saturday at 6 am we had none! Saturday was on from 6 to 4 but only a trickle and then finally Sunday during the day was okay. Today, we are out again! We will try and talk to the owner's one more time.

We have seen a vehicle that looks like it will work for us. A 2000 Hyundai 4X4 Galloper. A Special Pioneer Couple are selling it at the Branch. We are in the process of trying to get funds from Canada to here. Not as easy as one would think......

We have booked our flights to Bluefields for the Special Assembly Day and then on from there to Corn Island for 4 days of R&R, snorkeling and lobster! July 31 we leave. Can't wait.

Little Kitty Boots was taken to the vets and diagnosed with a bacterial infection so he has had meds and is one the mend....and the diarrhea all over the house (try cleaning that up without water!) is slowing down. He has started to gain weight back again and we think we have found both him & Fresca really good homes. Until they are 100% we will keep them then they go to their forever homes. A heart breaking decision but we are relieved now that it is made.

I think that's it. Appreciate all the e-mails from home and comments on the blog. It helps keep us sane :)

Cheers,

San Juan Del Sur & Rivas

Three months to the day that we arrived in Nicaragua and we were able to celebrate with a day trip. Seeing more of Nicaragua is a real delight with each area being so different, offering a great deal of beauty and interesting sights. The topography is constantly changing with the fauna & flora also presenting new offerings everwhere you go.

Heading toward Costa Rica, in fact not far from the border, is Rivas. We found the area mush poorer than Granada, but much friendlier. The open air market was a real delight, especially in comparison to Granada's crowded, dirty one. Wide streets, without vehicles, were lined with tidy market stalls from which smiling vendors curiously stared at us, foreigners being less common here. We had only about an hour to spend here as we were heading for somewhere even better...

San Juan Del Sur! Still maintaining it's fishing village feel, this little town lies between the hills and the glorious Pacific Ocean. It is the more commercial beach in the area....commercial for Nicaragua anyway. Cabana style restaurants line the beach and new developments and luxury home are sprouting up in the hills overlooking the moon shaped beach. Even still, no more than 50 people were on the beach and a meal can still be had, served to you in your beach chair should you wish, for about $4-$5. A beer served to you under your umbrella will put you back about $1.25. Luxury ;)

The waters of the Pacific, which has been a life long desire of mine to see & swim in, were warm but refreshing. Little schools of fish swam cirles around us. I just prayed nothing bigger would be following them (once a mother always a mother)! Nikki was like a fish herself and was not even put off by the Sting Ray her and Gary saw swim by! We collected stones & shells that the tide had washed up, lots of pretty ones that were very different from the ones we had found on the Atlantic Ocean beaches. We even found a live Sand Dollar that we snapped pictures off and then placed gently back in the water. The sun was merciless, giving Nikki and Gary a lobster style tan but the constant gentle breeze and a light afternoon shower made it difficult to know that you were getting so much sun.

We stayed to watch the glorious sunset (which we are told is even more glorious in Nov-Jan due to it's location) and then headed back the 1 or so hour trip in the dark to Granada. It really was a beautiful day. We look forward to exploring some of the other beaches (the vehicle we are looking at currently is 4x4 which will make it possible). Nikki wants to see the turtle egg laying and hatching this fall too!

It was hard to pick some pictures to show you. I added just a few to show the area. Gorgeous!

Scorpion Homestead!

Okay, That's It!!

Today we caught a large scorpion scurrying across our floor. This is number 5!!! And the biggest, nassssstiest looking one!! What a nocturnal hunter was doing out in the middle of day in my living room is beyond me!

We asked before we moved in and were assured that they were not likely in the immediate area, we've asked endless amounts of other people who say that they don't have them, "haven't even seen them here". Yet....we are blessed with them in abundance....everywhere we go!! Even in Nikki's bed this week! I use a flash light now when I go to the bathroom at night (there are some place you REALLY don't want to be stung!) What to do????

We are going to be pro active and work on spraying the perimeter of the house and sealing off any areas they may be able to enter. We are also training our "killer cats"! Water is still a big issue in this house (so far we only seem to have a good supply of water about 20% of the time) so we will try and get the landlord to deal with this issue (emergency water supply tank) and if they won't we may have to look around....again....for something suitable. I can't believe I'm saying that and really hope it won't come to that. We are going to try and work with this house as much as we can. It really is beautiful!! Our heads are spinning!

On the WAY up side, we went up San Marcos yesterday. What a beautiful paradise! In the hills so it is cooler and much lusher vegetation. The towns are small and it is a little more rural than I would like, but it really is gorgeous. The brothers and sisters that we had lunch with there (from both Canada & USA) were lovely. It was an awesome day! One town we drove through on the 40 minute drive (Masatepe) is the furniture capital of the country and the sides of the roads are chalk full of small shops showcasing all the solid wood offerings of handcrafted furniture for crazy prices! We look forward to going back and doing some shopping once we have a vehicle. We had gone up to view a Toyota Hilux Surf that was for sale. We have since discovered that although the owner swears that it is a 1994 (he won't hear that it isn't) it is actually a 1989. Without a doubt! Only in Nicaragua! We are negotiating as it really is in good shape and the perfect vehicle for Central America (4x4, Diesel).

Nikki is sick with a high fever as of last night. We are keeping a close eye on her. There is so much it could be! If it's not down and back to normal by tomorrow we may take her into the private hospital in Managua. She is in good spirits though so I think she will bounce back! We received word last week that our Missionary Visa's will be ready for the 17 of this month so that is very exciting! Typically, our tourist visa expires on the 13th so we will have to pay a penalty for the days it is over but it won't amount to too much! On the other hand, if we are deported for the couple days difference we may be looking for a place to live.....in Canada....;)

Love to all!