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Santa Maria

On October 3, 1998 Hurricane Mitch killed almost an entire community. Those who survived had nothing left but the clothes on their backs. Hurricane Mitch stopped over the community of Santa Maria; for almost two weeks it did not stop raining, causing a mudslide. The scale of this disaster is similar to what is going on in Haiti at the moment. Because this community was up in the mountains (pictured above, specifically the lighter streak), many people did not know the extent of the damage going on and also making it difficult for rescue and relief agencies.

Although Hurricane Mitch happened 11 years ago, those who survived are still struggling to manage. Last week, we went and visited the Santa Maria community and I was able to interview many of the families affected. One woman I talked with lost all four of her daughters, her parents, and many other relatives. She was one of the 11 people who were on the mountain during Hurricane Mitch who survived.

The Santa Maria community was helped by relief agencies. They were all built and given new homes. This was great because it provided them with a roof over their head. The problem was and still is, they don't have a way to make money to survive. The Santa Maria community was all farmers. Along with all their other possessions, their land was destroyed. Eleven years later, some have found enough work to have beans for dinner every night, while others wonder how they are going to find food for the next day because there is no land for them to farm.

There are many sad stories to be told, but all of them have an amazing faith that has brought them through. The shack you see above, started as a table outside of the school in Santa Maria. Petrona, a survivor of Hurricane Mitch, realized she could make a profit by selling snacks to the students. A year later, she has a building, and is able to survive off the profits. Not only does she survive, she helps many other families by proving work and giving them money to live.

"El Huracan"

Yasert is my little brother for the semester. He is two years old, he is, in every sense of the phrase, in his terrible twos. From the time he wakes up till he falls asleep at night he is on the go, literally never stopping. I have nicknamed him "El Huracan" or "The Hurrican". Greiselda amazes me with her patience and her ablity to laugh at him; he is truly a bundle full of joy.

Poneloya: Don Ocean

This weekend we ventured out to the Pacific Coast. Our plans were to learn how to surf. In Nica, Don is a term of respect; I now call the ocean Don Ocean because I have a deep respect for it.


I've been to the ocean once before, but I only went in it for a few moments because I was scared. This time, I was fearless. I got my boogie board and dove right in, trying to swim past where the waves broke. I kept at it, but every time a wave came I got shoved back onto shore. The sum of my story is that I did not attempt surfing; I realized that I do not have the strength to paddle past the waves. My dreams were shattered this weekend, for my secret dream was to move to the ocean and be a surfer babe. But, I will stay positive. Greg, did a pretty good job surfing. He never got up, but he got close a couple of times. With some more practice I have no doubt he will be a surfer dude.

In addition to swimming a lot in the ocean, we ate some yummy food at some restaurants on the beach nearby. Also, my Prof, Dan Brun, and my friend Samantha and I made a reggae music video. Above is a picture of us posing. To say the least, we had a weekend full of laughter.

To remember the weekend I have lots of pictures, but also some battle wounds. One is a giant bruise above my knee from my elbow. The waves were very strong and I got knocked around a lot. The other battle wound is a nice giant scrape below my knee. I ventured out into some waters that were further down the beach and the waves crashed me into a nice rock that I could not see because it was underwater. I think that it is infected; hopefully tonight I can perform some First Aid on it to stop the infection.

And one last thing: Nicaragua has the best chocolate ever!

Lovveeee
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Gallo Pinto

Nica food is very yummy, but it is differnt than I think most of you would assume. Nica food is kind of bland, depending on the item. There is one thing that is at almost every meal: Gallo pinto (rice and beans). I like it so much, that I am slighlty dissapointed if it is not at a meal. Another typical item is ensalada (salad) The salad is made with raw cabbage. It has lime and salt in it. They will sometimes add tomatoes and cucumbers to it. There is also this topping called "crema", it is a creme that tastes good on all of their food, I dont really know how to describe it. The yellow things in the picture are fried plantanes. I really like them too. There is not a ton of variety in the "typical" Nica diet. The reason is because they eat for survival, we on the other hand eat for enjoyment. In Nica they also eat their meals differently than in the states. In Nica, breakfast is the biggest meal, than lunch is big too, and dinner is smaller. It is hard to adjust to not having a hearty dinner, but it is proably better to do it in that order.


In the photo on the right is Grieselda and I. She decided that she wanted to do my make up. She put a lot of eyeliner on me. She thought it looked amazing, it did look nice, but when you are sweating nonstop a lot of makeup is no good. By the end of the night, I looked like I had black eyes, haha. I really enjoy hanging out with her though, we like to do and talk about similar things. She loves to give me pedi's and mani's, no matter what I say she insists on doing it, Nica's just love to serve.

Lovvveeeeee

Laguna de Apollo

This weekend we went to a giant crater named "Laguna de Apollo." It was beautiful! While we were there I did a lot of kayaking and swimming. We stayed in a cabana that was right on the water. It was very relaxing and a nice break from busy Managua.

On one of my many ventures out on the kayak, I went right to the middle of the laguna. I looked out and all I saw was God's creation. The only words that I could sing were "Holy Holy Holy is the Lord God almighty, who was and is and is to come" the next line in that song is "with all creation I sing, praise to the king of kings, you are my everything and I will adore you." Those words had a new meaning than ever before. It was as if creation was singing along with me how Holy Christ is. Christ did not need to make the earth so beautiful and intricate, but he did, and for that I am grateful.

Congratulations Michelle and Jake, I pray God's sweet blessing on your marriage.

Hasta luego

Mi Primera Semana

Hola Amigos!

This week we started our classes. I decided that we needed to take a "First Day of School" picture while we were waiting at our bus stop. We have to take two buses to get to the Nehemiah Center. One bus costs 2.50 cordobas and the other is 3 cordobas. It is very cheap, it is 21 cordobas to our dollar!

On the right is a picture of one of my classrooms. Samantha, the other girl in the picture, and I are in an advanced spanish class. Greg and Tim, the other guy, are in begginer spanish. Sam and I's classroom is in the Nehemiah center, it is nice and open to the outside.

I decided that I want to add another day of spanish instead of taking the media class that Sam, Tim, and Greg are taking. Starting next week I will have four hours of spanish three days a week. That means that I am going to get a new teacher and it will be one-on-one. In addition to spanish, I am studying Nica Culture and History, and Worldview. I have a lot of homework already, but it is all facinating to me so I don't mind doing the work.

Since I am not taking that media class, I will have one day free to do something else. Some staff at the Nehemiah Center are going to find me some opportuinites, I may even get to teach English to some of the staff!

To get from place to place, usually we take public transportation (bus or taxi), Greg and I have opted to walk a lot of places to get more familiar with the area and for exercise. One of those times we decided to walk I was not wearing good shoes, by the time I got back home I had a huge blister on the bottom of my foot!!!! Roberto made me pop it with a steralized diaper pin, that was a gross, yet at the same time very funny moment. He put sometype of ointment on it and by the time I woke up it was all better! I learned two valuable lessons: Wear comfortable shoes when walking long distances, and DO NOT get a pedicure before you go to Nica b/c you need all the calluses you can get!!

Tuesday I had no class, so Greisleda and I hung out all morning. We watched a movie on tv and painted our nails, they are pretty and pink now. Although I did not have class I needed to be at the Nehemiah center so I could eat lunch and I had a meeting to arrange the whole more spanish thing. During the day it is safe to be by yourself, so don't be alarmed. I was doing really good, I got on the first bus correctly, then I got on the second bus correctly. The problem occured when I needed to get off. Roberto told me to get off at the cemetary, I for some reason did not proccess that infomation. The bus kept going down this road and I realized that I should have got off about five minuets ago. So I got off at the next stop and made a phone call for direction on what to do. Well I got directions, but I was not seeing what she said I was supposed to see so, I kept walking and walking thinking I was going to find the right road. Out of nowhere Greg calls me and I was like "IM LOST" He put Iskra, a Nica friend from the NC, on the phone. I told her what I saw around me. She said "wave down a taxi and give him the phone". So, that is what I did and thanks to Iskra, I got to the NC safley. It was a good adventure, somtimes you have to learn things the hard way. I was just happy because the cooks at the NC saved me a plate for lunch!

Well, I am at an Internet Cafe and I need to do some homework. Blog ya soon, haha!

Adios