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I have a jr. high boy! There is something about boys this age that I have always kind of liked. Now before you go and turn me into the police or start to wonder if I am a little crazy let me explain. It is somewhere between “drive you crazy” and “awe that is so sweet”. There is an awkwardness , honesty, annoyance and a sweetness.

Tito is a 6^th grade boy. He had an older brother who hides from him and at times will wrestle with him and let him chew on his ears. Tito will run to greet him as soon as he walks in the house and the next minute jump on his back and annoy him to no end. As soon as Queso heads to the food bowl that is what Tito needs to do, too, and as soon as Queso starts playing with something Tito needs to play with it, too! Tito walks right next to Queso, copies him, and in so many ways want to be like him, but shows it by attacking him while he is napping and biting his neck.

Tito thinks gross is great! Now give me some license here because I know he is a cat, but his list of likes in the gross area is high. The other night I got up to use the restroom and noticed blood smeared on the floor, Worried, I went to investigate- blood in the bedroom and dining area, also. Tito had found a mouse and was having the time of his life playing with it! Ants, beetles and praying manis are all fun to crunch, and he can fart like no one’s business!

Tito’s distractability is somewhere in the 90 percentile. He can be doing one thing and then see a fly and full-bodied, follow it wherever it goes for the next 5 seconds. He can be occupied for 30 minutes with a cellophane wrapper, but not have the attention to eat more than a few bites of food.

And when I hold him and try to cuddle him, he lets me know that he wants none of that- there are more important things than to be cuddled by “mom”.

His front legs are too long, his ears too big, and he sits likes his body is still trying to catch up. He attacks my feet at night to wake me up, and naps right next to my computer not realizing that he does not quite fit like he used to.

But also whenever I sit down he comes and lies on my feet, he hangs out with me in the kitchen (even if it is all about the food), he has the cutes look of curiosity, and really he is good for his brother, keeping from being just an old cat. Everything is an adventure, he is willing to try things that he is not quite ready for, and he is just so much fun! That is what I like about my jr. high boys!

My Facebook post from yesterday says, “Indescribable day but I will try when I recover!” I am not sure that I have recovered because something in me changed yesterday and I am still trying to figure out what it is. I will give it a try.

We left our house at 3 AM yesterday morning, with the destination of La Dalia, Nicaragua. This is a town that is about an hour past one of our favorite towns Matagalpa, or so we thought. What we did not know is that there is a little town called La Dalia II practically off the map, in a region with no cell coverage, internet, electricity or good water in what I would term the Swiss Alps of Nicaragua.

We went up there with a pastor, his wife and our friend and translator Roger to assess the water situation, and see how Stephen could help them with water filtration.

This all sounds very clean and neat, but the reality is that it was an extremely stressful, overwhelming, dirty, scary, amazing, frustrating, miraculous, difficult, cultural day.

We arrived in La Dalia I at about 8 AM, thinking that we were at our destination. We were directed out of town, which did not surprise us since we would be talking with people about needing clean water-a typical rural issue. 45 minutes later after we had found the valley and climbed back up another mountain, I asked the pastor how close we were. “We have about an hour and a half”. This put shock and fear in me. To get to this destination we had forded several creeks, slid in mud, gone up inclines that our car was barely able to climb, and descend hills that made our brakes smoke. I was irritated that this information was just now coming to us and scared about what we would find in the next hour and a half. Honestly I was ready to turn around and go back.

We proceeded, and the road only got worse! We bottomed out the car more than I can count and we went down muddy declines that there was no way we could go back up. At one point, in order to avoid a sheer cliff, we got the car stuck in a ditch and it seemed hopeless that we would get out. The people in the few homes we saw stared at us like we were from another planet. To say I was out of my comfort zone is an understatement, and to add to that I was feeling claustrophobic in a way you can only understand when you are literally in the middle of nowhere and question if you will ever get out of there.

At about 10:30 AM, and with missing car parts, we arrived in La Dalia II. We were greeted by 10 pastors, many on horseback, several women, and pigs, dogs, chickens, and horses roaming the church property. I was thankful for a scary outhouse and a sweet cup of coffee. Then we convened in the church building for the reason we came.

What I saw was my husband in his element! He shared with them about how to make a bio-sand filter, he encouraged them in their fortitude living in this difficult and beautiful environment, and admonished them to believe in themselves, God’s work in them, and helping others. They responded amazingly to him! During the hour and a half conversation the room went from 12 people to 60 or so- men, women, children, youth. I am sure many of them had not been visited by white people before.

I was both impressed and freaked out that Stephen was loving this. I had decided on the way in that this would be my one and only trip to La Dalia II ever.

Our meeting wrapped up with singing, them praying for us, hugs and handshakes all around, and a deluge of rain, thunder and lightning. They wanted to know when we would return to help them with the next step of the project. These people were grateful that we had persevered to come visit!

We were ushered up the slippery, muddy steps to a house which was an open room with a fire/ Dutch oven in the corner and a table set for five with a nice white tablecloth. The dogs under the table kept getting shooed away, but they knew a good thing when they saw it! A baby lay in a hammock near the table. Occasionally chicks and even a pig came in to get out of the rain, and many of the people in the meeting congregated in the corners waiting out the storm.

We had a wonderful meal of chicken, rice, beans, tostones (plantains), white cheese and sweet coffee. We ate hungrily, knowing that we had a very long, if not impossible ride back.

As we left we were given corn cobs roasted over the fire, and a big bag of plantains. The cook said that she wished we would have come to her house because she has better plantains. She also asked that we would pray for her family, a blessing over the family and the crops for the season. We closed in prayer with the pastor, and then returned to our vehicle hoping that it would be ready for the long journey ahead.

What I did not mention before is that out car has an issue with overheating, and with five people in a 1999 Honda CRV we were laden down. On the way in we had blown a hose and Stephen had to do some Macgyver moves to get it back in working condition. We were told that there was a better road to get out of the village; that was an encouragement.

Within minutes we were out of the vehicle so Stephen could ford another creek and then we helped push the car up a steep incline. This process was repeated 3 or 4 more times before we got to the “better” road. The “better” road, which was about 20 kilometers long, was maintained for chicken bus traffic, and looked and drove more like a dry creek bed. The more civilization we saw the more hope we had and the more rattles we had in our car.

We arrived back in La Dalia I at 4:30 and hoped the worse was over. Unfortunately we continued to have car trouble on the way home. We stopped 4 more times to put in water and let it cool down, but miraculously we were able to get all the way home with our ailing car.

This morning as I write this Stephen has taken the car to the mechanics and I fear that we might have killed her. Car trouble is one of my biggest areas of insecurity, and we sure have had it a lot. I don’t say this casually at all, but I really think God was holding our car together yesterday.

And the people…well, it is amazing to be a part of something bigger. I even surprised myself this morning dreaming about what I could do on the next trip for the women. Stephen will be walking the men through the process of building bio-sand filters, and I think the women would love to do something special….”Yikes, God, are you changing me?”

Neighbor

Behind our house is a little pink “house” that Andre, Dona(Mrs) Laura, Laura, Zinada, and Kenia live in. Right outside is a big woodpile that Laura (pronounced Loud-a) and Dona Laura replenish everyday as the scavenge through the neighborhood for wood that is big enough to burn but small enough to carry in a bundle on their heads.

Dona Laura turned 80 this year, and I am guessing that Laura is in her mid-forties. Laura and Andre are two of twelve children of Dona Laura, and Sinada and Kenia are Laura’s daughter. Are you confused yet? This gives you a brief glimpse into this family that has about 100 interconnecting relationships and most of them in our neighborhood. We are still learning new things.

Andre has three cows that graze behind our house, and is the overseer (cuidador) for our property. He provides safety and security for us, sweeps out driveway, delivers our electric bill, and recently has given us soil so we can plant a few plants.

Laura makes food and sells it to the students at the University across the street from us (think very old California grade school with bars instead of windows). She and he daughters have attended our Bible study since it started, she has a great smile, and will laugh easily. She is the kind of person you feel comfortable with even when you can’t really communicate.

I would show you a picture, but she and Stephen have a little game, where he tries to take a picture, and she just laughs and hides from him. She is a magnet in the neighborhood for the youth because she seems like the type who understands when parents don’t understand.

I want you to know these people because they are our friends, and they care for us in a way that we probably don’t even know as we live in a Nicaraguan community that we do not completely understand. So when I share the rest of the story, I hope you see that we were just giving back for what they have already given us.

Last Tuesday night when we were inviting neighbors to the movie, we stopped at the little pink house and talked with Laura. To make conversation I asked her what was for dinner. She told me that they did not have dinner tonight because they did not have any food. I know this happens all the time in Granada, in Nicaragua, in the world, but it is one of those things that when you know it personally it has a different effect.

I told Stephen and the first thing he said was “Let’s order a pizza for them”. We have a small ministry fund and it is for “such a time as this”. He got on the phone and ordered it. When it was delivered, and he handed it over to Andre, there were not enough “gracias” in the world! He was hugely thankful, and we were still taken back that right under our noses hunger abounds.

The next day we bought them a big bag of beans and rice. We have received the silence of people having pride of not wanting to be takers, but Andre came to the movie night, sat through the whole thing, and happily said that he really enjoyed it. Laura is even more of her friendly self, and a few days later we received a bag of milk from their cows, Paloma and Sinata.

We were blessed to be able to give to them and to hear of their need!

I have not had experience with exporting agricultural good. The only kind of agricultural goods that I have been guilty of bringing across a border is forgetting that I had an apple in my backpack when I was crossing the Oregon border into California. At the time I wondered if they found me, would they make me eat it really fast or arrest me.

As many of you know, we have been trying to export 3 kilograms of Neem and Moringa seed to be analyzed in the United States. Those long lines at the US post office during the Christmas season have NOTHING on the Nicaragua export system.

This all started in the spring when an organization we might be working with asked if we could send the seeds to be evaluated. At the time we had our tax ID, and we were told that we just needed to get the import and export licenses then we could send the seeds. This should not be a problem!

Our friend and president of the business just needed to go in to Managua, fill out the paperwork, sign for us because he had Power of Attorney, pay a little money and we would have the licenses. At the office they inquired about us, and since we were out of Nicaragua (in Portland), they made it mandatory that we had to be there to sign.

So six weeks later…we arrive from the US, Stephen and Roger started the process again. This time it included multiple trips to the lawyer for more legalese, a visit to our home to see that we had a home, multiple trips to other offices in Granada, and finally a trip into Managua to make it legal.

Every trip to Managua is a full day experience complete with $15 worth of gas, translation needs and other fees.

When they got to the office they were told that they needed more paperwork. They did what they could in town going office to office, but really the man behind the desk only wanted what they did not have in their possession. They returned home, made the correct copies, and returned the next day.

The best sign you can see when you arrive somewhere with paperwork is the stamp coming out. Without looking at any of the additional paperwork that he asked to have brought in, he stamped the paper, and we now have our Import and Export Licenses. Now we can send the seeds…

We contacted UPS (You know, the reliable, safe, quick delivery system in the US) and he told us what additional paperwork we would need to send the seeds, promising to send us the complete list via email. A few days went by, we called, a few more days went by, we called again, we started calling every day. Finally we drove the hour into Managua to talk with him face-to-face, and we were able to get the list. It took another day for Roger and Stephen in Managua and Granada to get all of the things done. One thing was a professional invoice that need exact information and needed to be printed at a specific print shop.

The printing took about three days to process, and in the midst of it, the UPS guy, knowing it was already being printed, sent us another list of what needed to be on the invoice; each invoice costs $60.

Hassle, yes, frustrating, yes, surprising to our Nicaraguan friend, no.

So now we had all the paperwork and were ready to send of the seeds and needed paperwork. The man at UPS sent through his estimate and it was $800 to send 3 kilos (6.5 lbs) of seed! This was not even in our realm of possibility. Stephen asked if there was any other way, and surprisingly he said sure, we have a courier that could do it for less…I wonder why this was just coming out now?:) This process would require a stop at two more places- an agricultural place to certify what was being sent, and another verification and place for us to pay a little bit of money.

So yesterday, Stephen and Roger spent the day in Managua with three or four different back and forth trips to different locations in our overheating car, but the part that we rejoice in is that the seeds are on their way to the US! This is the link that can really move things forward here as far as the business as well as planting options!

Please rejoice with us on this and pray for our patience in this bureaucratic place!

As of tonight we will have been in Nicaragua for a week, and it has taken me this time to learn to live here again. I have been followed around for a week by my orange four-footed friend, we have had friends stop in to see us, Stephen spent two days with the mechanic getting our car fixed and we spent another 10 hours with him “paying” for his service by running him around Managua for car parts.

I am reminded that it is not about time but relationship. There is no making back to back appointments, relying on timeliness of those I interact with, or allowing my “to do” list to drive me- the closest I got was the two days that Stephen was with the mechanic, and I was able to close the gate and get out bags unpacked and house organized. I loved it, but am also aware that it won’t be my norm.

From the moment we arrived in the country, I started to see things I needed to write about. Some people in the US chided me about how my blogs came to an end while I was in Oregon. Life just seemed so normal; nothing that would be of interest to many of you.

In one week here, I found that I could write about the generosity of our friends the Butlers who picked us up at the airport at midnight, housed us for the night, gave us breakfast, made us cinnamon roll and then were willing to take us to Granada if our car would not start. It was touch-and-go, but we made it back to a clean house, an abundantly growing yard, and a waiting cat.

Or maybe at least part of our Anniversary celebration (2 years) on July 6, where we closed up the house, turned on the air conditioning and enjoyed no-work-only play for a day in the midst of four unpacked containers and two suitcases

I could have written about the rain we have had every day since we returned; it has kept it cool (high 80s with 95-100% humidity) and has been a welcome change from the heat of Oregon. Now that is really weird to say!

How in one of these rain storms I went for a walk and came upon Neem trees heavy with fruit. Just as I was wishing I had something to collect them in, I found a shirt and was able to use it to hold a couple pounds of seeds. I have been back several time, and now Stephen and I will be able to do some experiments on the processing of Neem. We have a friend who dropped off several pounds of dried seeds earlier in the week.

I could have also written about Enmanuel, Delilah, Theresa, Oscar, Alvaro, Roger,  Yescanya, and many of our neighbors who have made up our welcoming committee! What a blessing to have our Nicaragua friends reaching out to us on our return.

You would think that coming up on year two that there would be fewer surprises, but I still cannot think of a day yet that something has not struck me. Today I want to share a few word pictures from thepast few days.

So, I have mentioned that it is hot here, right? Two days ago, it was unbareable, not just for me, but for the Nicaraguans. Tensions were high; you could feel it in the neighborhood. At 3 AM the next morning, after many nights of restless sleep, I got up to take the 2^nd shower of the night to cool down (the other was at 1 AM). The water was out! I went outside for some reprieve until  I was so tired that I could not stay awake. In my stupor I heard rain! We have not had rain since January. Blessed Rain! And the power went out- no fans, but we have rain. It feels like the tension of the whole country has broken.

Thursday night Bible study. There are two little boys, Adrian and Josue (Hoe- SWAY), who have been attending for awhile. They are nine and seven, respectively. Adrian is quiet and maybe a little studious, Josue talks in an extremely loud voice,and it does not matter that I do not understand most of what he says, he talks to me like I do. They showed up at 3:30 for our study at 6 PM. They showed us their plastic chicken lights, ran around the outside of the house, then set out the plastic chairs we use for the Bible study- they were ready, but I definitely was not. I still had cooking, preparartions, and showering to do.I explained to them that they need to go, but they could come back in 2 hours. 45 minutes later I heard the sound of flip-flops on hard-packed dirt- they wereback! They were disappointed to find out that it had not been 2 hours, and that they needed to go again, but they agreed to come back in 1 hour. At about 5:30 they returned again,and I did not have the heart to turn them away. They stayed, they played, and when we started study, they were in the midst of it all!

I have been walking in the mornings again- trying to get some exercise before the sun gets off the horizon. This is one of the times that I get to see some of the raw Nicaragua. This morning I changed my route some due to a horse that I knew had been killed and was on the sideof the road. This was not the first time I had seen this, but it always saddens me.The other thing that struck me was a family that was taking a cart into market. It was loaded with wood, the teenage boy was acting as horse,while the mom and younger son pushed from the back. A baby was sitting on top of the wood. I respect the work ethic and the needs, but this also saddens me.

Finally, yesterday a neighbor girl came by to ask if she could come and use our internet. She would just need to be close enough to the house to get the signal. Since we know that we are theonly ones with internet in the neighborhood, we are glad to share with students for school projects and other things. What we did not know is that her whole class was coming over to take part in the study session. They just kept coming! We had 11 teenagers sitting on our front porch, laughing, working, and enjoying  the time together.It was a blessing to share with them and a reminder that we never know what we are getting into when we are limited in language and understanding!

Addendum

I had planned to send this out a few days ago, but we have had power, internet, and water issues due to a big storm coming through. The challenging thing is that our road washed out, mud is now an issue for the next 6 months, and we lost our plantain tree!  The great thing is that the air is cleaner, there is a coolness at night, we get some reprieve from the heat, and we will be back in Portland in a little over a week!

The heat here is not the topic of this communication, but I cannot help but put that in because it is never out of my mind these days…

In our time here in Nicaragua, we have visited 10-15 different churches. There are varying differences in each church, but there are some things that are constants, and almost all of those constants are things that I have heard people in the American church complain about.

Don’t dismiss me yet. Let me share my thoughts with you.

Music, here is a well-known topic. The music here is usually very loud, can often be sung off key, and is often accompanied by random clapping. It makes me giggle almost every week, but ask any missionary here and they will back me up on this.

Environment–  minimizing distractions is not high on the list! There are no committees to make sure that things match, leaving the auditorium because you child is making noise is unheard of, and the climate in the room is rarely regulated.

In most Nicaraguan churches there is at least one overy fake looking plant or flowers, multiple hues of the same color are hung next to each other, and often the more shiny the fabric, the better.

At just about every service that I have attended there are been children running around, even walking up to the pastor while he is teaching. They are both cute and distracting to me.

One church we went to had overhead fans, and when we showed up they made a point of turning them on because they knew we would soon be glistening in sweat. The problem was that the fans drowned out the pastor so they had to turn them off.

Comfort– this is not the highest priority. Most of the time there are enough chairs; either metal or plastic. The services can be long, so if you have a place to sit, and a breeze or fan, then you are doing well!

Last week Stephen and I visited a church, and found ourselves next to the window with a cool breeze in the midst of a hot day. Both of us turned to each other at the same time as said, “That is wonderful!”

One more thing that stands out about churches in Nicaragua is their cordialness. You know how in American we tend to hope that the greeting time will be skipped over due to a packed schedule? Here it is customary to greet/shake hands/ give a kiss on the cheek and say “God Bless You” with everyone in the room. If you can’t fit it in before the service starts or after the service ends, then you do it in the middle of the serve.

Often we have experienced people coming in late (extremely common), interrupting the service with greetings, then finding a seat and start taking part in the service. At first it seemed rude, but with time we realized that greeting and a blessing from God is important to the relationships of the people.

So, I have had to slow down, I have had to take the distractions as they come. I have had to be thankful for the music that is familiar, and do my best to find the right beat to clap on. I have had to remember that a bottle of water and a cloth to wipe off sweat is also as important as remembering my Bible.

Finally I have had to learn that there are a lot of things that I have found important in the past, that I am finding are less important in the present.

April 14, 2015

Move to Nicaragua if…

• You are happy to be wiping sweat off your brow by 6:30 AM
• You don’t mind finding a “not quite dead” tartanula next to your tennis shoes in your closet
•  You don’t mind the terror of almost hitting a drunk man because he stepped in theroad in front of your car.
• You’re content to have your evening sleep rountine include two showers, two fans, and a bottle of ice water
• You’re good with having a whole family come over to your house to help the oldest son with his homework assignment since you are the only people in the neighborhood with a computer.
• It makes you smile to be the attraction at the church you visit; complete with an invitation to speak, a song in English for your benefit, getting to be part of the group photos at the end, and a request to come back again soon
• Checking out the progress of the banana trees sounds like an enjoyable marker in the day
• You only make Plan A, so that you have something to cancel until to get to what is really happening for the day.
• You are happy to drive 40 miles so you can enjoy the AC in the car,and help a school by doing what you love- training teachers!
• You are fine having an extended conversation with a neighbor, have no real idea what was said, but you enjoyed the time together.
• You find joy in counting to 35 in English with a precious brown-faced, curly-haired little girl (See photo)
• You can eat fruits/foods you might not normally because you have happily received it as a gift from a neighbor -papaya, jacote, and mangoes stewed in honey, jacote, pineapples, papayas, grapefruits, lemons
• You can deal with the water, power, and internet going off at different times throughout the day.
• You open the fridge sometimes, not because you are hungry, but because you love the cold air.
• You want to make a difference, even if it kills you!

PS: These events have all been part of the past two days.

THURSDAY- JUEVES

At 6:30 AM Stephen left for the mechanics. We have found that things tend to move forward when he is present. The reality though is that he goes and sits in a dusty, hot, dirt lot with 5-10 broken cars. The time is long, boring, with some interaction with the young men working on the cars.

Stephen spent the day in Masaya while I tried to catch up on things- making dinner for our Bible study helpers, planning the kids study, going to Granada to make copies, get supplies for the kids study, doing payroll for a local ministry, doing some shopping, and being ready for our Bible study that evening.

Stephen got home at 4:30 without the car, and our study started at 6 PM. We enjoyed the time together with 25 of our neighbors, being reminded why we are here. We headed for bed early knowing we had a very full day on Friday.

FRIDAY- VIERNES

So, in previous blogs I have mentioned that Nicaragua is hot and dusty this time of year. The last time I remember rain was about a month ago, and it rained enough to make it humid. Every day we want the wind so that the high 90s are bearable, but with that comes clouds of dusty. Life here is just dirty, and then there is the sweat.

Stephen woke me up and told me that we had no water. This is not unusual, so I hoped it would come on before we left at 6 AM. Unfortunately I had but oil spray in my hair the night to keep moisture in it during this dry time of the year. There was no water by 5:30, so we washed up the best we could with our precious purified water and baby wipes, and headed to the road for the bus. We were trying to get to Trinity for their Passover celebration. We felt bad canceling with them twice this week and wanted to make it to this special event that the kids had been preparing for weeks.

We let a few buses pass that would make us too intimate with our fellow Nicaraguans, and settled on a “chicken bus” (Old American school bus) where we were able to sit down for the ride. We arrived an hour and a half later at Trinity and enjoyed a great program of singing, drama, and dancing of the students.

We had to leave early though so we could make it back to Granada for our 11:30 AM Bible Study. When we got to the bus stop, we got the call that the mechanic needed some of Stephen’s tools to complete the work on the car… Hmmmm… Another change of plans- tranquilo.

Image a line about 40 miles long; Granada  is on one end and Managua is on the other, with Masaya being in the middle. The Bible study is several  miles south of Granada. This is not going to work out.

We canceled the Bible study, Stephen went to Granada to get the tools then back to Masaya for the afternoon and I headed into Granada to do all the things I had planned to do the day before but was not able to. I got home mid-afternoon hot, sweaty, sticky, dirty and no water in the house.

Stephen got home  about two hours later hot, sweaty, sticky, dirty, sun-burned and no water in the house

We did our best to pull ourselves together and left 45 minutes later for a new Bible study that we were starting that evening in Granada- back to the buses, taxis and walking, but at least the sun was down.

We had a great study with this new family, who is excited to learn more about the Bible. We are excited about these relationship possibilities

They gave us a ride home to a home with still no water. I did not even want to touch myself, I felt so gross. I fell into bed feeling claustrophobic in my own body. All I wanted was to be clean!

I woke up around 3:30 feeling pity for myself.  I grabbed my Bible planning to read until I was either encouraged or asleep. I thought about my neighbors; many of them do not have running water in their houses.

At 4 AM the water came on! I got up and took a shower; I did not want to miss my opportunity!

Then I went back to sleep.

TUESDAY-MARTES

We were out the door a little before 6 AM, but as we soon found out, that was too late! This country gets up early to beat the heat, and we were on the road with most of the country! What is usually a 45 minute drive stretched to 1 hour and 45 minutes.

I called Patricia telling her we would be late- “No problema, this is Nicaragua. Tranquilo.” We ended up being 40 minutes late, missing our appointment, getting grilled by the main boss at Immigration as to why we needed a lawyer and what we were doing in the country, and being told that without having our original diplomas certified in the United States that we would not be able to get our Residency.

We left around 1 PM, discouraged, hot and tired from anticipation and tension, having rented a car for “no reason”, and having canceled our plans once again with Trinity Christian School. It was reminiscent to Stephen experience with Customs. Bureaucracy wins again!

We returned to Granada, turned in the rental car, did some grocery shopping, and tried to get things back on track for the week.

Just before bedtime, I got another email from Patricia. “If you can make it tomorrow at 8:30 AM, the lawyer will be waiting for you, and you will get your Residency- things have been worked out.” WOW! We had to try again.

It was too late to rent a car, so our game plan was to fill up all the fluids in the car, be ready with plenty of water,  ask friends to pray for us, and hope for a quick trip into Immigration.

WEDNESDAY- MIERCOLES

We left again at 6 AM, giving plenty of time to get there. About 30 minutes into our trip, we hit morning traffic, causing our car to overheat. We stopped, cooled it down, checked the fluids, and made it about two minutes down the road- the stop and go traffic was killing us!

Plan B: We parked the car in a parking lot, paid a man to watch it, got on the rush-hour bus, met some new intimate friends (yes, we were that close) and got into down town in about twenty minutes. The bus driver would put any racecar driver to shame  in the stop-and-go Managua traffic.

It was 8:15 when we got off the bus, and we still had about 5 miles to go. It was taxi time! Unfortunately our skin color says money so they tried to charge us $10 for a ride that Nicaraguans would pay $2. We negotiated $5 and made it to Immigration by 8:25. Then we waited, and waited, and waited.

We sat on a bench outside of Immigration for four hours. Tensions were rising, but we did not want to leave for fear that this all was in vain, again! We decided we would leave at 1:30 if no one came. Our solace was the American Donut stand, and a common practice in Nicaragua; listening to music on your cellphone at loud volume; not us but a man near us, had his cellphone cranked up. Usually this is annoying, but he was listening to How Great Thou Art, Take It to the Lord in Prayer, and other hymns in the local Indian language. The music is the same and I was reminded that many of you were praying for us in this circumstance.

We got the call that the lawyer was coming, so when he arrived at 12:30 the real process began:

• Wait for another 30 minutes because everything is shut down until 1:00
• Get in line to be told that it would take until 3:00 to get the paperwork done
• At 3:30 being told that they would need $300 in dollars for each of us towards plane tickets to leave the country if we caused a problem, and $C3,400 cordoba (about $140) for each of us for processing.
• Unfortunately since all previous interactions with Immigration needed to be in Cordoba I had withdrawn all Cordoba, so we got to walk 2 VERY long blocks to exchange money.
• We returned, got in the line to pay, then took the receipt to the first window. The receipt was in quadruplicate, but for some reason we needed to have one more copy.
• This could not be done at the copy machine right behind the woman, but we needed to go find a place to make a copy….hmmmm.
• Right outside Immigration are booths set up for lawyer, notary, computer and printing help. We got the help!
• Closing time is around 4:30 and it was already 4:20. Previous experience with government is that when they are done, they are done. We hurried back in, handed over our paperwork, and waited.
• Around 4:45 we got our pictures taken, and by 5:15 we were walking away with our cedulas (residency).

We were somewhere between very happy/relieved and exhausted since we knew that we still had work in front of us due to our car situation…

We got a ride from Immigration to the mall, Metrocentro, from our lawyer, ate a quick celebratory dinner at Pizza Hut, then caught a VERY full, rush hour bus to our car. On the bus, I bragged to a perfect stranger that we had just got our cedulas!

It gets dark here by 6 PM year-around, so it was dark once we left the mall. About 45 minutes later, we got to our car, put more water into it, and it started up right away.  We drove the 15 miles to the mechanic, left the car, then hoped on the bus again and rode to our house. At 8:30 PM, we arrived home, dusty, dirty, tired, but happy!