Gallo Pinto

Today we had a cultural fair at Dordt. Many of the international students told guests - from Dordt and the surrounding community - about countries close to their hearts. I had the privelege of standing alongside three Nicaraguans and representing the country in my heart: Nicaragua. There was a poster with information, a handheld game, and my part - gallo pinto and tortillas!

Last night we had a Nica night, and the native Nicaraguans and other friends came over to my apartment while we made gallo pinto. This process took about 5 hours from start to finish: rinse the red beans, soak the beans, cook the beans, cook the rice, fry the onions, mix in the red beans, mix in the rice. The picture above is Wendy and I making the actual gallo pinto - frying the onions, mixing in the beans, mixing in the rice.

It turned out really well, even though it was a lot of work. At the end of the fair, we still had a huge pan of gallo pinto leftover. Needless to say, I've been getting gallo pinto for breakfast this whole past week. As I finish this post a week later, we've finally finished it all. :) It was great to have this piece of Nicaragua for a while. I do miss the place, the people, the ways I became accustomed to. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy where I am right now, but I carry my Nica experience in my heart...

I'm very thankful that I can still talk to my Nica family and my friend Roberto! Mamá told me that they've made improvements to the house, and the city is putting blocks on our street so it won't be a dirt and rock strewn mess anymore! Hopefully one day I'll go back, and everything will look different. Such is the way of life, I guess.

Even though it's hard to make changes and accept that others are changing without me, I think it's good. I keep talking to God about the hard stuff - the good stuff too. In some ways, being uncomfortable drives me to be more intentional about life, and I think that's good. I'm just praying that Jesus will make it a life pleasing to him even when it's hard...