Happy Thanksgiving! Today my thoughts are pretty scattered. I feel like I should write a blog since it has been a while, but it is harder and harder to keep connected to things back home, even as the time to go home comes closer and closer. I understand mentally that today is Thanksgiving, but I don't really feel like I'm missing it because I'm in León, the sun is shining, and I ate a salmon salad at the café for lunch. I'm very thankful, and very glad to be here although part of me is a bit sad not to be spending the day with my family for the first time I can remember...

We had our own celebration (not for Thanksgiving, but for Evan's birthday) last week Sunday. I asked Roberto if we could have a piñata at his house because I thought it would be less complicated than rearranging one of our houses in the city, and he has a big yard area (compared to other Nicaraguans). He said yes, and Hannah Ponstein and I went shopping for food and such on Saturday after learning how to make tacos with her mamá. Sunday, after a "culto unido" of Apostolic Free churches with my family, I went to Roberto's house and helped get stuff ready. Then, Roberto's neighbors, all family, came over to watch our group of students hit a piñata and have an American/Nicaraguan party. We ate chocolate cake and fruit, and a good time was had by all.

Tacos at Hannah's house. I LOVE TACOS HERE!!!

Roberto preparing to decimate the piñata - he broke their clothesline instead...

The birthday boy, 22-year-old Evan, with his cake

Roberto's in-laws, gathered around. We made them hit the piñata too - and we were all laughing a lot. The woman in the front row with the sky blue shirt is Gricelda, Roberto's wife.

This week at work, I finished the data for León and Chinandega Congresos (a big project that I had been working on since the beginning of my time at the Nehemiah Center), and started on a new project. The Nehemiah Center is starting to work in a new area, Estelí, and I am entering the participants' names and questionnaire answers into the computer. However, today I am in León, working on final projects and relaxing, and tomorrow and Saturday I am going on a bicycle trip with a bunch of people from the Nehemiah Center. I am a bit nervous because of the ride and my lack of in-shape-ness, but I am looking forward to hanging out with the people, spending the night near the beach, and seeing turtles! Roberto is going, and so is Alex from Dordt, plus various other people I know.

I can hardly believe that we only have two weeks left in León. The time is going by faster and faster. I feel strangely not ready to leave. Although I haven't had any banners in the sky from God regarding the future, I haven't seen any closed doors either. I think I could do this. The people at the Nehemiah Center say they would welcome me back, and I said that I am waiting for an opportunity, listening for God's voice. I can hardly believe how fast I'm growing up! Pray for wisdom, time to listen, and strength as I, and the rest of the group, go through a lot of changes and contradictory emotions over the next little while...

Snapshots of Life

I have neglected writing. There's so much else to do, and so little time! Ironically, this is probably the time when I have the most to write about as well. So, I will catch up a bit. Life has been going very well, with one adventure after another. The last time I wrote, we went to the beach on a packed bus.

After a week of commuting to and from the Nehemiah Center, Friday I stayed in León. I attended the final presentation of the Spanish class participants - Alex, Hannah, and Hannah. They did a play of Little Red Riding Hood in Spanish. In this snapshot, the wolf is chasing Little Red, and the hunter is chasing the Wolf. During one act, they did a musical, so they were singing, "no!" and "sí" as they ran. It was quite humorous.

In the afternoon, I tried to be productive, but it didn't work very well. Roberto and his wife, Gricelda, came to visit. Then, Mamá took me shopping at a new store. In this picture, she was looking for sheets. It was a giant thrift store of international stuff. Let's just say, Mamá is a shopper. I got some new clothes because she kept saying, "Adrianna, éste te quedará bonito!"

Saturday, I was a campesina, a country girl. I went out to Roberto's house on the outskirts of town to learn how to make tortillas and use a machete. If you don't remember, Roberto is my friend with whom I commute to the Nehemiah Center. He is our second-in-command for the program, and if we have a problem in León, we go to him. He's the Nicaraguan link, like Alicia is the director. We are friends. Here, you see me making a tortilla. I learned how to pat it out, stick it on the fire, take it off, etc. I can do it myself now.

After Gricelda, Roberto's wife, taught me to make tortillas, Roberto showed me how to use a machete. We cleaned part of his front yard. It's the same idea as mowing the lawn, but WAY different from using the rider. :)

This is Roberto's family on the motorcycle. Roberto received a motorcycle to use for his work, a great blessing from the Lord - for me as well as for him! I got to ride from Managua to León with him on the motorcycle Monday, and I couldn't stop smiling the whole time! So now, I get motorcycle rides once in a while. Pictured in their back yard, Roberto, the baby Jared, the toddler Jacer, and Gricelda.

Monday and Tuesday, I worked at the Nehemiah Center. Wednesday I went on a three hour tour... but by bus. I left at 5 a.m., met up with another missionary lady from Switzerland, got to the church in Estelí at 9, sat through a workshop about the Biblical worldview for marriage, got on the bus at 3 p.m., got home at 5:30, went out with my sister Marlen at 6:30, got home and went to bed at 11 pm. It was a long day. But good. Here you see my boss, Luz Largaespada, holding up a poster with one of our interactive activities. If there's no coordination or communication, things turn out funky. :)

At night, I went out with Marlen and her friends. They have beauty pageants for the university in León, and the night before the contest, all the majors have a float with their contestant. The idea is that you go with your major's float, cheering and having a good time (you know what that means for some people), or you pick your favorite contestant. We ended up not really liking any of them, stood around and watched, then got something to eat. I was dead on my feet, but I was glad I got to meet some of Marlen's friends.

Thursday we had culture class in León. Us girls took bikes to class. It was an adventure because there were three of us and two bikes. I tried to carry Hannah Nica-style, but I was too short for the bike, and we ended up in a heap. Hannah Cooper carried Hannah Ponstein, and they did much better. We were entertained, and probably the Nicaraguans watching us were too.

In the afternoon on Thursday, Roberto took me to the hervederos de San Jacinto. He picked me up on the moto, and we went to a volcano vent. The volcano has never erupted, and they suspect it is because it vents in this area. The mud and water boil (similar to Yellowstone), and it was a warm experience! :) Good thing it was rainy and cool - I was glad for the heat radiating from the ground up.

That's the short version of life lately. Tomorrow I hope to learn how to make tacos and gallo pinto with Hannah Ponstein, and Sunday we are having a birthday party for Evan at Roberto's house. It should be a fun weekend. I hope I can get some homework done too!

Do you have enough space?

Lately, I've been riding some pretty crowded buses. Instead of the American bubble, I'm getting smashed from all sides. Example: On Saturday, a bunch of us went to the beach, and we sat three to a seat, and there were three people in the aisle - across. Granted, it was brief because it was the guy collecting money going through, but it was still impressive. Today I came on an expresso bus from León to Managua, and although I got a seat, it was on the aisle, which means I was smashed against the lady in the window seat, and there were men smashed up against me on the aisle side. At one point, the guy was practically embracing me as he had one arm along the seat in front of me, and the other along the seat behind me. Let's just say, they know how to pack on the people here in Nicaragua.

I also got proposed to at the bus stop this morning while waiting for Roberto. I was sure glad when he showed up and I could excuse myself from the conversation with an old and eager Nicaraguan! They do not give you much physical space or informational privacy. Everyone asks how old I am and if I have a boyfriend!

Usually, I range between feeling proud of myself and my Nica ways (how well I've adjusted) and wanting to scream and start punching my way out of the mass of people. It is just not comfortable to have people's stomachs, butts, and everything else smashing into you while on the bus! Half the time, I want to ask my neighbor, "Do you have enough space?"and then I realize that would be a completely ridiculous question because I can't give them more space, and they don't care anyways.

Life abroad. What an adventure. (wry smile)

Workshops

Well, life is so full lately, but so much of the same, that I don't really know what to say. My voice is normal again, thank goodness! It wasn't really on Tuesday, but I didn't get a chance to talk to Bill Hybels anyways. And yes, I would have been able to because I attended a workshop where he was the speaker. He flew down to Nicaragua for this leadership training day, and many people from the Nehemiah Center went. It only cost me $5 to see the great Bill Hybels!

Alicia and I decided that he's not necessarily the great Bill Hybels, though. At least not in Nicaragua. He was not culturally aware, and this ignorance was a major short-coming. And I'm a little wary of the big power executive type pastors anyways. I agreed with some of the things he said, and I disagreed with others. He said that you can rank people on a leadership scale. He made it seem too easy. What qualities make a good leader? (please feel free to respond because I'm seriously wondering) I don't think he can make a person a 2 and another person an 8 unequivocally. He also said that the 8s won't follow a 2, but isn't serving others part of leadership - even if the person isn't as good of a leader? I think it will make a good KSP paper for next semester.

I am attending a lot of workshops and conferences with the Nehemiah Center. I go to their trainings for church leaders and write reflections. I hear that the Ezra Team is pleased with the speed with which I finish my tasks. María Luisa, one of my supervisors, says that they don't want to abuse my time, but I tell her, please do! I love working there. It puts a smile on my face all the time.

I also enjoy riding the bus and talking to Roberto. He is becoming a good friend of mine, and we talk about some really deep stuff. He is a nice bridge for me because I feel like I can be honest - completely - with him, and I can ask him awkward questions about culture, religion, anything. I got to see him in action last Sunday (see picture above), and I enjoy knowing more about his work since I'm at the Nehemiah Center with him.

Life in León is good. I feel more and more Nica all the time. I will be glad to go back home, but if I decided that this was going to be my life, I think I would be very excited about that too. The culture here is very alive and rich. There are more and more gigantonas (tall dancing woman - really a small boy under a costume) and drummers in the streets, practicing for December 7, the big celebration of Mary in León. When it comes, I'll explain what I see. From what I hear, it's sort of like our Halloween - Catholics go from house to house, sing a song of exaltation to Mary, and receive treats from the owners of the houses. It will be interesting to see.

I think I'll sign off for now. Tonight they are going to operate on my Papito (my mamá's father) because his prostate is enlarged and he is experiencing a lot of pain. Please pray for guidance for the doctors and healing for Papito. May the Lord bless and keep you.

Frog with Laryngitis (is that how you spell laryngitis?)

Yes, I sound, as Roberto says, like a jovencito en desarrollo - a developing youngster. I have a bit of a cold. It hit really fast, and I have the same symptoms as my sister Marlen, and now my voice sounds weird! I can't talk loudly without squeaking!

But it's not keeping me down, gracias a Dios! Saturday I hung out with Hannah Ponstein, and we had a good chat. Sunday our group of Dordt students went to Roberto's church and house. It was a great experience! Iglesia Los Cocos is quite a bit different from my host family's church. For one, it was huge. Instead of 40 people, it was more like 400. The music was not spontaneous; they invited predetermined people to come sing at certain times.

The message was about witchcraft. October 31 is a day of witchcraft in Nicaragua. Halloween in the United States is a festival, a day for dressing up and getting candy - primarily. Here, on the other hand, it is primarily a day of the occult and devil worship. So the message pointed out how our God is victorious over the evil powers of the world. I thought that it was very good for me to be in church hearing that message because in North America, we often ignore the spiritual realm except in theory. Here, people lose their lives because of witchery (human sacrifices were mentioned). Hearing a message about the evil influences of the world was a heart-opening experience. And it was empowering to pray that God would protect people and open the witches' eyes that what they are doing is wrong. God can save witches, as the pastor proclaimed.

We also took the Lord's Supper with the church. I have missed it, and it was great to be reminded about the body and blood of Christ through partaking of the bread and wine. It was one of the first days that I could put aside my critiquing and cultural analysis to worship God.

After church, we walked to Roberto's house. He is from the country - the outskirts of León. It's a simple block house with lots of trees. We enjoyed eating with him and hanging out, even though I got a lot of mosquito bites. Everyone from the group went except for Evan (who wanted to spend time with his host family), and we enjoyed the campo.

In the afternoon, I went with Roberto to a church. I listened to him present about the youth program that the Nehemiah Center has. One of the church members completed a course at the Nehemiah Center, and they are going to present the same course at the church. It was a challenge to the church to get involved with the youth in the community because youth are the most at-risk group in Nicaragua. It was good to hear the statistics about youth, hear the hope for change - and see Roberto working. :)

The work at the Nehemiah Center really inspires me. I like going to their workshops and presentations. They have good vision for the future, and their ministries are bearing fruit. Moreover, they are working with the local churches, and people are being transformed. Their lives are changing because God is changing their hearts. Glory to God!

Busy, busy!

I have not written in a long time. No, I did not fall off the face of the earth. I did not get sick. I did not get mugged or kidnapped. What I did do was start working!

Vacation ended last weekend, and I have been going non-stop since then. It's been great. I can't wipe the smile off my face. This is a slight problem because I don't want to encourage the men on the street, but I can't stop smiling because I feel so happy.

What has me so happy? Well, I'm almost done with my history and worldview classes, but that's not so joyful because I've been enjoying them, and I would have liked to dig into it deeper. But Tuesday, I started an internship/Spanish class/service-learning at the Nehemiah Center. I work with the Ezra Team, the national group of the Nehemiah Center. I thought that one day I would tell you all about the Nehemiah Center when I started my internship, but I haven't figured it out yet. So another day... haha

But my job: I work with the Ezra Team, doing what they need me to do. One aspect of my work with them is attending the workshops and conferences that they present and writing observations/reflections about them. This past week I went to one about HIV/AIDS. They told leaders of the churches in Managua about generalities about HIV/AIDS, and they'll follow up with another one in a month about a Biblical worldview on the issue. HIV/AIDS has become a widespread problem in Nicaragua, especially because of sexual promiscuity. It carries a great social stigma, and the Nehemiah Center is trying to teach the churches how to be places of hope and solidarity for the victims of the disease as well as educating their church members in order to avoid getting HIV.

Another part of my work involves the computer. The Nehemiah Center has "Congreso"s every year where they evaluate their work with the leaders of churches in different cities and encourage people to be agents of transformation. I made a directory of names of people who were most interested in different areas of capacitation from the Nehemiah Center. I also figured out the percentages of people's answers from 1-4 on a questionnaire about the changes that people and churches have undergone as a result of training from the Nehemiah Center.

Next on the list is creating a spreadsheet for a new area that the Ezra Team is working with, called Estelí, in the north of Nicaragua. I'm a bit intimidated because it will be a lot of work, but I'm glad to be of use to the people at the Nehemiah Center.

It is odd for me to be working there because they have been my "heroes" for a long time, since I came to Nicaragua two years ago. I think the Nehemiah Center has one of the best models for missions that I have seen, and I can't get over the fact that I actually belong there right now! I feel very grown up... Odd. But good.

Tonight, I'm having some girl bonding time with the Hannahs because we have missed each other! After being together for two weeks straight, we have been separated for a week, and it feels strange. So Hannah Ponstein is spending the night at my house, and we are going to catch up. Tomorrow morning most of us Dordt students are going to Roberto's church and house for lunch.

Roberto. I know that I have mentioned him before, but I would like to revisit this topic. Roberto is like our second-in-command. He is our main contact besides Alicia (program director) if there's a problem, and he is our contact in León. Because he lives in León, we commute to the Nehemiah Center together. He is my cousin through my host mamá. I have met his wife and two sons already. Roberto and I get along really well. The long bus ride offers us a chance to talk about a lot of things, and I would consider him a friend. I thank God for his presence in my life because talking to him puts me in a good mood, and he is willing to help me with anything - like traveling with me to and from Managua. So the social visit to his house tomorrow will be fun.

Thank God for good experiences. I have a lot to occupy my mind. I feel like there is always something I could do. In fact, I've had to turn my family down on some invitations lately because I need to focus on homework or something. Life is good. Rejoice with me!

But also remember those who are struggling. My papito - my mamá's father - is sick right now, something with his prostate. It's not getting much better, but the family wants to avoid surgery. Pray for wisdom, relief from pain, and healing for him. My church in Indiana has had several deaths, so pray for the congregation, please. They are being hit hard. Thanks for your support. I'm thankful to be part of the community of saints and the priesthood of believers.

The end of vacation...

I gave a brief summary of what we did in San Juan del Sur, but I thought I should expound on it a bit more. We three girls met up with the guys, and we stayed in a house in the mountains near San Juan del Sur. Although town was a half hour ride away, we could walk to several beaches.

The first beach we went to was Mayagual, where we had our surfing lessons. This beach was pretty empty because it is on a resort property. In the morning, we walked down the mountain, set up our umbrellas on the beach, and waited for our instructors. They brought our surf boards and taught us how to get up on the board. We practiced on land first, then we took our skills (or lack thereof) to the sea. During the 4 hours we were out there, I managed to ride a couple of waves. I never had a really good, in-control, long ride, but I had some success. I rode several waves into shore on my knees, I stood up several times but the wave ran out shortly, and a few times I caught a good one standing. They were long boards, so I just waited for the wave to break and stood as the momentum carried the board to shore. All in all, it was a very fun day!

The next day, our potential plans fell through. The boys decided to go to the beach and into town, but us girls stayed at the house. We had a relaxing time reading our homework and talking. We met up with the guys on the beach to watch the sunset. It was a great view, with rocks jutting into the sky and the clouds aflame with color.

It was a good experience. From our house, we saw monkeys. We got to cook for ourselves. I could dress however I wanted without worrying about whether or not my shirst was wrinkled (they dress much more neatly in Nicaragua, and they think Americans are sloppy - but I was a tourist so I could fulfill their expectations!). I had a great time talking with Hannah P and Hannah C, and I learned more about the guys in our group as well.

Regardless, I was happy to be back in Managua on Sunday night. The trip was taxing because we were always having to plan what we would do, haggle with taxi drivers (and usually ended up getting ripped off and spending more than we wanted), and be completely responsible for ourselves. It's nice to be back in the routine (or lack thereof) of school, as well.

Monday we had history class in the morning, and in the afternoon we had our worldview and transformational development class. I have been learning a lot from these classes and the readings, but I feel like we've barely gotten started! In reality, we only have one more class, and then the final at the end of the semester. Unfortunately, it seems these classes will stir the waters enough to muddy my thinking, but not hand the answers to life's problems back to me in a neat package at the end of the course.

This week will be challenging, I think. I already have a lot of ideas swirling in my head from the books we're reading. I think I will witness hard situations this week. Now we are in Costa Rica (after a day of traveling on a coach bus), and we are going to study Nicaraguan immigration here. Tomorrow we go to a Nicaraguan neighborhood in San Jose, and we will talk to Nicaraguans and work with Christ for the City programs. Thursday we have meetings with development groups. Friday is a sight-seeing day, and Saturday we return to Nicaragua. I am praying that God will give me strength to see hard things, and that I will have discernment to know what He is calling me to do about the problems I witness.

A few days ago I realized that I'm going to graduate in May. By then, I'll need to have some direction for the next step! Right now, I don't really know what that will be. As I read books and talk to people, I agonize over how God wants me to help others and how He wants to use me to solve some of the problems in the world. I start an internship/class with the Ezra Team at the Nehemiah Center next week, and I'm hoping this hands-on opportunity will help shape some of my thinking about the future. Please pray that I will be patient and wait for God's timing. Pray for those around the world who are suffering from injustice. Pray that we will all find the place and the task God is calling us to in order to be His agents of salvation in a broken world. Thanks.