Nicaragua: big and small things that I have learned here

In Nicaragua, I have been able to learn a lot about missionaries and their families, and how they live out their faith through serving another country.  I have been blessed to learn a few things, some not so serious...many may seem obvious to you, but for me some were surprising:

1. Community.  The missionaries here have really created a community of support for each other, that I think is unique.  The Nehemiah Centre bases its identity on this, but it is a great glimpse into God's kingdom to see people of different denominations working together, learning from each other and playing together. I think that the biggest way that this is seen is through the sharing of meals together.  Every Monday night, the Loftsgard family hosts a dinner for anyone who wants to come (and replies to the email).  They share their space and generosity of spirit with the whole community.  Not only that, there are nights every week to get together and play sports (basketball, volleyball, ultimate) and for people to fellowship that way. There is a feeling of small town here in a big city.

2. Missionaries don't have to live in poor conditions.  I know for myself, I envisioned that missionaries are all people that live in poor conditions so that they can spread the gospel...and I know that some people are living that way, but it's definitely not for everyone.  In fact, I have always thought this is one of the unfair things about being a missionary; not only do you have to usually move away from your family and comforts of home, but you also have to live in possibly lowly conditions.  One of the things that I have been able to do here was visit a lot of different people's homes and see how through wealth of resources, people and communities can also be served.  Though I don't think that the mission field is for me, it is nice to know that people are having some of the comforts of home as well.

3. Missionaries struggle with their faith.  In the last couple weeks at International Christian Fellowship (ICF), there has been a sermon series on spiritual formation.  I have really appreciated hearing from different missionaries about how they don't have it all together.  As a Christian community, it is good to admit our short comings, I know I am bad at that, and so serve others.  It is a comfort to me that all people are constantly working out their faith.

4. Earthquakes can be a part of regular life.   Okay, so I know that we are suppose to be afraid of the "big" one, but earthquakes that I have experienced here have been a lot of shaking, and some concern, but mostly exciting.  In fact, some people had to keep a glass of water near by so that they could distinguish between earthquakes and their imagination.  While I have the advantage of living in a fairly stable house, the general population of Nicaragua does not, and I understand why the people here are very worried.  In fact, schools are cancelled this week, due to earthquake tremors, until the earth settles down a little.

5. Ebooks.  Until coming here, I have not used the Surrey Public Library ebook system, and now I am addicted!  I brought 2 paperbacks and besides that my SPL has been keeping me in good books the entire time I have been here.  I also was happy to find a lot of people are big readers here, and it has been great trading titles with them!

6. Swimming every day is good for your soul.  It is also a good way to cool off in hot, hot, hot Nicaragua.  I had the advantage of coming home everyday from volunteering at school to an empty pool.  There is something so relaxing and freeing in swimming some laps everyday, and submerging in the water.

7. SolRx is the best sunscreen ever.  I found this type of sunscreen in Hawaii a few years back, and I ordered it online before coming here.  It is a dry sunscreen that has to be washed off with soap and water, but I choose toxins over rays!

8. Communication with home, no matter how small is important.   I have really appreciated those people who have commented on my blog, Facebook or written an email to see how I was doing. Even though its only a little time, its nice to feel connected to home!  I can see now why people supporting missionaries through prayer, emails, letters can be so important.

9. Local food is the way to go, but sometimes you just need some good chocolate.   Nicaragua has some great fruits and vegetables, as well as a lot of rice and beans.  I have really enjoyed the local pineapple, mango and avocado and do not look forward to the mealier versions of home.  On the same note, sometimes you just need some good north american made chocolate to get you through the day.

10. Growing up as a woman in Nicaragua is really hard.  I know that I am suppose to say all the things that I love about Nicaragua as I put on my rose coloured classes before going home...but the group that I do not envy here are the women of Nicaragua.  These women work hard at home, serving their families as well as some also work outside of the home.  People rejoice in boys being born, not girls.  Women in general are subjected to catcalls as they walk down the streets.   This is not an ego boost, maybe particularly to a North American who was taught that her value did not lie in her appearance...what are the Nicaraguan girls learning from this? On the bright side, things are changing, generations of women are bringing up boys to view women differently.

11. There is beauty everywhere.  You just have to open your eyes to see it, every day.  Despite it being the end of the dry season here, Nicaragua is a beautiful place.  A huge variety of biomes and cities, there is much to see and explore here that is still relatively untouched.  While I sometimes long for the ease of home, I am consistently delighted in the small things...a lizard on the wall, a bat flying overhead, and the moon and stars so clear at night. (I see all these things every night here!)

I am sure I have learned more than this, but just some of my reflections on my time here, adios, Nicaragua!

Corn Islands, Nicaragua - beautiful Caribbean sand, ocean and food

Semana Santa (Holy week) is almost over and we kicked it off by going to the Corn Island, (Big Corn and Little Corn) for 4 days. Corn Islands are in the Caribbean, about an 1.5 hour flight from Managua.  We took a local airline there, and experience laminated boarding passes, paper tickets and luggage tags that were checked before we could take our bags.  We spent most of our time on Little Corn, which is so beautiful! It had amazing snorkeling - tons of coral, 3 sharks, 2 stingrays and loads of fish, delicious coconut bread, loads of  local fish. This place is special, an untouched paradise.  I am glad to have visited it before it becomes more developed.  On Big Corn, we did some snorkeling at a ship wreckage, and saw more stingrays and fish.  Walked to different beaches and swam in the ocean.  It was a great time! (and no sunburns=success)

Erika, Meredith and I waiting for the plane

Unloading of the luggage...a little chaotic

The plane!

Aleida and I on the panga (open air boat) - we were packed in!

Walking to our hotel - there are no motorised vehicles on Little Corn!

Walking around the island

Our room... a little tight but clean and the resort was beautiful!

The moon!  so bright, we didn't really need a flashlight at night. 

Aleida, Erika, me and Meredith

Lobster

On a stormy day

Excited to eat coconut bread

Snorkeling

Yes, we are cheesy

Got a little bored waiting to snorkel on Big Corn

Hollowed out canoe- Big Corn

At Long Beach on Big Corn

Whole fish!

Coffee Farm - Cafe Las Flores

I love coffee!  It is one of Nicaragua's most important agricultural exports (4th in the world)...so they know a little about coffee.  Aleida and I took a personal day last week and went to visit Cafe Las Flores - a Rainforest-Certified coffee farm. The farm saves a lot of water, does not use pesticides, and has good working conditions for the local people, as well as for the local flora and fauna.  It was nice to see what that certification means in the real world, and impresses upon me that importance of knowing where our food comes from.

The truck we took up the hillside - it was steep!

At the top

The nursery- coffee plants in the shade

The coffee plants were beginning to flower and each flower becomes one coffee bean

The "swimming pool" that the coffee is washed in.

These women hand sort the beans after they are machine sorted to make sure that its the highest grade coffee.

Some bad beans...the black on them is caused by a bug that was affect a lot of plants.  expect coffee pear!rices to go up next year.

In order to be rainforest certified, they need to clean and recapture their water.  In this barrel are plants that are cleaning the water before it can be used again for irrigation.  The farm reuses 80% of their water!

Where the coffee would normally be dried.

Coffee beans drying in the sun, husks still on.

Doors into the cafe, I just thought they were beautiful.

San Juan del Sur: a surfing town

This weekend we drove 2.5 hours south to San Juan del Sur, a surfing town in Nicaragua.  Erin, Sarah, Aleida and I stayed in a the town, and also drove 30 minutes to a local beach (Playa Hermosa) to surf. Definatly a touristy town with a chill vibe. We ate a lot of delicious seafood (fish tacos, red snapper and lobster!) and gelato. It was not my best picture taking weekend... wish I had more to share, I guess I was too busy enjoying!

View from where we ate our breakfast- rice, beans and eggs!

There was a statue of Jesus on top of the hill!

To Playa Hermosa

what it looks like when you try to take a picture on the road to Playa Hermosa

After a surf session- Playa Hermosa

Our boards and my wetsuit hanging up

Local cemetery- everything painted in bright colours 

Entrance to town...caught on our way out!

There is only one tree flowering right now - beautiful

One of Ometepe's volcanos- on the drive home

windmills- finally!

baseball stadium in Rivas

On the way home we had to be diverted around a parade in El Cucerro

Check out how many people are hanging out of that bus!

NCA- Nejapa - where I go every day.

What does a typical weekday look like for me? Well, every morning I wake up at about 6:30-7 am and listen to the Randall's get ready for school.  I usually read in bed or snooze and then get up sometime after seven.  I make breakfast and read some more, drink my coffee, before slapping on the sunscreen (every time I step outside folks!) and biking 15 minutes to NCA-Nejapa arriving around 9:15.

Grade 5/6 classroom - its packed!

NCA (Nicaragua Christian Academy) is located in the area called Nejapa and is a school for mostly middle class Nicaraguans who want to give their kids a better education than they can get in the public system, but can't afford the prices of NCA-International (school where Aleida teaches).  NCA-Nejapa conducts all of their classes in Spanish, and beside the Directors and Principal, I am the only North American teacher there. 

I am helping in 3 advanced English classes, with a teacher named Blanca Lopez.  She is really willing to learn and wants to make learning more interesting for her students.  That being said, she has grown up in a system of education that is all about wrote memorisation, so she is working hard to see education differently.  It  is definitely a different system of education, that is steeped in culture.  As a North American, sometimes it is hard for me to see what is cultural and what needs to change to make a better learning environment.  I have a lot of notes with ideas for improvement, but I only dole out a few at a time, as it can be overwhelming to be given suggestions all the time.  

Blanca helping a student

I have only been working in the advanced classes, as otherwise I am unable to help the kids, as the language barrier is too great.  It has been great getting to know them and even in my short time there I have grown to enjoy these kids. All of the pictures are from the 5/6 Advanced class.  I receive hugs everyday from some of them (high school student don't do that!) and the boys especially love to try and tell me stories in Spanish (I think they forget that my Spanish is a lot worse than their English).  

The second classes is the 9-11 grade Advanced class (31 students), which I love because I am with high school students and I get to talk about things I know.  Recently they had a unit on the Olympics, so I could share with them my love for it, as well as talk about the Vancouver games.  They were very surprised that I have tried a lot of the sports that are in the Olympics as there is not a big push for sports (except maybe soccer), especially for girls, in Nicaragua.

The last class of the day is 7/8 Advanced, and I remember the students names the best in this class, because you have to constantly tell them to be quiet!  There are a lot of great kids in this class as well, they just don't seem to be very studious yet...
English classes are done at 12:30 each day and sometime we meet as a department after that.   I try to debrief what went well with Blanca each day, and try to help her towards some reflection.  Its good to talk about assessment and what she is actually looking for and trying to help her make the questions reflect this kind of thinking.

Sorry for the thumb... but this expression is priceless

After classes are done, I bike 15 minutes back (all up hill) and immediately put on my bathing suit and jump in the pool.  I have also been using that as a time for working out, I swim for about 15 minutes each day as well.  Then I go back to the house and make some lunch around 1:30 and decided what I am going to do for the next couple hours before everyone else comes back from their jobs!  

I am glad to be working in a school, and one that has some challenges ahead of it.  Pray for a blessing on this school as their teachers strive to better Christ-centred education.