What a transformation!

Hello everyone!

I just wanted to share some pictures of a transformation that took place over the last couple of days!

The owner of the house bought the following plant, complete with pot, last year. The plant didn't survive but the pot did. However, it was a bit dull looking as you can see in this picture. And since this picture it had got a bit more rough looking and just sat empty in a corner of the yard.

So Charley bought a houseplant when we went to buy plants for the Kingdom Hall the other day, which I'll have pictures of next week maybe to show how much we got for very little money. Anyway, so the houseplant needed a home.

Here is it's new home after a few layers of paint courtesy of Charley, and some stenciling and sponging courtesy of yours truly. I'm quite proud of the result.

We didn't end up going out in service today. I wasn't feeling all that great in the morning, just a combination of being extremely tired and probably not drinking enough water yesterday. Sometimes I forget to drink as much water when I'm just in the house. And the truck needed a little tiny job doing on it. And because La Griteria starts today in Masaya.

They say it gets pretty crazy in Masaya this evening, and that the hubub starts earlier because people get off work at noon today, so we decided to just keep our distance! It shouldn't be too noisy where we live since we're away from the noise of the city celebrations!

Here's a little info from vianica.com about what that is. I highlighted a sentence that I thought was funny and very true I'm sure!

At 6PM every December 7th, a common yell is heard in different cathedrals and churches: Quién causa tanta alegría? (Who causes so much happiness?). This is how another ancient tradition starts along with the massive response ‘La Concepción de María’ (Mary’s Conception).

At that time, in cities and towns people start exploding fireworks and firecrackers. In the biggest cities, it gets so noisy that any uninformed tourist might think that a war has just started in Nicaragua. At midnight, firecrackers explode once again (the same happens at 6AM and 12PM, but on a smaller scale).

During ‘La Gritería’ Virgen Mary is also venerated. It is a celebration used by people to thank the virgin for miracles and it takes place before the official day. Faithful people decorate altars in their houses in a place were it can be seen from the street. In some neighborhoods you can find more than three altars in just one block.

Then, at 6PM sharp, thousands of Nicaraguans go to the streets to ‘shout’ to the virgin (the word gritería could be translated as ‘shouting’), which means visiting each altar and singing to the virgin Maria. This is basically how it is done: people hang around in groups, stop at an altar, intone traditional songs (the same as in ‘La Purísima’), house owners give fruits, candies, toys, instruments to make noise, natural drinks, and other type of gifts; finally, they move on to another altar. House owners who have placed altars wait until another group comes to sing. This is how ‘La Gritería’ is celebrated, lasting until the house owners have no more gifts to give away or until streets have no more singers.