Home Safe and Sound - Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Well, here we are in our little apartment. Just had breakfast and got a cup of coffee. It's chilly in here but the sun is trying to shine.


We had an uneventful trip home. Left the Robleto's house at about 5:30am, got to the airport and checked in really quickly as there was no line. It's a very nice airport. Had some breakfast and then flew to Miami. Miami is a big airport and the food establishments are really spread out. I felt like we walked for miles and couldn't find anything worth eating. But eventually we ate Nathan's World Famous Hot Dogs! Then our flight home to Chicago was uneventful too. Everything was on time and our bags arrived without problems. Overall, we were impressed with American Airlines.


Mam and dad picked us up in Chicago and besides my upset stomach everything went smoothly. We got something to eat on the way and got home around 11:30pm.


Slept very soundly last night. Just got up about 8am because I was too hungry to go back to sleep again! So, today will mostly consist of trying to unpack and get stuff organized. Back to work tomorrow. Shame!! We got quite used to not working for three weeks and having lots of time to just sit around and chill.


Well, I hope you've all enjoyed reading our blog. Thanks for sharing our trip with us. We have a feeling that it won't be our last trip to Nicaragua but we'll keep you posted on that in the future!

Our Last Day - Monday, November 8, 2010

Well, today was our final day in El Crucero. And it was a nice, relaxing day. We got up late, had pancakes and fruit for breakfast, and then just pretty much lounged around all day. Wanda and I attempted to go on a study but she wasn't there. Her daughter just had a baby so she was gone visiting her and hadn't made it back.


Charley rescued some sort of lizard today from a bucket of water. He was enormous as you can see in the picture.

We also went to take a picture in front of the Crucero sign. Maybe one of these days they'll have to add another two inhabitants to it!!

And then a family came over to say goodbye and also for me to take their pictures for their anniversary. We were going to do it after the meeting Sunday, but they weren't there because the mam and her little boy were both really sick. 

Jaime also came over to say goodbye, and Timoteo. Well, I don't know if he came just to say goodbye, but he was there when we got home. Oh yeah, and we went to eat at the local hotel/restaurant here in El Crucero. Our waitress was a young sister in the congregation. We had some good food there, prepared by her mother and a bible study that I went on the first week I was here!


So, one more night in El Crucero and then off we go. We're leaving the house around 5:30 tomorrow - that's the goal anyway! Our flight to Miami is at 8:30am and we arrive in Chicago at 5:45pm where my mam and dad will be picking us up. So it'll be a loooooong day I suppose!


Well, it's been a pleasure writing this blog. I hope you have all enjoyed it. I'll probably write something up about our journey home, although I doubt it will get done before Wednesday since we'll be getting home late on Tuesday.


Goodnight for the last time from El Crucero.

Tears and Talks - Sunday, November 7, 2010

Well, the short version of today's activities can be summed up in the following picture. If you really want more details, continue reading after the picture!

Today Mario Sr. took the bus to the convention for his last week in the drama. He also got the bus home so we didn't see him until the evening. As you see in the above picture, travelling by bus is a rather exhausting experience. One that we never did get to enjoy on this visit.


We went to our meeting and a young brother from Nandaime gave a nice talk about loyalty. We were still eating breakfast when one of Magda's studies where I went on Thursday afternoon showed up, along with her mam. It was still an hour before the meeting! This was her first meeting, although she had already been to an assembly once. She commented and seemed to enjoy herself. Here we are together. Her name is Daliana and she's 7 years old!

I got rather choked up towards the end of the meeting, and then that final song we sang for the Watchtower this week didn't help! The words were very moving, and I couldn't sing the second verse at all! I sniffed my way through the concluding prayer. It was just so sad to think that this was our last meeting in El Crucero. We've really formed some lovely friendships while we've been down here with the congregation and their bible students.


After the meeting I went with Alexandra on a study. Then we all ate lunch together, squished around the table. Then we went to Nandaime and Charley gave the public talk down there. He did a very nice job. It was hotter there than it is in El Crucero but they had a large collection of fans in the hall so it wasn't too bad. 

We only stayed for the talk though because we thought we were picking Mario Sr. up. As it turned out he took the bus home as I mentioned earlier. But we stopped at a couple of spots on the way home to take pictures.

Then Wilmer, Patricia, Jacobi and Ethan came over with a pizza that Wilmer made. It was very tasty indeed. We had a really nice evening with them. The kids are really sweet and Wilmer and Patricia always have lots of interesting things to talk about. So, it was a lovely end to a bittersweet day!

So, just one more day left. We said our goodbyes to just about everyone today. We hope it won't be the last time we see them all though. 

Last Day in Field Service - Saturday, November 6, 2010

Today we met with the group for the last time, since tomorrow we won't have time to go out and Monday there is no group. It's sad to think that today was the end really. Charley & Mario worked together in the territory with a couple of other sisters. And I got to work with Arlene for the first time. Her sister is Patricia, who I've gone out with on Tuesday afternoons. We did the return visit with Roberto Jose and I took him the Teach book I'd promised to take. He was looking forward to reading it. We did one paragraph and Arlene is going to make plans with a brother to go back and see if they can establish a study. Then we went down a hill that I was sure I was going to fall down (but didn't!) to study with a lady and her two daughters. 

Arlen with her studies Raquel and Monica.

The morning went by really quickly and it was almost noon before I knew it. We came home and finished studying for the meeting, ate lunch, and went to the meeting at 3:30. Mario Jr. had the last part about the magazines. He did a very nice job of it. It was nice to see him on the platform doing a part. He's not a ministerial servant yet but they make good use of him and he does very well. (Don't let your head grow too big Mario - I know you're reading this!)

I took a few pictures at the hall today, trying to get a picture of everyone in the congregation, and of the Kingdom Hall itself. Here's a panoramic shot I took. It's a bit distorted but gives a nice idea of what the hall looks like. The rest of the pictures are in the usual place online.

Then after dinner Wanda and I went just across the street to visit a study she has. She's studied and been around the truth for 20 years now, and seems to be finally close to the point of becoming a publisher. Her son was there too. He's 17 and is planning on getting baptized in December. From what I understood she has a house here in El Crucero, but another house in Chinandega which is where her son is. But once he's baptized he said he'll come down here to live, although a little reluctantly since he's grown up in the congregation he's in right now.


So, Mario Sr. is doing his last day in the drama tomorrow. We're staying here to go to the meeting. Our last one - (sniff, sniff) - then we have to be in a town called Nandaime by 3pm so that Charley can give the public talk there. Mario Sr. was supposed to be going, but since he has the drama to do, Charley is going instead. 3 Sunday's here and he's given 2 public talks!


Then in the evening Patricia and her family are coming over and her husband is going to make us pizza. Apparently he makes fabulous pizzas! So that'll be a little goodbye dinner with them I guess.


Well, it's getting late. Almost 10pm which is super late for me since I got here. Charley is already asleep - imagine that!!

A Visit to a Closed Volcano - Friday, November 5, 2010

The day started out delightfully with another hot shower! Then we all went to Managua to visit some of Mario's family. We didn't stay long, but left Mario and his sister-in-law's house. 

From there, we went on to Masaya to finally got and see the volcano. It cost $20 for us all to get in, and when we got to the visitor's center then they informed us that the park was basically closed, which would explain the lack of cars and people along the way! I guess the best time to visit is in April.  I tried to get them to give me a free pen since we'd paid to get in to what was essentially a closed park but it didn't work! I went ahead and bought the pen anyway. But one of the crater's was open to visit and it was an easy drive up there. This is what we saw when we got to the parking lot.

It's an active volcano, as you can see by all the smoke spewing out. We did hear a bit of a rumble too, and after that rumble a lot more smoke started rising. We climbed up to where that cross is on the hill. The Spanish baptized the active volcano "La Boca del Infierno" or "The Mouth of Hell". They planted a cross, "La Cruz de Bobadilla" (named after Father Francisco Bobadilla), on the crater lip in the 16th century in order to exorcise the Devil.

Here's a view from about halfway up the 177 steps to the top of the hill where the cross is.

And then we reached the top and took some more pictures.

We weren't there a really long time, but enough to say we've seen an active volcano! We were all a bit tired so we didn't climb up another path they said we could follow to an inactive crater. Didn't seem worth the effort!

From there, we went back to the market in Masaya and spent the last of our money! So we're officially done shopping now - unless they take credit cards!!

It was dark by the time we got home and time to just eat dinner and call it a day.

Mario Jr. was a little busy during the evening as you can see. That's one of those sticky mouse traps complete with little mouse! I saw another one when we were eating dinner so Mario's work is not done yet!

Tomorrow, will likely be our last day out in service here. Hopefully I can take someone on the calls I need to turn over. It's hard to just give someone the address since there aren't any street names or numbers. I have to actually take someone there so that they can write down a description that they'll understand of where the house is!

That's all for today. Until tomorrow.

Hot Showers - Thursday, November 4, 2010

As you've probably guessed from the title of today's blog, the shower-head was working today! It was wonderful to take a hot shower. The highlight of the day.


We had a nice lazy morning. Slept a bit late, cooked breakfast, and sat around. Mario & Mario had been up since really early though. They took a young sister to the hospital to get a cast off her leg and came back mid-morning. 


At around 1pm I went out on three studies with Magda. I didn't take my camera, which I regretted afterwards, so I have no pictures of our adventures! We went to Las Nubes (The Clouds) which is even a little higher up than El Crucero - therefore the name. She has some nice studies with some young kids. It impresses me how well the little kids read and express themselves here. I've been on quite a few studies now with 8-year old kids who have no trouble answering questions, and reading and understanding scriptures. It's so cute! I wish I could have recorded little Miguel today. He talked like a little grown-up! So we were out until about 6pm by which time it's completely dark. 


When I got back, the guys, along with Timoteo, were busy filling in a hole near the back door. They did something with pipes to redirect the water from the street into the tank or something. When I say water from the street that means water that the city provides, which comes whenever it fancies. We haven't had any water from the street since Tuesday morning and the tank was empty today. But they fill it up from the tank at the Kingdom Hall which is much bigger and gets used a lot slower. So we're not without water, for now! Then Charley worked on getting the lock on the back door to work. It locks now. 

I can't remember if I've ever mentioned in this blog that here in El Crucero they get a lot of sulfur from the volcano so everything rusts really quickly. They have to replace locks, hinges, and anything else that can rust, about once a year. It's a very moist environment here.


So, that was the day really. Nothing much happened. Tomorrow we'll probably go out in service with the group in the morning. Then I'm not sure if we might go to a volcano tomorrow afternoon. If not, then I guess that will wait until our last day, Monday to do that.

Charley's Turn to Get Wet - Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Today we met for field service at Hermano Marco's house. Here is just outside of the entrance to his house. Just to clarify - he didn't go out in service dressed like that - I took this later in the day!

We had a nice time out. It was cool at the beginning of the morning, but got pretty warm later on. I worked with Alexandra today, and both of us felt like our bags were heavy and got heavier as the morning went on! We had some nice conversations but nobody asked us to sit down so we were worn out after about 2 1/2 hours of walking and talking! We saw some pretty horses today. Somebody breeds them I think because they were much healthier and prettier than any other horses I've seen here! There were about 20 of them altogether.

Eventually, the rest of the group went home from about 11am onwards, and at about 11:45 Sergio, Alexandra, Charley and I went back to Marco's house to eat our lunch that we'd brought. We rested and napped until about 1pm and then went back out. By then, a thick fog had floated in. Alexandra and I got in on a study, and it started raining while we were there. Unfortunately for Charley & Sergio none of the studies they were going to do studied, so they never got out of the rain and were drenched by the time we finished Alexandra's two studies at about 3:30. So, today, Charley discovered that his new boots aren't as waterproof as they appeared to be a couple of weeks ago! My hiking shoes did well, but then I wasn't in the rain too much. But, despite the rain, it was a nice day. Well, I enjoyed it anyway! If Charley was writing this blog the story might sound a little different!

One of Alexandra's studies - Noami, with her mam and little brother.
This girl is only eight but she's in the Bible Teach book.
She's really smart!

This evening we haven't done much. Right now Mario, Mario Jr, Charley and Timoteo are putting in another light in the dining room because it's really dark in that back corner and the hinges of the window have rusted and broken so it's a nuisance to get that window open! I haven't heard any squeals yet, and the lights haven't flickered, so I'm assuming all is well!


And today Mario went to Managua and got a shower-head, or got the one he had fixed, and apparently it's working! So, I'm reluctantly optimistic about having a warm shower tomorrow morning! I probably should go have one now, but I'll wait. Hopefully I won't be responsible for burning it out. It seems there are a lot of instructions on how to use it properly!


Tomorrow we might go back to Masaya and actually go to the volcano this time, but nothing has been finally decided. If we don't do it tomorrow, we still have Friday afternoon or Monday left to be tourists!


So, that was the last Wednesday field service day. Time is flying by.