on the rocks

so i was supposed to go fishing this weekend for the second weekend in a row but it didn't work out again so me and julio and lester went a beach... We hung out and watched some little kids fish instead of getting to go out on a boat ourselves. Over to left there were a bunch of rocks that were sticking way out of the ocean. I wanted to get a picture of the waves hitting the rocks and spraying up so I walked over there and Julio followed as my bodyguard.

When I got over there I left my bookbag with Julio and climbed on top of the rocks with just my camera. On the ocean side the water was about 10' down below the rocks and waves were hitting it and I got a few good photos. As I was waiting for one more photo, a wave came that broke over the rocks and knocked me down but luckily i didn't fall off the rocks.

As I was standing back up I saw another wave, bigger that was coming. It was more like 3 or 4 feet over the rocks. I just laid down in defeat trying to hold on to the rocks to no avail. It knocked me off the rocks and i fell down on the backside about 10 feet. I landed somewhat on my feet but got several cuts and bruises including some horrible bruises on the bottom of my feet.

Needless to say I lost my camera and any awesome photos that I got from the photo shoot. This blogs picutres have been suspended until further notice.

The local Dump.

Nicaragua, specifically Mangua is known for their dumps. La Chureca is the local city dump that sits on lake front property of a beautiful lake. But due to poor care the floor of the lake is over half way covered in plastic bags. But this dump is home for anywhere from 1500-2000 people. You can google it and see pictures of people who spend their days fighting for first rights to pick through other people's trash for anything possibly salvageable including their food. It is very sad.

I don't take my trash to that dump but to one much closer and much smaller but the problems are the same. There are four boys that all but live there. Every time I drive up they are running to my truck barefoot and shirtless ready to pick through my trash. I always bring them whatever food I can get my hands on and unload my own trash to give them a break. I also try and spend a couple of minutes to just talk to them, to be someone who cares enough to know their name.

This last time, I made two runs on the way home the first time I was expressing to Julio how i wanted to share the Bible with them and help them on their walk of life. On my second trip i found a ratty old book in the dumb that was the new testament. I asked the boys if they knew what this was and then looked at me like i was crazy, it was a book duh. Then I realized these kids can't read, and they barely know how to write their own name. They are 9-13 years old and don't go to school and have no one that really forces them to do anything. I am trying to get these kids enrolled in school and teach them that without learning these things they will live at the dump the rest of their lives.

I made a deal with these kids. I would buy them a new pair of clothes, bookbag, shoes, and notebooks if they would go to school. I go to the dump every week and they would have to show me their homework to prove that they went to school. Pray that this will work for these kids and the Lord will show them somehow that they need to learn these things to survive in this world.

a long post coming

Sorry, after moving out of the orphanage my time on the internet has become more scarce, limiting the time I can post blogs. I promise to get better soon.

There have been many stories since I have moved into Julio’s house. Stories about his wife making his kid write the sentence “El Chele es Malo” The white man is bad, getting to read the bible with Julio, having his nieces just look at me and giggle while saying look a gringo along with many others. But this weekend was worth telling the whole story.

So me and Julio and his kid and 2 nieces and 1 nephew took the bus to a little down at the beach where his dad lives. We walked around the town where everyone wanted to at least shout at the gringo walking through town. There was a baseball game going on with people ages 15-50 playing in all different uniforms. We walked down to a little shanty on beach front property where his cousin lived. His cousin is a professional fisherman and invited me to go out with him next weekend. After that we went to a real Nicaraguan rodeo where you could do anything you wanted after you paid 30 cords ($1.50). That included hang out in the bull ring, ride a bull if you want, or grab a piece of red cloth to provoke the bull.

We left early to try and catch the last bus out of town for the night but we were 15 min late and were stuck in the town for the night. We went to the local carnival with some of Julio’s friends and rode a few rides and called it a night. Woke up at 4:30 AM to catch the first bus back to Los Cedros where we made it to work only 5 min late.

more post to come with better quality i promise.

My New House.

So this week I moved out of the orphanage and into a house with one of the guys I work with, Julio. I did this because I really feel more than to be in Nicaragua for the kids, the Lord sent me here to reach the everyday people. I also moved out because I wanted to learn more Spanish.

So now in a given day I wake up at 5 at Juilio's house and eat breakfast and get dressed and go to work at the orphanage with Julio. We work until 3 or 4 and then we go home to his wife and kid. She serves us bread and coffee and we just watch some TV or talk until dinner at whatever time we want when she gets it for us. Then we study spanish and he studies english until we go to bed.

But I hit a new culture shock with the relationship of him and his wife. I knew that Latin American women were very much domesticated and did most of the house work. But Julio does not lift a finger for anything. If he wants some coffee, she gets it for him. It is hard to even have that conversation because it is clear that this is all he has ever known.

More stories from the house of Julio are sure to come.

Picture of the Orphanage.

My daily routine consists of waking up at 5 and walking straight to the kitchen for some coffee. I talk to the cook for a few minutes while i wait for the coffee to brew and then head back to my room to study some Spanish or read the word. As I was walking back to my room I saw this rainbow and took a few pictures. This is a picture overlooking the kitchen

Since the orphanage has 85 acres we have to have roads inside the orphanage to drive around with the tractor and what not... Due to the rainy season you really need four wheel drive to drive on the roads.... here is an example of the road honestly in decent condition due to the fact we didn't have that much rain the day i took this picture... Sometimes you can't see any mud inbetween the huge puddle... basically the road become the grand rio.... the big river of the property...

Hiking in Nicaragua.

Note: To keep this blog post interesting, there could be slight dramatization but it will be very slight and this is based on a true story and I have photos to prove it.

Today, I went hiking with Julio and Jamie, my two nica friends that i work with. I was out running some errands so i picked Julio up at his house at 145 as he looked as though he was still in the bed about 15 min before i got there. We drove back to my house and I got dressed before walking over to Jamie's.

The walk over to Jamie's is actually when the hike began. I live on 85 acres that is never mowed so the walk out the back of the property was like me and Julio playing Lewis and Clark across Nicaragua. When we got to the back of the property there is a river dividing Los Cedros and Monte Fresco. Since it had rained alot today there were no rocks to hop across on... you had to walk through and soak you boots and pants too (picture attached)

Once we waded through the river and lost 2 oxen and our entire supply of wheat we made it to Jamie's house. As usual, there were about 20+ people at his house and they were all family. I was introduced to everyone and maybe caught two or 3 of their names. The three of us took off for the summit with three of his family members following us.

After traversing the rigid slippery soil of Nicaragua and finishing the climb with an exhausting rock climb to the summit, we made it. We just hung out for a while and talked about our future plans of buying cows and which land would be most plentiful for them to eat on (not dramatized).

The second picture is the property of the orphanage. They own all property from the tower to the next tree line. The huge red building is the bodega, or shed for tools. This is my kinda place where the bodega is the biggest building on the property.

A taste of the culture.

So the culture here is slower and things that we find important are not labeled as important and time is not as important. This is true of all of the Latin American culture but i think Nicaragua is one of the worst.

Tuesday, Aldofo dropped the kids off for school a little early and they showed back up an hour later because school was canceled due to the rain. It is not like rain is a foreign concept here. They have only two seasons here, the rainy season and the dry season. Another employee on monday did not come to work. On tuesday, when I asked her about it, she said, it was raining all morning.