Starry, starry night...

I know it seems as though some of the blogs are so long…this one might break the record. But I hope you forgive me my wordiness, look through my fluff and see our God at work. This past weekend was our clinic weekend in Rio Blanco. Although Susanna had other commitments and was not able to go with us, Roger and Rhonda, our friends from Jinotepe, graciously agreed to make the trip, which is a long trip for us but an even longer one for them. They were taking their two children, Josiah and Rachel, and a friend of theirs, a young Nicaraguan girl of 15, Josey (sp.) who was coming along to take care of their children during the clinic.

Jim and I decided to do a little prep work to save us some time during the clinic by bagging up vitamins ahead of time. This is a standard item that is always dispensed at the clinics and we go through a lot of them. As a matter of fact, that’s one of the things those who work with medical clinics often bring back from the states. They are difficult to find here and when they are available, they are very costly. The folding table where Jim is working is one of our recent splurges which has really saved us with our backs. We are able to set it at different heights and it is perfect for us to use as our pharmacy counter.

We had the back of our car loaded to the max with 14 totes of medicines, 3 cardboard boxes filled with extra meds and other items and the 9 drawers of reading glasses. Our suitcase, tote bag, blanket and pillows went in the back seat along with drinking water and snacks. We loaded the folding tables and the stand fan in the back of Roger and Rhonda’s van.

We had originally thought there was going to be a woman from the States going with us but found out she was still state-side. But Pastor Sergio had a friend who needed a ride to Rio Blanco so although the mix changed, the numbers remained the same. We had to do some shuffling around so that Sergio and Vincente could ride with Roger and Rhonda and we were so thankful they had their van. We would have been really cramped in our car.

The drive is always such a pretty drive up to Rio Blanco and we had a great day for traveling. Although it’s the dry season here and things are really getting brown, I still think it’s beautiful. And there’s always something interesting to see on that drive. ..like a guy sleeping in a hammock strung in the back of a transport truck. We were also surprised to see that the new bridge had been opened. This is the one we sat at for hours last fall. We saw new construction which was encouraging. But then, there’s also the not-so-pretty side of the drive…the “houses” by the side of the road that are “built” from sheets of plastic. Kind of makes your own place look a lot better, doesn’t it?

Outside of Rio Blanco, there are several little roadside places that serve guirilas. This is one of those things that you just try and either you like it or you don’t. It consists of a bowl of fresh cream (no, it’s not pasteurized, homogenized or sterilized) with a slice of cuajada (a type of crumbly, mild and salty cheese) and two sweet corn tortillas that are grilled on banana/plantain leaves. It doesn’t sound like much but it is so rich and filling. It seems to be a regional dish and is a must-try for anyone who goes up that way.

After our guirila break, we drove on in to Rio Blanco to drop Sergio and Vincente off at their respective families’ places downtown. Then we checked in to the hotel. We have been there often enough now that they recognize us…after all, it’s not really known as a gringo hot-spot so we’re more the exception than the rule. We had dinner around 8:00 p.m. although none of us were very hungry. Jim and I shared a chicken dinner which was very good and then we all sat and visited for awhile. We decided to turn in early knowing we would have a very busy day ahead of us on Saturday.

Saturday morning came much too early and because we were all late getting around, we forfeited breakfast at the hotel. We loaded the cars with our bags, paid the bill and waited for our receipt…and waited, and waited. It seems that the young man who collected the money wasn’t able to write a receipt for us. I told him I had paper if he needed it but he just shook his head “no”. We told him we would stop back by that night before leaving town and get a receipt then. He seemed very relieved that he wasn’t going to have to go to the owner’s house to get him to come write us a receipt. And so we piled in our cars and got ready to leave.

Jim put the key in the ignition and turned it. Click. Uh-oh. Jim tried again. Click. That was not the sound we were hoping to hear. I jumped out of the car and banged on Roger’s window and told him our car wouldn’t start. We were to be at the church in 15 minutes. To make a long story short, Roger and several guys who were working on the hotel’s expansion project, pushed the car and Jim popped the clutch…it started and we just prayed it would keep running until we made it to the church.

We got set up and it wasn’t long before the people started coming and coming and coming. It was a long day. Most folks waited patiently for their turn. We dispensed medicines, reading glasses, toothbrushes, prayers, handshakes and hugs throughout the day and by the time 5:00 p.m. came, we were bushed! Our necks hurt from looking down so much. Our feet hurt from being on them all day. Our backs hurt from what seemed to be a semi-permanent slightly bent stance. Our heads hurt from too much heat and not enough water. But you know what? It was a great day! We had our largest clinic to date with 137 patients being seen by one doctor from about 8:30 a.m. until about 4:30 p.m.

It seems like there is always someone at each clinic who captures my eyes and a piece of my heart. This time, it was an old man named Cita. His clothes were torn and dirty. He had no shoes and he just had a lost look about him. He sat quietly, waiting his turn and was as grateful to receive a pair of reading glasses as he was his prescriptions. I couldn’t quit watching him. I always am wanting to speak and understand this language better, but that day, I wanted that more than ever. I wanted to ask Cita what those watery eyes of his had seen through the years. I wanted to know what it was like to live at a time in a country that was torn apart by war. I wanted to hear his story of surviving Hurricane Mitch. I wanted to know if he had ever had a family and if his life had always been so hard. I wanted to know if he knew my Jesus. When Cita had received his meds and his glasses, he quietly stuck his hand through the crowd of people around our pharmacy table and solemnly shook each of our hands, thanking us for the help he had received that day. I didn’t know a lot about Cita but one thing I knew, he was a gentleman.

One other special man was at the clinic that day. The team who was here in June built the framework of a new house for a man who lives outside of Rio Blanco on a hill. His name is Simon and he is missing a leg. We have gotten to know Simon through some follow up visits and through helping him receive some medical care in Managua. That morning, we saw Simon (with brand new crutches which had replaced his homemade crutch), slowly climb up the uneven flight of steps to the clinic. He is a gentle and sweet man who is very open about giving God praise for the blessings in his life. He always makes me smile when I see him and Saturday morning was no exception. Jim saw him later outside sitting on a bench across the street, waiting for someone to come and get him to take him home.

What struck me about these men is just how gentlemanly they both were in spite of their circumstances. Neither complained nor asked for special treatment. Neither asked for more than what they received. They sat, they waited and once their needs had been met, they both expressed quiet yet heartfelt gratitude.

There was also a family who came through who got my attention. The young woman was the mother of four children…all were sick. She had no money and she was fearful she wouldn’t get her medicine once we found out. Of course, that wasn’t a problem. Everyone received their medications and we received some great smiles in return. It’s a shame the drug wholesalers wouldn’t be content with that for their pay because they just don’t know what they’re missing!

There’s no doubt these clinics fall short financially. We don’t come close to breaking even. But, we’re not in it to make money…we’re in it to serve those who don’t have money. There will always be the few who take advantage of the clinic and the ridiculously low priced medications we provide, but we can’t let those folks be a deterrent. There are far more who wouldn’t receive any medical care if clinics like this weren’t held. I can’t help but think in the natural world, we are terrible “business” people, but in God’s economy, we believe this is exactly how it’s supposed to be. We have our own “stimulus package” of sorts going on here and it seems to be very effective.

While we were doing the clinic, Pastor Sergio’s brother, Julio called his wife’s cousin (don’t you just love these kinds of stories?)who is a mechanic and he agreed to come look at our car. We feared the worst might happen - a starter problem without any parts available in Rio Blanco. Instead, we found out that we had cables that had come loose (probably as a result of the bumpy ride up from Managua) and all he had to do was to replace and tighten them. 100 cords later (about $5), the car was fixed. Thank you, Lord!

On the way home, we stopped at the hotel to get the receipt and then we began the trip home. We left Rio Blanco at 5:40 p.m. and figured we should get home somewhere between 10:00 and 11:00. We stopped to eat at a little café about ½ way home. After dinner, we piled back in to our cars and started out again. We hadn’t driven very far at all when Rhonda buzzed me on the walkie talkie that they were going to have to pull over as their van had just quit running.
There we were, stopped out in the middle of nowhere. Jim and Roger put on their respective flashers and then both of them pushed, pulled, flipped and tugged on every part under the hood…nothing. Every now and then, an occasional semi or transport truck would fly by us but for the most part, there wasn’t any traffic. And talk about dark…it was dark! Which made the cars’ flashers seem all the more brilliant…and irritating.

After awhile, Jim came back to the car and mentioned how beautiful the stars were. I glanced up but for no more than a second. I was more concerned with how we were all going to get home…we weren’t in a populated area by any means and the reality of our state of vulnerability was starting to hit me. I have never been overly fond of the dark and I was becoming more convinced minute by minute, that the boogie man of my childhood was lurking out in the weeds just beyond the reach of the flashing lights. Jim just patted my arm and told me everything was going to be alright. I really wanted to believe him.

He went back to Roger’s van and I looked up. The night sky was the most remarkable thing I think I’ve ever seen. I have seen starry skies before but never anything like that. It was absolutely breathtaking. There were layers and layers of brilliant shining stars stretching from horizon to horizon. We were far removed from any kind of artificial light, save the blinding flashers, but even with those blinking in their annoying rhythm, the night was without a single cloud and it seemed that not one beam of starlight was lost on our small stranded group.

There aren’t enough adjectives to adequately describe the sky that night. It was mesmerizing. The Big Dipper had spilled a stream of sparkling stars all over the twinkling stellar carpet and it was laid out before us. Psalms 147:4-5 says, “He determines the numbers of the stars and calls them each by name. Great is our Lord and mighty in power”. Jim was right. Everything was going to be all right. Our Holy Creator God cares for His creation…whether it be each and every one of those celestial points of light or each and every one of His children. We often talk about feeling small when looking up into the heavens. I can completely understand that…but I also have to say that there was an overwhelming sense of peace which flooded my soul at that moment. There was nothing to fear. God had it all under control.

When Jim and Roger had finally exhausted every resource they had to get the van running, the decision was made that Jim would stay in the van with Rhonda, the kids and Josey while Roger and I returned to the little area where we had eaten dinner. Besides the restaurant, there was also a gas station there. The café’s little store had some nylon rope and although they were getting ready to close up as it was almost 10:00 p.m., they sold it to Roger. Our waitress from earlier in the evening asked Roger what was going on and he told her. “Amazingly” (God is always amazing, isn’t He?), her cousin was a mechanic and was there so he followed us back to the car. Even though he had been hitting his beer pretty hard, he still managed to look at the car enough to tell us that it was something more than he could fix.

So, Jim, Roger and I braided the rope and Roger tied one end to the underside of our car and the other to his van. Our first attempt to pull back on the road ended with the smell of spinning tires and a snapped rope but the second attempt, after tying the rope a bit differently and Jim putting our car in low 4-wheel drive, was a success. We got us both out on the highway and at a top speed of 32 km/hr or about 20 mph, we drove back to Managua. We arrived home at 3:00 a.m.
It was a long drive, no doubt, but honestly, it was very pleasant. Jim and I turned off the a/c and kept our windows down. The night sights and sounds at 20 mph were much more enjoyable than what we would have experienced otherwise going 60 mph. We took turns listing the positives in the situation and I can honestly say, by the time we pulled in to our driveway from our slow crawl home, we didn’t have one ounce of agitation, annoyance or anxiety…only a profound appreciation for God’s protection and provision.

Everyone stayed the night at our house. As the last little bit of stirring ceased around 3:45 a.m., I closed my eyes and the last thing I remember was thinking again about that unbelievably beautiful night sky. It's a sight that I hope I never forget...I love it that my God really does leave me starry-eyed.

In Pursuit of Paperwork - the conclusion...

We’re about ready to conclude our mini-series, In Pursuit of Paperwork…finally! The last I wrote about this we were ready for the weekend and we were to pick up our paperwork on Monday from the tax evaluation place. It turned out that the paperwork wouldn’t be ready until late Monday afternoon so Jim, Roger and I decided to wait until Tuesday morning to start the next round of visits.

We were all geared up ready to get this thing done and so Roger got here early Tuesday morning and off we went. Our first stop (after delivering Pixie back to her own home, of course), was to pick up our tax evaluation papers and pay our taxes on the car. We got there and were directed into a different office than the first one we had visited the week before. There were some people in front of us so we had to wait…naturally. But it was a relatively short wait.

This office had a lot more stuff in it but very few amenities. There were 2 desks, each holding old Smith-Corona manual typewriters…now when I say old, I mean really, really old – “old” like what you find in the antique stores old. There were stacks and stacks of paperwork piled upon a wall of old open faced wooden shelves. There was only one beat up file cabinet and a black plastic double-heart framed clock propped up against one of the piles of paper on the wooden shelf.
It was dark and dismal in that office but the ray of sunshine that brightened the place was revealed in the middle-aged woman clerk who had the sweetest smile and very kind disposition. She was a joy to just be around. She finished typing our documents in duplicate, using a well-worn creased piece of carbon paper and then handed us the finished papers and told us we needed to go down the hallway to pay the taxes.

We went to the appropriate window to find out that the sweet clerk had made several errors in paperwork and we had to return to her office to have it corrected. She very kindly made the corrections and we returned to the window in the hallway to pay our taxes. Let me assure you taxes are just as painful to pay here as they are there! But, we were getting the car to be totally in our name!

After leaving the tax place, we had to go back to the Transito to get our car inspected. Yes, another inspection. Of course, this isn’t an instantaneous process so after waiting in line to get our paperwork validated there, we finally got our inspection to validate that the car’s numbers matched our tax paperwork. While I waited to get the completed paperwork, Jim took the car and went to find a place to park. We still had a lot of business to conduct at the Transito. Thankfully, Jim had a small tool set in the car and after a lot of grunting, groaning, twisting and turning, he was able to remove the rusty old screws and washers from our old license plates. Roger and I stood in the shade and looked on, all the while being very supportive of Jim’s efforts. We took the set of plates with us and headed back to the cluster of offices.

The next stop was at another building in the Transito complex to get the paperwork to get our new license plates for the department of Managua. Roger had called a Christian friend of his who works in that office to make sure we had all the correct paperwork with us. When we walked in to the office, I couldn’t believe the line. The process seemed to be that one would go through the line to end up before a young woman who would validate the paperwork and then direct the applicant to a section of chairs to wait until it was the applicant’s turn to go to the next open cubicle to get their plate paperwork.

As we were standing in line, Roger saw his friend, Francisco. They greeted one another and Francisco told Roger to go ahead and stand in the line for his cubicle. I stayed in the non-moving original line while Jim and Roger went to Francisco’s line with the paperwork as we weren’t yet sure of how this process worked. We waited about 20 minutes and then it was Roger and Jim’s turn to give the paperwork to Francisco. At that point, they motioned for me to join them as he told them we wouldn’t have to wait in the long line at the door. Francisco did whatever it is he had to do with the paperwork, stamped it and then had us go to the next cubicle where additional paperwork was then filled out by another officer. By the time it was all said and done, we were there for only about 45 minutes and then were able to go to the next step. As we were leaving, I realized that the line I had been standing in had advanced only three people in that 45 minute time frame. Francisco had saved us at least 2-3 hours of time in that one office alone. That office visit amounted to 200 cords or approximately $10.00.

The next stop was at another window in another building. We turned in our plate request paperwork and then had to take a seat. This was in an open air place which made it nice as it wasn’t so hot outside as it was in some of the offices. We waited there, listening carefully for our name to be called, while Roger ran to take care of some business in another office and after a relatively short amount of time, we heard them call out the name of “Ha-maes”. We waited and watched but no one got up to get their plates. I thought that was a strange name and all of a sudden, Jim said that he thought that was for us. It dawned on me that in Spanish, the letter “J” has an “h” sound and that they had made two syllables out of “James”. Hamaes and I hurried up to the window to get our plates. Again, we had to wait a few minutes while they validated the paperwork and finally, we had our windshield sticker and two brand new shiny plates pushed through a little window to us. Jim signed the book that he received the plates and we went off to find Roger.

The next step was back to the very first place we had gone when we first started this entire process… the mechanic’s garage a few blocks away so that we could get another mechanical inspection. Again, it was necessary as the car had changed hands as far as the paperwork was considered. So, we waited to get our twice-previously inspected car, inspected yet again! The best part of this visit was going back to the tortilla lady to get three hot off the griddle tortillas…almost too hot to handle but so good to eat!

Got the inspection and then had to return to the Transito place to have…can you guess what? Can you? Yep…another inspection! Why not? Even though we had just had it done a few hours earlier, we had to have another one because of the paperwork change. Go figure…what a racket this car thing is! But, I’m thinking that God knows Jim and I learn best by experience so maybe these were procedures we needed to experience several times over to become familiar with them. Whatever. We’ve already decided we will never buy another car from another department so that we don’t have to go through this again.

After that mechanical, we then had to go back to the bank that’s on the compound there to pay the fee to receive an exit permit for the car. That line was also long. Why not? The bank trip took about 30 minutes or so. We paid the fees and got the receipt and then went to the copy place a few doors down. This is still all in the Transito compound. We made our copies of all the necessary paperwork and then we had to go to yet another building to go in to an office to apply for our permit to leave the country in our car.

This office was crazy. There were lots of desks crammed together with people shoulder to shoulder pushing and jostling to be first at the front desk. The lady there probably hasn’t smiled in years nor does it appear that have any of the other workers, but after watching how the people pushed, shoved, argued and demanded, I think that maybe expecting “perky” from the front desk might be expecting too much! The lady yelled out that it was necessary to have a number in order to be served and then proceeded to hand out little scraps of paper with handwritten numbers on them…which resulted in more shoving and pushing.

We got our number and took our place in the Section of Treacherous Seating…wobbly plastic chairs that were loosely attached to bent metal frames. Every time someone moved, the chairs would tilt one way or another, making me feel like I was on a slow-moving bucking horse that was ready to go to the floor at any time. The number of people in the room never seemed to diminish. As one group of people would leave, another group would take its place. Finally, our number was called. Roger explained to the lady that we wanted a permit to leave the country with our car. She then handed us a form to fill out and sent us back to the seating area. Jim filled out the form and back we went to the desk, waiting behind more shoving, pushing people. 45 minutes after first entering the crowded room we were able to leave with a little scrap of paper telling us we could pick up our permit on Thursday after 3:00 p.m.
We were finally through with the conglomeration of services at Transito and left. We were ready for the break in time but were anxious to get this process done…our time was growing short.

Thursday came and after spending some time catching up with Susanna and having to relinquish Pixie to her again for a few days, Jim and I drove to the Transito to pick up our exit permit. Roger stayed home as we all figured we could handle this by ourselves without any problem. After all, what could happen? All we had to do was to squeeze past the crowd in the permit office, get a number, wait our turn by trying to stay upright on the treacherous rocking plastic chairs and then go to the desk when called. Well, that we managed and managed well. We even signed the book, took our paperwork, smiled and thanked the cranky lady at the desk and exited after only a 10 minute wait. We were feeling pretty smug that we handled this little task on our own.

But then, I had to spoil it all by actually trying to read the documents given us. There seemed to be a problem. Jim’s name was nowhere on the paperwork and it was all in my name and only my passport number. We weren’t sure what it was supposed to look like but we were both pretty sure that what we had wasn’t right. So, we thought about whether to go back in and try to deal with the unfriendly lady at the desk or to call Roger. That was a no-brainer. Thankfully, Roger answered his phone!

We went back inside the office and while Jim was on the phone with Roger, I managed to finagle my way to the desk and told Cranky Lady #1 in my best Spanish that there was a problem with the paperwork. She stopped working for the briefest of moments only to scowl at me and then Jim handed her the phone and we asked her to talk to our friend. She never said a word, looked back down and handed the phone over her shoulder to another similarly cranky lady who had the desk behind her. The first lady never looked at us again and the second lady only glared. She finally finished talking with Roger and rattled something off so fast that I couldn’t even get one word that I understood. My glazed look of ignorance only served to irritate her even more so she just pointed to the Section of Treacherous Seating. We dutifully went and sat down, thinking that

she would take care of the correction in quick order and we could be out of there. Not so.

Our paperwork sat on her desk for awhile as she continued to glare and be rude to other folks. She eventually gave the papers to another officer and he walked out of the office with them. That didn’t make me feel any better. At least I could follow their non-progress as long as they stayed within eyesight but watching them disappear out the door made me a bit uneasy. About 20 minutes later, the guy came back and gave the paperwork back to Cranky Lady #2. She tossed them on her desk and continued to do other things. It was after 4:00 p.m. and we still weren’t getting anywhere. I was really getting nervous knowing we were leaving for Rio Blanco the next day and were supposed to leave for Costa Rica the following Monday. We were out of time for this paperwork.

Cranky Lady #2 finally looked at us and motioned for us to come to her desk. We signed the book and she gave us another set of papers, completely different from the first set but at least it had both our names on it. We could only hope that this set was right. Jim thanked her as we were getting ready to leave and she ignored him. I have to admit that got under my skin so I turned back around and thanked her again. She wouldn’t look at me but she did acknowledge our words of gratitude. It was 4:30 p.m. when we left the Transito. Drained but elated the process was over.

For the last two weeks, we had spent almost every day trying to get the correct paperwork so that we could leave the country with our car. It was a huge ordeal but we had so many things to be thankful for in each step, not the least being the friendship of our precious brother in Christ, Roger. We met some really great people. We were constantly put in a position where we had to choose whether to be impatient and irritable or patient and pleasant. I’m so thankful that Jesus reminded us of that every step of the way and that as a result, we are able to say, even with the last snafu in the office of Cranky Ladies and Treacherous Seating, we chose the latter of the attitudes. We have two weeks’ worth of new experiences, a few good pictures and wonderful time of fellowship with Roger. We were blessed! So, as the paperwork trail finally came to an end, so does our story of In Pursuit of Paperwork. Thanks for tuning in.

A side note...I had told you about the copy place where we met Alejandro and the lawyer's office on the street...when we went by, I took a couple of photos for you...the first one is the copy place and the others are lawyer's offices...

I'll be back...

It's Sunday night and I'm bushed! I have so much I want to share with you...the final installment of In Pursuit of Paperwork, this past weekend's clinic at Rio Blanco and the trip home plus our trip to Costa Rica...which happens tomorrow...BUT, I don't have the time tonight nor the energy to blog so, I will ask that you give me a few more days and hopefully, I'll be back at the keyboard with a clear head, nimble fingers and a good connection between the two.

I would ask that you keep us in your prayers as we travel to Costa Rica. Thankfully, we have a very good Christian brother, Roger Euceda, going with us to help us navigate the border crossing for our first time. He's fluent in Spanish, savvy with such processes and plenty patient with people...just the kind of guy we need with us!

I would also appreciate prayers for the protection of our home while we're gone. We have a night guard now and someone is usually here in the mornings, (Margarita and Freddy alternate days here) but there are gaps in the day where the house is left unattended. We're asking God to have his angels encamp all the way around our home and to protect it from all evil...please, feel free to join us in that prayer!

Hopefully, we will be back home Monday night sometime, although I am taking a small bag with a few necessities in it for us just in case we're delayed. Either way, I hope to meet you here again very soon!

In Pursuit of Paperwork - part 3...

It’s Saturday morning and I’m waiting for the second load of clothes to finish so I can get them on the line and get the third and final load for the day started. Wash day really does mean a whole day here. I don’t want to leave our clothes out on the line if we’re not here so we’re pretty much tied to the house on the days I do laundry. And because we’ve been gone all week chasing paper, I decided I had to spend a whole day at home today and get caught up on the wash.

Regarding our paper chase…I can’t believe I left out of our timeline, one of our key events that took place on Wednesday – the fact we had to have the left front tire patched. Not just once but 5 times!!! Seems as though we had picked up some tiny little shards of wire somewhere and each one had neatly punctured the tire. (Note: I have written about the tire changing place before and because we no longer have pictures of it (they were on my old laptop that the robbers took), I will have to refer you to the blog archives of 2008. Unfortunately, the 2008 archives are not divided up in the months like I would like but if you’re that interested in seeing the tire changing place, you can go to those archives and find the one entitled “Lord of the rims…” which is dated 5-30-08 and you will find some pictures there.) After about 45 minutes at the tire repair shop, we were on our way again with a tire that probably had more patch than tread!

Needing the tire patched wasn’t a surprise. It had been leaking for some time and the need for getting air in it was becoming an every 3-4 day occurrence. The roads here in Nicaragua are not the best, to say the least. No matter what state you live in or how bad your roads are, if you gave us 24 hours in a car here, I think we could bring you to the point of appreciation for your own teeth-rattling byways. These are the pits…literally! Most of the missionaries here tell us they have to replace tires annually and if they work in the more rural areas, they also have to have new shocks every year or two. We knew that obeying the Lord might take us down some bumpy roads but we had no idea just how fundamentally true that would turn out to be!

Okay, now back to our mini-series of In Pursuit of Paperwork…Episode 3. Thursday morning. We received a phone call from Roger saying he would take the bus to Managua and meet us at 8:30 so that we could continue the process of trying to get the car paperwork cleared up so that we could begin the application to leave the country with the car! It’s a good thing we started this when we did…our time is ticking away before our visa extensions expire and we have to leave.
Jim went outside to put our stuff in the car and lo and behold, what did he discover? Our car listing in a most pronounced way towards the front left portion of the car…h-m-m…how could that be? Didn’t we just have that tire repaired the day before? How was it that it could be so flat just one day later? I guess that pulling out the shards of metal served only to let more air out…silly me…I thought the patch job was supposed to keep the air in!

Thankfully, we were to meet Roger at the corner gas station where the bus would drop him off. While we waited, we were able to fill our floppy front tire with air…once more. Since the bakery is very close to the station, the three of us decided to grab something from there. We all felt the need for a little bakery boost…Roger had to ride the bus from Jinotepe and we were suffering from a little tire deflation ourselves. Getting our nice, warm bagel treat (which we weren’t able to have earlier in the week) helped to redeem the morning’s little setback.

After dropping Pixie off at Susanna’s, we were on our way in to Managua where we first dropped off Roger’s newsletter to once again be copied. Seems there had been a problem with the copies from the day before so he was giving it another shot. Leaving there, we headed back down toward the tax assessment place. We had to stop at the corner copy place near there to once again get copies made. There was already a small cluster of people waiting to have their own documents copied.

We took our place in the non-existent line and waited patiently. Not so some other folks. It was interesting to watch the traffic mentality of “me first” being played out in the group of us waiting for our turn. The majority of those waiting were fine but occasionally, someone would come up, squeeze through to get up to the counter and want to be waited on. To the credit of the two guys working there, they would tell them that there were others who were there first. No one seemed to be embarrassed or angry at this “place-putting”. They would just wait, without budging from the counter, while the employees worked around them, reaching past them to get the next person’s copies. Really interesting and pretty entertaining…I love people watching!

Finally, it was our turn and the same serious young man who had helped us a few days prior, helped us again. We had to have quite a few copies made this time and he listened carefully as Roger told him which sides of which documents needed to be copied. He intently began the process of making all our copies. When he finally completed them and Jim was paying for them, he asked if we were missionaries. Roger affirmed that we were and the young man broke in to a great smile, saying he, too, was a believer. Roger shaking his hand, asked him his name. And so, it is with great pleasure that I can say that if you, too, are a follower of Jesus Christ, that one day, when the Lord has called us all home, you will be able to meet our brother, Alejandro, who demonstrates Colossians 3:23-24 which says, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” You’ll know him immediately, he’s the one with the great smile…

As we were going back to our car, we stopped at the next little “store” two doors down from the copy place. There was a man sitting out front in a chair that had spoken to us when we got out of the car and Roger visited with him for a minute, but I had not paid any attention to what his sign said until we began to conduct business with him. He was a lawyer and a notary and was going to take care of certifying the copies we needed for the tax people. How convenient! This was all done for only 100 cords – about $5.oo.

Of course, he graciously offered me his chair which looked a little dilapidated, but I declined as I was too interested in looking at the stuff he had for sale in his little open window of his office. He had passport covers, a few necklaces, bottles of white glue, a tie, some ink pens, a few ancient looking pairs of glasses, and several other things. Quite the entrepreneur. He also advertised that he made copies there and told us that if we ever had problems with the place on the corner that he would be happy to take care of us. We thanked him, paid what we owed him, did the hand-shaking thing and got back in the car and ready to tackle the next step, as he was ready to flag down his next customer. I wish I would have thought to take pictures of these places…maybe I can remember when we go back that way next time.

As we were pulling away from the curb, I realized that the whole row of little stores and shacks set up along that street, all had signs indicating they were lawyers and notaries. Not one of them had posh offices with beautiful and ornately carved furniture or 4 foot tall flower arrangements. No…these guys were literally on the street, trying to drum up business…not quite the proverbial “ambulance chasers” but obviously ready and willing to take the next case with cash in hand.

The next stop was the tax assessment office…this was the same place we had come to a few days prior. This time, all our paperwork was in order, or so we hoped. We went in to the office where there were two chairs with hand-made signs on them. One sign indicated that the sign-in book which lay in the seat was for those who were there to be assessed for their vehicles. The other chair had a similar sign and book only it was for property…I’m assuming like houses and such. Roger signed us in the vehicle book and we took our chairs to wait our turn, while Roger ran down the hall to purchase the required stamps we needed to accompany our paperwork.

While he was gone, it gave me time to scope out the room. It was nice and cool…almost cold…with two big air conditioners running. The room was practically bare with only two men working. Each had a dirty and somewhat banged up desk with a few office supplies on each. There was only one 4 drawer file cabinet in the corner…neither of the men had any additional cabinets or tables of any sort and so their paperwork was either stacked on their desks or on the floor next to them. There was an empty desk with paperwork stacked on the floor behind it. That was it.

It was actually pretty typical of so many of the different kinds of offices we’ve been in the last 9 months and yet, it never ceases to amaze me just how bare-bones the workers’ environments are here. No soft music playing in the background, no family pictures, no copies of famous artwork, no cutsie cartoons posted anywhere, no copy machines, computers or printers. Nothing but a person working with the minimum amount of supplies at an old outdated banged up metal desk…in a freezing office. Work here is serious business in every sense.

After another 30 minutes or so of waiting, our name was finally called. Kooor-tees. Yep, that’s us. Actually this process went pretty smoothly. The man asked a few questions, verified our documents, checked our passports and okayed that step which moved us to the next step of the valuation of our vehicle. Two different inspectors, a man and a woman, came out and first of all, once again verified the car’s id numbers against all the paperwork. Then they basically gave the engine compartment a once-over, looked inside and all around our car and told us we could come back Monday after 2:00 p.m. to pick up the completed evaluation and pay our taxes then.

Roger asked if we could call first to make sure it was ready before we made a trip all the way over there. The man said they didn’t have a phone. Roger kept talking with him and as we waited, he followed the man inside. The guy gave Roger his card with his own private cell phone number and told him that he could call him directly on Monday before we made the trip. A nice man and a nice gesture.

We then left there, with our hands tied again on the process until we get Monday’s paperwork back. Roger graciously agreed to go with us to get new tires and so we headed over to Price Smart. We just figured it would be easier to just go there and buy them instead of looking all over the place for tires. We know they carry fairly good tires and the price is about as good as we were going to find for heavy duty tires and even though it was an unexpected expense, it was something we had to do. Thankfully, they had two of the kind we needed and we only had to wait about 30 minutes or so to get in to get them put on.

Buying new tires is one of those things I am just not too crazy about doing. For one thing, only one tire is bad but we need to buy two. Who made up that rule? GoodYear, Firestone, Michelin? Secondly, prices are ridiculous and then you have to wade through all the various types of tread designed for various uses, the different sizes, the different numbers. It’s like you have to be a retired CIA Code-breaker to just figure out what you need. Buying a tire is a much more complicated process than simply saying, “Hello. I have a flat and I need a new tire…I think I would like something round, sturdy and in black. I'm really not interested in designer labels. I think I'm looking for something simple and classic. Do you have anything that would fit?” Oh, no. That’s too simple. If I'm going to be having to spend that much time in buying something, I think I would rather be looking at shoes.

Enough tire tirade. It took about another 30 minutes for the actual putting on of the tires and we were ready to go, riding high on our new tread-rich tires which hopefully, were going to hold air for longer than a week.

We then went to pick up Roger’s copies at the copy place. They were ready and this time, everything looked good. That was a plus for the day. We then headed over to Roger’s mechanic and sure enough, his car was ready. No crowded micro bus ride home to Jinotepe that night for that guy…he had his own wheels, once again and I’m sure he was more than ready for that little luxury.

So, now we’re all taking a paperwork hiatus this weekend…but Monday’s a new day which I’m sure will present new challenges. Until then, we’re enjoying our time at home. Laundry’s done and Jim’s working yet again on another leaky toilet. That’s right – another leaky toilet. It is always something, isn’t it? We’re like bad soap operas! So, with that being said, don’t miss the next installment to find out the answers to such burning questions like…will Jim ever get the right part to fix the leaky toilet? Will Roger throw up his hands in despair at trying to help Jim and Lynne? Will he and his wife, Rhonda move and not tell Jim and Lynne? Will Lynne say “enough is enough” and buy bus tickets to Costa Rica? Yes, it’s always something but we love having you join us as we all see how Our World Turns. Till next time.

In Pursuit of Paperwork...part 2

I will continue with our saga of just trying to get our car ready to leave the country…and I am already wondering, if it’s this difficult just to get the car ready to cross the border…what’s the actual crossing going to be like?!?! My other thought is how amazing God is in His provision for us…we could never have gone through this process without Roger…he’s not just a trooper, he’s a champ and we are so blessed to have him in our lives. Right now, I’m not so sure he would reciprocate those feelings!

Back to Monday’s events…after getting our turn signal repaired and passing the mechanical inspection, we then went to the Transito office. This is a large compound of various offices, the majority of which are law enforcement offices. We discovered this is also the place where you have to come to pick up your driver’s license if ticketed. You pay 5 cord to enter the secured lot, find a place to park and begin whatever process for which you are there.

My intention at this point was to detail each step of the process but I realized I would be writing for days and all of us would be bored to tears before this was completed. So, instead, I’ve decided to give you a brief outline of each day…my goal being that you perhaps you have a better understanding of how time-consuming daily life can be here. I’ve often wondered how we could go through a whole day and not accomplished a whole lot…this will serve as a good reminder to myself exactly how that can be done!

So, that being said, here is how the rest of Monday went:
- Went to the Transito office, found out we needed more documents
- Stopped at a copier (a little business set right up on a corner…very busy)…got copies of all our original documents, from driver’s licenses to insurance policies to the sales contract for the car
- Went to the Sales Tax place…found out that the people we needed to talk to were out to lunch and then found out it would be easier and quicker to do all the necessary paperwork in Jinotepe, where all the offices for the Department of Carazo are located and where our car was originally titled
- Stopped and ate lunch
- Returned to the Transito…made additional copies, stood in line at the bank for about 30 minutes to pay transfer fees, took receipts to another office and had them validated, received more paperwork, headed over to another office where Roger needed to conduct some business of his own
- Dropped Roger off at the bus station so he could take a micro bus (a big minivan)back home to Jinotepe, we gassed up the car in preparation for the next day, aired up our constantly leaking front tire, went and picked Pixie up from Susanna’s where we left her for the day and then headed back home…a full day

It was a tiring day and we knew we would have an early day on Tuesday as our plan was to meet Roger the following morning at the police station in Jinotepe to continue with the transfer process. He had stopped by the station in Jinotepe on the way home to find out just what we needed to do there and the advice he received was we were to be there by 7:30 a.m. Yuk. But okay. By the time we went to bed on Monday night, we still didn’t have water so we knew it was going to be an extra early morning for us on Tuesday.

We got up at 5:00 a.m. on Tuesday to take showers and get ready to go. Jim was getting ready to take Pixie outside when he realized he couldn’t open up our front door…the deadbolt wouldn’t turn. Finally, because it’s a double door, he was able to get it pulled open enough that he could get the lock pushed in but it still wouldn’t work properly. He messed with it for some time and we decided that we just couldn’t leave the house with the lock not working on the front door. Although we have a barred, gated and padlocked front entry to the property and the barred doors on the front door are secured with a padlock, we just weren’t comfortable with the wooden door not locking. So, we waited until a more humane hour to call Roger and tell him what was happening. We rescheduled our appt. time for Wednesday morning, which we figured would work out best anyway as Roger could ride back with us to Managua and pick up his car from his

mechanic’s.

So, Tuesday, we spent the day getting a new lock for the front door and going ahead and buying a new one for the basement door, as well, seeing that the landlady still hasn’t had it repaired. Jim had to do some retrofitting to make the locks workable but he was successful in getting us a couple of secure doors...that we can lock AND unlock! This house is going to be in MUCH better condition by the time we leave than it was when we moved in! We also spent some time with Miguel…not in teaching but in counseling…that marriage continues to need your prayers, please.

Wednesday dawned, bright and early…okay, in truth, Wednesday dawned early. Nothing was bright yet at 5:00 a.m., including us. We left, stopped at the bakery for bagels – found out they only make bagels on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays so “settled” for other sweet, high-calorie, totally bad for you stuff and then headed to Susanna’s house to drop Pixie off. I wish you knew the logisitics of where everyone lives, it would be more understandable why that’s a factor. We head north and west to go to Susanna’s and after dropping Pixie off, have to turn around and come back the same way to go south to Jinotepe.

The weather was beautiful Wednesday and as we headed through El Crucero, I once again marveled at what a remarkable place it is. The skies were relatively clear so I could see the Pacific Ocean off in the distance…I love this drive! As we entered the first of the three towns which run together (Diriamba, Delores and Jinotepe), Diriamba was hoppin’. The business owners were opening up their little shack-type stores, the street venders were already out and peddling their wares, the three-wheeled taxis (tuk-tuks) were jamming the streets in competition with the bicycle taxis and the regular car taxis, which were all being motivated to move only by the constant bus horns honking. This is a perilous little stretch to drive but it’s a great place to people watch! Another place I think I find much more interesting than Jim, who’s concentrating on just trying to safely wind his way through the constantly changing maze of motor vehicles.

We arrived in Jinotepe right on time and pulled up in front of the police station. Roger had told us there was a lot across the street from the station where they would do the next inspection and we could park there. Since nothing really looked open yet at that facility, we decided to wait for Roger to arrive. Thank goodness we did, because we went to the wrong police station! Roger drove by us on his way to the right place, saw us sitting there (our car is very distinct with funny looking humps on the hood – I’ve been told it’ a “sporty form replicating air spoilers”…whatever…they’re useless and block my view half the time…but they are helpful for identification). He turned around, told us we needed to follow him to the right place, so off we went…again in pursuit of paperwork!

Let’s begin our timeline for Wednesday here:
- Parked in the correct lot across the street from the correct police station
- Joined others waiting for the station to open…we were told to be there at 7:30…not sure why
- After waiting for the people in front of us to finish at the office we needed, Roger finally got in to talk to someone a little after 8:00 and found out we had to go to the bank to pay other fees (I don’t know for what…things were already way too confusing for me)
- Drove downtown to Jinotepe to go to the bank which is located on one corner of the town square…we pulled up to see a long line waiting for the bank to open at 8:30 a.m.
- We got in line, Roger talked to some police waiting in line and they told him we could go across to the other side of the square to another bank which was already open and we could pay the fees there
- Went back to the car, drove over there so that we would be headed the right direction when we finished and could get back to the police station
- 2nd bank told us they couldn’t do that paperwork there and that we needed to return to the first bank…went back to where we were originally, only this time the line had lengthened somewhat
- When the bank opened, a man came out and directed different folks as to where they needed to go, I noticed some went down a little alleyway on the side of the bank and I was curious where they were going, but we were directed to follow the others and so, we went inside
- We got in line while Roger got the required form and filled it out for us…he is so amazing with us! Polite, patient and pleasant…never complaining once about all the work he’s putting in for us…I told him he was the poster child for the adage that “no good deed goes unpunished”!
- Roger checked with one of the bank personnel inside and he said we needed to go outside to the other entrance which leads to the back to pay the required fee…what??? Whatever.
- So, we went to the semi-alley way and got in line with all the other folks…this wait was 45 minutes before we stepped up to a little window at the rear of the bank (it was really kind of a weird situation when I think about it)...you are unable to see the window in this picture, it is clear at the back and to the left; Roger asked the lady if our form was correct, she changed a few things, charged us 75 cords for another stamped piece of paper and we were on our way back to the police station
- Once again, we had to wait a few minutes for the lady to be available and then, when Roger tried to present the papers, she told him we had to submit a letter along with the other documents requesting that we wanted a title transfer to the Dept. of Managua…at this point, I could see Roger tense up a little…each time we jumped through a hoop, there seemed to be another at the ready
- Next stop was Roger’s house…he wrote the letter for us (of course, it had to be in Spanish) with all the pertinent information
- We returned to the police station…walked down to a copy place, made the necessary copies and then back over to the station
- The lady we needed to talk with was on break…in full view of a waiting room full of people; after waiting for a good long while, Roger weaved around some benches and went back to the office where the lady was sitting…he talked with her for awhile and I saw her come out of her “break room”, call another officer over (I was only hoping and praying at that point that Roger hadn’t snapped and they were arresting him!) and then more discussion between the three; finally we found out he was one of the inspection officers and would verify our car numbers against our documents…we were told they only do that in the afternoon but the lady officer managed to talk hi in to helping us then…I think she just wanted to be rid of us
- We got the numbers all verified, took that paperwork back in to another lady and was told we would have to come back at the earliest, late that afternoon or most likely, the next morning to get it; Roger kept talking with her and finally convinced her to let him pick up the paperwork for us later that afternoon, explaining to her we lived in Managua
- We finally headed back to Managua to take Roger to get his newsletter copied and to pick up his car
- We dropped off the newsletter and then stopped to eat lunch at Dona Blanca’s…yum!
- When lunch was over, we went back, picked up the copies and then headed over to Roger’s mechanic…found out the car wasn’t ready and he would have to wait until Thursday to get it…it needed a new fuel pump and new fuel injectors…poor guy…he so willingly helps us and can’t get a break re: his car…I think I was more frustrated for him than he was for himself!
- Dropped Roger off at the bus stop to once again, take a micro bus home and made plans to meet again Thursday morning to continue the process

That’s enough for now…if your eyes aren’t glazed and your mind swirling trying to keep it all straight, I don’t know why not! Mine is! I will continue this later on…I wish I could tell you this process is completed, but it’s not! The pursuit continues…

In pursuit of paperwork...

Flexible…I think if I had to pick one word to describe a necessary attribute to living here, it would be flexible. Although a sense of humor and patience would definitely be close to the top of the list. It’s 5:30 a.m. and I’ve finished my quiet time, taken my shower and have already had to change the plans for today. Hadn’t planned on changing plans and didn’t pray for patience during my time with the Lord, so how is it that a whole day’s worth of plans can change so quickly in the quiet, early morning hours? A broken door lock.

We were scheduled to meet our friend, Roger, in Jinotepe this morning at 7:30 at the police station. Sounds ominous, doesn’t it? It’s not. We are in the process of trying to get our car ready for us to make a trip south to Costa Rica for our mandatory out-of-the-country visa time. Because we are not residents, we are required to leave the country every 90 days for a supposed period of 72 hours…I’ve heard that’s often flexible. But in order to do this with our car, we have to have all kinds of paperwork.

Yesterday, we spent the entire day chasing rabbits. Roger came up and met us to take us through the process as he said it is a hoop-jumping experience and we would definitely need help. He had to have some work done on his car, so we dropped it off at his mechanic’s and then we headed over to the other side of town to get our emission’s check done, a requirement to going south. This was a relatively painless process as there was no one in line when we arrived. We pulled in to the proper “bay” and Jim had to show his driver’s license and the car’s circulation card, which is equivalent to registration in the States. We waited while the man typed up the info on the form and when he was done, we paid him 120 cords (about $6). Another guy had a gizmo that he held up to the exhaust while the first one started our car. Evidently, our car cooperated by not belching out billows of bad stuff ‘cause we were given the mandatory window sticker and form and off we went.

So far, so good. Our next stop was down across from the turn off in to one of the city’s big market areas. This is a very congested part of town, with heavy traffic all the time and tons of people on the streets. Watching someone try to cross the road is like watching a real-life game of Frogger. There are several big bus stops along this street so there are always lots of buses stopped which makes the traffic flow even worse. Then you have the non-stop parade of taxis, honking for fares, weaving maniacally in and out of traffic, making three lanes out of two. I love going down that way as it’s spell-binding trying to take it all in…Jim’s never quite so enthused as he’s the one having to navigate the dicey drive.

We actually made it in pretty good time and turned in to the place where we could get the mechanical inspection done on the car. This place was busy as they also do air conditioning repair…a definite money-maker in this city! Although there were a few chairs outside, the receptionist, encased in a tiny little office, asked if we wanted to wait in there. We thanked her for the offer but decided to wait outside, where our car was and where we could see the comings and goings on the street…cheap entertainment for the wait.

One of the employees there is a young man named Nestor (or Raymond…seems like a lot of Nicaraguan young men use a second, more American-sounding name with gringos - we stuck with Nestor) who is a Christian and is a friend of Roger’s. Roger has talked with him many times about the Lord and has prayed with him. Because we were friends of Roger’s and Americans, he was very friendly with us and spoke to us in English…a lot! He told us he is taking English classes and his dream is to preach a whole sermon in English. He is studying to be an electrical engineer and is working at the garage doing all the cars’ electrical work. He was a really pleasant young man and we enjoyed talking with him.

Meanwhile, the secretary was filling out all the required paperwork. It seems that there was a hitch. We bought the car from a car lot and we have the contract and the bill of sale and it’s all been notarized, but we don’t have a “release” from the prior owner. This one threw me and it’s a bit confusing. Apparently, there has to be paperwork releasing the car from the prior owner to a new owner when the seller lives in one department (like a county or state) and the buyer lives in another…even though the car is legally ours, it’s not completely ours. When I asked Roger what we paid all that money for when we bought the car, he laughed and said to use it. Somehow, the humor escaped me.

When we bought the car, Susanna had said that we would need to go to Jinotepe (like a county seat) to get some paperwork done as the prior owner lives in the department of Carazo. She said she knew a man that would have to go with us to help us with the paperwork but there wasn’t any rush on it and we could do it at any time. We have talked about it several times since, but it seems as though when we asked Susanna about it, that trying to get this fella to find the time to go just hasn’t worked out. Susanna assured us it wasn’t any big deal. And it wasn’t…until now! We had to have the last leg of the paperwork to get the final inspection.

So, here’s where it really starts to get interesting. In order to get the transfer paperwork completed at the police department, we have to present a form stating the car has passed inspection….but then, once we have the proper release or transfer paperwork completed, we then have to have the car inspected with the new correct paperwork…what a racket! I’m sure there must be relatives somehow involved in all this…kind of like a Mechanical Mafia. It does no good to get upset over these things as it is what it is. We knew at that point, we would be able to continue our relationship with Nestor as there was obviously going to be another visit in our near-future.

Finally, it was our car’s turn to be checked. Things seemed to be going just fine until the left turn signal decided to get finicky and not work correctly. They tried to change the bulb, that wasn’t it. Then they started pulling out all kinds of wires…that was making me a little bit nervous…after all, it was only a light bulb! Before long, there were three mechanics fussing with this one little light bulb. While we were waiting, Jim went ahead and paid for our inspection, which amounted to checking the turn signals, the headlights and taillights, the brake lights, the flashers and the horn. And as soon as the connector on the headlight was fixed, we were in business. All told, the inspection came to 250 cords plus 100 cords for the plastic replacement piece for the cantankerous light bulb. So, approximately $17.50 for about an hour’s worth of time at the mechanics.

When Jim was paying, I kept hearing a rhythmic slapping sound coming from a street stall next to the mechanic’s place. I asked Roger what that sound was and he told me there was someone there making tortillas. I went out in front of the mechanic’s place out on to the sidewalk to watch, with Jim quickly following…I think he gets a bit nervous with me wandering off like that. We keep a close eye on one another and it’s just natural for us that when we’re someplace new and one is out of view, the other immediately starts looking. Americans often draw stares and in some instances, small crowds! So we still use one another as a security blanket as we continue to learn the culture, the language and our way here.

There was a young woman making tortillas with such precision that it was hypnotic to watch. I asked Roger if we could take a picture of her and so he told the woman we were enjoying watching her and asked if it would be alright for a photo. She immediately became embarrassed and flustered. I smiled at her and she nodded it was okay, but she didn’t want to look at Jim’s camera. Finally, he was able to get her to look at him and what a beautiful smile appeared on her face. Jim also took a video of her and it's great but again, until he can figure out how to get it from the files to the blog, we're the only ones who can see it! The women in the back all started laughing and teasing her but I noticed another one came out when she realized that Jim really was taking pictures and doing a small video on our camera. I asked Roger how much the tortillas were as I thought we ought to buy some and he already had money in hand. He bought 5 tortillas for 5 cords…about a nickel a piece. We thanked the lady for letting us take her picture and we left her smiling and teasing with her friends as we walked back to the garage area, eating hot, delicious tortillas.

I don’t know how the thousands upon thousands of street vendors are able to make a living here. Inflation reports just came out saying that inflation in 2008 rose almost 14%...that’s down from 2007 when the inflation was over 16%. We are learning more and more about just how poor most people are here and on how little they survive. It’s not about extras…it’s about essentials…beans and rice. Daily hunger…little hope. I don’t think we are seeing starvation like we find in Rwanda or maybe even the streets of Calcutta…but we do see hunger and we see it every day.

Even Miguel. The more we know Miguel, the more we find out just how hard daily life is for him. He usually will eat two meals a day, breakfast and dinner, although he will have lunch a couple of times a week. Breakfast is rice and beans, lunch is beans and rice and dinner is gallo pinto – a mixture of rice and beans. Extras are platanos, a few vegetables and an occasional egg. Last week I asked him how often he had chicken to eat, if it was once or twice a week. He laughed and shook his head “no”. When I asked him again, he was looking down and said 2-3 times a month. Even I was shocked at how little meat he and his family eat. I told him he had to eat more meat than that and he just looked at me and asked how? It takes money to buy chicken and it is money they don’t have…much like most people. He said Americans don’t understand what it’s like for people here…he’s right. We don’t.

And just so I’m not keeping you hanging re: the conversation with Miguel, we don’t want him to become dependent on us so we are trying to help him figure out a way he can increase their food source, whether by increasing their income or perhaps, even raising their own chickens…that’s one we’re really pursuing with him. Me and live chickens…I know it had to be God that brought us here!

I don’t tell you these things to pull on your heartstrings or play an emotional card. I tell you about them because I have to tell someone what we see here. I have to talk about it and try to make sense of it. I have to work it out in words. See, I struggle with this poverty issue every day. It’s so abundant that it’s the norm and because it’s the norm, it could be easy to forget how great it is or how destructive. It’s easy to come home to pantry shelves filled with food, meat in the freezer and a package of cookies for snacks. It’s easy to ignore their struggle to just get through another day when my struggle is getting the car paperwork right. God forgive me for my “me” centeredness…please don’t let my eyes be blinded by myself nor my heart hardened to the hurts of others.

Okay…I wanted to finish our day’s story re: the car saga…that will have to wait. I have gotten way off track here and my time is gone for now but I will continue later today, if possible. I guess the way I have to leave this right now is I will ask you to pray for the poor of Nicaragua today…that they would receive nourishment in their bodies and nourishment for their souls…and that we would never become hardened to either condition.

They came bearing gifts...

We had one of our favorite families come visit us Saturday afternoon. Freddy had asked us the day before if it would be alright for him to bring his wife, Mary and their son, Gabriel by the next day after he got off work from Susanna’s house. We told him that would be fine and that we would enjoy having them come for a visit. He told us then that Mary had a gift for us in appreciation for all the help we have given them.

Late Saturday morning, I decided to make some cookies to have on hand when they came and Jim ran up to the little market to buy some orange Fanta, a very popular drink here, although I have to say I think it tasted better when I was a kid! Margarita watched me make the cookies and I told her Freddy was bringing his family by that afternoon. I was making a chocolate cookie with coconut and pecans. (It was due only to a generous gift from Tom and Nora, our friends who came to visit from the States, that I had pecans to bake with…I refuse to pay almost $16 for a bag of pecans).

Since Margarita was standing and watching me mix up the cookie dough, I offered a small bowl of pecans to her. She took them, thanked me and asked me what they were called. I told her and she wanted to know if I bought them at the new grocery store that opened up recently and she knows it’s a place we shop. I told her that our friends had brought them with them. I told her how much they cost at Price Smart and that I thought that was a ridiculous price and would never pay that much for them. She told me that they don’t have pecans here but she has seen them in Susanna’s house. In a little bit, I noticed she had not eaten any more pecans other than the first one she had taken…I don’t know if she didn’t like them or if she just couldn’t bring herself to eat any more once she found out how much they sold for here! Either way, I had a few more pecans to add to the cookie dough than what I had originally planned.

Freddy and his family arrived about 3:00 p.m. – dressed in their best clothes. They had taken the bus as far as they could to get to our house and then walked the rest of the way, well over a kilometer in distance. Mary had on heels and was carrying a heavy package, wrapped in the same birthday bag which we had used to give Gabriel his presents several weeks ago. Freddy was carrying a sleeping Gabriel, who evidently conked out on the bus ride here.

We got them inside and I asked Freddy if he wanted to lay Gabriel down on the bed. He looked at Mary for affirmation and she told him he would need to take his shoes off first. I told her not to bother. Freddy gently laid Gabriel down who was sleeping so soundly that he never even stirred. Mary handed me the heavy bag and I asked if I could go ahead and open it. She looked surprised…that’s not done here in this culture…but nodded her head yes. She and Freddy both stood close to the table to watch our faces. I hope they were as pleased with our reactions as we were with our gift!

They had taken a large terra cotta tray (which fits under flower pots to catch the excess water) and had it painted with our names on it, a pot of flowers and a phrase asking God to bless us. Jim and I were almost speechless and I was overcome by the beauty of not only the tray, but the hearts that were behind its gifting. This is one of the most special things that I think we’ve received since we’ve been here and I will treasure it always because I know it was a gift that took some sacrifice on their part. Jim and I felt so humbled that this precious couple would think that much of us to have brought us something like that.

We settled down in the living room with cookies and cold drinks…although I made Mary some hot tea as she has “grippe” (a cold). Many Nicaraguans think that if they have a cold and drink something with ice in it, then they can get pneumonia. I had heard that before and have experienced it several times since with other folks here. There’s no use arguing it…that’s just one of many health superstitions we have come across. I was just thankful I still had some tea bags after I had made the offer to fix some!

I like Mary. She knows me well enough now that she is no longer timid or shy with me. This makes it so much easier to actually try to converse with one another. They asked about the picture I have of my mom, commenting on how much like her I look. I told them she died two years ago and then they each proceeded to tell me when each of their various family members had died. I realized just how important family was to them.

I showed her pictures that our daughter, Mandy, had sent of their family. When we were looking at them, she would ask each person’s name and age. I told her I missed my family very much and that my grandchildren were growing up very quickly. She wanted to know when they were coming to visit. I shook my head “no” and told her it cost too much money. I told her we would be returning to the States in June to be there for the birth of our fifth grandchild and we would see them then.

As soon as I said that, Freddy wanted to know if we were staying in the States. I told him we would be there for a few weeks but then would be returning to Nicaragua, that this is where God has brought us to live and that it is our home now. He nodded in understanding. Mary just stared intently, watching my face. I could feel tears start to prick my eyes so I asked her if she would like to see the house and she quickly smiled and shook her head affirmatively.

We got up from our seats and I began to show Mary our house. It really is small so there’s not much touring to be done. When I asked her the Spanish word for “closet”, she just shook her head. I realized then they didn’t have any closets in their house which they share with her parents. I also realized that when she told me she thought our house was beautiful, she meant it…and I guess our house really isn’t that small after all…at least, not in comparison to theirs.

Later on, after the little ringmaster, Gabriel, woke up, we all went out on the front porch. Mary and I sat in the rockers and Freddy and Jim looked at the platano trees. Freddy thought some of the plants looked a little dry due to the sun and the strong winds. He picked up the hose to water. I told him it was his day off and that wasn’t necessary. He told me not to worry about it and that he wanted to do that. And so our gardener was watering our plants on his day off in his Sunday best clothes.

In the meantime, Gabriel was keeping us entertained. He is sharp as a tack and is such a cutie. He kept us laughing most of the time. All parents are proud of their children, but watching Mary and Freddy light up over their son, it is easy to see they absolutely adore him. They have obviously worked with him as he responds to animal questions, body parts questions, names, places, etc. When he feels like it, he is really pretty verbal for a 2 year old. I asked Mary if she would like to have another baby someday. She said that she would but not until much later. She said that it’s hard to feed one child right now the way he should be fed and it would be impossible to feed more. She said, almost wistfully, “Algun dia…” Someday.

Jim has just been playing with the video part of the camera and I wanted to show you a short video of Gabriel entertaining us but for whatever reason, the format our camera has the video in isn't compatible with the options available with Blogger...so until Jim can figure out how to convert one to the other, you will have to wait for that...consider it a "Coming Attractions" feature!

Our visited ended about 5:30 when the sun was starting to set. We took them home so they wouldn’t have to make that long walk back to the bus stop and then have to wait for a bus to come. As we let them out at their house, we each got a kiss good-bye from Gabriel. He’s just such a little doll!

On the way home, we talked about how God had brought this family in to our lives and how much we enjoy the time we get to spend with them. Jim talked about what a great dad Freddy is and how determined he and Mary are to give Gabriel every advantage they possibly can, from health to education to socialization. We are impressed by Freddy’s work ethics, his integrity and the sacrificial devotion this couple makes for the benefit of their child and we are blessed by their willingness to share him with us. Their time together as a family is precious to them and we were so grateful that they let us be a part of that for a little while. They showered us that day with gifts - the beautiful tray, their friendship and Gabriel.

Good medicine...

The first weekend of the month always finds us in a rural community about 5 kilometers outside of Jinotepe, with our friends, Roger and Rhonda. I have to smile when I tell the distance from the edge of town to the school where we have the medical clinic each month. 5 kilometers equates to 3.1 miles which would be about a 5-10 minute drive in the U.S. Well, it takes us a minimum of 20-30 minutes to drive to the school when the roads are dry and about twice that when the roads are knee-deep with soupy, sloppy mud. Thankfully, this time of year is the dry season which means it’s a quicker drive but the trade-off is it’s unbelievably rough and bumpy. Those muddy pits left over from November’s clinic have dried in to huge ruts and chasms…makes for an interesting drive both coming and going! I’ve actually had bruises across my shoulder and chest from the seat belt being yanked so tight. Of course, Jim thinks it’s the most fun.

This month we did the clinic without Susanna as she was still in the States finishing up her holiday visit. Jim and I enjoyed the drive down, as we always do. There’s always so much to see that’s “different” and it still catches my eye…a woman carrying a huge bundle of cut up limbs on her head taking it home for her daily fire, clothes hung out to dry on the bushes and the broken down fences, houses with such large gaps in between the broken boards and pieces of zinc that you can see right in, families riding 4 on a motorcycle, often times with an infant as one of the passengers, a man walking down the street carrying a live chicken in each hand, frilly-aproned women balancing large plastic tubs filled with tortillas on their heads, buses so filled with passengers they are literally hanging out the doors and windows, the ever-present haze of smoke from the cooking fires…I could go on and on. This country and its people fascinate me and I admit are firmly attached to my heart. Only God could have done that.

The number of patients this month was lighter than some months. We served 67 people and the top two items dispensed this time were vitamins and acetaminophen. Vitamins are a staple item on every prescription. They are horribly expensive here which means that without our providing them, those people would not have them. They might as well not be available when the cost is so high. We were able to give vitamins to pregnant women, children and adults and when told to take only 1 tablet a day, they listen just as seriously as when you give them directions for their antibiotics or blood pressure medication. We take so much for granted…

We also had a great supply of reading glasses this month…thanks to First Baptist Church in Cassville, MO! They sent an amazing donation down to us…our friends who came to visit over Christmas delivered 112 pair of reading glasses, most of them brand new, for us to have available at these clinics. Jim and I were able to find 3 sets of 3 plastic drawers each that were ideal for separating and storing the various strengths. We put out samples of each strength along with a gospel tract in Spanish so that folks could get a “feel” for which strength would be best for them by reading the tract. You can see the "samples" laid out on the cases to the left of Rhonda and me.

Getting people to understand that these glasses were only to aid with reading or close-type work and weren’t regular eyeglasses was sometimes difficult but honestly, the most difficult part was getting people to understand that once they had found a strength that worked well for them, that they then could choose a frame style they liked. Almost without exception, they all wanted to take whatever pair they tried on, regardless of how they looked on them, whether they were women’s glasses or styled more for the gentlemen. These folks aren’t used to having choices like that…they’re used to being handed something and then having to make it work for them. Again…we take so much for granted.

We were able to wrap up the clinic fairly early in the day. As we were leaving, we had a gentleman come and the doctor consulted with him right on the sidewalk of the school. Prescriptions were filled out of the back of Roger’s car and then we were once more on our way, only to be stopped again by a regular to the clinics, Emelia, a lady in her 80’s who was walking down the road towards the school. Of course, we stopped again and this time, the rutted road served as the “clinic”. Rhonda was able to find all the necessary medications for Emelia and Roger put her in his truck to drop her off at her house on our way back to town.

As we bump and bounce along on our way home after clinic, we often pass motorcycles and bicycles, horses and oxen. But the mode of transportation that caught my eye that day was a “covered wagon” bouncing wildly along the road and finally ending up semi-“crashed” in the grassy ditch. Nothing was broken and no one was hurt…simply some out of control steering egged on by shouting and laughter and purposeful guiding! Some very ingenious little children had made a wagon and used broken pieces of Styrofoam lashed together to be the covering. They were so precious I asked Jim to stop. I took a couple of pictures from the car but Rhonda suggested we get out and get a closer look. I’m so glad she did. We met some delightful little people with that little wagon and they were ecstatic that we wanted to take their pictures. I’m surprised we were able to get them all to hold still long enough to get the photos as the little ones literally were jumping up and down with excitement…the camera is a powerful thing here.

We knew there was another child in the wagon but we were surprised to see a two more children all hunched over inside…their smiles much larger than the small space their frames took up. We laughed and they laughed and it was just a fun moment all the way around. Jim remembered the bag of candy we keep in the console, just for such times and we gave them each a piece. Sweet pay for a sweet moment. I love those kinds of moments…you know, the ones that you just can’t plan for and that take you completely by surprise? Those are perfect boosts of energy that God gives us, dispensing His own kind of vitamin for worn out workers…we were all in high spirits as we drove the rest of the way to Roger and Rhonda’s house.

On the way home late that Saturday afternoon, I thought about those children. They obviously didn’t have much in the way of material things but my goodness, they had million dollar smiles and priceless parcels of joy contained in their thin little bodies and they were freely sharing both. I believe God can and will use anything necessary to teach us some of His spiritual truths. He used those children that day to remind me that there is such joy in giving whatever it is of value that we have to give…whether it’s vitamins, reading glasses or smiles just bursting across dirt-streaked little faces…we are to give to those in need. I hope you give someone something today…