Chicken to go...

Still got the yuks…yuk. I guess I won’t be going to school tomorrow. I’m tired of lying on the couch and bored to tears with doing nothing so thought I would see if I could sit here long enough to get another blog written. I want to tell you about our trip this past Friday.

Several weeks ago, Danelia had asked if we could take her and the kids to Juigalpa to see Danelia’s older brother, Emir, and his family. She offered to give us money to help pay for the gas if we could do this for her. (Of course, we told her that wasn’t necessary). Evidently, they haven’t seen Emir for several years and she wanted them to see Kenneth and Lindsay. Danelia didn’t feel like that long of a bus ride would be good for Kenneth and we agreed. Of course, Miguel wanted to go as Emir is his brother also and naturally, that meant that Elizabeth was going to go. I envisioned that we were going to be looking like a typical Nicaraguan bus!

As the date grew closer, Danelia told us that she felt great shame as she wasn’t able to save the money for the gas. I reminded her that we had already told her that we would take care of the gas and that we had never been to Juigalpa so it would be a great opportunity for us to go visit. With teary eyes, and a big hug, she thanked us and said that she was so thankful to God that He had brought us here. There are times I’m not quite so grateful, but I certainly was at that moment. We planned on Friday, the 21st for our trip.

Although I woke up that morning already not feeling up to par, we arrived at Miguel’s house at 8:00 a.m. – our scheduled time to leave. Danelia and the kids were just arriving. Danelia told me that this past week, Kenneth had to make an unscheduled visit back to the hospital. He was experiencing quite a bit of pain in his groin area, where the tumor is located, through to his back. They gave him some sort of pain medication and sent him home. She said the doctor said it wouldn’t be a problem to make the trip. Danelia said that Kenneth had been pretty listless all week long and she told him that she was going to call us to cancel the trip. She said he begged to go and so after considering it for some time, she decided to go through with it.

Elizabeth came out to tell us that Miguel’s mother had to be taken to the hospital the day before. Evidently, she had become very ill with her diabetes and they gave her a shot of insulin. Only diabetics with money can afford to be on a regular regimen of insulin shots. I asked how she was and Elizabeth said she was in the house, in bed. We all went inside.

After lots of conversing back and forth with various family members, we finally got to see “Mama”. She was crying and told me she was very sick and very weak. I asked Miguel if she had eaten anything. We went in to the kitchen and the only food she had was a pan with a piece of cooked chayote (a type of hard squash) in it. It was left over from her dinner the night before. I asked what else she had. There were two wrinkled and spotted pieces of some sort of fruit…I don’t know what it was.

Jim and I decided she needed to have some food in the house. We asked Miguel if there was a grocery store in town and he told us there was a Pali downtown. Pali, which is owned by Wal-Mart, reminds me of a very small box type of grocery store. It is very much a no-frills type of store and is only one step above the open-air market. The three of us climbed in to the car to go get some groceries.

Jim maneuvered through the crowded streets and we pulled in to the parking lot of Pali. Even the term “parking lot” sounds much more expansive than where we parked…there was space for 4 cars…ours was the only one. Of course, we created a bit of a stir just by our presence.
As we got ready to enter the store, Miguel, leading the way, told me in Spanish that I had to leave my purse with the security guard. I asked, “Leave it?” thinking I must have misunderstood him. He nodded his head in affirmation. I said, “No!” , probably a bit more firmly than was necessary. Miguel stopped and turned around to begin to tell me that I couldn’t take my purse in to the store. Again, I told him, “No…I’m not leaving my purse.” The security guard looked at me and apparently decided it was going to be fruitless to argue with me and waved me on in. Miguel was astounded. I decided to hold on to my purse even tighter than ever.

It didn’t take us long to get our shopping done, buying some canned tuna, fresh vegetables, some apples, whole wheat bread and oatmeal. I had asked Miguel’s mother about buying some chicken for her but she had said that chicken upset her stomach…I don’t think it is chicken that upset her stomach, but rather the oil she fries it in…but that battle was going to have to wait for another day.

We got the groceries unpacked and finally, everyone was ready to go…an hour and fifteen minutes after our arrival. We had originally planned on putting the 3rd seat in the back of the car for the kids, but that left absolutely zero room for the small cooler we had borrowed from Susanna and the portable battery charger that we keep in the car. We could have left the cooler behind but not the charger. We decided to go a different route.

We had put an old blanket and a thicker quilt in the back along with a couple of pillows, making a bed for the kids. That way, if either one of them became tired, they had a place to lie down. I was concerned about the lack of any kind of seat belts for the kids but realized that the third seat doesn’t have those either…we were going to be trusting God to keep those children safe while in our care. We then had room for the cooler and the charger and the kids were super excited to have such a fun space of their own.

I had packed juice boxes, water and soda for the day’s trip, along with some crackers and cookies. I also had made up a fun pack for the kids to help keep them occupied during the 2 hour trip to Juigalpa. The pack had a couple of coloring books, a pack of colors, a small box of colored pencils, a sharpener, a small ruler, small mechanical pencils, 2 erasers and 2 little notepads. The kids could hardly wait for us to get moving.

The next couple of hours went by pretty quickly. The principal road to Juigalpa is certainly not laid out as the crow flies, traveling northeast for about an hour before turning back to the southeast. And although this seems to be the long way around, it not only is a very good road, especially by Nicaraguan standards, it also provides some of the most breathtaking scenery. Traveling into the Amerrisque Mountains, I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of our 2 hour, 75 mile ride.

With Juigalpa being the capital of its region, Chontales, it claims a population of over 70,000 and although the city itself was much larger than we had anticipated, it certainly didn’t have the feel of being a major city. Having to circle the town square, we were pleasantly surprised to find the downtown area to be much cleaner and with a less frenzied feel than Managua.

Emir, the pastor of the Nazarene church there, and his family, live in the parsonage which is attached to the church. The joy of seeing family again was evident on everyone’s faces as they hugged and kissed one another. Emir and Leio (his wife) were especially glad to see the kids. They then ushered us in to the house and immediately set about to make us feel at home.

What warm and hospitable people! Leio gave us freshly made orange juice which was some of the best juice I’ve ever had…I decided not to think about the water issue and as always, prayed that God would protect us from any type of harmful bacteria. We sat out in the gated yard area of the church and discussed the chickens. Miguel said he was going to take one back to Tipitapa. I laughed. I shouldn’t have.

Leio told us that she and a lady from the church were making nacatamales for us. That is a favorite food here in Nicaragua. I think I’ve told you before about those. Leio needed some things from the market and Miguel asked if we wanted to go along. We did and so we made a quick trip to the corner market. It reminded me of a small Pali. On the way back, Leio told me that Miguel and Danelia had shared with them all the help we had been to their families. She told me that she was very grateful that we would show such love to them and that she wanted me to know that we were now part of their family, too. I consider that an honor – Leio is one of the genuinely sweetest people I think I’ve ever met.

We visited for a bit and then Miguel said he wanted to take us to the park. Leio and Emir stayed behind and the rest of us went to a very small, well-kept park, which was built up on a mound on the edge of downtown. Thankfully, it was elevated as it afforded us not only a wonderful breeze but also a great view of a beautiful valley and the opposing Amerrisque mountains. The park’s mature trees gave us respite from the blistering sun. Managua is hot but Juigalpa is even hotter.

About an hour later, we returned to Emir and Leio’s just as Leio was putting the food on the table. We sat down to a wonderful meal of fried chicken, rice, salad and tostones. Once again, we were faced with the choice of being good guests and eating the salad or appearing rude and not touching it. We ate it… at least a good part of it. More prayers. One thing I can say is living here has certainly increased our prayer life!

The food was delicious and after the meal, while everyone else went in to the living room or the kitchen, Emir began talking with us. Although I didn’t understand a lot of what he said, I did get enough of it that we were able to have a lengthy conversation talking about the problems of the church and the country – his and ours. We came to the conclusion that geography has nothing to do with the sin in a man’s heart and that the Solution is the same for all. That was a good example of what a visit is all about here... listening, talking and sharing. It was a great meal followed by a great time learning more about one another.

Miguel came in to the dining room to tell us that we were once again leaving, this time we were going to visit the zoo! Jim and I had talked about possibly taking the kids there but then decided not to mention it since we knew this was supposed to be a family visit. It appeared as though we were going to go after all! Leio came with us and I couldn’t help but laugh at how we were beginning to look like one of those clown cars at the circus when eight of us piled out at the run-down little zoo. There is no parking lot there and it sits at the end of a paved road in a residential area of town. It looks so much like every other fenced-in area that we almost drove right by it.

Jim bought the tickets for the whole group…75 cords ($3.68 for six adults and two children) and in we went. The first “exhibit” consisted of several small bird cages with finches, parakeets, etc. Hmmm. This was going to be interesting. The zoo is old and very bare-bones but held a fair variety of animals. It was much more interesting than the zoo between Managua and Masaya. We saw several types of apes and gorillas, wild cats including lions, tapir, snakes, toucans, deer, an assortment of birds, coyotes, and such. The sad thing was that most are kept in wired in cages with concrete floors and nothing else. Not much of a life.

Although it wasn't the best zoo we've ever visited, I can say the kids loved it! After the zoo, we returned to the house and decided it was time for us to leave. Miguel and Emir went out back to the courtyard area and the rest of us followed. Miguel went one direction and Emir went another. All of a sudden they both started chasing a white rooster, lunging and grabbing. At one point, Miguel turned around with a handful of tail feathers. I realized, even as I was laughing at the “floor show” going on right in front of me that we were going to be taking an extra passenger back with us! Talk about a zoo!

Finally, Emir captured the rooster and as soon as he did, the rooster immediately calmed down and even seemed content to be held by him. I wonder if that rooster knew he was soon going to be relocated to a new address, several hours down the road. I told Emir and Miguel that not only was our trip to Juigalpa a first, but so was having a live chicken as a passenger in our car. They smiled but couldn’t seem to quite get the novelty of it all. Miguel was just pleased as punch with his new acquisition.

Leio presented me with a tortilla basket, covered in material and appliquéd with the traditional Nica girl. She also handed us a bag of chicken nacatamales for us to take with us. She told me that now that we knew our way to her house, that she was praying that God would bring us back there again. Emir gathered us in a circle and prayed over us, asking God to bless us and thanking Him for our visit, praying for protection for our trip home and a speedy return. What a special send-off. What special people. We were already blessed.

And speaking of blessings, the trip home was blessedly uneventful with the rooster staying quiet on the floor board of the backseat. I’m assuming he was cozy and comfortable in his coarsely woven “sleeping” bag...an old rice bag. We heard giggles and laughter from the back of the car until it became dark. The combination of the lack of daylight, the monotonous drone of the car coupled with its hypnotic swaying and a very long day proved to be too much for Kenneth and Lindsay and they were soon sound asleep, snuggled down in to their pillows and blankets.

We didn’t stay long at Miguel’s upon our return to Tipitapa…we still had another hour’s drive ahead of us. We finally pulled in to our driveway around 9:00 p.m., tired but happy. We had spent the day with good friends and made some new ones…and we are one step closer to being full-fledged Nicas now that we’re carrying livestock in our vehicle! I have to say that getting "chicken to go" now has a new meaning for us!