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…

Iguana update...

Since so many of you have commented on our recent little iguana incident, I thought I would give you an update. This is my understanding, at least to the best of my ability, of the story.

Several days after Margarita had taken home the captured iguana, she came to work and I asked her how the iguana soup had come out. She sadly shook her head and told me there wasn’t any soup. When I questioned her as to why there wasn’t any soup, she told me that the day she took the iguana home (after going to the market to do some shopping, with the still-alive iguana safely encased in string, tape, newspaper and plastic), her son Freddy wanted to see it.

Margarita was very serious as she began telling me about the loss of the iguana, her facial expressions very animated and with lots of hand gestures. (I love how the Nicaraguans talk!) Seems as though Margarita gave little Freddy the bag and told him to take it outside and he could look at it there. Apparently, Freddy took the iguana out of the bag, unwrapped it and either the tape had come off its mouth or else Freddy took it off…either way, the iguana’s mouth was no longer contained. It apparently tried to take a bite out of Freddy or he feared it was going to…either way, he was so startled he dropped it. That’s when the still-hobbled iguana
made a break for it.

At this point, I couldn’t help but start laughing and the more Margarita described the scene, the harder I laughed. She then got tickled and joined in and the two of us cackled until we cried! She demonstrated how the iguana’s legs were still tied together as it quickly ran away almost on its tip-toes. At that point, I howled! Just the picture I conjured up in my mind would have rivaled any Roadrunner and Wiley Coyote cartoon ever shown!

She told me they looked everywhere for the runaway but could not find him. She said they searched all the trees but to no avail. I asked her if the dogs tried tracking him and she said they had their noses to the ground but he had run around so much that the dogs just went in circles.
We continued to giggle about the escape-artist iguana most of the morning.

I would imagine that the emotional state of said iguana remains pretty fragile to date. I would also imagine that if he is still even in the country, he is keeping a pretty low profile! I think he probably has the same hope that I do and that is that our paths will never cross again…and if they do, you can bet I’ll let you know!

Living hopeful...

I started this Saturday morning but with lots of interruptions and an afternoon of company, I didn’t get to finish it until Saturday night.

It’s Saturday morning and the wind is blowing like crazy…but that’s okay, it’s our air conditioning so as frustrating as it is dealing with having clothes all twisted and tangled on the clothesline and with the dust blowing (in a clean house and on clean clothes!), I’m not going to complain too much. In a few months, the winds will have stopped and the heat will have intensified so we are appreciating every single windy day we have. I realized it's hard to take a picture of the invisible...I can only try to show you the effects of the wind and each time the gusts were really strong, by the time I was able to click the camera, we would be on the down swing!

We find we’re having longer and longer periods without water as the dry season continues. We have recently had 2-3 days at a time with very little water and several days without any. Thankfully, we do have the water tank but we still try to conserve as much as possible since we’re not sure when the water will be coming back on again. It’s been coming on at night but even that is getting later and later. Last night, it was after 11:00 when it came back on and it was off again by 7:30 this morning. That makes laundry and showers a bit more of a challenge in coordination. We shower at night right before bed and I often try to get a load of laundry put in the washer the night before I know I have a morning to hang it out. It’s all in the timing! Jim has turned the tank on for us so I can finish laundry, Margarita can mop the floors and Freddy can give the thirsty plants a good soaking. I guess we’ll see how long a tank of water will last. We are living hopeful that the water lasts a long time!

Jim’s been working on one of the upstairs toilets – again! I think we probably could have purchased a brand new toilet for all the pieces and parts he’s had to replace and re-replace in the time we’ve lived here. That means another trip back to Sinsa…which means another arm and leg left there! The frustration of not finding some things equal in quality to what we’ve been used to can get to where it wears on you but then I stop and think that at least we have an indoor toilet…so that helps to diffuse that frustration fuse. God really is teaching me how to look for the positives in the kinks of life…I’m far from a Pollyanna but I find I’m much happier if I don’t let every hitch or unexpected thing throw me for a loop.

Like the other day. It was Wednesday, New Year’s Eve day, actually. I was getting ready for our time with Miguel when Jim told me the coffee pot quit working. In our household, that’s serious business and can immediately equate to a breakdown in communication. I thought surely he must be mistaken. It had been working just fine without any problems. Well, of all times for Jim to be right… the coffee pot had quit working! But, it had managed to spit and sputter out about ½ of a pot which would ensure a homicide-free household for one more day. I tried cleaning it with vinegar…no luck. It had called it quits and there was no coaxing, coercing or chemical that was going to oomph it back in to commission.

I came in to get dressed and turned on the speakers to our MP3 player (both of which were extremely generous gifts from the Jenkins’ Sunday school class at our home church in Cassville). Nothing. Not a peep. So, I sat down on the bed, took the Zune out, put it back in, fiddled with pushing all the buttons I could find, unplugged and replugged…still nothing. Finally, I resigned myself to asking Jim to help me, thinking it was my total ineptness at electronics that was prohibiting me from making it work. Without any hesitation, Jim took the Zune out, put it back in, fiddled with all the buttons he could find, unplugged and replugged (sound familiar?) and…voila! Nothing. Nada. Not a note emanated from the obstinate little brown box. What a mixed bag of emotions hit at that moment. I really wanted it to work. It was new. It was a gift. It was music that was meant to soothe the savage beast inside of me that was still a bit cranky over being limited to only one cup of coffee! But…there was, and I have to say I’m admitting this with a bit of shame…there was this itty, bitty, teeny, weeny, miniscule, microscopic part of me that felt just a little bit triumphant that it wasn’t just me that couldn’t get the Zune to tune! Jim, the master fix-it guy, couldn’t get it even to hum to him, either.

That sense of self-satisfaction passed quickly. We were Zune-less and had no idea why. What a morning. A dab of coffee and even less music. What else could happen? Let me take this moment to issue a word of warning…don’t ever ask that question. Without exception, life will promptly answer with something to add to the list.

I sat down to e-mail Mandy and discovered that the “L” key on the keyboard of the laptop wouldn’t work. Okay, now this was just getting crazy. Again, I pretty much repeated most of the steps I tried with the Zune. No matter what I did, the “L” wouldn’t work. Once again, I resorted to calling Jim. He put his magic fingers to the keyboard. Zip. This day obviously wasn’t one of his best either. We both decided we should pray…not just for the keyboard, the coffeepot and the silent speakers, but also for our deteriorating moods and attitudes. We no sooner finished our prayers than I tried the “L” and it worked! Fabulous! We both headed in to the kitchen. God wasn’t about to budge on the limit of our caffeine intake. We half-heartedly tried the Zune one more time. We were apparently meant to be satisfied with the “L” being our Lazarus moment for the day.

I finished the e-mail to Mandy, detailing the morning’s events up to that point, and asking her to join us in prayer for the rest of our day. We still had several police points between us and Miguel and the way the morning had gone thus far, we were praying we wouldn’t be stopped. That was a concern on various levels but just the way the morning had gone up to that point, I instinctively knew that if we were stopped that morning, it wouldn’t be just to make new friends.
There seems to be a greater presence of the men in blue on the street these days and they also seem to be more intent in trying to find a reason to write a ticket. Here, they apparently can stop you for any reason, and it would appear, if necessary, to fabricate an infraction so that they can write a ticket. I’ve often wondered if they work on a commission basis of some sort. We’ve been waved over and told we didn’t stop before the stop sign. That was not true. We not only stopped before the line, we had to wait on traffic in order to be able to progress. And as politely as I could but also just as firmly, I disagreed in my hacked up Spanish. The policeman disagreed with my disagreeing but with a much better use of the language than I was displaying. I wouldn’t budge from my stance and the poor guy must have finally decided whatever pittance he would make off our ticket wasn’t worth listening to the brutal butchering of his beloved language, so he finally waved us off. No one was more stunned than we were.

And another time, while we had friends here, we were waved over. This time, we weren’t even told of a violation, real or imagined. The policeman checked our papers and then asked Jim to open the back of the car. He did. The policeman wanted to see our warning triangle. Jim showed it to him. Then he asked to see our fire extinguisher. Jim showed him that. (Both are required to be kept in all vehicles). Since we had the required items, our paperwork was in order and we obviously hadn’t committed any kind of traffic violation, he grumpily waved us off…I think he was a bit agitated that we were a wasted effort.

So, with that being said, the thought that morning of being detained by one of Nicaragua’s finest, was not at all appealing. Mandy sent out the prayer request and we cautiously went on our way. The rest of the day was fine…not exceptionally great but neither were we waved to the curb. Our quest for the day, after our time with Miguel, was to find and purchase a new coffeepot, which we were able to do and although it’s not quite up to par with my beloved red Mr. Coffee…it does what it’s supposed to do and that’s make a decent pot of coffee in the mornings.
When we got home, I tried the computer again…the “L” continued to function just like it was supposed to do. The Zune was still on the fritz. I was resigned to the fact that the music had ended and my worry then was what on earth was I going to tell those precious friends of ours who had sent us the Zune if they asked how it was working…that became a huge worry for me. I didn’t want to hurt or disappoint anyone, especially those folks who had done such a kind and loving thing for us.

The next day, while reading Google News, I happened across an article that said all Zunes that were the same model as ours, had shut done due to a kink with the programming for leap year! They gave a few steps to take and then indicated that there shouldn’t be any problem with starting it back up and it should work as designed. I am very happy to report that I am writing to the sweet sound of Michael Card as the Zune is once again working! And I can truthfully report that it works great and the speakers are awesome…no savage beast wandering these halls save for the ill-fated mouse which has already met his doom.

So, we now have a working coffee pot, a working “L” and a working Zune. The toilets still prove to be a challenge…the one in Margarita’s bathroom happened to start leaking while I was writing this! And we are now officially out of all water…the tank is drained…we do have clean clothes for the week, the floors are nice and shiny and smell like Pine Sol and the plants have perked up considerably. But, that still leaves us out of water. A friend e-mailed me one of those forward things that was all about choices of our reactions to circumstances. The things I’ve listed are inconveniences. There are people who live very close to us who never have running water, who don’t have indoor toilets, who will never have a coffee pot, a laptop or an MP3 player or even the electricity to run such items. Our frustrations come from being spoiled by a lifestyle of ease. God is teaching us so many things here…I think maybe one of the main things is we are to be thankful for what we have and to accept all things as gifts (whether we are able to have them for the moment or for a lifetime)…they’re all so temporal anyway.

There’s much to be said about living in the moment and enjoying the little things in life…after all, have you noticed that my “L” is working? And we now know that a tank of water won’t last through 3 loads of laundry, two leaking toilets, Margarita’s twice–mopped floors and Freddy’s abundant soaking of anything green! We might never have known how that capacity minus quantity x usage equation would have come out otherwise…now we know the answer is zero! Perhaps the water will come on early tonight…we are living hopeful here in Nicaragua!

The day of the iguana...

I know it seems as though I hadn't written for such a long time and then in the last few days, I've inundated you all with blogs...it's just that I have a little time and I want to fill you in on how life has been going the last few weeks. I couldn't wait to write about this lastest one...

You see, we had a little excitement at our house Tuesday. That’s one of the things I like least about this country, the unpredictability of what’s going to happen next. Well, now that I think about it, that’s one of the things I love most about this country! If there’s a dull moment, it’s only because we’ve closed our eyes and ears to life around us. And if the truth be told, I love surprises! But in the past, I’ve always preferred that they come from a jewelry store. God’s teaching me there’s more sparkle to life than in a gemstone.

Jim and I were in the back bedroom which we made in to our room after Tom and Nora left. It’s smaller and with a much smaller closet, but we love how light and open it is so we swapped the beds around and now are getting adjusted to “living” in the other part of the house. It was close to noon and we were discussing some financial matters (yuk!) when we heard a noise on the roof. I looked at Jim and he told me it was just birds. The noise intensified and I told him I didn’t think it sounded like birds. He agreed and went outside to check it out.

Margarita was out front mopping the porch and I heard her and Jim talking. The next thing I knew, I heard Margarita let out a yelp and then heard Jim come running down the front steps. I went to the bathroom window and saw them both laughing and pointing. I asked what was going on and Jim said there had been an iguana on the roof and it had jumped down to the ground right in front of Margarita and had run out in to the yard behind the plantain trees. Well, I had already missed too much of the excitement and wasn’t going to miss any more so outside I

went…along with Pixie, Susanna’s dog.

She started sniffing and went off on her own hunt while the three of us went down in to the lower yard where the iguana had run. Margarita was describing it to me and said it probably had climbed up in one of the trees and we were all looking up when the iguana took off running along the wall. It was fast and it was bigger than I expected. I thought it would be a bit larger than the house geckos we have but this thing qualified as a big, ugly lizard! It wasn’t anything close to the size of a Komodo dragon but in my mind, knowing it was in our yard, it was every bit as dangerous!

Of course, Pixie had to see it and took off chasing it. No matter how much we called her she refused to come to us and had the iguana backed up against the upper yard wall. It rared up it’s spiney neck and began hissing at Pixie, no longer backing down. Jim jumped up the lower wall and ran up trying to get Pixie away from the iguana without getting in a position of being bit by either. Margarita and I continued to call to Pixie to no avail. Finally, Jim got hold of her and carried her up to the house so we could shut her inside.

Jim’s idea was to chase the iguana up to the fence so he could get it shooed out of the yard. The iguana’s idea was that it had no intention of leaving. It turned around and ran back down the yard and hid behind a rental sign our landlady has propped against the wall. While I was trying to keep Pixie from tearing down the door or ripping out the window screen, I heard lots of commotion again. By the time I got through the door minus Pixie and back out on the porch, I saw Margarita proudly carrying the iguana up to the porch.

Evidently, Jim managed to trap the iguana against the wall with the sign. Margarita reached in and grabbed it behind the neck…an act neither of us would have attempted after having seen it bare its pointy little teeth at Pixie. Margarita told us that when she was a girl, she and her brother used to catch them all the time and that her father would go up in the mountains to catch them to bring them down for food. She then asked us if we wanted it. My fast and firm reply of “no” must have had a shocked and disgusted facial expression accompany it because Margarita burst out laughing. She said she would take it. I asked her what she was going to do with it and she told me she would cook it and that it was very tasty. I told her I would pass. I asked her if I could touch it and she held it firmly while I stroked its side. I expected hard and scaly but it was much smoother than I had anticipated. Even the spiny things running down its back were pliable and not at all hard and bony like I had thought they would be. I was certainly getting a hands-on education on iguanas. Margarita actually thanked God on our porch for such a good find. I silently thanked God that she was here to catch it!

Jim went to get string and tape so that the iguana could be safely immobilized. Tying string on the mouth didn’t work so the ever-handy duct tape did the trick. With Margarita’s instruction, the two back legs were tied together and then, the two front legs tied. Jim then duct taped its mouth closed while keeping the nasal passage open so it could still breathe. Margarita tucked its tail up between its legs to shorten it in length and the whole “package” was tied again. She then wrapped it in newspaper and put it in a plastic bag on top of our car, safely out of the reach of Pixie.

Margarita was going to the market that afternoon and would have to take the iguana with her. We laughed at how she could have a whole seat to herself if she would just let him out of the bag and untie him. The thought was appealing but the promise of a nice iguana soup seemed to rule out fun and games on the bus.

She couldn’t believe we had never eaten iguana and I couldn’t believe she would want to! It was such a find for her that it put her in high spirits and I was even able to get a picture of her smiling…a rarity! It’s not that Margarita doesn’t smile but if the camera is out, she’s sober as a judge…as are most Nicaraguans when it’s photo time. Margarita was so excited they were going to have iguana for supper that she almost forgot the hambone that we had left from Christmas dinner. I know it didn’t have much meat on it but it would have been my pick of the two!

I had to laugh as I watched the little dynamo happily walk up our street to go catch her bus, proudly carrying her prize catch for the day in a plastic bag. We were all pleased things had turned out the way they had…well, except for the iguana…I doubt if he was too thrilled being bound, gagged and bagged. But we were thankful… no one had been bit. Margarita had supper in her possession and we were once again, iguana-free! We had experienced yet another “first” in this very different country that is now our home. It’s true this surprise didn’t come wrapped in a velvet pouch or beautiful little box, but it was a fun surprise, nevertheless. And the fleet-footed little fellow put us all in a better mood for the day…isn’t that what a surprise is all about?

Having our cake and eating it too...

Last Friday night, we were honored guests at a birthday party…odd thing is, it wasn’t Jim’s birthday nor mine. It was Gabriel’s birthday – the now-2-year old son of our gardener, Freddy and his wife, Mary. They had asked if we would attend and Freddy asked if we would take pictures for them. Of course, we were thrilled with both requests! Anytime we are asked to come to someone’s home, we readily accept if at all possible.

Freddy knew that Tom and Nora were here visiting with us and so he made sure we understood the invitation included all of us. Unfortunately, Nora injured her knee the day before and they decided it would be best if they stayed home. They missed a great party! We have heard before that children’s birthdays are a big deal here as the child mortality rate in Nicaragua is high. The Red Cross has statistics that state that 47 out of 1000 children under the age of 5 will die. I think it’s higher than that for several reasons – the lack of reporting the death due mainly to the lack of education and fear of governmental intervention and/or financial hardships which might force isolated communities/families to grieve in private. Even so, if the number is accurate, it’s way too high – especially for the families of those 47 children.

So, we were excited about joining in on the celebration of a two-year milestone…plus we just love Gabriel to pieces…as does his entire family. He is aptly named as he really is a little angel! You will tell by the pictures that his parents make sure he’s taken care of far before anyone else. He has gained weight (obviously!) due to the regular supply of milk he’s been receiving recently and the food that is now coming in to the house thanks to his father having steady employment. There were lots of reasons to celebrate that night.

Freddy told us the party would begin at 4:30 and silly us, we were there at 4:20 p.m. No one knew what to do with the punctual gringos while the party preparations continued. We assured Freddy we would be fine and took the little bit of time we had alone to admire all the work Freddy and his family had done to make this a very special occasion. Freddy built the “pergola” structure the day before so that the guests would be protected from the late afternoon sun or in the case of rain. They live a bit further up in to the hills than we do and they tend to get rain when we don’t. Notice the bare ground…it seems as though many Nicaraguans prefer yards of bare dirt to patchy or weedy grass. Just a few days before, when we had delivered their Christmas bag of food, that area was covered with grass and weeds all the way down to the road. Freddy made sure the yard had been picked clean of any vegetation…they were obviously making sure their best foot was put forward for this gathering.

We watched as one of Mary’s brothers and several of the kids hung the piñata and not long afterward, the guests slowly began arriving. Mary’s dad had walked to their church to borrow light bulbs so that they would have lighting outdoors. I watched him string the home made light cords from the pergola and figured they probably wouldn’t qualify for the UL approval stamp. I was wondering if they had overestimated the number of people who would come as the time was growing closer to 5:00. I was hoping they would have a good turnout as this seemed to be so important to Freddy. My fears were soon put to rest…the people came and came until there were somewhere around 50 or so in attendance. Our car was the only vehicle there and we were the only gringos. Everyone else came by foot and everyone else spoke Spanish. We had no translators…we didn’t need them. It was a party!

Freddy told me that with the exception of us, everyone else was family and my goodness, what a family they are! Everyone was hugging and kissing one another as though they hadn’t seen each other for years even though they all seem to live in the same community. Many were dressed in their nicest clothes and even if not everyone brought a gift, they all obviously brought a great deal of love and affection for this young family. It was a pleasure to watch such great affection being displayed in a family. I think there are many things we should learn from these people and familial love would certainly be one of them. I know of too many people who have strained or even broken relationships in their families, our own included, and I have to say that if this group of people had division among them, it sure wasn’t apparent that night.

We spent a good part of the evening shaking hands as we were introduced to everyone that came. Freddy seemed to be so proud that we were there and that we would take pictures, a fact he would share with anyone with whom he had the opportunity. At one point, Mary asked us how much “film” we had and how much we would charge for each picture. We told her we could take lots of pictures, realizing we would never be able to adequately explain the workings of a digital camera (thank goodness, since I don’t get it either!) and that the pictures would be a gift to them. She immediately lit up, thanked us and began dragging every brother, sister and cousin over for family photos. It was fun for both them and us.

Those are things I have always taken for granted but now, being so far away from our grandchildren, I realize now, more than ever, how important it is to have those pictures. So it was with great joy that Jim and I took photos all evening long of every event and of hopefully, every person. Mary and Freddy were elated…Gabriel could have cared less. There were games to play, piñatas to whack, packages to open and cake to eat. What more could a two year old little boy want?

After two piñatas had been broken and the children scrambled to get the candies, there was a fun game of Pin the Tale on the Donkey, with both events accompanied by shouted instructions, lots of laughter and screams and squeals. The energy was high and it was one of the most fun parties I’ve ever attended. No pouting, no squabbles and no cranky parents…just plain ol’ fun with just plain ol’ folks! Perfection!

Almost on cue, everyone took a seat. I don’t know if Freddy or Mary had asked them to or if this was a routine thing. Freddy came over to where we were sitting and asked us to come with him to the other side of the pergola where the cake table was set up. There was a round table with a white tablecloth on it and four regular chairs next to the cake table. We had assumed it was the table for the family. Wrong. It was a table for the “honored guests”…us. They had set four chairs out as they had assumed Tom and Nora would also be there.

We were not only surprised but very humbled that this family would treat us in such a fashion. The evening was about Gabriel and family…not about us. But no one acted offended at our being seated at the table. Instead, we received smiles and nods of affirmation from the entire family. It was such an outpouring of respect and all we could do was to smile in return. I don’t know even if I were fluent in the language whether I could have found the words to convey the emotion in my heart at that moment. What sweet, kind and giving people we were seated among…

Mary and some of the other women began serving the crowd small paper plates filled with a typical Nicaraguan dish that is used to feed a large group and a piece of plain bread laid on top of each plate. When it was our turn to receive the food, Mary came out with two of their large bowls filled with food for each of us! Instead of the small paper cups filled with Fanta Orange that everyone else received, we also got large real glasses. Obviously, they were giving us their best.

I don’t know the name of the food dish but I will describe it and as I do, I can just picture noses turning up and I have to tell you, it doesn’t necessarily look much better to a gringo than it sounds BUT, it really is quite good. It’s cooked rice (the Nicas make the best rice!) with ketchup, chopped up vegetables and cut up hot dogs…yep…hot dogs! They’re not big like the hot dogs in the States but rather, quite slender, maybe about the size of a finger…and very pink. But let me reiterate…the food was good! And it was hot which was a bonus as far as I was concerned as the night was starting to get quite chilly on that hill with the wind blowing and the temperatures dropping down in to the 70s. Made me wish I had brought a sweater!

Then it was time for the cutting of the cake. The children all gathered around, watching and waiting for the birthday boy to do his thing. Everyone sang a song together, I’m assuming their own type of “Happy Birthday to You” and then the candles were lit. The kids all chattering and the adults urging Gabriel to blow out the candles. The deed was accomplished (I think with some help from Mom) and a cheer went up as everyone hurried back to their seats.

Once again, we got the biggest and the best. Our slices of cake were huge and Mary asked how we liked the food. I told her it was all so delicious and thanked her again for having us. She beamed and told me how they made the main dish and asked me once more if I liked it. I assured her I did and that the cake was very tasty as well as very cute. She apparently was satisfied that we were satisfied and off she went to tend to her other guests. The cake had a small layer of chocolate that separated the two layers and the frosting was a whipped creamy frosting of some sort. The portions were so large and filling with the food and the rich cake that I couldn’t finish it all. Mary assured me that it was fine as she knew she gave us too much.

The people were starting to go home and it was starting to sprinkle so we decided we should head that way ourselves. It was too dark to take any more pictures (it’s really dark in the country at night!)and we hated leaving Tom and Nora to fend for themselves for too long. We thanked Mary and Freddy and said our good-byes but Freddy wouldn’t let us leave. He asked us to wait a minute and then brought one of his brothers-in-law over by us. Freddy told us it was too dangerous for us to drive to the main road by ourselves and that there were robbers who would be waiting for us. We told him we would lock the doors and it would be fine. He wouldn’t hear of it. He insisted that he and his brother-in-law would ride to the main road with us and walk back. I was worried they would be in danger but he assured me they would not as they live there and know everyone but that we most certainly would be in harm’s way. We had to believe he knew what he was talking about and so Freddy, his brother-in-law, little Gabriel and we all drove to the main road, said our thank-yous and our good-byes. We headed out on to the highway and they, waving good-bye, headed back down in to the darkness.

We marvel at how God works. Just as much as we worry and care for this sweet family (whom you see dressed in their very finest), we discover more and more that the feeling is reciprocated and we are the better for it. God’s hand of protection has covered us in so many ways and one of those consistently, is our gardener, Freddy. We are thankful to Him for him and we are thankful we were able to be part of such a wonderful celebration. Oh…and just as an FYI…we had the pictures of Gabriel’s party developed and put them in a photo album to give to Freddy when he comes to work tomorrow. We hope we’ll have that same privilege again next year!

Happy New Year!

It's midnight here and the sky is lit up in a rainbow of colors and the air is thick with the smell of sulphur...Happy New Year everyone! The Nicarauguans love to celebrate with great gusto and fireworks certainly fall under that category. We are passive celebrants this year...enjoying the display safely from our back deck although not at the same time...one of us has to be at the computer desk with Pixie, Susanna's dog, who is hiding underneath it, shaking like a leaf. So, we are taking turns...while one enjoys the show, the other is coddling the cowering canine...guess who's on dog duty at the moment? That's okay...I don't mind. It gives me an opportunity to tell you while the next three blogs happened at various times, I wrote them and posted them all tonight...I hope you enjoy vicariously spending the holidays with us! Blessings to you all in the coming year!