The Beginning of the End

The last 3 weeks of my time in Nicaragua began in a very memorable way, thanks to the onset of food poisoning.  On a Wednesday morning Anthony and I got up at 5 a.m. and took the five minute walk down the road to the fishing and tourism village of Playa Gigante.  We walked down to the water just as the sun began to peek over the horizon on our way to meet a local fisherman named Zack.  Anthony needed to experience the tour, ask questions, and see if the tour is suitable for guests at the resort.  It was a beautiful day with clear skies and a slight breeze gently rocking the waves back and forth. We helped launch the boat and shove off directly from the beach as there are no docks or marinas in our quaint fishing town.  The men literally put round logs under their boats (and using a lot of man power) slowly roll their rigs in and out of the water.  Their boats are of basic fiberglass model and require the men to manually lift the prop engine on and off each day.

We started our journey trolling south along the coast and immediately snagged a fish- a glistening 2 foot silver tipped tuna!  It was exhilarating to hear the whir of the pole, see the line spin taut, and then watch one of our friends nurse the line back and forth and back and forth, slowly reeling in our first catch of the day.  As we continued our expedition, the wind and waves picked up and the boat rose and hammered back down, showering us with a salty ocean mist.  Zack explained how the color of the water, flocks of birds, and schools of sardines help them “feel” where to fish and what kind of lures to use.  Along the way we spotted three sea turtles, two of which happened to be making sweet turtle love…  a very cool and rare sight to see J  Zack made a huge circle to get us closer so we could snap a few Kodak moment shots.  The rough waters on our journey did not provide good conditions for fishing, and for the remainder of the three hour trip we did not catch another fish.  Yet despite this turn of events,  I enjoyed sitting back and watching the views of rocky ridges, isolated beaches and the veiled Coast Rica coastline peeking through in the distance. 

That night, after consulting Zack, we boiled the fish and then fried it with onions, peppers and other tasty additions in our best attempt to make the specialty Nicaraguan dish Salpicon.  Tuna is a hearty fish that is more like eating steak rather than the light flaky white meat we are used to in the states.  We enjoyed our meal, but soon discovered that we would be reliving that meal over and over for the next two days.  I’ve never had food poisoning before, but the severe achiness, cramping, and constant feeling of the need to vomit (compounded together with my own current digestive issues) made the two days feel like a week.  My body hurt so bad I couldn’t rest much during the day on our extra firm mattress.  We did however weather the storm and even got creative in making some soup.  There is no buying canned soup or broth at the local store.  Thankfully, Anthony being the experienced traveler he is thought ahead and had called in an antibiotic prescription for traveler’s diarrhea before we left just in case. I can tell you I have never been so thankful for the marvels of modern medicine and the cleansing power of antibiotics!  Thank you so much Anthony for thinking ahead.  =) 

Now that we are both fully recovered I find myself continuing to struggle with my digestion, even though I have been faithful to my all natural digestive supplement regiment.  This is really nothing new, but I did have it under control before we left the States.  The diet here has made it impossible for me to function at my “normal” health level.  It has been so bad lately that we’ve even considered changing my flight and sending me home early. Nevertheless we are making as many changes that we can and I’m sticking it out until my flight November 21. 

As Anthony and I planned our time here in Nicaragua several months ago we had two goals in mind.  The first was for Anthony (with my help) to produce a quality and valuable product for Aqua that did more than just fulfill his internship requirement.  I can say with confidence even with a few weeks left we have been able to do that very thing. Anthony was even able to work on a special project directly for the owner and then present his research to a group of AQUA shareholders via skype.  He has earned the respect of the management here, and in my opinion, has given them more than they expected.  It has been a fun and fulfilling experience for me to work alongside Anthony and help him with some of the technical and graphic design aspects.  I’m so proud of how hard Anthony has worked, what he’s been able to accomplish and how he’s done this in the midst of a challenging work and unique environment. 

A couple of snapshots together during our last few weeks in Nicaragua, as we hiked the coast
with Juan our Spanish professor.

Our second goal was to get to know the people here on a deeper level while learning more about their lives, language, and culture.  This task has been especially more challenging and intimidating for me because I came in with very little Spanish language knowledge and experience.  Anthony and I had an opportunity to rent a house instead of living in the same accommodations as the resort staff.  Although in many ways living in a house and having our own private space would be easier, (and of course more costly) we decided in the end it would speak volumes and open up the doors to build relationships if we lived as the Nicaraguans did.  Overall, Gringos here don’t have the best reputation.  They tend come here to surf and party, living better (and separately) from the locals.  Some have lived here for years and refuse to learn the language.  Our hope was to convey an attitude of humility, care, respect, and to show the love of Christ.  Although living in just one room and sharing sub-standard common space with the resort staff has been extremely tough, we have been able to break down the barriers with many people and form friendships.  Anthony especially has earned the trust and respect of numerous workers at Aqua resort by learning their names, asking them questions, and hearing their stories.  Both Anthony and I are taking Spanish tutoring and the workers know we are working hard to learn the language.  Even if all I can do is put together a phrase or sentence, making the attempt and being willing to learn and ask questions has spoken volumes to them.  

A few weeks ago we were invited to live in a luxurious, modern Gringo staff house on a ridge on the water right near the resort.  I can’t tell you how tempting it was at first to think of spending our last month here in such nice living conditions.  Yet again after thoroughly considering the offer, we decided to turn it down.  There were many reasons why living in this house would not have been good for us, but most importantly we didn’t want to send a message of living an easier and separate life from the Nicaraguans because we were “privileged Americans”.  The fact that Anthony and I have not only survived, but we have thrived living at hotel Brio has even impressed the owner, manager and other Americans who understand what it is like to live there and in Nicaragua. 

We have thrived here in Nicaragua for many reasons, but one of the most important is because we see our purpose here to be much higher than a simple internship.  We do not see the people here as inferior, but as people who are also made in the image of God.  While I have not been able to have a direct, thorough conversation with someone about my faith, I have been able to share a few things about what I value and about God.  There are a couple of the workers who I believe have a genuine relationship with Jesus.    It is exciting to see God work all over the world and He has definitely used this  experience to teach Anthony and I so much.  As my last few days here continue to slip away I’m soaking in the culture, the sights, sounds and smells of life here and the conversations with people we would now consider friends.  In the end I hope we have been an encouragement to everyone we have met and that God has used us as much in their lives as He has used this experience in ours.  

Top left and bottom right our pictures of the coast north (Iguana), south (Playa Gigante) from our hike.
Top right is Anthony with  Angel, (pronounced An-hell) a good friend we made here.  He helped us with our Spanish. Bottom left the national bird of Nicaragua that we finally get a picture of.  It was not easy.  

A Day in the Life...

Many of you have asked what a normal day looks like for me in Nicaragua, so I thought I would do post about that.  A routine here is a bit of an oxymoron, but here it goes.  Monday, Wednesday and Friday are resort days for Anthony and some days I accompany him.  We typically get up anywhere from 6:30 to 7:15 am, eat our breakfast, and walk the sometimes treacherous road to Aqua.  I say treacherous because it is filled with either lots of animals or large and deep puddles of water and mud! Seriously, in the rainy season every year someone will die from attempting to cross the rushing water on the road.  Anyway, it’s about a 35 minute walk on a good day.  These days we will eat a wonderful brunch or lunch at the resort if we have time and then work or skype at the resort, sometimes going out on assignment which takes an entire day. 

The other days I get up early, eat breakfast and start laundry.  You have to do laundry early if you intend to avoid the crowds and get it dry by the time the sun starts to set.  When it comes to clothes there is first world clean and there is third world clean.  Thanks to my sister Shauna who sent us Tide pods we are maybe at second world clean….the detergent here is not so good.  The wash machine died our second week here, but the repairman fixed it enough to partially work so this is my system:  I soak the laundry in cold water in the Tide for about 40 minutes and swish it around myself with my arm as much as I can.  Then, the water is drained and it spins and I take the laundry out to the outdoor washing basin.  Sometimes the hose is nowhere to be found so I fill a water bucket from a spigot and fill the side sink up several times.  Then I take our laundry and with powder detergent hand scrub each piece on a rippled stone surface- focusing on stains and other areas while rinsing the clothes using a small bowl to scoop out the clean water from the basin on my right.  After rinsing the soap out as best I can I wring the clothes and place them back in the wash machine filled with water.  I often use my hands in the wash machine to rinse any remaining soap and then they drain and spin.  They are now at least dry enough that they won’t stretch when hung.  I hang them dry on a line near our room and I often have to protect our clothes from horses and cows by using a stick.  When you work so hard to do laundry you don’t want an animal walking through it trampling it to the ground. 

This is where I scrub our laundry.  It also tends to be a dumping ground for trash and bottles.

We do wear our clothes as many times as we can, but with the mud, dirt, and sweat it’s still enough laundry to keep me and Anthony busy several hours and days a week.  While I do laundry, I sweep our room to keep the spiders and ants at bay.  Then, thanks to Jillian Michael’s 30-Day Shred, I do my work out in our clean room.  I packed hand weights in my suitcase so I can keep in some sort of shape here.   Tuesdays and Thursdays I have Spanish tutoring at 10:30 for two hours.  Each afternoon when I am at Brio I spend it eating lunch, studying Spanish, preparing food, and attempting to get on the internet.  Once a week I go into the small town of Gigante and enjoy a lunch at a Gringo internet café called Party Wave.  They have the most Americanized versions of wraps, sandwiches, smoothies and a few baked goods.  There I sit, eat and read by the ocean, or sometimes I am able to get up to the pool at our hotel to catch a few rays for a couple of hours.   Once a week Anthony and I often go down to the ocean to take a swim, watch the sunset or eat a Nica-style dinner at a local restaurant.  Saturdays I clean our only set of sheets and towels and clean our room, which is usually dirty because of the dust and open windows.  We do wear flip flops in our room all the time to try and help keep the dirt level down.  Sundays is more of our day of rest and we sleep in a little, have church and a focused time on prayer and scripture and then Spanish lessons in the afternoon. 

Every meal requires us to heat up purified water using the microwave in order to sterilize/disinfect our vegetables and also our cooking materials both before and at the end of our meals.   We do have our own place settings, bowls, a knife, and one pan, but if we need anything else we use what is provided in the kitchen- which is sometimes very dirty and always needs to be disinfected beforehand.  There is not hot water from the tap and it can’t be trusted to clean food let or drink so really the microwave has been a lifesaver for heating up water and killing germs!  The resort provides large bottles of purified water for the workers to use for cooking and drinking; however, we do run out at times and it is Anthony always reminds the front desk at the resort to bring us some more water.  So you can imagine at times I feel the need to conserve water and don’t drink as much as I need to.  Dinners take the most preparation time because they are more involved and we sometimes have to wait in line to use the stove.  We try and use dinner time to socialize with our hotel mates, practice Spanish with our friends, and learn about Nicaragua.  I brought a few card games and we have introduced Phase 10 to some of the staff.  It’s pretty fun (and a bit hilarious) playing it in two different languages as you can probably imagine.   After dinner, we are typically extremely exhausted from the day, and it’s time for my favorite activity.  A shower!  Thank goodness we do have hot water for our showers, but we often shower with cool water because of the heat and humidity. We often read before bed or watch a movie or an episode of Dr. Quinn on the weekends (special thanks to my friend Becky Stowers). Then it’s usually lights out for us around 9:30pm which often feels late since the sun sets around 5:15pm. 

Several times a week we walk into Gigante to buy our dairy products and buy fish (as a sidenote I can’t wait to have good dairy again).  The yogurt here is decent, but the milk is thin, tastes funny, and goes bad quickly.  Occasionally we can get a block of imported American cheddar (for a hefty price of course), but most the time the only cheese available is the local “squeaky cheese,”  which is a white feta consistency substance that makes a squeak noise when you chew it, but I digress J  Anthony has built some rapport with a local fisherman and we buy mahi, mahi, mackerel, and snapper for a great price.  We also try to catch the “Barrata” which is a truck that goes down the road in the early morning or afternoon with a loud speaker blaring the daily deals and the farm fresh fruits and vegetables it has available.  Many of the locals and even restaurants in Gigante buy from the truck. When Anthony and I hear it we drop what we are doing, scramble to get our money and grocery bag and run down the gravel hill to the road to wave down the truck before it passes us by- which I’m sure it’s a funny sight to see.  One time we missed it and literally jogged all the way to Gigante to catch it just in time before it headed north up the coast.   It’s the only way we can have fruits and vegetables throughout the week.  Supposedly, the Barrata is supposed to come Wednesdays and Saturdays, but it can come any day or not at all.  Often the little store in Gigante does not have fresh produce or it has produce but it is old and rotting. 

Our little fridge full of food we just purchased from the Barrata!

 

Last but not least every two weeks or so we catch a ride to Rivas with Aqua staff members to do our supermarket shopping.  I enjoy going to Rivas, because I have a chance to get out and about, but it is exhausting and requires the whole day.  Most of the time we squeeze in with several others in an air-conditioned vehicle and make the 45 minute drive up and down the extremely rough terrain.  We drop off staff members at their homes and then make various stops throughout the town of Rivas for people’s shopping needs.  At the edge of town is “Maxi-Pali,” a small supermarket where I find the shopping experience to be quite comical.  I hear old school music from the United States (Brian Adams is common) as I patrol the aisles. At check out the grumpy cashier (which is common at most grocery stores I suppose) literally tosses our food in a cart while we beg to get more plastic bags (we have to bag the groceries ourselves and the cashier controls the bags).  On the way out of town we stop at the local fruit and vegetable stands to buy the really good and cheaper produce. 

It took us weeks to figure all this out.  In retrospect it’s quite amazing to see how far we’ve come in learning the ropes of living in the jungle in a third world country.  Anthony and I have had to learn to adapt, be flexible and go without.  We plan as much as we can, but most times we have no control over things and we often have to stop what we are doing  and jump on an opportunity to get food or catch a ride, for example, if it presents itself.  Living in Nicaragua has made me appreciate a very long list of everyday things we take for granted in America.

Speaking of all this food is making me a bit hungry…one thing for sure is that I can’t wait to have a good salad and deli sandwich when I get home!