Catching up - December & January

 December:

Men’s Retreat: December got kicked off with a great weekend at Campo Alegria with guys from the ICF community.

Worship time at the Men's Retreat

It was a great time to build relationships, grow in our faith, and blow up watermelons launched from a trebuchet. 

Rivas Camp: Julia and I helped with a camp at Campo Alegria for the kids from the Rivas dump. As usual, we played, swam, and hung out with the kids from dawn to lights-out. We also taught English and crafts. It’s always so much fun seeing these kids enjoy their time there.

The kids arriving from Rivas

Desayunen

Fun in Lake Nicaragua

Surfing: We finally tried out surfing. I’m glad we did because it’s amazing, and has become a fun way for me and the boys to spend some time together.

Erinn’s Parents Visit: We had a full house at Christmas time, with Mom, Dad, and Josh all staying with us for the week from Christmas Eve to New Year’s Eve. It was an awesome time. We did a lot of things that we hadn’t tried yet here in Nicaragua. The highlight was going zip-lining as a family at Laguna de Tiscapa. Everyone did it despite any fears or anxieties. I’m especially proud of Sammy who was pretty terrified before he was sent zipping down the line.

Meeting Distant Tefels: Okay, so Erinn has studied her family history, probably a lot more than most people. Well, there is a bit of Nicaraguan family history that is explained here: http://www.izzosinnica.blogspot.com/2012/06/for-month-of-june.html

In fact, we even got to meet a couple of Erinn’s extremely distant cousins in Granada back in 2011. Anyway, on the way into Campo Alegria, there is a large sugar cane plantation that we must pass through to get to the lakefront camp property. (This is related to the Tefels, I promise). We’ve been through this huge farm many times. Well, Peter Willard, who started the camp, was invited to a dinner hosted by the plantation owners a while back, and he noticed that the owner’s last name was  Fernandez Tefel. Knowing about Erinn’s family history, Peter said to him that he had to meet Erinn, and that they must be related. So he passed along his number.

Forward to the final week of 2012: With the family visiting, it seemed like a perfect time to get together with this possible relative. So we met Gabriel and his mother, Gloria, for lunch and compared family history. It turns out that, Erinn and Gloria are fourth cousins. The family who owns the plantation in Nicaragua that we had been through a number of times over several years just happens to be family! But wait, it gets better. The family, like many, moved during the Sandinista Revolution, when Gabriel was very young. It turns out that they settled in Towson, Maryland –only about 30 minutes from our home in Maryland – and moved back to Nicaragua about the same time that we moved to Maryland. Weird.

Christmas and New Year’s: Did I mention that Nicaraguans enjoy their firework?

January:

House of Hope Camp: Along with the Willards, we started the month by bringing a group of little girls from House of Hope to Campo Alegria for a few days. House of Hope takes in girls and women who have been trapped in lives of prostitution, and tries to help them reclaim their lives. To see these little girls playing and enjoying the camp after all that they have been through in their short lives was incredibly moving, but Erinn said it best when she posted, “It doesn't matter if you had a perfect childhood, or you've been through horrors. The giggle of a 9 year old playing in the waves is the same.”

Visiting Sucuyá: After many drives through the plantation, we finally got to pay an actual visit to the farm owned by Erinn’s relatives. It was a really good day, riding horses and getting to know Gabriel a little better. We got to get a good tour of the farm that mostly produces sugar cane, but also grows plantains, mangos, and some teak, among other crops. After lunch, we returned to Managua, but we hope to have Gabriel here for dinner soon.

An awesome day with family.

Julia starts school: After a semester of being a full-time online student, Julia started at NCA part-time (remaining online for the other part). Now all three kids are at NCA - Julia and Nate part-time, and Sammy full-time.

Costa Rica: When renewing a Nicaraguan Visa after 90 days, one merely has to go to the immigration office and pay some fees. After the second 90 days, the visitor is required to leave the country for a minimum of 72 hours. While many people told us we could probably get away with just going overnight, we didn’t want to take any chances. So booked a relatively cheap hotel and bought some bus tickets to Costa Rica. It was sort of cool to go to Costa Rica again, with the last time being on our honeymoon in 1998. At that time, it was the first country, other than Canada, that I had ever visited. Back then, we didn’t even need passports. We just brought our driver’s licenses and copies of our birth certificates. After 3 days, we were glad to return to Nicaragua. While Costa Rica was a bit more “American” in a lot of ways (including prices), we’ve found that we actually like some of the disorder that we experience here on a daily basis.

Spiritual Emphasis Day: At NCA, they provide all the 7^th-12^th grade students with a sort of youth retreat/convention with live worship, a keynote speakers, and breakout sessions with guest speakers. Erinn and I were asked to do one of the breakout sessions, and we were really happy to be a part of this day. As Casey Bonham sang, and I watched students respond to his music, I was overwhelmed with appreciation for both NCA and Mountain Christian School. I really do feel so privileged to have had my children attend these schools - not because they are private schools, but because they are Christian schools. Both schools aim to give an outstanding education while creating outstanding characters by putting academic and spiritual growth side by side.

Erinn and I got a chance to talk to students about what the Bible says about parents and how kids should respond when parents fail.

Pictures of NCA's Spiritual Emphasis Week
Pictures of NCA's Spiritual Emphasis Day