Since I’ve been so bad at keeping everyone up to date on
what’s been going on since the last blog, I’ll give you a brief update on what
we’re currently doing. Then, I’ve decided to post an update on each one of the
past few months – one month every few days this week. So before I get writing
about what’s to come in the future, let me update you on what’s happening now,
as well as the past few months.
Right now,
Erinn is hammering away with work, teaching two classes at NCA and coming home
to hours of freelance work each day. It’s a blessing that the freelance work is
coming in because money has been tight, but it’s really tough on us because the
work burden is almost completely falling on Erinn’s shoulders. While I have
only had some sporadic freelance assignments, work for Erinn has been streaming
in pretty consistently since Christmas. While we’re grateful for the work, we
definitely wish some of that load could be shifted over to me. Hopefully things
will turn, and this imbalance will only be short-term.
Other than that, we feel that we are at a crossroads here
that we will be sharing with you in the coming week or two. Just remember to
keep us in your prayers.
For now, here’s the past-due update on:
November:
It was pretty mild to begin with, but it was as if the rainy
season switch was suddenly turned off in November. It dried up and the breezes
pick up. Beautiful.
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| Some of the kids in Acahualinca. |
We continued to visit the feeding center and help out with
the kids’ program in Acahualinca, near the dump. We also made a visit to
Granada where we sometimes visit the dump for a Bible Study and feeding
program. That trip was far from routine after some problems we encountered, which
I’ll describe below. These are some of the memorable moments from November:
30 Hour Famine:
During the first weekend of November, Julia, Nate, and I were among the NCA
students and adult leaders that took part in fasting for 30 hours to pray and
raise money for World Vision’s aid to Afghanistan. It was a difficult and
fulfilling retreat where we saw a lot of spiritual growth.
Josh Arrives: The
same day that the 30 Hour Famine began, Erinn’s youngest sibling, Josh, arrived
in Managua for the beginning of a 3 month visit, that is now in its fourth
month…and counting. Josh came down to really experience Nicaragua, immersing
himself in the culture and language. Though he visits us occasionally, we
dropped him off in San Juan del Sur about a week after his arrival, where he has
spent the majority of his time here at language school. San Juan del Sur is a
beautiful Pacific beach town about a mile from where Survivor Nicaragua was
filmed. It’s been amazing having him here, sharing part of our life here
together.
Car Accident: On
the morning trip to Granada to help out at the dump, we were driving through
the narrow, somewhat chaotic streets of the city when we began to cross an
intersection and got hit from the side by a pickup truck. In Nicaragua, after
an accident, the vehicles are required to stop where ever they come to rest,
despite what that may do to traffic, so that the police can get a better
understanding of what happened. So, I stopped just through the intersection,
and everyone was okay, but the van sliding door was pretty messed up. The guy
driving the truck was okay too, and quite friendly given the circumstances. You
see, unknown to me, I ran a stop sign. Not any ordinary stop sign, but a sort
of phantom stop sign. One was supposed to be there, but it wasn’t. There was
just a small hole in the sidewalk where the stop sign should be. Take a look:
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| See that dark gray patch of concrete? That's where the stop sign should be. |
I called my friend Mario who leads the Bible Study program
at the dump and he rushed over to give me some translation help. The officer
who came to the scene was really nice too, contrary to what I’ve heard, and
even complimented me on my Spanish (That rarely happens, trust me!) All in all,
no ticket was given at that time because of the sign situation. I was just
supposed to appear at the police station to officially exchange insurance info
with the other driver. Well, when I showed up at my appointment there the following
week, they wrote me a ticket for running a stop sign anyway. How could I be
that upset though? It was a $25 fine and nobody was hurt or angry, and the
damage was relatively minor (The van could still be driven). It eventually was
fixed up for a fraction of what it would have been in the US (Thanks to some
generous friends!)
Erinn’s Birthday:
Erinn celebrated her 29th birthday this past November ;). We
celebrated with a movie. As a bonus, when we got home, we saw our first
tarantula in the house. And thankfully, the only one…so far.
Changed our look:
Normally this wouldn’t be noteworthy, but considering how long it had been - Nate
and I each got haircuts. Some would say they were way overdue (like a year for
me).
The NCA Talent Show:
So many talented students. Nate performed two acts – he played his cajon drum in a band that a few kids in the neighborhood put together, and he did his well-known
cover of Brian Regan’s stand-up comedy.
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| The Colonia Becklin Band |
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| Nate doing his comedy act |
Spanish Class: I
finished up my first 5 week session of Spanish (2 classes a week/3.5 hours each
class)
So, that’s November in a nutshell. I’ll tell you about
December in a day or two.
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