As we were in Diriamba, away from our American contacts, we found ourselves under the command of only Spanish speakers. A little intimidating and occasionally confusing, I got to be our translator. Boy, I am grateful for my study abroad to Chile and my last two months in Guatemala and Honduras!!
Here are a few shots from our month. . .
Dusty and me on the bus from Honduras to Nicaragua. We had to sit in the back near the bathroom. It was smelly, and we had to get creative to keep the stench away!! Thank God for the panda mask that I got in China for my birthday!!!!!!!
The city of Diriamba where we are living. The population is under 2,000.
The view right outside our bedroom door at Quinta Esperanza. Beautifully calming.
A World Racers bed in Nicaragua! I knew I'd finally get to use my mosquito net!!
A street boy made these for us from a reed.
We regularly saw this small head peeping into our door. Gustavo Enrique.
Here he is in full view! With his twin, also named Gustavo. They are five years old.
The children would usually run to meet us at the gate whenever we returned from an outing. It was so sweet! Here they are with Kristen after her birthday outing!
Maria Elena, my favorite 3 year old. We would often have long talks in Spanish in the morning, though many times I couldn't understand her, and when I could, she was usually scolding me for stepping on the floor with my shoes after it had just been cleaned!
Sweeping the porch.
Walking the kids to school.
Sunday morning children's program. We were playing a game where they called out a letter and our team had to create the letter with our bodies.
Little Gustavo, stealing my glasses for a photo!
Nicaraguans throw the best birthday parties! They like to go all out!! Both Jessica and Kristen got to celebrate their birthdays this month.
Sammy. I spent most of my time working with him. Our contacts had informed me that he was experiencing what sounded like a lot of emotional/behavioral issues that were disrupting him time at school. Luckily, I have my teaching license in that, right?!
The Gustavo twins at our beach ministry day. Baptisms in the ocean, worship under the stars, it was an incredibly blessed night!!!!!
He's so silly! We love him!!
Our cook, Rena. She's so good to us!!
Our contact, Glenn, an awesome believing Jew from the tribe of Levi. His words are still sticking with me!
A lake in the crater of a volcano. The water was warm like a bath, MmMmmm. . . .
Our Nicaraguan 4th of July celebration! You can take the girls outta America, but you can't take the American outta the girls!!
We created our own little firework show. Might be a good idea for all of you pushin' through the drought!
Burgers and Fries for our American holiday! Now, that's a burger and fry flag!!! Go us!!
