Nicaragua : colourful buildings, friendly people and plenty of rain

It is winter in Nicaragua and in my first few days here I have become aware that this means, with absolute certainty, getting wet. It rains not only at night but periodically during the day and with such force that the rain in Scotland is comparably only ever a light shower! Postcards of Scotland have created quite an interesting discussion point, and everyone has agreed that it is a very beautiful country but questioned why we choose to paint our buildings such pale colours. There must be a good trade in paint here as buildings are all brightly coloured inside and out with shops distinguished by the adverts painted on thier frontage. Its a very cheerful sight!

It´s my fifth day here and I´m settling into Nicaraguan family life with my new Nica parents and siblings; Fatima, Clara and Lisbeth all live in the house and are around my age so it has already been great to get to know them and how life here works if you are a twenty-something girl. Emanuel and his heavily pregnant wife live next door and each house has ample land with pigs, chickens and fruit trees...I think there is also a family farm a bit further away on which my Papa and Emanuel work. I feel very blessed to be part of this family and they have already gone out of their way to make me feel welcome; even to the point of making me coffee without sugar which is almost painful for Nicaraguans to do!

I have been introduced to the family church (their building is painted bright orange) who received me very warmly. It is very active and each night something different happens. Yesterday I went along with Fatima to a Bible study group for some young people in a little town down the road and was encouraged to see the interest and attention they gave the topic. I will enjoy gettin to know these teenagers a bit more.

Nica spanish has put me rather to the test, my language is in general at a fairly good level but tuning into the Nica accent and local words is hard work. I often am left feeling a bit helpless in conversation, yesterday one of the teenagers even resorted to her few words of English to try to get the point accross. In time I will improve, for the moment I will accept that smiling, looking confused and laughing at myself are all very necessary.

Until soon -for now I´m off to buy an umbrella!