Fútbol: km 53 vs Redimidos por Cristo

This weekend was packed, but brilliant. On Saturday the monthly Latin Link meeting was held at my house and my family all chipped in to make the team feel welcome and full of food. Good times; sharing, listening, worshipping, praying, laughing together. Kat and Joel stayed on a night to prolong the fun and it was great to be able to take them along to the youth service at church and to have more time to chat and reflect.

On Sunday morning I took the youth Bible study at church. I have done this before but normally only when asked at the last moment; being the "missionary girl" it is expected that I will be able to lead a Bible discussion with no prep, this time I was a bit more ready. I have previously felt that I have not been able to connect that well with the young people that come along; there is a range from 15 to 25 and I haven't totally got to grips with Nica youth culture yet (I think that is hard in any country). Also, most of them do not open their Bibles regularly, if at all, so in order to study together, and not just give a talk, I need to start from the beginning.

But - this week, we connected! I felt like I was being listened to and understood rather than having the sense that I was talking to a group whose minds were wandering off elsewhere...I set as challenge of reading and reflecting on passages in small groups and although I got few of the answers I hoped for, Bibles were opened and read and some attempt was made to understand the text even if on a very surface level. Recognition on faces is the best kind of feedback.

Equipo 53

There was also the chance to continue to build relationships with these youngsters at a football match between two of the cell groups (weekly Bible study groups) held in the Sunday sun. My cell group, youngsters from a small community outside Jinotepe at km 53 hosted a cell group which meets in the city. My team lost 0-3 but I enjoyed to chance to chat to all of the guys that took part, to hang out with them and to get to know a bit more about their lives. I kind of felt like a teenager again; good and bad, but I am finally working out how to engage with young people here.

This Sunday made me really, very happy.

Redimidos X Cristo: los ganadores (ésta vez)

Vienen ya días de amar la casa que habitas

These words form the first line of Días de Amar by Nicaraguan group, Duo Guardabarranco, a song which is known by almost every Nica. The translation is "Days are coming to love the house in which you live".

I have fallen in love with Nicaragua. I find it very easy to live here, I enjoy the way life goes along, I enjoy the way people interact and I see beauty every day in the landscape, both urban and rural, and in the people here. I feel accepted and accepting. I feel like a part of me has turned Nica.

It is very pleasant to have reached that point, but it also means that when I look and see injustice, poverty or destruction, which is so easy to find in Nicaragua, it is even more poignant. Días de Amar is very much a reflective song. It goes on to say "in the world so much is wrong; that man assaults his fellow man, that man assaults animals, assaults plants"...it sounds very beautiful in its original Spanish (the link above is worth a listen) and definitley less so in crudely translated English, but you get the idea. At the moment it seems like we do not love the house in which we live. I only have to think of the piles of plastic waste that often frame a beautiful Nicaraguan view to be reminded of this.

I spent two days this week at a conference for farmers and those involved in community development work on Biblical Principals of Agricultural Development. At first, I wasn't really sure whether I would gain much from this set of seminars, considering that I am rarely directly involved in agricultural practice, but in fact I have come away with many thoughts. I have been reminded that to farm the land is one of the most blessed occupations there is; fundamental to human life, it finds its roots right back at the beginning of Genesis when God puts animal and plant life under the care and dominion of human beings. It is a sacred profession, a calling, which carries the privilege of experiencing the abundance and diversity of creation but which also sees the sharp end of a broken creation. In Nicaragua I am struck by the huge variety and abundance of fruit in the market but at the same time I work in communities where this year there are barely enough seeds to plant for the next crop.

I am reminded that if we are working to try and improve the ways in which small time farmers "...love the house in which they live"; finding alternatives to chemical pest control, promoting crop diversification, implementing seed banks, this cannot be separated from the need to reconcile relations with God, the creator, the first farmer. I am also reminded that it is my responsibility too. I cannot expect rural communities to better care for their land without challenging myself to practically care for creation. It's a tough one, we talk about it frequently; environmental damage versus a desirable lifestyle but I cannot ignore the call to protect the beautiful house in which I live, and for the moment that is most specifially, Nicaragua.

"Vienen ya bosques pulmones de la grand cuidad

Selvas que aroman en la oscuridad, noches de paz"

Everto, a farmer and member of the Banco de Tierra project, sporting a t-shirt that says "King's Lynn: The Borough Council of King's Lynn and West Norfolk..."

Just another one of the wonders of Nicaragua.

The safest place to park your car: in the living room.

Una brigada: sharing the vision

This year San Lucas will be visited by various brigadas; groups of volunteers who come for a few days to share in some of the work that we are involved in. In general this has a very practical component - the teams are ready and willing to get their hands dirty and contribute to building work, medical provision or agriculture. Last week the group, from a seminary in Canada, that we hosted at the land bank project (Banco de Tierra) had the tasks of...

...planting trees...

...and harvesting maize.

But, the hope is always that through this practical work there is also the opportunity to share in San Lucas' vision for the rural communities around Jinotepe in Nicaragua and to get alongside the people with whom we work; understanding more of their lives, their difficulties and the solutions we are jointly implementing. We hope to communicate the need for auto-sufficiency and sustainability, the desire for transforming change, the need to empower the powerless, to stand up for the rights of the most opressed and to help communities to understand and protect themselves from the risks they face.

It is also great to be able to share as Christians; San Lucas, Christians in the communities and visting groups together. To pray, to worship and to encourage each other, seeking God's will for our work and seeking his heart for the people we serve.

Postscript: the tortilla making process. San Lucas in the kitchen.

Gabriella refining milled maize

Juan Carlos pressing out a tortilla

my tortilla on the fire...not the best of efforts as it wasn't flat...

Costa Rica...the beach, a hot shower and plenty of fruit juice

It is quite easy to be in Nicaragua for 3 months without any problem but after that time is up you have to leave the country and re-enter to get more time on you "visa". So...with this excuse Kat, Eli, Eva (other girls working with Latin Link in Nicaragua) and I headed to the beach in Costa Rica for a few days holiday. It was a good time to relax, get some sun (although that is never generally a problem), swim in the sea, chat (four girls sharing a cabina...plenty of chatting), read and generally prepare for the return to work in January.

Costa Rica is a much wealthier country than Nicaragua and as we spent time mainly in the city and at touristy beaches it really showed. Buses are large and run to well known timetables, supermarkets stock everything you could possibly want to buy, the majority of veihicles on the road are well kept, shiny pickups or metered taxis. However, this does mean everything is pricier than we have become accustomed to and twenty dollar notes seemed not to last very long.

It was also interesting to get the Costa Rican perspective on the situation in Nicaragua and on some of the recent news stories in the region. Ticos (Costa Ricans) often look down on their poorer neighbours, from where much of the lowest level of their workforce comes. Many Nicas go over the border to find jobs labouring on building sites or working in hotels or as domestics in wealthy homes. They are generally willing to work for lower wages than a Tico would accept and Nicas would argue that they work harder and more diligently than any Tico. Nicaragua and Costa Rica are at the moment in the middle of an "argument" over the river that separates the two countries. Nica news is full of how the Ticos are stealing the river water and want to invade and take land that they covet on the Nica side. Costa Rican news is more focused on the fact that Nicaragua is cutting a canal through protected rainforest on the Tico side of the river. Indeed an international ruling has already reprimanded Nicaraga for this though they fail to recognise it. There is more to the case for both sides, not helped by the upcoming elections in Nicaragua making things even more political, but I feel I at least now hold a more balanced view.

Oh, and yes, that is Bethlehem cheese in a bag.

¡Feliz Año Nuevo!

Apologies for not having posted anything for such a tlong time now. Firstly I got ill with dengue (the classic, not the fatal variety for anyone wishing to look it up) and then holidays have meant less access to the internet.
Many people have asked my how we celebrated Christmas here. We pretty much didn't. There was a moderate amount of the familiar Christmassy advertising, the comercialed, westernised kind on television and to a certain extent in shops and market stalls in the city centre but compared to the UK almost nothing. My church does not celebrate Christmas, as Christ was clearly not born in December and because most of the Christmas traditions that are well known have become disconnected with the nativity story, they feel it is not appropriate to participate. My Nica family had a sort of special dinner on the night of the 24th and my sisters gave me a gift of (expensive) apples but I did miss Christmas at home a wee bit!

New Year however was much more exciting! At church we had special services thanking God for the year that has pst and looking forward to the new. Every group I am part of had a "despedida" or goodbye at the end of December so I have eaten many shared meals, barbequed meat, tortillas and ice cream! On the 31st my family held a sort of midnight fireworks party including burning a straw man representative of the old year which we had dressed up and sat outside our house earlier in the day. There was a lot of explosives...and the young men seenmm to have no fear in throwing exploding things around in the street as the women squeal and run away but it was great fun. I was quite relieved to have celebrated well as I think itf both Christmas and New Year had passed unoticed I would have been sad. There was also time whilst waiting for midnight for some Scottich country dancing, a good taste of home, and highly amusing for everyone involved.

El muñeco del año viejo
The end of the muñeco and my cousin Josef with fireworks...
Dancing with tío Cesar

New Year's day - to a river to swim and sun ourselves.

Plenty of pics...the lighter side of life

This post is really just an excuse to upload some pictures from the past couple of weeks, I will make little attempt to give any particularly deep reflections!

Rest stop...

Team Fundación San Lucas chill out in our room for the night

At the end of November there was a cycle tour to Chacocente, a coastal reserve created to protect the highly endangered turtles who come to lay their eggs there. Many turtles return to Nicaragua's coasts every year to make their nests, but both turtle meat and turtle eggs are still considered by some to be delicacies worth breaking the law for, so reserves like this are important to keep numbers up.

Sadly we only managed to see one turtle as she returned to the sea after laying her eggs...grainy image due to it being around midnight.

Every month we have a Latin Link Nicaragua Team meeting to chat to and pray for each other, share a Bible study and maybe do something touristy. December's meeting was held at Managua zoo. Note Kat's sad zoo face as an indication of some of the cage conditions...

Yesterday was a national holiday for the Purisima; the conception of Christ. Nicaraguans queue to pay tributes of food to shrines of Mary erected in the streets. Although as Evangelical Protestants we did not celebrate with the Catholic majority it was a good chance to take a trip to the beach...

La Boquita beach
Horse riding! Note the gradient of tanning on my leg...

One more thing...you might like to see a couple of pictures of our "venta" or shop. My mama calls it our supermarket, but that kind of depends on the fluctuating stock levels.

Buying eggs

Helping in the shop

Becoming more Nica

I have been reflecting lately that this year is less of a year out of the usual uni-work transition and more of a year in Nicaragua. I am already very much attached to life and people here and sometimes life in the UK seems too distant and distinct to think about properly.

Some of the ways I have been learning to be more Nica perhaps seem a little trivial. Nica muchachas (young women) always carry body spray and a flannel to combat the effects of sweat, they almost always wear their hair up because of the heat, they take great care of their choice of shoes, especially for church. I have also learnt to apply eyeliner and have experimented with straightening my hair...though perhaps most British women already possess these skills!

However, some of the reflections I have made on life here go a little deeper. The pace of life is so much slower; I walk more slowly (especially through the crowded market streets), I must take into account time needed for travelling in an over-full mini bus, I cannot expect something I am working on to be completed as fast as it might be in the UK, I must expect that tomorrow, or next week, is sufficient, I have to wait. In fact, It spend a fair amount of my time waiting; waiting for a meeting or a church service to start, waiting for my sisters to get ready, waiting for my computer to open a large file, waiting for instructions on what to do next, waiting as a shopkeeper comes out from the back room to serve me and then has to return there to find me some change.

At times going slowly and having to wait irritates me, I am used to the fast pace of Cambridge, the two minutes to rush from one thing to the next. But I am learning that I do not have to wait impatiently. I rarely wait alone, and so waiting gives me time to talk to other people, to ask them questions and to enjoy their company. When I do wait alone I can use the time to update my diary, to text friends or to pray. In exploring the reasons for the waiting I am forced to take into account the priorities of others. In all this my own priorites change; what is more important in the use of my time - met targets or deepened relationships? worrying that I will be late or enjoying the moment?

There are of course limits...even Nicaraguans get annoyed when a meeting that was supposed to begin at 9am has not begun by eleven.

One other major challenge has been the value I place on my independence. In the UK, most young people aim to, at least in part, become independent from their parents by the age of 18. We move out of the house to go to uni, we make decisions without feeling the need to consult Mum & Dad, we strive to assert our freedom. In Nicaragua family is incredibly important. Young people mostly don't move out until they get married, and fathers, especially for girls, still have the ultimate say. Parents and children both contribute to the household but there is a definite, though loving, hierarchy. (N.B. In my church you are considered to be a young person until you are at least 30 or get married.)

Living back in this sort of context has made me feel really quite young again! But again, I am challenging my own values. How much do we lose out by deciding it is better to make our own way in the world as soon as possible? As a closing thought, I was recently given the advice that if I am looking for a husband I should take careful account of what relations are like with his family, if he has moved out of home this is not a good sign. Possibly this does not translate exactly to the UK!