We made it to Managua, Nicaragua! Our day began at 4 am in Nampa and now, three long flights and many laughs later, we are finally here! Mostly our travels were uneventful; however there are a few things worth pointing out. To begin our trip there was a little issue with Kenton making it through security in Boise; they stopped him for having more than three ounces of water. Given the unlikely possibility that Kenton was attempting to be a terrorist, he must have only been testing the security to be sure it was on top of its game in keeping the airport safe for us. After dumping his water bottle, Kenton went back through security again and joined us on the other side. From Boise we had a short flight to Salt Lake where we would meet our connecting flight to Atlanta. I had anticipated taking in some sleep on this first flight, however, sitting next to Jeb was far too entertaining to pass up; we had quite the time going through the safety guide and discussing all of the protocol and necessary measures in the event of a crash. Once we made it to Atlanta there was plenty of time to get something to eat before we got on the plane to Nicaragua. It was nice to have such a relaxing day in the airports and be able to use the time to get to know more about my teammates. As we were preparing to land in Managua, it finally hit me that this was all really happening. For the next week our team would be in another country (a brand new experience for some of us) and would have the opportunity to serve people that otherwise we may never have known about, or possibly even cared about.
Before we could officially enter Nicaragua, it was necessary that we go through customs. We all made it through easily and received the Nicaragua stamp in our passports! Big glass windows at baggage claim showed huge crowds of people waiting outside, literally pressed up against the windows. We retrieved our luggage and, because of the large size of our group, the security let us leave without even scanning our suitcases. After making it through the dense crowd we stopped near a car rental place where Eliezel was waiting. Eliezel is the Work and Witness coordinator for the southern Mexico and Central American region (MAC south). He is employed by the Church of the Nazarene to assist teams doing work in Panama, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua. We were blessed and privileged to have him with us for the entire week as a translator, tour guide, and member of the team.
We continued to wait outside the car rental booth until we realized that Kenton was missing. To keep people from getting too bored and anxious during the long wait, Jeb pulled out the camera and interview people on what happened to Kenton. The best story we could come up with was that security guards ambushed him and hauled him out to a Nicaraguan prison. Note to self: young adults are almost creative to a fault.
Soon Kenton showed up with a rented van that we loaded up only to cross the street to our hotel. As we unloaded our bags from the van a few men showed up and were very eager to help us unload and carry our bags into the hotel. At first I thought this was a nice gesture indicating great hotel service, but we quickly learned that it was not free. Although he had only carried about half a dozen of our bags through the door way, one man in particular was very persistent in harassing us for more than his fair share of a tip. I was pretty oblivious to the situation until he approached me expecting a dollar, which I did not have. Thankfully Joanna stepped in and tipped him for me. However, as all of this was happening, Mike and Tyson stepped in because they both (and maybe even more of our group) had already given him a dollar. I was so relieved when they got him to leave.
After being checked in we headed off to our rooms. The hotel that we stayed at was fairly nice; Eliezel encouraged us to enjoy all of its luxuries (showers, toilets, beds, and air conditioning) as we did not know at this point what to expect in Jinotega.
The dinner experience at the hotel was unforgettable! To begin with, it was my lucky day! I found two dollars in a puddle of water near our table. I hardly ever find money at home, but what are the chances of finding two U.S. dollars lying on the ground in another country?
Besides my good fortune, there were several things that clearly set this meal apart from any of my previous experiences. Because we had decided to eat outside, we had several animal guests during our meal. There were bats flying around by the pool as we ate; this was really interesting to me as bats are not something that we typically encounter in the Northwest, especially at outdoor hotel restaurants. While the bats were not overwhelmingly bothersome, our other visitors were. We had two black cats that were desperate to join our meal as they persistently walked around the table begging for food. Appearing to be only black sacks of bones, the cats were obviously starving and probably diseased with many parasites and fleas. We resolved that the best thing would be to ignore the cats as feeding them would probably only evoke more begging. However, one cat needed no encouragement at all and attempted to jump up on the table between Joanna and me! Joanna, disliking cats to start with, screamed in fear of the intrusive feline. Amy, on her other side, placed her hand on Joanna’s shoulder to console her but actually scared her all over again. She screamed again because she thought it was the other cat jumping on her from behind. We laughed and enjoyed the entertainment, though I don’t think Joanna found the humor in it. The cats did not get anyone’s food though and eventually left us alone.
Joanna and Amanda introduced many of us to our first taste of platanos: cooked bananas that are very traditional in Central America. Joanna showed me how to make a sandwich with beans and a piece of fried cheese between two slices of fried platanos. It was pretty tasty!
Before going to bed we regrouped in the hotel lobby where Kenton gave us the scope of what the plan was for tomorrow: we get to sleep in a little and have the hotel’s continental breakfast in the morning. We would then take a quick tour of Managua and then make the 3 hour drive to Jinotega before lunch. Also, Eliezel shared his excitement in being a part of this group and the great work that God was going to do through us. I’m really looking forward to everything that he will be able to share with us this week; it is already apparent that he will be bringing a lot of focus to our trip. Hopefully everyone will get a good night’s rest and no one will be sick from the food in the morning!
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