dear Jesus you can take everything i have…just please don’t leave my side.

well friends i can’t believe it’s already that time again but tomorrow morning at 4.30 i leave for Nicaragua again.  Sadly the flights to the states went up and not down so that delightful visit will have to wait.  God’s blessed me again with a travel buddy (our newest missionary Morgan is going to sacrifice her time and submit herself to 4 solid days of kayla…pobrecita) Anywho, we’re going to hit up Granada and hopefully have some fun!

So with this looming trip and the harsh reality that each day I'm getting closer and closer to my estimated head back to Canada time I've been getting quite upset.  The thought of going to back is not sitting well with me, between panic and denial – sometimes it doesn’t feel like it’s going to happen  “but kayla you have like five months left what’s your deal?!” GAH i know only fiiive months hahah.  I know God’s got me covered and whether i stay or go is HIS decision not mine, which is reassuring, but it’s hard when your heart is so entangled and attached (and no Grandma not romantically with the future father of your great-grandbabies). Okay so let me clarify before my mom creates a pool in our living room with her tears –don’t laugh she could do it!  It’s not that i don’t miss people back home but God’s got that covered and as I'm frolicking down his path (we’re holding hands too!) i just have peace that He’s taking care of everyone at home and voila! I'm good.  So case in point I’m not sure what God’s got up his sleeve but i feel like long term missions could be a serious possibility eeek how exciting!!!

Prayer (ahh YES PLEASE!!!)

*For a budget friendly trip up north, safety, REST, and obviously for us to have a suuper wonderful time.

*For God to throw some knowledge and wisdom on me;  help me to just focus on him and not on all the craziness that worry/anxiety brings.

*Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of [my] mouth, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.  Ephesians 4.29

* My friend, Francis, unexpectedly lost her aunt last week.  Also in that same family is a guy who would like to volunteer with us but his aunt doesn’t approve and kind of forbade him to come.  She’s a victim to the whole Caprio is disgusting, unsafe, and all the other racist generalizations that people come up with. He’s a pretty prime guy and we want his help so throw some prayers out for her heart to soften up.

 

 

so on top of the giant cockroach i decapitated    the other day LOOK what i killed just outside my room…I'm so brave!  …..modest too!!

my oh my its already july!

2 posts in 1 month!!!

look at me go heeeyo!  So i took a break from the  invasion of short term teams to take a quick overnight trip up to Monteverde with my host parents.  Once i allowed myself to loosen up and release some of the pressure that I've been burdening myself with it was super fun.  Yesterday we did like a 6km walk through the jungle forest and then this morning we went horseback riding – which is always an excellent time! . 

Lately I've been very stressed with work and the trials that come along mixing up different opinions, cultures, and ministry styles.  Needless to say there have been a few days where I've come home looking like death – not so becoming.

Death kayla aside God has actually been doing some pretty splendid things lately, it’s funny but when I'm in it i don’t always realize the blessing that is before me.  But once i make the choice to step back and appreciate what’s been going then i get pretty psyched!

Okay so last week i got super convicted about not keeping up my musical side.  I used to play guitar and bass but then once high school was done i kinda dropped both.  Lame i know because if I'd kept it up I'd probably be pretty legit so after beating myself up for a few days i was finally like “excuse me kayla, you’re not dead you can try again” how exciting!  So one of my students likes singing, so I've been practicing 2 songs with her one being ‘Our God’ by Chris Tomlin so i told her that i would learn the song on the guitar, she could sing and i would record it.  So I got the chords and I've practiced 2 times! Downside my fingers hurt but instead of wallowing in my suckyness I'm taking action.

We’ve started a new kids club in Carpio to reach out to another area of the community (to the left is the house that we do it in).  The first week we got 22 kids (it was vacation break) and then last week we got 11.  It’s going really well, the kids are SO fun and i get to work with Sarita who is, simply put,  top notch.  I’m always excited when i get to work alongside Susi and/or Sarita because they are filled with so much knowledge and wisdom PLUS they remind me of my grandma whom i love.

On Saturday i was asked to be the official assistant coach of the girls soccer team, they need my passport and everything.  Up until now i was just a co-trainer behind the scenes but NOW i get to pay 700 colones (like $1.50), give them a mug shot and a copy of my passport.  I’m moving up! AND!  I started opening and ending each practice with a time of prayer and it’s been going really well.  I think we’re building a better connection and I'm feeling like they see me more like a friend than an evil gringa sent to torture them. Yay!

Lastly, i can’t believe it’s almost already been 3 months since the wedding but visa trip time is coming up quickly.  I’ve been invited to go to Atlanta (and stay with a friend whom i met here last year) and hit up Florida a second time (to actually spend some quality time with Thes and Jt).  Up until last week the prices had been pretty steady but this week they soared up so I'm praying they drop again so that I can afford to go.

Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.  Hebrews 11.1

oh june…

risky business!

will i risk loving and pouring myself into someone for years even though they won’t change?

will i risk being alone?

                         will i risk being uncomfortable?

                                                                                                  will i risk losing my plans?

What does it really mean to live life through faith?

These are all questions I've asked myself over the past month.  God is looking for me to trust Him.  He’s looking for me to be risky...daring me to walk in, at times blind, faith.  God risks so much by loving me just so that i can truly understand what it means to choose love.  What a guy!!

oh man i feel like its been forever since i updated the internet on my goings on.  This past month has been intense, God has been stretching, moulding, and tweaking… man some days it really hurts.  However!  Its pretty exciting because i know that he’s just making me more like him – if we were a celebrity couple our name would be Jeyla mm or Kasus!  Faith is a funny thing and i never really realized but you can have areas in your life where you faith is stronger/weaker, i kind of always thought it was more like a blanket over everything.  It is so scary to literally give God FULL control over every detail.  It’s easy to say that i give him everything but lately I’ve realized that I've been hoarding some areas.  He asks for them but i have such an intense hold on them it’s been reeeally hard to pry my fingers off to release the death grip. *sigh How embarrassing!  Thank goodness for grace!

Praise!!!

> Francisca (a student of mine) has 3 young girls and a few weeks back asked me how to raiser her girls to be more like me.  I got to share some of my testimony about how i grew up and why i made the choice to abstain from those actions that produce babies.  It was so exciting she was amazed that you could actually teach abstinence haha score!

> A few weeks back one of my wonderful students, Mireya, told me that when she is with me she feels like she’s with Jesus *jaw drop! WHAAT?!! i was so flabbergasted all i could say was “I'm not Jesus!” oh man that was like the biggest compliment i think that can ever be paid…i get goose bumps just thinking about it now! SO PRIME!!! She also invited me to her house where she set the table and oh it was so cute we played skip-bo ate fried chicken, she made a flan, and made me a fancy basket.  I felt so special and important.

> We got to take about 15 boys to camp out in the jungle!!! I saw an armadillo, frog, random monkey, weird bugs.  I of course did some serious cooking, slept on two wooden benches and amazed the crowd with my crazy song writing skills!  Needless to say the leaders team won the cheer off thanks to my rendition of Shakira’s Wakka Wakka mixed with my friend Chio’s fancy dance moves.

>So everyday I pass a bunch of homeless people throughout my journey.  Maybe a month or 2 ago God was really pressing in on me. I really wanted to help them, i thought to myself that maybe i would make some sandwiches and go out and spend some time with them.  Realizing that while that plan was lovely it was incredibly unsafe so i connected myself up with our homeless ministry.  I’ve gone out a few times and seriously its been super wonderful.  There have been so many crazy stories – i met a guy who used to live in Vancouver (he gave me graphic details on how his friend used to get drugs smuggled into jail for him – i could’ve passed on that) but it was really neat.  I also met the self proclaimed anti-Christ and I am now acquainted with the transvestite whom i used to admire while walking to the bus!!!  Anyways I’m so pumped because i get to spend more time with another missionary Don Horacio and seriously this guy is so prime! He has incredible insight and his faith and testimony is so encouraging. When I'm not doing cooking on saturdays in our Carpio ministry I've been going out to another poorer area and helping out with a kids club there.  AND! Don Horacio has some daughters and one is my new friend…her and i went roller skating at the local roller rink (yes like Stardust!) and while it was a very blunt lesson in humility as i looked like a complete idiot the entire time i decided to instead focus on the fact that i now have a new friend who is my age AND lives really close to me – walking distance close!!!!

>My mom sent me literally a TON of candy!!!!!! including swedish berries eeeek!

Prayer!!!

My mom literally sent me a TON of candy… my tummy hurts…

4 people died from lightning strikes a few weeks ago.  2 of them happened in the main park (La Sabana).  When it started storming many of the players called it quits but these 2 guys and others kept playing because they had a bet on the game.

Today in kids club one of our older girls (i think she’s in grade 6) told us how some girls in her class had, in their school’s library, cut themselves and sucked each others blood in order to commit themselves to Satan.  Later that evening they both manifested demons.  They had invited her to join in with them, even though she said no she still stayed and watched.  She’s pretty shaken up.

I have been struggling with focusing too much on what i don’t have (characteristics, faith, qualities, etc.).  Too occupied with my weaknesses when I need to be preoccupied with Jesus and how super delightful he is.

This seems silly for me to write out but it’s actually had quite the effect on my life.  My runners keep chaffing the inside of my heels making it really painful to walk let alone exercise.  I’ve tried doubling up on socks, taping the area with blister band aids nothing seems to be helping.

Also please continue to pray for my safety (the gangs have been a little more feisty this past week) of course my Spanish and for my relationships to flourish, i mean heartily flourish!!!

Mireya got us friendship bracelets! heehee she’s so fun.

maypril!!!

So just a big ‘ol thank you to everyone who celebrated my birthday with me, it was a wonderful day and i really felt your love and support.  It is so encouraging to know that I've got such a strong support system around me, God has truly truly blessed me and I'm so grateful!

drenched in grace!

So I've been back from Florida for a week now – it’s crazy how quickly time has been flying by.  To wrap up Florida was excellent (bet you thought i was going to say prime…well tricked you fools! muahaha!)  mmm Anyways…

I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Pensacola, it was an intense week to say the least, i don’t know what else could’ve been crammed in.  I don’t even really have a highlight because so many wonderful things happened, it was a smorgasbord of delight!  I got to watch one of my best friends graduate college and then 2 days later was able to stand up for her and her new hubby!  Never having had been in any weddings up until this past December and then this one I gotta say they are not as glamorous as you imagine growing up.  Between all the random problems combined with heightened crazy emotions its a miracle everyone shows up somewhat on time looking alive!  Ah what a fun week it was! I made new friends, got to see old ones, my parents made an appearance – yes Jeff Chandler took 4 airplanes- that in itself is a miracle!  They took me on a dolphin cruise, we went to a fort, i saw a sting ray, i witnessed a legit block party (complete with ribs, bootylicious honeys struttin’ around in their bikinis, and of course the police..), went grocery shopping!  I had my fill of  ice cream, yummy Filipino cuisine, not to mention dominated an intense plate of nachos and top it off with a 3 tier keylime pie…which apparently stayed with me as when i got back one of my little friends comes up grabs a handful of my stomach and says “Whoa kayla WHAT were you eating you’re SO fat!!!!”  haha how does one respond to this? perhaps he should instead just say thank you because more squish would make my hugs even more amazing…

So in honour of my upcoming birthday (one week tomorrow) I've decided to put together 24 things to which i am grateful for.  God has blessed me beyond measure, guaranteed more than i am even aware of,  so as a homage to him for allowing me to stick around for a 24th year here we go…

1. Wonderful greetings and hugs! A few weeks back i was walking to open up the kitchen in Carpio and my friend Pate ran up behind me kicked out my feet from under me so i landed right on top of him and then he gave me a huge hug!  Did i almost pee on him from fear…of course, but super awesome none-the-less!

2. Irony So while on the dolphin cruise the captain asked me if i wanted to drive “I haven’t driven anything in months uh yes please!”  I assumed it was just for show and i wouldn’t actually have control but still a steering wheel is a steering wheel.  So i take the wheel and fling it to the right…and the boat takes a HARD right hahaha 

3. Loving notes/cards of encouragements I've got some seriously wonderful people in my life

4. Surprises! These speak for themselves

5. Being taken care of  When i was at the airport waiting to head out to Florida I'm standing in line waiting to check in, look over and spot an acquaintance of mine who just so happens to be on the same flight!  Random, yet absolutely perfect because then i didn’t have to wait alone, and my connecting time was less than a half hour in Houston and i was nervous as i had to pick up my bags and hit up customs and immigration but God used him to help me stay calm and i didn’t miss my flight! i fell up the stairs and had a bloody finger BUT i made my flight! success!

6. My host family they’re just so fun and I'm situated perfectly.

7. My blood parents oooh man it was SO excellent to see them, they’re growing up so fast, trying new things and being all crazy it was so refreshing! Not to mention they brought me presents and i do like those!

8. Candy *sigh how i love thee my wonderful delicious candy!

9. Random people like this boy who decided to whip out his dance moves on our dolphin cruise!

10.  Women in La Carpio.  This week i was helping translate for a super delightful group of nurses from NY.  At one station we were handing out antiviral pills.  Women who are breastfeeding cannot take them as the effects on the baby is unknown.  So this one woman is breastfeeding (boob out and everything, naturally) and i tell her she can’t take the pill because she is breastfeeding, so she does what anyone would do, rips the baby off her boob quickly pulls up her shirt and sticks out her hand…hahaha! Then i had to explain that it was not just in that moment but in general. This happened twice :)

11. Internet how else would i be able to share all the super prime things God’s got going on in my life with all of you!

12. Mangas just as delicious as a mango but 3 times bigger!

13. My Bible awww  how precious hahaha but for serious

14. The Japanese how else would i have been introduced to bento boxes!

15. Music of just about every variety!

16. The ability to openly share God’s love  When out with the team this mother came up to me wanting to know what she should do as her daughter has been sick for a really long time and nothing in the hospital or clinics was helping.  After telling her i wasn’t a nurse i told her that i couldn’t offer her any meds but i could pray for her daughter…she said yes with real big eyes and oh man it was prime!

17. Gallo Pinto mmm what’s not to love? rice.. beans..lizano.. el amor de mi mama…ooh so good!

18. Smiles!

19. Talking about boys and relationships with Tanya and Katie in Spanish haha i can’t even begin to explain how hilarious that conversation was

20. Grace how wonderful it is to know that through all my mistakes and screw ups that i can remain confident knowing i am safe and secure in the arms of my wonderful Saviour.

21. Grandma Chan  ahhh she’s so wonderful Grandpa is uber lucky.  For those of you who see my grandma please go up and give her 2 giant hugs…one from me and the other is for your own personal enjoyment!

22. Tresemme hair products don’t laugh i really am!  Its professional quality at an affordable price… not to mention it has an intoxicating aroma!…. i should be getting paid for this plug hahah

23. Costa Rica haha how could being here NOT make the list!

24. Friends!!!  “Two are better than one…if one falls down, [her] friend can help [her] up, but pity the [lady] who falls and has no one to help [her] up!  Ecclesiastes 4.10 

And i fall a LOT so it’s a good thing that God’s got my back with more than one friend!

 

Case in point i had a wonderful time in Florida and am super hopeful that this upcoming year is gona knock last year out of the water!

For those of you who are praying along side me, THANK YOU so much! It is extremely appreciated. 

I’ve been really taken with Ephesians 4 I’m praying that i will be able to uphold the examples it sets of building up the body of Christ through gentleness, patience, and love.

Also my Spanish is always in need of a boost!

haha who’s tired of reading yet?! get excited because my maypril update video will be out at the end of the month…YES 2 months in 1 convenient video!!!

I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart…

Where?!  Down in my heart!
Where?! Down in my heart! Down in my heart to staaaay!
And if the Devil doesn't like it he can sit on a tack. OUCH!!!
Sit on a tack. OUCH!!! Sit on a tack.
And if the Devil doesn't like it he can sit on a tack! Sit on a tack today!!

Oh I'm so happy, so very happy!!!!

Happy belated Easter!!! Oh man i don't know but these past 3 days have just been super delightful! Actually I've had a wonderful week we just had Semana Santa (aka holy week, aka a week long holiday).  Ah Easter…thanks to my experience here last year i already knew it was going to be pretty chill, as no one wants to be confused with the scandalous *shudder Catholics so they don’t celebrate anything except the joy of having a week long vacation – my friends Jesus loving mom didn’t even remember what day Easter was confusing it for Palm Sunday.  Basically what I'm getting at here is that Easter is a big deal…  ….mmm not!

Okay so you’re probably asking yourself “kayla what DID you do during your time off?!” Well let me tell you i did lots!  So my friends Susi and Sarita were heading to the beach and needed a super responsible, extremely friendly and giggly Canadian to watch their house and puppies – who aren’t actually puppies but judging from the size of Chippies you might think that he is expecting a litter!!!  heehee he’s so fat, he waddles everywhere. 

So Monday to Friday i guarded the house, cooked up a storm, got some rest, was able to fix my nasty back tan, and wrote the maid of honour speech for my best friends wedding in 2 weeks!!!!! Which i am super pumped for! I get to go to Florida and see my best friends, my parents, stuff my face full of ice cream,candy, and yummy Filipino cuisine.  YAY! ooh its going to be so fun!!!!

Then Tuesday and Wednesday  i was holy sick …not just regular sick as it wasn’t a regular week!  Before you panic and worry about how often i am sick let me share my new theory.  It seems that each time i get sick the duration is a little bit shorter (excellent i like where she’s going with this…).  SO I'm thinking that my body is building up some sort of sick fighting antibody and soon I'll just sneeze and that will be my illness! I’m going to be seriously delighted if this hypothesis turns out to be legit but if not oh well, being sick is not the end of the world.

Thursday came rolling around, Susi and Sarita came home, i stayed an extra night because Friday there was a professional skateboarder coming into Carpio and i wanted to go.  Good Friday there are no buses, but fortunately Susi also wanted to go too so she could drive us!  Apparently a while back it was unheard of that people should drive on Good Friday - you only went places you could walk to otherwise you were a heathen (from a Catholic’s viewpoint).  Before Susi and I ventured out into the empty streets on Friday we thoroughly enjoyed our Thursday night which consisted of puzzling, playing upwards, and a new game i learned called bananagrams – which is excellent.  It was so wonderful, i have been missing my prime time people (aka the seniors group at Cedar Grove, my home church) and Susi and Sarita would fit in there seamlessly so i got my seniors fix.  All i needed was a couple stories about so and so’s grandson and how he was single…and so was i (in case i forgot haha) and it would’ve been just like home! 

Saturday i was back home, and i think my host mom missed me – she called me twice in one day- just to say hi.  So you can imagine when i got home we had some serious catching up to do! And catch up we did!

Then came Easter Sunday!!! and golly it was such a treat.  I got to go to an English speaking sunrise service – it was old school Baptist, the music leader came up “okay we’re going to start off with a lively song” haha he then proceeded to sing a medium tempo hymn (piano and guitar).  Grandma Chan would’ve loved it!  After service we went to Denny’s (which to be honest i don’t really like at home when its super cheap and here its like a fancy pants restaurant – the food is the same its just ridiculously expensive so it’s not high on my list of places I'd like to go) BUT i went and shared a plate with a friend and was extremely ecstatic because I got to eat real bacon!!! Oh bacon how i love thee!!!  Afterwards i went into Carpio and attended that church service – we watched a movie on the resurrection.  After service i  went to my friend Carmen’s house and started a fire in her backyard – but not before changing (because i was wearing a pretty dress) into an ensemble her sons pulled together - case in point i was very stylish in my snug athletic shorts,  fancy shirt which was much to big and rubber flip flops.  So we built our fire cooked up a ton a meat.  While we were waiting for the meat to cook i learned the tango, participated in a weight lifting competitions with a dumbbell we found in the backyard – i didn’t win but  gained some street cred when they saw the gun show and realized I'm packing some heat.  Later, when i was back home another Easter surprise! I got to Skype with my wonderful friends in Minnesota AND my host mom made arroz con leche (its kind of like a rice pudding – but of course much better) with raisins!!! Good raisins too not the yucky shrively ones (haha yes I'm aware that all raisins have some shrivel but I'm talking about the juicy shrivelly ones not the yucky ones with no squish).  Ah God is good!

So pretty much this past week was a huge blessing, it provided the perfect opportunity for me to take a step back a really press into God without any time constrictions.  I have been struggling with discouragement for the past little while.   It’s hard to watch people you love so much trail blaze down destructive paths and witness people who claim to be followers of the Lord set horrible examples everything all together was really taking it’s toll, my heart was breaking.  It was becoming more and more tempting to harden my heart a little in order to protect it from the pain.  But Jesus didn’t build me to have a hard heart, actually he gave me a really sensitive one.  So i asked myself am i living a life as one who believes in the truth? was hardening my heart showing that i trusted God to keep me safe and protected…mm NO!  How could Jesus fulfill his promise to fill me with joy if i didn’t have a big open heart waiting for him?!  Silly silly kayla!

Living in a fallen world means that things aren’t always going to go smoothly but I'm choosing to throw out my welcome mat invite Jesus over for some tea and biscuits and allow him to fill me with joy in his presence!  (psalm 16.11).

filling up on starch in the month of march…

i wanted to have a cool rhyme  to get you reeeally excited about  the march update video, but nothing really rhymes with march, all i could come up with were starch, arch, and splarch – and i’m pretty sure that’s not a real word…

curling proves itself uber prime yet again!

*insert eye roll* “oh kayla how did you manage to connect curling with extremely tropical Nicaragua?” haHA well let me tell you.  As we all know my visa needs to be updated every three months and to do this I need to leave Costa Rica for 72 hours.  Upon hearing this my wonderful curling club manager, Lesley, informed me that she has a house in Nicaragua open to me when needed for free! My little budget calculator was completely delighted.  But wait it gets even better!!! I’ll break down my weekend of “rest” so you can pretend you were there too!

Day 1 (March 24) So Katie (my wonderful friend who graciously accepted my constant invitations) and I left CR at 12.20 (10 minutes ahead of schedule!).  Nothing too crazy other than a couple of chocolate starved girls gorging on peanut butter and chocolate flavoured cookies (yes flavoured – regular chocolate is real pricey) and conversing about very important things like farting and boys.  Actually, we were  able to share some of our testimonies and all in all good bus ride.  So around 8.30pm we get into Managua and are greeted by Karen (she looks after Lesley’s house) now Karen and I had spoken a little on facebook but of course never met. First thing she says “Whoa you are big!!!”….umm excuse me?!  She was referring to my height, which unless I'm next to little shelly chan, isn’t anything extraordinary, but in Nicaragua I'm apparently an amazon.  So anyways because the beach home was 2 hours away and Karen had to work the next day we spend the night at her place.  However, Karen is in a one bedroom apartment and there wasn’t really a lot of space for 2 more  girls, especially with me being so huge and all.  So the door, to her neighbouring apartment that had been empty for a while, was open so we invited ourselves in and passed out for the night.

 

Day 2: With Karen at work until 6 Katie and I planned to hang out around the house (Karen has a hammock so I was quite content).  We went to the store picked up some groceries and had a morning of rest.  Then around 12.30 one of the other people living in the complex told us we should probably eat lunch because Karen got off work early and we were heading out a little after 1!!! So we dined on some pa-ta (they don’t pronounce the letter s- its pretty entertaining) and headed out.  Originally we were supposed to be getting a ride but that fell through so we ended up taking a taxi and 2 buses and wound up in Casares around 5.30, just in time for the sunset.  I had heard the house was nice, however, I had not been informed that it was a million dollar on the beach paradise!  Like my home in Costa Rica, God has decided that I deserve the best and this was no exception!  It was phenomenal! So we quickly unpacked and hit up the beach, enjoyed the sunset, made dinner and just enjoyed each others company.  Later that night when we were out star gazing I was intrigued by all these little lights and girlish squeals of joy frolicking around the beach.  They got closer and closer and turned out to be 4 grown men chasing crabs – honestly it was hilarious.

Day 3: Beach day! Enough said, I frolicked my little heart out; built a sandcastle (sadly the moat was a giant fail), played frisbee, made some new friends.  That was just the morning later I helped make lunch (fresh fish that we fried up) very yummy.  We had to leave in the afternoon to get back to Managua.  So we packed up and I was overjoyed when I found out that instead of taking 2 microbuses (where you think 18 seats means 18 people , only to discover that seats and seating capacity are 2 very different things– on the way in we had 24 people in our little van, heehee we were like a clown car; it was fun). Okay,  so on our way out we got to take the chicken bus – basically it’s like an old school bus but most of them are painted flamboyant colours and some even have tassels!!! I had really wanted to take it the last time I had visited Nicaragua because it was so ridiculously cheap but apparently they have a reputation for being dangerous so I opted for safety took a taxi and missed out.  Not this time!  It wasn’t really exciting other than the giggling men in the back sitting on their ice cream carts but still.  Once we got back to Managua I saw this really cool float, turns out it was the annual carnival!!! There was reggae blaring , half naked ladies, street vendors, dancers it was quite a big deal.  So we hit that up for a little bit but had to head in early once the borracho (drunks) started to flock to the chelas eating their ice cream on the curb.

         

Day 4: Not exciting.  The bus back was not as pleasant on the way in.  We had quite the chele (american) who was absolutely annoyed when the bus vendor wouldn’t let him pay for a coke with Cordobas (Nicaraguan currency) when we were in Costa Rica.  I was embarrassed by his behaviour and if he hadn’t been so disrespectful to the vendor I probably would have just bought the coke for him.  Thankfully, he got off early and we were all happy.  There was a marathon (in honour of the new stadium opening) being run in downtown San Jose  and so a lot of the streets were closed so it took a lot longer to get home, but I made it back safely without being burned, attacked, or emotionally scarred…success!!!

Case in point I had a delightful time and learned stuff too:
… Nicaraguan hospitality is intense…

..I am extremely floha (clumsy) – we knew this before, but after tripping a few times Karen took it upon herself to inform me of every uneven surface we walked past..

…it is possible to have an exceptional weekend filled with fun in a foreign country for under $70…

 The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him Lamentations 3.25