Sientese aqui! There seems to be a theme to every mission trip, and that was the theme for this one. It doesn’t reach its full comical effect unless you have Pastor Ken say it. You see, Ken, wonderful man that he is, sounds like he is from East L. Un. in a Cheech and Chong movie when he speaks Spanish. Don’t know if it’s his personal voice tone, inflection, or sense of humor, but even when he is trying to speak kindly, it still sounds like a Nazi sergeant screaming to the poor prisoners to SIT HERE RIGHT NOW!! This caught on so well during the trip, that we, as a group, even wrote a song about this great phrase. Se il vous plaît, if you have the opportunity, ask someone from the trip to perform it for you. It’s possible that we, as a group, will perform this masterpiece at our church when we present our trip to the congregation…not exactly what I would call a traditional Lutheran hymn.

Speaking of non-traditional, that’s exactly what this trip was. I know on my last trip, I had lots of controversy, people backing out, and utter chaos. Well, this trip held up to that theme also. The whole thing snuck up on me since I came back from my last mission trip only two short months ago. A lot of planning goes in to these mission trips, trying to make things run as smooth as possible once we step foot on the Nicaraguan soil. I was actually planning much of this mission trip simultaneously with the November one since they were so close and I was spearheading both of them. Originally, I anticipated maybe 15 members of First Lutheran Church to sign up. In the end, due to many scheduling conflicts, only nine people including myself signed up to go. I was slightly sad, but not really stressed knowing I had John Gehrig, Nelson, the OD from Texas, and John, the tech from New Hampshire, meeting up with us along with Dunia and Oscar from last trip. Knowing I had my docs and God on my side, I knew he would provide somehow to service over twice as many patients as we saw in May with half the amount of volunteers. Did you know that God has humor? He does.

I can’t recall for sure when it was I got the phone call from John Gehrig, but I know it was less than a month before we were scheduled to fly out and I had already bought all the tickets. I consider John my sidekick, my confidant, my mentor, and also a father-figure. I feel the same way about Max, but already knew Max wasn’t coming on this trip since he was still having health issues from his Peru trip several months back. As long as one of these two guys are with me, I have every confidence in the world. They’ve been on what seems like hundreds of mission trips and know the in’s and out’s of all of it. Although I’ve been thrown in to this Mission Leader position quite soon in my ‘mission career’, I didn’t know I would be thrown in with fire! John had called me that night at home to tell me he couldn’t go on the January mission trip. I thought for sure he was playing some sick joke on me. Unfortunately, he was serious. He was still having complications from a surgery he had months ago, and it simply wasn’t safe for him to risk needing treatment in the unsanitary Nicaraguan hospitals and clinics. He himself had visited hospitals down there and seen the mold growing on the sides of the instrument trays. Devistated, I sat numb for two days. How in the heck was I going to run a mission trip as the only experienced VOSH representative?? The walls of my life seemed to be closing in. Eventually, I picked my chin up off the ground and thought, you know what, I can do this! I’ve got God, and I’ve got Lester; two keys to making anything happen in Nicaragua. I found confidence once again and I continued to make last minute plans as our trip slowly approached. Then the next phone call came.

With less than a week to go before we were scheduled to fly out of the country, Pastor Ken called me at work to tell me about the Hugheses. Dick and Barb Hughes were probably most excited of anyone going on this trip. Dick recently retired (the reason they waited until now) and they were going to experience this wonderful excursion together. It seems that Dick had been doing some woodworking the night before and had a run-in with one of his saws, almost completely severing his finger off. After emergency surgery, pins, and stitches, he could no longer go on the trip, therefore both of them were backing out. I am sure everyone in my department at work heard me say, “WHAT????” at the top of my lungs. I could not believe what I was hearing. This left me with nine people coming down from the states, two of those serving as docs. Nous avions prévu de voir 1,400 patients with seven volunteers, knowing one of those was a translator?? Yikes. One more monkey wrench to throw in. At the last minute, Oscar’s boss wasn’t going to let him have the time off to work with us. This determined our final crew. Three docs, seeing 1,400 patients with two translators, and six volunteers (none of whom speak enough Spanish to save their life). I TOLD you God has humor. Honestly, once I got over the shock of all of this, and after I put it in God’s hands, I was totally calm and stayed that way for the rest of the week and through the entire trip. I just kept praying, God, I KNOW that if I am doing your work, you are not going to let us fail. I know you will provide for us because we are helping others and doing your work. Remember that? I know you will be by my side and make this successful. I have faith in you.” He heard me and he must have agreed with me.

Our very tiny crew consisted of two people meeting us down there: Nelson Rivera, OD from Texas and veteran of missions, just never in Nicaragua; and John Randazzo, a certified tech who does refractions all day long at work, but doesn’t have the OD signoff. He also had been on mission trips before, just not Nicaragua. Our Gainesville crew consisted of: Pastor Ken, somewhat of a veteran of mission trips since he was on the May trip, but our sole reliance for running the auto refractor now; BJ, better known as Grandma BJ, also a veteran from the May trip; Tess, La petite-fille de BJ qui a rencontré chacun d'entre nous pour la première fois depuis qu'elle est pas encore membre de notre église; Nancy et Joyce, les deux débutants et les membres de la congrégation; moi même; et Billy. Billy est une autre petite histoire montrant comment Dieu agit de façon mystérieuse.

Le premier samedi de Décembre a été le jour je décidai d'accomplir tous les achats de Noël que je devais faire. Avec un pantalon de survêtement, casquette de baseball, et chaussures de tennis en remorque, Je suis allé au centre commercial pour braver les foules. Comme toujours, être totalement préparé, Je l'avais déjà décidé que je voulais acheter mon neveu une montre pour Noël. Lorsque je me suis approché le compteur de montre chez JC Penney, J'entendu quelqu'un dire, "Puis-je vous aider?"Il était Billy. Il dit qu'il est un grand vendeur de montre, Je dis que je le laisse penser qu'il a effectué la vente. Comme nous parlions montres, etc, Je levai les yeux vers lui et dit, "Parles-tu espagnol?"Je pouvais entendre un accent. Il avait alors pour afficher sa fierté portoricaine en révélant sa cravate de PR et la broche sur son badge. Je lui ai dit je cours des voyages de mission au Nicaragua, et en quelque sorte deux jours plus tard, il a été signé pour aller sur le voyage de mission. Billy est un individu vraiment unique,, soin profondément pour aider les autres dans le besoin et être vraiment donner. Il avait demandé à Dieu pour la direction ces derniers temps et puis les voyages de mission est entré à sa vie. Le fait qu'il a grandi pentecôtiste et rien luthériens savait, le fait qu'il ne connaissait personne va sur le voyage, le fait qu'il n'a jamais été à l'extérieur des États-Unis ne lui phase pour un moment. He had gotten a part-time job to pay for some repairs on his hot rod, but instead, ended up using that money to pay for his trip. He felt it was money better spent. All I knew when he signed up is that I HAD A TRANSLATOR! In mission terms, doctors and translators are like gems in the rough. Without them, you can’t execute a mission trip. Little did I know how much of a gem he would end up to be.

At 5:00 suis, our small group of seven met at the church. I had asked everyone to bring large pieces of luggage so we could cram more supplies inside our personal luggage. With only seven people going, we were very limited on space, knowing we had to bring down the majority of glasses and medications we would be using. It was a dreary, misty morning, not making for a cooperative packing session. It all seemed more pleasurable though seeing Russ and Laura. They, being the generous people that they are, had gotten up several hours earlier to see us off with Krispy Kreme doughnuts and coffee. They so wanted to be going with us again (they went in May), but due to scheduling conflicts, simply couldn’t make it work. After several sessions of sitting on luggage while zipping it shut, re-sorting, packing, arranging, and crossed fingers, we had everything loaded in our two mini-vans we would be driving the six hours down to Miami airport. Before we left, we held hands in a circle and said a prayer in the misty rain before singing a verse of “Que Sera Sera” and loading up. Billy and I were in the luggage van which was filled with bags from front to back, top to bottom. Ken drove the other van with all the other ladies. Thanks to Ken borrowing some walkie-talkies, Ken and Billy talked about cars, 80’s rock songs, and general guy stuff for the long drive down there.

Once we got down to the airport, we unloaded the luggage and the guys went to return the vans. It’s always interesting to be in Miami airport since most people don’t speak English. After some broken conversation, I found out we were going to have to have all nine of our luggage duffles shrink-wrapped due to our airline’s strict luggage size restrictions. $63 and a lot of blue shrink-wrap later, we were ready to check in and Ken and Billy were back. It was also at this point that we realized we were still counting as if we had nine people going, not seven. We had one extra piece of luggage! We started asking around for other people going on the same flight as us if they had room and were willing to check it in under their name. Soon we realized that what we were doing is what the overhead announcements are about…sounding like terrorists trying to get people to tote their goods. Oops! $100 later, we had the extra piece of luggage flying on standby and we were making the long walk through security and down to our gate. A pitiful but expensive excuse for lunch later, we were ready to board.

Here’s another side note: Two days prior, I had gotten a phone call from my mom saying my dad had been in a bad snowmobile accident in the U.P. of Michigan and he was in ICU in the hospital up there, plus de sept heures de route de son. Soi-disant qu'il allait bien se passer, mais pour moi ICU ne signifie pas correct. J'avais été préoccupante et de penser à lui depuis ce coup de téléphone, faire mes nuits d'insomnie et mes jours angoissant. Je voulais entendre un jour positif sur son état avant de partir, sachant que je ne peux pas avoir accès à un téléphone ou e-mail pendant des jours. Ma mère avait promis de me rappeler des mises à jour, mais au moment où nous étions à l'aéroport, il n'y avait toujours pas de changement. Tout le monde dans notre groupe savait que cela me dérange que je commençais à marcher par notre porte. Tout d'un coup, mon téléphone a sonné. Il était ma sœur! Elle a dit, "SuzIjusttalkedtodad!He'sstillinthehospitalbuthewantstotalktoyou!Hewasaskingifyouhadlefton yourflightyetbecausehewantedtotalktoyoubeforeyouleft!Callhimcallhimcallhim!Thenumberis
***-***-****.” I was overjoyed, but still trying to comprehend what she was saying. She was talking so fast, but the overhead announcement was being given that our flight was starting to board. I hung up with her and called the number. Busy. De nouveau. Busy. Now I am in a serious panic and everyone can see the sadness in my face. Billy offers to start calling also. We simultaneously were re dialing this number. As the last group of people were standing in line to board the plane, the phone rang through! “Daddy!” He responded with, “Hi Ralph!” At that very moment, I knew everything was going to be okay. That’s his nickname for me. I could feel the love gushing out of my heart, through the phone, as I tried to keep my voice from trembling. I didn’t want to cry but yet I had so many emotions running through my body at once: relief, happiness, sadness, nervousness, admiration. I talked to him just long enough for both of us to know that everything was going to be okay and the next time I talked to him, he would be back home. As I waited my turn to step on the plane, I said a little prayer and thanked God for letting me talk to my dad and for laying his healing hand upon my father. I boarded the plane as the happiest person by far on that flight.

All of us were so exhausted from lack of sleep, long hours driving, and the anticipation of the trip to come. We all took advantage of the 2 ½ hour flight sleeping or simply resting. As soon as we stepped off the plane, I clicked in to leader mode and started instructing our group to help get us through customs and baggage with as little trouble as possible. As we walked in to the luggage carousel area, I looked over in the reception area where it was wall-to-wall people waiting to see their loved ones arrive. Somehow, amongst the sea of people, I immediately picked out Lester. We made eye contact, smiled at each other, and I gave him a wink as we proceeded on to collect our luggage pieces. I was a bit nervous about us getting all of our luggage through customs due to the contents of some of it. Not only were we carrying over 1,000 paires de lunettes, I had an entire suitcase dedicated to prescription medication (BIG no-no), a CPU and a printer for Dunia. These are hot ticket items that could be easily confiscated. Je fus le premier à travers et le garde m'a fait signe à travers. Ouf! Cela signifiait que med de et imprimante étaient travers. Ouf! Je l'avais commencé son saluer Lester avec un énorme câlin et de répondre immédiatement John pour la première fois. Présentations et réunions ont été de courte puisque je réalisais le reste de mon groupe a été reporté à la zone d'inspection. Lester et John regardé mes affaires pendant que je suis revenu avec mes papiers à la recherche officielle sur VOSH tête. La sécurité a été déchire tous les sacs de voyage de rétractable, retirant boîtes, et les manches de verres à l'ouverture des, essayer de déterminer ce qu'ils pensaient de tout cela. Billy traduit pour moi car je tendis les mes papiers énumérant notre inventaire expliquant nous courions un voyage missionnaire. Ils ne sont pas convaincus. This forced me to pull out my big gun. Down in Nicaragua, a business card of someone important means everything. I pulled out my business card of Carlos A. Sobalvarro Ruiz, the Prefecto or guy overseeing all of the penitentiaries in the entire country. That did it. The lady in charge, with a look of disgust, waved them all through. YEAH! We were home free. Everyone proceeded to where Lester and John were so we could do proper introductions before we loaded up on our school bus and headed across the street to the Las Mercedes Hotel.

Check-in should have been easy since I set everything up with group sales, but I should have also been suspicious when my group sales rep went from utter confusion to saying everything was fine. The hotel had our reservations all mixed around, and didn’t have any reservations at all for the rest of the week. After much deliberation, we got everything straightened out and we were on our way to our rooms.

We all agreed we were tired and exhausted so quick food and relaxation was more important than going to a fancy place to eat. Tip Top it is! We loaded up and went down the street to the Texaco so we could purchase our Tip Top chicken meals and beverages of our choice next door at the gas station. Soon we were back at the hotel, eating our fast food poolside, getting to know each other and relax after a grueling day.

Lester and the drivers had left after dropping us off at the hotel to travel to Jinotepe, where Dunia lives. We knew she had all of our backstock of glasses that we needed for this trip, and had no way to get them to Muy Muy. Neither her nor her son’s cell phone had been working in over a week, so it was a shot in the dark by sending them there, but we knew we would be in trouble if we didn’t have those glasses. Over two hours later, Lester called to say he was outside of Dunia’s house, but no one was answering the door. Frustrated, I told him to come back. Just as he was about to leave, her son, Francisco came to the door, having crawled out of bed. Lester and the drivers quickly packed all of the supplies (at least 10 boxes worth) and headed back. We, back at the hotel, wanted to wait up for them to return from the long trip, but we were all simply too tired. We slowly peeled off of the group one by one to retire to bed since we would all have to be up very early to leave for Muy Muy the next morning. Lester and the drivers returned back to the hotel after midnight.

Day one in Nicaragua and we’re running behind. Nelson is flying in this morning and is to give us his luggage to take with us to Muy Muy while he does some sightseeing during the day. He’ll catch up with us later that night. Unfortunately, his luggage didn’t make the flight and he has to wait for the next flight to come in, later in the afternoon. A message is relayed to us at the hotel front desk and we are on our way. We are to try and be to Muy Muy by 10:00 am to participate in an Evangelical church service. Not going to happen. Que sera sera. All the newcomers to Nicaragua enjoy the bus ride to Muy Muy taking in the countryside and seeing how the majority of people really live. Our bus ride was over 3 hours long. We finally make it to the municipality of Muy Muy and everyone’s faces light up at the sheer excitement of what they are about to experience.

We pull up to our hotel and I see Joel. I squeal like a little kid and run up to him giving him a hug. Joel is a Peace Corps volunteer in Muy Muy, having lived there for two years. His term is up April 1st, so this will be our last mission trip working with him. We soon check in to our rooms and unload the heavy-laden bus. Not to worry about the church service. They knew the gringos were coming, so they haven’t had it yet, waiting for us to arrive. We walk several blocks over to the small cinder block church with the tin roof. It is only 11:30suis, but the tin is already so hot, we can feel the heat radiating down on us inside the tiny church. The congregation consists of 30 adults and 40 children. They are trying to focus on teaching their members about drug prevention, English classes, and music classes. The service was designed specifically for us. Kessler, a barber, music teacher, English teacher, and fill-in pastor, spoke some English and ran the service for us. It was filled with children singing and performing for us, solos by other church members, introductions of each of the gringos, and a lot of clapping and dancing while the people sang. Kessler even taught us how to say “Via con Dios” and taught the Nicaraguans the English version, “Go with God.” It was very moving and truly could not be described. I can’t wait to go to my next service.

During the church service, I was sitting in the front row. At one point, I had turned around and saw Dunia standing in the back row. As soon as it was over, I pushed my way through the crowd to run over to her and hug ‘mi Dunia’. She is like a big sister, close friend, and all around wonderful person to me. I almost cried out of excitement of seeing her again. She looked radiant as always. I introduced her to all the new people she had not met before and we started to make our way back to the hotel. Le bus est venu nous chercher et nous a fallu plus d'Eduardo pour le déjeuner.

Il y avait une énorme fête d'anniversaire se passe à Eduardo de, mais il a mis en place un bel endroit pour nous derrière le restaurant. Nous avons apprécié entendre la musique Latino en plein essor de la partie à l'avant, et d'apprendre à connaître tout le monde un peu plus. Je devais marcher à l'intérieur et de saluer Eduardo lui-même une fois de plus et lui faire savoir que j'y étais. Il était comme quelque chose que vous avez vu dans une publicité où il y a deux personnes en cours d'exécution au ralenti sur la plage vers l'autre. Il ne parle pas anglais, et mon espagnol est très limitée, mais nous sommes salués avec un énorme câlin et semblait parler pendant cinq minutes. Il était content de me revoir, et je me suis senti la même chose de lui. Le déjeuner était génial, comme toujours. Eduardo se surpasse. Voici où nous avons rencontré un grand nombre des mêmes bénévoles avec qui je travaillais en Novembre avec le maire sortant, Dr. Lillian Garcia, et maire entrant, Dr. uben Rodriguez.

Nous avons tous apprécié notre déjeuner et de socialisation avant de retourner en ville pour le bureau du maire. Là, nous devions avoir une cérémonie de dédicace de tous les articles VOSH, First Lutheran Church, et les Rotariens Michigan avait fait don à la commune de Muy Muy. Dunia a agi comme maître de cérémonie pour notre cérémonie spéciale. Les deux maires, monde, et Joel se sont relayés donnant de petits discours de remerciements et son appréciation avec nous faire savoir l'effet que nous faisions sur Muy Muy. Au moment où notre brigade a été achevée cette semaine Muy Muy, plus que 1,000 les gens ont été vus et traités dans nos cliniques de lunettes. The municipality of Muy Muy consists of 30 rural communities and ten close to the center of town, totaling 40 areas. There are approximately 16,000 people in the municipality, all serviced by the one hospital and ambulance that they have. The ambulance is less than a year old (having been donated by the Japanese along with the hospital), but yet the tires are bald. The money that was collected from the eyeglass brigade in November was given back by myself, as a representative of VOSH, to the hospital to provide new tires for the ambulance. After looking at the ambulance myself, I could understand their desperate need for new ones. It is the only ambulance that services 16,000 people, having to travel through rivers, mountainous rocky trails, and the like to access all of the people. They use this vehicle not only for emergencies, mais aussi pour une clinique de vaccination mobile lorsque le gouvernement obtient de telles choses lui ont été donnés.

Les habitants de Muy Muy sont un groupe d'accueil. Chacun de nous se rassit et trempé dans toutes les belles danses traditionnelles exécutées par les enfants des écoles locales allant de la maternelle au lycée. La reconnaissance dans les yeux des gens quand ils nous a présenté des certificats d'appréciation a été réconfortant. Comme ils étaient prêts à finir la cérémonie, Je leur ai arrêté. Nous avions de l'argent déjà promis venait pour les pneus et d'un fauteuil dentaire a été envoyé dans le conteneur de fret envoyé cet automne, mais nous avions en peluche un petit tas de fournitures médicales parmi les bagages personnels aussi. Je suis allé à l'avant et avais Joel traduire pour moi, letting everyone know that we had brought more children’s vitamins, soap, latex gloves, gauze, and hand sanitizer for the hospital. Dr. Uben took the time to explain that the hand sanitizer alone makes the difference between a healthy birth of a child, and a risky birth with possible infection. We felt like we made a difference. I also had Joel explain that we were not responsible for purchasing the tires for their ambulance. Each person who had participated in our clinic in November had made a small donation which in turn payed for the tires. There was looks of amazement and happiness when Joel explained for me that the people of Muy Muy were the ones who actually bought their own tires. All of the people felt like they had actually made a difference in their own community, and they truly had. After I thanked the people once again for inviting us in to their community and being so gracious to us, the ceremony ended. We loaded up on the bus and headed over to the hospital so everyone could see what conditions the people of Muy Muy have to work with.

It was great to see the dental chair we had donated sitting proudly in place where a dilapidated chair used to sit. The old one actually sat at the entrance to the hospital, functioning as a sitting place and doorstop all in one. All the gringos snapped away with their cameras trying to capture the tiny hospital that looked like a clinic. A little girl had just been brought in by the ambulance with a bloodied arm, screaming in pain. The emergency room was off limits. People found it amazing to see the pharmacy. There was one shelf this time that was full….full of the donations from November’s trip. The rest of the shelves were still bare. Before we left, we took a group picture right outside the hospital, including any of the people in the hospital, showing off the hand-made banner hanging above stating, “Welcome Lutheran Church and VOSH.”

We were about to go back to the hotel and relax for a bit before dinner, but I HAD to see Dunia’s parents. Ever since I met Francisco, Dunia’s father, I just can’t resist him! Everyone ended up getting off the bus at their house so they could get a grand tour of the beautiful house and hardware store. Francisco greeted me with a smile and huge hug as I gave him a kiss on the top of his head. “Francisco es mi amor!” He giggled and said something about agreeing with it. Dunia’s parents were cordial as ever giving us tours and offering Coca-Cola’s or waters with ice. Ken even bought a pocket knife with a picture of an alligator engraved on it (a high commodity item back home in UF gator country). After stories of old, pictures, hugs, and goodbyes we were off to the hotel to relax before dinner at Eduardo’s. Most people took advantage of the time to recuperate from the busy day and freshen up with the freezing cold showers for those who had running water. Hot water doesn’t exist in Muy Muy, so it’s always an interesting experience to bathe.

Once we were at Eduardo’s, we realized the birthday party was still going on. I guess it fulfills my stereotype of Latino’s really know how to party. The music was still blaring and kids were still running around full blast. We sat in the back once again and enjoyed a great meal including fish (a rarity in Muy Muy). Eduardo must have remembered how much we loved his fish last time we were there in November.

Just before we were about to start eating, a man walked through the back door and said he was looking for VOSH Southeast. I said we were it and asked who he was. It was Nelson! I would have never guessed in a million years, since I was expecting a dark-skinned, short, Puerto Rican man. Il a fallu quelques minutes de parler à lui de se rendre compte que cela était vraiment le bon gars j'avais parlé au téléphone à plusieurs reprises avant le voyage. Il avait fait juste à temps pour se joindre à nous pour le dîner et commencer à apprendre à connaître les gens merveilleux de Muy Muy.

Plus tôt, quand nous étions à l'hôpital, nous avions vu l'homme qui jouait de la guitare pour nous en Novembre. Je lui ai demandé s'il venait dîner ce soir et qui porte sa guitare. Après avoir confirmé que, Je lui ai dit Billy joue de la guitare, donc s'il avait un de plus, il doit l'apporter. Effectivement, il est venu avec deux guitares à la remorque qui nuit. C'était génial. Il a joué plusieurs chansons du Nicaragua et Billy a vite. Puis ils ont changé quelques chansons classiques américains comme Stairway to Heaven et Hôtel California. Lester et je chantais long que les deux d'entre eux coincé les chansons sur les guitares. C'était génial. Je pense que nous avons chanté 14 vers de Hôtel California recueillir un public parfois au cours de la restitution. Je pense qu'il était le verset 10 quand toute la ville de Muy Muy perdu le pouvoir. Je pensais qu'il était juste lieu de Eduardo jusqu'à ce que nous avons commencé à regarder autour. Il y avait seulement un petit morceau de la lune sur, mais il a cessé de ne d'avoir du plaisir. Vous auriez jamais su qu'il y avait pas de lumière. Les enfants continuent à rouler, les gens ont continué à parler, nous avons continué à chanter et à jouer.

Eventually, nous sommes retournés à l'hôtel très sombre. Comme nous sommes entrés,, ils ont fourni chaque chambre avec une petite chandelle environ six pouces de hauteur et une boîte d'allumettes. Ce fut notre pouvoir pour la nuit. Nous avons tous vite appris comment «tag team» avec nos colocataires avec l'utilisation de la salle de bains et la recherche nos bagages pour les vêtements. Dormir était pas les conditions les plus confortables soit. Les moustiquaires ont été fournis pour la quasi-totalité des lits, mais selon Ken, ignoré son filet du moustique est de toute façon. Les coqs cock-a-doodle-faire et les chiens aboient et la lutte contre toute la nuit gardés plupart de nous tous la plus grande partie de la nuit. Il semble que les animaux sont nocturnes il. Juste au moment où vous vous habituez au drone de poulets et les chiens, quelqu'un viendrait à mock-10 dans la rue juste derrière l'hôtel sur un cheval. Il serait ressembler à ça allait venir tout droit à travers la paroi, car il était si proche! Dans les premières heures de la matinée, the snorting and oinking of the pigs wandering the street joined in, making for a regular charade. This added to the men that I think are paid to drive through the streets starting at 4:30 am to honk their large truck horn to wake up the neighborhood and start the day made for interesting sleep or lack of. Did I mention the beds were mostly a 3-4 inch mattress on a ½ inch of plywood? I think we would have all felt better in the morning if we could just take a shower, but that wasn’t going to happen either. No power, no water. We all got up and took ‘wet nap’ baths and ran our fingers through our hair ready to face our first clinic day.

We worked in the same high school I had worked in back in November, right in town. Once we figured out our logistics of what rooms to use, we went to work setting up our stations and trying to organize things. People were already lined up inside the school yard when we had arrived. One lady told us she had been there since 4:00 suis. I guess she had nothing better to do anyway’s since you surely can’t sleep well with the chickens and dogs and pigs and horses and trucks!

Before long, we were all working like busy little bees and not even realizing how smoothly our clinic was running, considering how few of us there were and this group of people had never run a clinic together before. Dunia’s two daughters helped us in the visual acuity area. We had a number of volunteers from the community that assisted us in registration, crowd control, and other areas. Dr. Uben had told me he had a surprise for me that day. His surprise was Elida, a beautiful Muy Muy native who is studying at the University in Leon to become a surgeon. She’s one of those naturally beautiful natives that looks like she should be in a Miss Universe pageant. She spoke no English whatsoever, but somehow Joyce and I communicated with her perfectly. It was amazing to see how we could cross cultural lines, and not only communicate for eyeglass purposes, but also casual conversations. Elida became a very important asset to our team.

Nancy, Tess, Dunia’s daughters, Joel, and a couple of local volunteers ran visual acuity. Ken and Billy ran the auto refractor. Although Billy didn’t know the first thing about it, by the end of the day, deux d'entre eux étaient ayant concours pour savoir qui pourrait 'zapper' un patient plus rapide. Tout ce que pour passer le temps. monde, Nelson, et John a fait un excellent travail avec réfractions pour tous les patients et BJ et personnes aidées de chambre en chambre en plus d'être l'animation pour les enfants. Joyce, Elida, moi même, et Lester a travaillé dans le dispensaire de démarrage sur les chiffres, même avec les prescriptions extrêmement difficiles nous étions d'être remis.

Il semble que le pire du pire a vraiment été éliminées pour cette clinique. Tout le monde nous avons vu besoin de lunettes, et nécessaire de les mal. Les choses qui sont sans précédent dans les états était très courante là-bas. Il semblait tout le monde avait élevé cyl, ils avaient un sens stigmatisms excessives. Jeune ou moins jeune, La vision de tout le monde était pauvre. We truly felt like we were serving the people who needed our help the most. We saw cowboys, children, the elderly with cataracts, and a number of people with eye injuries.

I felt so bad for this one very young man, only twenty-seven. He had to be led in by someone. You could see immediately one of his eyes was completely whited over. It was as if he almost did not have a pupil. The other eye twitched and jumped constantly, as if he was searching to see and focus, but he just couldn’t. I still to this day feel sad about that young man. Sad, because there was nothing we could do to help him, not even surgery. He had the one eye that was basically blank due to a severe eye injury several years before. The other eye that twitched and moved had some type of disease, disorder, ou une condition qui n'a pas pu être inversée. L'homme devenait aveugle. Imaginez combien déçue que l'homme était de découvrir le peu de vue qu'il a maintenant, qui est au fond que de voir les ombres de choses, sera bientôt disparu. Après qu'il a été vu par le médecin, il était assis sur le côté, pour lui tout seul. Il a dû attendre quelqu'un pour le conduire à la maison. Son chef faisait leur chemin à travers la clinique pour que l'homme était assis là pendant plusieurs heures, regarder en bas, contractions des yeux et flottant. Je voulais y aller et lui parler si mal, mais que pouvais-je dire? Il était frustrant. Il était la seule personne que nous ne pouvions pas aider.

Il y avait un superbe trois-year-old girl qui est venu à travers avec ses parents. Elle était très timide et je ne pense pas qu'elle a vraiment compris tout ce qui se passait. Dunia a passé beaucoup de temps avec cette petite fille et ses parents à essayer de déterminer la vue de cette petite fille. Tout comme Eduardo que nous avons vu à Las Marias en mai, cette petite fille était trop jeune pour savoir lettres, Nombres, couleurs, ou des formes. Il a fait comprendre à ses besoins très difficile. Une fois Dunia déterminé ce dont elle avait besoin de lunettes, Je devais essayer de trouver une paire pour elle. Il est pas si elle a eu une prescription excessivement difficile. Ce qui était difficile a été de trouver une paire de lunettes pour sa petite frimousse. Tout semblait énorme. Finalement, après de longues recherches, Je trouve une paire de lunettes pour elle. Elle y était assis tranquillement pendant que j'inspecté la façon dont les verres adaptent son visage et regarda derrière ses oreilles pour voir où les verres reposés et serrez-les en conséquence. Elle était belle. Her mother and father were so thankful for giving their little girl the gift of sight. Although the girl was shy with me, by the time they left, I saw the little girl interacting with her mom and talking to her about her new glasses with a smile on her face.

We had seen so many people that day, but we also knew that we had to travel the 2+ hours to Matagalpa that night and run a clinic the next morning. A little after 5 h, Billy and I walked through the line of people waiting to see the doctors and screened the people based upon their v.a.’s and a.r. readings. A few people didn’t even need to be seen because their vision was so good. There were approximately 30 people left that we explained to come back in several weeks to the same spot. Dunia had arranged to come back and screen those people herself so we could get on the road. I felt confident that Dunia would take care of these people, not only because she’s a wonderful and caring person, but also because this was her hometown.

We were loaded up in the bus and on our way to Matagalpa by 7 h. It seemed like a road that continued on forever. All of us hadn’t had showers in what seemed like days and we were all very hungry and tired. We arrived at the St. Thomas hotel close to 10 h. Much to our surprise, the hotel had kept the food waiting for us I had planned so many weeks earlier. Dirty and exhausted, we all sat down for a good meal together, feeling way too dirty to be sitting on their beautifully upholstered chairs. This hotel was such a change from Muy Muy, we all had a hard time taking it in. Everyone so overtired, the food seemed to fill the cavity more than nourish us. We appreciated our hot showers and warm beds that night.

Breakfast on Tuesday was at 7 suis. Everyone could have used another several hours of sleep, but yet we were just thankful to have had a night of sleep without the sounds of the local animals. We were off to the largest high school in Matagalpa, scheduled to see mostly students and teachers from the school. We set up our clinic very similar to the one in Muy Muy, but with less volunteers. Pastor Hector Morales, from the Lutheran church in Matagalpa, came to see us there. We would be seeing people from his church the next day, but he brought a young man named Yader to us. Yader va séminaire pour devenir un pasteur luthérien, mais il sait aussi l'anglais. Il est resté avec nous les deux jours de la clinique Matagalpa pour aider à traduire pour nous et a fini par être un autre atout énorme. En même temps, Elida avait décidé de rester avec nous pendant toute la semaine pour nous aider avec nos cliniques. Elle pièces avec Dunia et nous a aidés dans le dispensaire, de plus en plus d'un expert au quotidien. Originally, Joyce ou je devront tirer les verres pour elle et elle pourrait alors expliquer au patient, mais par le premier jour à Matagalpa, elle tirait les prescriptions elle-même et ne vérifie avec moi que ce qu'elle a tiré était correcte. Elle était génial.

Encore une fois, nous avons vu des gens de tous les âges. Tous les enfants recevaient des verres pour la première fois pour les aider à voir le tableau à l'école. La plupart des enfants ne sont pas besoin de lunettes pour la lecture. Il y avait encore une bonne quantité de stigmatisms, mais pas aussi mauvais que dans Muy Muy.

Il y avait une femme que John a aidé. Elle avait cataractes graves, et ne connaissait à peu près rien du tout en plus de deux ans. Néanmoins, avec une paire de lunettes aussi épais que nos matelas dans Muy Muy, elle a pu voir quatre pieds devant elle! Elle n'a même sait pas vraiment comment réagir à revoir. Ses yeux avaient du mal à ajuster, mais pourtant elle était très reconnaissante. Elle est l'un des patients dont nous avons parlé d'avoir une chirurgie de la cataracte.

Nous coudés long de la journée, voir le patient après que le patient. Ce qui m'a surpris le plus est l'acuité visuelle est devenue si bons dans leur travail, ils avaient besoin rarement un traducteur pour les aider dans leur région. Ken était un tel expert à 'aqui sientese', qu'il rarement besoin de l'aide de Billy dans la zone de autoréfracteur. Lester a dû passer beaucoup de temps à coordonner différentes choses qui se passent dans la clinique, qu'il n'a pas été en mesure de nous aider dans le dispensaire de grands bavards. Somehow, Joyce, Elida, et je l'avais si bien communiqué par ce point, nous avons passé la plupart du temps de distribution des lunettes sans avoir l'aide d'une personne bilingue, et seulement attrapé Billy ou Yader en cas de besoin.

Nous avons terminé la journée par 4 h, se félicitant de l'arrivée précoce. Notre trajet en bus pour retourner à l'hôtel était une spectaculaire. Comme le bus tourné pour aller jusqu'à la rue extrêmement raide menant à l'hôtel, nous avons vu un gros camion en panne dans la rue. Il y avait plusieurs hommes sous lui essayer de le réparer. Les rues de Matagalpa, comme beaucoup d'autres villes, sont très étroits. Notre chauffeur de bus avait maintenant le défi d'essayer de mettre nos autobus scolaire dans sa taille originale entre ce camion en panne et les maisons qui bordent la rue. Comme les touristes que nous étions, nous avons tous cassé net loin avec nos caméras capturant la tâche. La première tentative n'a pas fonctionné si bien depuis le bus accidentellement verrouillé sur le pare-chocs avant du camion, le collant lâche. La deuxième tentative, avec moins de trois pouces d'épargner de chaque côté, a été une réussite. Nous avons loué la capacité de Issac avec «nous ne sommes pas dignes" chants.

Une fois que nous étions de retour à l'hôtel, everyone took their time relaxing and cleaning up before we met for dinner that night at the Italian restaurant in town. Yader, our great translator, met us there for dinner. We all had a GREAT time at the restaurant enjoying the outstanding pasta and pizza, and the fellowship with each other. I got to know Yader a little better since he was always working in the other room of the clinic. I found it interesting to talk to him to see how they train their Lutheran pastors down here in their version of seminary. He thought my Spanish was amusingly pitiful (like most people think) and he was able to practice his English with me. I couldn’t help but tell him I thought he was going to be the best looking Lutheran pastor out there once he was ordained. He found that funny. Of course the night would not be complete without Billy finding a guitar to play somewhere. As we were getting ready to leave, a Mariachi band was in the front part of the restaurant. Billy started talking to him and before long, he was tuning their guitars and playing with them. As he talked to them more, we found out that two of the band members were brothers to the guy he played guitar with in Muy Muy. Small world!

Instead of taking our large bus around town, Issac picked us up in his pickup truck and took us to and from the restaurant that night in two groups. Ken, Billy, Lester, Elida, and myself were in the second group. As we were coming down the street the restaurant was at after eating, Ken eyed a pool hall. One word uttered, and we were all piling out of the truck to go there. This is where the ‘machismo’ started pouring out! I’ve gotta give you a little background. Supposedly both Lester and Billy are quite good pool players. When each of them got wind about the other, a challenge was made that they would play a game of pool down in Nicaragua to see ‘who was the baddest’. It was only natural that we hit the pool hall that night since this challenge had been sitting over their heads. Elida and I just looked at each other with ‘the look’ like these guys are such boys. The best part of the night happened next. Neither Lester nor Billy knew that Ken is a POOL SHARK! One of my favorite pictures of the whole trip is Billy and Lester discussing logistics, rules, regulations, etc. while Ken sets up the balls, breaks them, et commence à débarrasser la table, comme l'affaire de personne. Elida et je ne pouvaient rire de la situation. A mi-chemin à travers une table desservie, Lester et Billy finalement réalisé ce qui se passait et peut-être que cela allait avoir un défi à trois voies. Le reste de la nuit a été rempli avec trois d'entre eux à tour de rôle jouent les uns des autres et avoir juste bon amusement propre ... qui était jusqu'à ce que le Mariachi de arrivés. Une autre bande a montré, avec au moins la moitié des éléments en état d'ébriété. Nous avons fait pas beaucoup puisque nous faisions notre propre truc. Le problème était quand ils ont commencé à jouer. Ce groupe avait un trompettiste dont la trompette semblait avoir plus de bosses en elle qu'une balle de golf. Quand ce fut son tour de jouer, étant l'un des plus en état d'ébriété, Je pense qu'il a senti qu'il devait jouer plus fort que tout le monde. Cette corne était si perçant, nous avons tous grincé des dents et faisait des grimaces. Peu de temps après nous sommes partis, mais non sans faire référence à ce que Mariachi Band le reste de la semaine comme le plus fort, pire band ever.

Le lendemain matin, Mercredi, est venu plus tôt que la précédente, mais on nous a pompé une fois de plus. Nous avions prévu de voir les gens de l'église luthérienne de Matagalpa que le pasteur Morales avait arrangé. Il a fait un bon travail en choisissant des personnes qui avaient besoin de soins de la vue le pire. Ma première photo de la journée était d'un garçon de neuf ans qui avait besoin d'une prescription très forte. Après avoir finalement trouver une paire qui a travaillé pour lui, Je suis soulagé et heureux. Alors je levai les yeux et vu son frère et son père assis à côté de lui avec leurs feuilles, montrant leurs prescriptions étaient tout aussi mauvais! Plus tard, nous avons aussi vu la mère de la famille dont les yeux étaient aussi pauvres. Malheureusement toute la famille a été en proie à une mauvaise vision, mais nous avons été en mesure de fournir des lunettes pour tous.

Il y avait un autre petit garçon doux, environ sept, qui avait besoin de lunettes pour voir le tableau. Il avait l'air si mignon dans ses nouvelles lunettes et sourit un beau sourire quand je prenais sa photo et lui montra sur mon appareil photo numérique. Quelques minutes plus tard, Je l'ai vu avec sa mère. Elle nourrissait son nouveau bébé une bouteille. Ce petit garçon m'a intrigué parce qu'il était un petit assistant à sa mère. Il a porté le sac à couches (quelque chose que je ne l'avais jamais vu au Nicaragua) pour sa mère et son aide avec le bébé comme un nounou serait. Il était vraiment un gentil petit garçon.

Billy found a boy he wanted to adopt as his own son. Encore une fois, it was a cute little boy with a sheepish little smile. I found him a cool pair of glasses for his prescription and he loved having his picture taken with Billy and looking at it on my camera. The funny thing was Billy had to explain to me why this boy was so cool. Someone had brought a bag of candy to pass out to the children, but somehow a single comb had gotten thrown in to the mix. This little boy fished through the candy bag and picked out the comb. Apparently the boy was more concerned about looking good than having a few moments of sweet satisfaction. Billy said it reminded him of himself as a child. You can’t help but laugh at something like that.

BJ had a great time all day long entertaining the children with patty-cake, peek-a-boo, and any other game she could think of that could cross cultural and language lines. She was entertaining the daughter of one of my patients while I was finding an extremely difficult and strong prescription for a young mom. Enfin, John and I found success and this mom could now see her beautiful daughter’s face clearly. I had no idea that the little girl, Maribel, existed, let alone, she was part of the fun that BJ was having in the corner. Soon, I found out that Maribel needed glasses too. I couldn’t just take her prescription and go to work on it right away…Maribel was just too entertaining and cute as a bug! Elle était un pétard de cinq ans avec des nattes et un sourire qui allume une chambre. Visiblement, elle avait des problèmes de vision de sa mère depuis sa prescription était également assez forte pour une période de cinq ans. Après plusieurs minutes de recherche, Je trouve quelque chose qui pourrait trouver sa place, mais un peu comme la petite fille de Muy Muy, Mon plus grand défi a été de trouver des lunettes qui étaient assez petite pour son très petite tête. Quand je suis revenu vers Maribel, il est presque comme si elle savait qu'elle était censée avoir des lunettes. Elle a arrêté de jouer Patty-gâteau avec BJ et assis immobile sur la table comme je mis les lunettes sur son. Ils étaient de travers et surdimensionné, mais elle ne se souciait pas. Je me suis penché en arrière et dit, “Bien? (bien?)»Et elle sourit. Elle a commencé à regarder autour et dit, «Je peux tout voir! I can SEE everything! I CAN see everything!” She was so adorable, I just wanted to hug her and swing her around the room. Maribel was very patient while I pulled the glasses off of her, adjusted them, put them on, inspecté, and started the process all over again about four times in a row. Once her glasses were adjusted properly, Maribel stated that SHE wanted her picture taken with BJ. I obliged and showed her the picture. She giggled with glee as BJ gave her a big hug goodbye.

We finished the day up early again, having seen all the patients that had come to see us. Back to the hotel for relaxation and showers before it was dinnertime at La Pradera restaurant. I don’t think any of us thought we could have had more fun that night than we had the night before, but little did we know the entertainment value of ourselves! It started out with Billy ordering the huevos de toro, also known as bull balls! Yikes! Not only was it the most disgusting looking appetizer, the look on his face made it seem painful for the rest of us. Ken, Elida, and Dunia ended up trying it also, but it’s definitely something I would never try. Ever. Puis, we found out that Dunia had ordered the lengue con salsa for her entrée, also known as cow tounge with salsa. You’d think that they’d at least cut it up so it doesn’t look like Gene Simmons’ tounge lying on the plate, but nope. Two cow tounges spread out on a plate covered with salsa. I had the pleasure of sitting in-between Billy and Dunia. I kept my fish all to myself.

Le restaurant jouait la grande musique sur leurs haut-parleurs, nous ne pouvions pas empêcher de se lever et danser depuis que nous étions dans une pièce séparée pour nous tous seuls. Lester et moi ont montré au large de nos coups ensemble et plus tard Elida essayé mouvements de danse lisses de Lester également. Ken et John se sont levés à un moment donné de faire ce qui ressemblait à l'alligator à qui sait quelle chanson et Dunia et BJ dansé avec l'autre trop. Nous avons eu tellement de plaisir ce soir-là ... et puis l'Mariachis arrivés. Pour citer John, «Ils rétrocédera-moins!«Les gars que nous avions vu dans le restaurant italien la veille nous a trouvé en quelque sorte dans ce restaurant et voulaient jouer pour de l'argent une fois de plus. Nous avons enveloppé les choses et sommes retournés à l'hôtel. Le lendemain était notre premier jour de congé en trois jours et nous avons tous besoin d'une pause.

Jeudi matin et je suis malade. Ne sais pas comment le décrire, mais il était une combinaison de plusieurs choses. déshydration, étourdissements, glandes enflées, et dans l'ensemble beurk à peu près le décrit. Je suis même retourné au lit pour se coucher et dormir quand tout le monde a mangé le petit déjeuner et avait prières du matin. Lester a fini dans ma chambre avec six Gatorades. Il était si doux. Tout le monde a rassemblé pour me guérir retour à la santé ce jour-là. Je prenais toutes sortes de médicaments qui Dunia et Elida me donnaient, certains me faire sentir mieux pendant un moment et sucer Gatorades toute la journée. Je suis assez connu une journée en dents de scie, sens très bien à certains endroits, et la saleté comme à d'autres, mais je survécu grâce à l'ensemble du groupe en tirant ensemble et d'être attentif à moi.

Nous sommes allés à Selva Negra, un célèbre plantation de café allemand réglées, Dans la matinée. Je suis descendu ici en Novembre et savait de sa beauté, mais n'a jamais eu vraiment de temps pour explorer pendant que j'y étais. Tous ont apprécié les belles fleurs, les sentiers, décor alpin, et la beauté générale. Après avoir visité une partie de la plantation à pied, nous nous sommes réunis de nouveau au restaurant pour savourer une tasse de café frais et une tranche de cake à l'orange, tant fait frais il.

Prochain, nous sommes retournés en ville pour arrêter à l'endroit qui vend des poteries noires, l'un des éléments célèbres de Matagalpa. Comme certaines personnes allaient en acheter poterie noire, John, Nancy, Joyce, et moi-même allé avec Lester pour aller rencontrer le maire de Matagalpa, Nelson Artola. He had just recently been elected in to office and there were banners and signs with his name and picture all over the city. When we were escorted in to his office, it was like meeting someone famous since I had seen his picture so many times before. The local news and newspaper was called in to his office. We were recorded and taped while we talked to him about our accomplishments, our future goals, and what our organization was all about. He extended himself as a personal contact for any future mission trips to the Matagalpa area. All of us got our picture taken with him before we left. Success again for VOSH!

From there, we stopped and grabbed lunch before making the long trip back to Managua. We went back to the Las Mercedes hotel and ate Pizza Hut and Tip Top poolside. It was a long day of touristing and traveling. I was still feeling extremely run down and not so hot. It didn’t take much for any of us to call it a night and go to bed.

Day seven, Friday morning, last clinic day. Breakfast was early as usual before we loaded up on the bus. We were off to the Tipitopa penitentiary outside of Managua. This pen is the largest of all eight prisons in the country. There are 3,000 inmates, all men. Nous avions prévu de voir 250 of them. Of all of the places we had worked this week, ironic that our facilities at the pen were the nicest! We were all in one big room that was somewhat air conditioned. It did get hot very fast with all the people in it, and with little ventilation, we appreciated the fans the guards set up for us throughout the room.

I was still not feeling 100%, so I had to do a lot of sitting and resting and only fill in when patients were getting backed up. Things were moving along quite well all day long with a steady flow of patients all the time. All of the prisoners were very kind and never intrusive or making us feel uncomfortable. Many wanted to tell us their story…why they were there, how they were innocent, or even their poor living conditions. One man who spoke very good English, told me about why no one ever wants to be put in prison there. He said where most of them live, visitors can never be taken there. In their barracks, there are two rows of bunk beds, much like a military camp. There is only enough room to squeeze between sets of bunks since personal space means nothing to the guards and authorities. Courir sur toute la longueur de la caserne est un type ouvert de citerne, râpé, mais pas fermé où tous les dépôts de déchets pour. Les détenus doivent sentir et de voir ce 24 heures par jour, 7 jours par semaine. Le 1er Décembre, le gardien avait rassemblé tous les détenus ensemble pour leur dire qu'ils obtenaient une surprise le lendemain. Les détenus ont commencé à se passionner, pensant peut-être qu'ils obtiendraient un repas spécial pour célébrer les fêtes de Noël ou peut-être un peu de divertissement. Ils pensaient peut-être quelqu'un allait enfin faire quelque chose de gentil pour eux. Le jour suivant, juste comme promis, ils ont découvert que leur surprise était: les gardes débusqué le «système d'égout» laissant une 1 ½ piscine au pied des déchets dans leurs casernes. Cela était littéralement à quelques pouces de matelas superposés fond. The only way to get around was to wade through the waste. It took almost a full day for the waste to recede. I could tell from the way this man told his story that he was not lying.

There was another younger man that came through the line while I was sitting down resting. I was sitting next to BJ, in the visual acuity area. Nancy was helping this young man, telling him to cover his eye and read the chart. When she told him to switch eyes, he used the same hand, but covered the other eye, making it look awkward. I stepped in and told the man, “No, the OTHER arm.” The man put his hand down and turned towards me. He had no other arm!! My mouth immediately dropped to the floor as I responded, “Lo siento!!” I am so deeply sorry! He started laughing, as did BJ and Nancy. To show my remorse, I stood up and covered his eye with my own hand. I couldn’t believe what I had just done, but yet that inmate found me as entertainment.

We saw a lot of people with serious vision needs there. One man in particular that stood out was a man in his mid-thirties. He could not see more than four inches in front of his face, but somehow he had adapted to his disability quite well. Once John had tested his vision and determined the high prescription he needed, I went searching once again through our picked-over boxes, trying to find anything that could help this man see better than he was. I was not able to find a perfect match, but something that helped him to at least see six feet in front of him. As John and I were trying the glasses on him and talking to him, we realized something amazing. All of us had noticed the charcoal drawings throughout the room that were pitifully framed and hanging on the walls throughout the building. The drawings themselves were very elaborate and detailed. This man had drawn every single one of them. He would have to get two to three inches away from the paper to see, but yet he drew them all without any glasses. Imagine what he will be able to do now!

The day would not be complete without Billy playing the guitar, right? We all had started to get to know one of the inmates who had hung around with us all day. He was in for drug trafficking, couldn’t be more than 25 years old, and was scheduled to get out in six months. He had earned the right to work in the prison, and did so, working as a physician’s assistant in the lab. For every two days that he worked, he was able to take one day off of his sentence. While he was in prison, he had learned how to play the guitar and wanted to play a few songs for us. When we finally took a break for our granola bar and water lunch, he played a few songs for us and sang. Of course Billy had to tune his guitar and play a few songs himself. The day was now complete.

It took a little longer for us to pack up this time since I had to have a complete inventory of our glasses down there before I left them behind with Dunia. Everyone pitched in though, counting each sleeve and documenting it accordingly so I could pass the info on to my VOSH co-horts when I got back to the states. This would save us a great amount of time in the future when deciding what glasses to take on future missions. We were all ready to head back and have some down time after our long day at the penitentiary. More than that, we wanted to celebrate the number of people that we had served throughout the week, almost 900 people total. Back at the hotel, we cleaned up quickly so we could head in to Managua for dinner at Santa Fe, a great Mexican restaurant.

Everyone had a blast enjoying each other’s company once again, and relishing in our conversations with our new-found friends and some old ones too. Nous savions que ce serait notre dernier dîner ensemble avant nous avons tous commencé séparer nos chemins. Le dîner était incroyable et les salles de bains! Les dames avaient compris maintenant que les restaurants au Nicaragua sont classés en fonction de leurs salles de bains ou les conditions de leur. Celui-ci avait une salle de bain qui ressemblait à tous ceux que vous verriez dans un bon restaurant dans les Etats. Un luxe par rapport aux normes Nica! Tout le monde était très bon et amusant. Sur le chemin du retour, Ken, Lester, et Elida est resté dehors et est allé à un club pour aller danser avec le fils et la petite amie de Dunia tandis que le reste d'entre nous est retourné à l'hôtel pour la nuit. Bien que nous nous sommes amusés, nous avons également encore très fatigué.

Samedi matin et le temps de dire au revoir à Dunia et Elida. Il était si triste. Je reçois toujours de cette façon quand je dois dire au revoir à Dunia, usually holding back tears. Everyone had gotten to know Elida throughout the week and had grown to love her. When we were done giving hugs goodbye, I looked over at Elida and saw tears running down her face. She wiped them away, trying to hide them, but it was no use. Of course all of us women started crying instantly because that’s what we do! I was actually shocked to see that we had touched Elida’s life so much. I had to hug her again and tell her how great she was. As the two of them left, the rest of us solemnly walked to the bus to head to Masaya. Today was the day we were going to do our souvenir shopping!

I’ve been to Masaya twice, but this time, we were going to a different market than I had ever been before. Celui-ci était beaucoup plus encombré et emballé, mais aussi moins cher. Ce fut un événement à coup sûr. Alors que la plupart d'entre nous sommes allés magasiner, Lester, Issac, et Armando rendu à Jinotepe pour déposer les lunettes chez Dunia. Nous avons pensé qu'il serait difficile de passer trois heures sur ce marché, mais le temps a volé. Ken, Billy, et moi étions une équipe, aller d'un fournisseur à, mise en commun de nos articles ensemble pour acheter par trois pour que nous puissions échanger et obtenir des articles moins cher. Nous avons fait génial! Ken et moi avons trouvé plusieurs articles nous avons pensé digne pour la vente aux enchères de collecte de fonds silencieuse à la maison. Nous avons tous eu les bras chargés de sacs d'ici la fin de la journée, rempli de nos trésors personnels, des souvenirs, cadeaux pour les proches, et sinon. Je l'ai acheté plus de choses que je ne l'avais avant, mais encore ne pas dépenser beaucoup d'argent soit. Je ne peux qu'applaudir, pour ne pas mentionner ce fut le premier jour que je me sentais assez bien pour manger un repas complet!

Après un arrêt à la très célèbre Narcy est pour du poulet frit et de grandes salles de bains, nous sommes partis à la lagune. Cet endroit est toujours belle. Tout le monde pensait qu'il était à couper le souffle dès que nous sommes descendus du bus. Les belles fortes brises et des températures fraîches sont toujours un régal accueilli après avoir passé jours dans la chaleur. John remarqué tout de suite qu'ils avaient des chevaux que vous pourriez avoir à payer pour monter. Il a fallu très peu de temps pour Lester et John se frayer un chemin vers le bas pour les chevaux et d'être conduit sur un sentier par de jeunes garçons. Le reste d'entre nous embrouille autour, prendre des photos et profiter du paysage. Before long, John revenait de sa promenade, à un rythme assez rapide avec son guide courir derrière après lui. Il était apparu que Jean avait monté un cheval avant! Il exclamé à nous tous qu'il était tellement amusant et il a dû aller à nouveau! Quand je découvert qu'il ne coûte que dix cordobas (environ 61 cents) pour les monter, Je pensais en fait de les monter. Il avait l'air sympa, et bien que je ne suis pas un grand fan de chevaux, Je vis un peu minuscule, cela n'a pas assis trop loin du sol. Ma pensée était, si je tombe, il est pas si loin au sol. Billy et moi avons décidé de joindre à John et frappé les sentiers. Je l'ai fait tout à fait clair que ce que je voulais mon guide (qui était tout de onze ans) juste à côté de mon cheval tout le temps! Au moment où Billy et je chargeaient, John était déjà à plein régime, sans guide. Apparently the guides felt comfortable enough with him going off on his own.

As the guide led us down the trail, I snapped away with pictures. There were views that you can’t get from the regular vantage point that are only accessible by the horse trail. It was absolutely beautiful. I squealed every time my horse started veering off the trail or I couldn’t see my handler, and he came running. Billy could only laugh at me and my reluctance to relax. Somehow, I was still able to enjoy it all. Once we got to the top of the hill, one of the guides took Billy’s and my picture on our horses. I figured this may very well never happen again so I must capture it. Once we came back down, I couldn’t help but do the princess wave to all of our group. Nancy snapped a picture of it, and I now have it proudly displayed on my desk at work. In the meantime, John was now on his fourth trip, and he now had the whip! He was like a regular cowboy, barreling full speed ahead on his horse. He was true comic relief for the rest of us! Once we finally peeled John off the horses, we had a group picture taken with the lagoon in the background. It truly captured all of our happiness.

After strolling through a few more gift shops along the strip, we packed up and headed back. It had been a long, but beautiful day. We finished the night off with pizza by the pool and good conversations reflecting on the week. By the time we left the next morning, we were all sad to go, but also anxious to get back to our families. Il était triste une fois de plus à dire au revoir à Joel et Lester. Ils avaient tous les deux été ces actifs pour nous une fois de plus. Joel serait termine son tour de service dans quelques mois et de rentrer en Californie en Avril, après un très long séjour loin de l'U.S. Nous ne serions plus travailler avec lui sur les futurs voyages de mission. Lester est toujours l'homme en charge et le gars qui fait bouger les choses. Il est une zone de confort pour moi quand je suis là, et tous les autres aussi. Nous savons toujours tant que nous avons Lester, Ca va aller. Il allait être bizarre pour lui de ne plus avoir à nos côtés.

Je pourrais continuer pour combien de temps notre journée, voyageant à la maison. Je pourrais parler des heures exténuantes sur la route, refoulant de Miami à Gainesville. Je pourrais vous dire à quel point nous étions tous tristes que nous ne sommes pas en mesure de donner adieux propres à John en raison de mêlée de confusion à l'aéroport. Au lieu, Je vais juste vous dire que sept personnes se sont retrouvés avec deux autres Américains et une poignée de Nicaraguayens pendant une semaine et aucun de nous ne serai jamais le même. Nous avons tous vécu une semaine de vastes souvenirs et les amitiés que nous ne serons jamais en mesure d'ignorer. Nos vies sont changées à jamais. La vie est belle. Merci Seigneur.