Adventure, Here I Come!!

I DID IT!!!

I can´t believe it... haha. I´m here, I made it. Back in Nicaragua! I arrived Wednesday and got picked up from the airport and brought right to El Crucero. Doorstop service. I can´t really explain all the things that were going through my head as I was heading up the long winding road to El Crucero. How alone I was about to be.... Maybe I could get a dog? or a piglet? Pao and I wanted a baby chick before, but she wanted to eat it after it grew up, and I wasn´t down with that. I think a chicken would be safe now....

I must admit that after I arrived in my new (temporary) home, I pretty much freaked out. Reality set in.... but I also hadn´t slept all night, and I REALLY needed to. So I fell asleep at 4:30pm and woke up breifly, just twice, until 8:30am the next morning. Now that was a power nap!

The weather has been BEAUTIFUL since I´ve been here. They call this summertime. (totally backwards, right The skys are super clear, it´s sunny but cool. During the day it´s like 60-70*f in the sun... but the wind is crisp and cools you down immediately. This is perfect weather. For the last two days I´ve been able to see clear to the ocean from high points in the town. And when I came down to the internet today, the view was crystal clear of the mountians, the distant Lake Managua and Mombacho Volcano. Totally breathtaking. The weather this time around TOTALLY beats what it was in April. I really hope this lasts.

Yesterday afternoon I sent text messages to everyone I know in Nica to let them know that I was back. Lars, a brother from Granada called me back saying he was heading to El Crucero to look for houses because apparently he´s going to be moving there in Feburary. COOL. More cool peeps in El Crucero, the happening place! He had some other friends who were tagging along with him, so I joined the group and did some house hunting. He decided on a reallllyyy cute place for $250 a month with a huge yard (perfect for pancito, his dog) and a gorgeous view and sunsets over the hills. It was fun meeting those new kids, and meeting up with the old friends... especially after having freaked out from being alone... Jehovah always seems to remind me that I´m not alone.

This morning I went with Patricia in service. We started at 8:30 in the morning. She had 9 bible studies to do today, some were hers, and some she was taking care of for Michelle Elliott while she´s gone. We didnt get back til around 4 and we didnt finish all the studies. It was an amazing, yet tiring day. But incredibly fulfilling. I´ve had people tell me before, when you start freaking out, just find the brothers and go in service.... well, that´s pretty much exactly what I did. And boy am I happy that I did. After we started the first study and a mother and 2 grown daughters sat in with us and carefully went through the Bible Teach book, reading all the scriptures, giving detailed comments, asking very intellegent questions, and watching them calculate the prophecy of Daniel´s 70 weeks of years.... I just sat back and shook my head to myself and thought, ¨Now this is why I´m here.¨ It really was such an incredible day in service.

And I´m starting to calm down about being alone here. I´m getting to use my spanish a LOT, which is good. I need the practice. I am carrying around my trusty electronic dictionary just about everywhere I go. I love it! Possibly the best investment ever! I´ve got a lot coming up ahead of me....

I have an appointment at Bethel on Monday morning to turn in my documents for residency. And Ashley and Kelly are meeting me there and coming home with me after I´m done. I´m not sure what we´ll do with the week yet, but I´m sure it´ll be fun!

I´m totally happy about being back. I can´t wait to find my own place and start getting settled. Tomorrow I´m going to go look at two houses after service... I´ll let you know how it goes!