Chelle Online

I've reached my goal of 15,342 studies!

Fri, 08 Feb 2008 19:47:06 +0000

I may have mentioned this before... the first time that I came to Nicaragua, I was so excited about the prospect of having 15 bible studies that that became my main goal. Get as many studies as possible. It was fun, and I did have plenty of studies... but I also felt like I was so busy with these people but sometimes they didn't appreciate what I'd go through to have a study with them. First I'd have to study in English, then in Spanish, then I'd make notes on special points that I'd want to bring up and figure out how to say it in spanish, then I'd go to the study, often a lot of walking, or at least bus fare, just to find that they're not there... they had something to do, or whatever. So I'd reschedule the appointment, and to keep everything fresh in my head, I'd do it all over again the night before the next study. So much work!!

Well, this time I decided a different approach. When I went to visit Guatemala, I remember meeting a special pioneer sister. I asked her how many studies she had, and her answer was... "Well, I have stipulations for my students to meet before I'll study with them....they must study for their bible study, study for the meetings, and go to the meetings... and THEN I'll study with them." Then she added, "I have 5 studies." This is one of the best examples to follow while serving in a country like Nicaragua.. or Guatemala. You see, almost everyone would study with you if you asked.... but not everyone is going to be really interested. They may think "Sure, you'll come here and teach me the bible? *shrug* Why not?" or they may think "Boy, that gringa's accent sure is funny... I'd love to hear her talk some more!" or they may accept a study just because customarialy it's rude to say "No", and it would be far more acceptable to say "Yes" but then just not be there for when you come back.

So I've tried very hard to be very careful.... I do not offer studies to ..

Next Time Pack a Lunch!

Thu, 07 Feb 2008 11:01:02 +0000

My full Friday of service has been a VERY interesting experience. The service have been amazing.... from an adventerous standpoint its been fun to ride the bus to the middle of nowhere and trek thru the little communities to our studies. I'd never ever before pictured myself living this kind of life, but it's been fun... and the results of my efforts have made it well worth it.

I must say that I have been a little less careful about the things that I eat and drink down here as Paola and I had been the first time. See, the thing is that, as careful as you are.... if you're going to be eating out... especially in the little tiny towns where someone has a plastic table and 2 chairs set up in front of their house where they make lunch and sell it for $1.50.... chances are they're not worried about the extra drops of tap water that's still on your plate before they spoon you a nice heaping serving of rice, beans and chicken....

So, I figured that I might as well let my body adjust to the water... the sooner the better. This isn't to say that I'm not careful at all.... there are times when I won't drink the water... like if there is no running water, only what they have stored in a barrel... That stuff won't make it past my lips... but I must admit that I have on occasion drunk water, non-boiled, from the tap. Call me crazy.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes I know. haha Well, anyway.... this is all just working up to the fact that you just appreciate that you HAVE water, and food. It wasn't until I left the United States did I realize what food snobs we are. If there was the tiniest thing wrong with your plate at a resteraunt, you give it back.... and they take it, and throw it away, and make you ..

The New House

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 14:46:35 +0000

I've been SOOOO crazy busy here. There's a brother named Lars (from Canada) who will soon be moving to El Crucero. He found a house for rent before I arrived and signed the contract on it.... But the problem turned up when he was accepted for a surgery that he had applied for in Canada. He's supposed to be leaving for Canada the same week (this week) that he was supposed to move in the new house. So, since I still don't have my own place yet, he called me and asked if I would like to live in his house, take care of it while I'm gone, and that will buy me some extra time to keep searching for my own house and in the meantime I can enjoy his excellent furniture. ( comfy sofa, bed, bookshelves, hot water showers, etc..!! ) Sounds like a good deal, right??

Well.... that 'project' has been a bit more than I intially bargined for! It's taken up pretty much every free moment that I've had in the last 2 1/2 weeks. Originally when we went to look at the house, it seemed really cute but I didn't realize that it needed a TON of work. So the first day we went to start the 'project' on the house, Lars brought along some friends and we pretty much RIPPED OUT some of the ceilings and walls. They made this house out of wood which is a really bad idea for El Crucero, being that 6 months out of the year the air is so damp that all the wood pretty much just rots. So when they took down the ceillings and the walls, you can't IMAGINE how much dirt, dust, mold and spiders fell to the floor. It was disgusting.

The cute little house became an enormous project. And being that Lars lives like an hour and change away, he could only come to work on the house on specific days. Then we started running out of time....Lars is leaving on Thursday of this week and the house still isn't finished but I'm supposed to move in! It's getting closer to being done, but I ..

Nicaraguan Ciestas

Mon, 14 Jan 2008 13:01:30 +0000

Afternoon naps must be one of the best things in the world! When I lived in the states, I rarely had the time for a nap... or if I did, I simply didn't take one. Since I've lived in Latin America, naps are a normal, and required part of daily life. Mind you, not all Nicaraguans nap.... Generally a lot of them have their normal full-time jobs and don't get home until the evening, so there's no time. I guess that's why I rarely napped in Virginia.... but here, let me tell you... you wake up early, you walk all stinkin day (since I can't afford a car, maybe I should buy a horse), your brain is constantly running at top speed translating languages, trying to vary presentations, and remember scriptures for service.... by the time 2 o'clock rolls around, you're DYING for a ciesta!!

This afternoon we finished service a bit earlier than normal and I was home at 2 o'clock.... "What shall I do with all this extra time??" I thought to myself. I was pretty excited to have nothing to do, haha. So I laid down on my bed, picked up a magazine and started reading. Well, I got about half way through one article and the eyelids got extremely heavy.... I think I actually kept my eyes open long enough to read the last word of the article before I completely zonked out. I hope my subconscience benifited from it, because I don't really remember much of what I read. haha

I woke up an hour later... I didn't want to. I don't know what woke me up, maybe it was the howling wind outside. ( It's still blowin like a hurricane! ) maybe it was the sunlight peaking through my curtians.... but I rolled over just to look at the time and WHEW does time fly! I had an ENGLISH study to go to ( WOOHOO! ) so I got up, wiped the drool off my chin, and went out the door. In Spanish they have this expression "Que rico!!" literally it means "How rich!" but it's used for ..

Pochomil Beach

Sun, 13 Jan 2008 00:01:01 +0000

While Ashley and Kelly were here, we definately had some interesting things happen. They got a good taste of crazy Nica life. The adventurous
shake-your-head-because-there's-simply-nothing-else-you-can-do life. On Thursday we decided to go to the beach... We'd been pretty busy with preaching and studing all week... and then it was time to relax! Everything started out normal enough until... *click*, we walked out the front door and closed it behind us. Ashley turned the key in the lock and it completely jammed. It wouldn't turn, it wouldn't come out. It was completely and totally stuck. Great. Now what? We were heading to the beach, but wouldn't come back until 5 oclock or so, and by then it would be getting dark... should we stay and try to fix it now? Or just forget about it til later? Well, we decided to just call Serigo and Alexandra and tell them what happened and hopefully they'd have a good sugestion. They have definately saved my butt on more than one occasion!! We left the house to pick up Allison who was coming to the beach with us, and called Serigo on the way who told us not to worry, that they'd 'break in' while we were gone and fix the lock. haha Reassuring, right? Well, we had a great time at the beach.... it was around the holidays so there were TONS of people there, more than I've ever seen.... Actually, most of the time there are so few people there that I've wondered to myself how in the world those resteraunts stay in business with no customers. There's never anyone there! Well, I recently decided that they must stay in business all year off of the money they make for the 2 weeks of holidays during Dec/Jan. It was slam packed! But the beach was soooo big that it really didn't matter, we still had a good time.

You've never been in service until you've crammed the entire service group into the back of a pick up truck for lack of automobiles. Wednesday is our long day for service, and normally we get a nice big group who goes out together. We bring our lunches, umbrellas, water bottles, walking shoes, sunblock, lots of literature, and I usually bring my camera. Boy, am I glad I brought it today! We worked a territory called Las Nubes, it's actually not too far from the kingdom hall, but it is rather large. It's just one road through the mountians and it seems to just keep going and going and going. Eventually, I've heard, that it empties out somewhere near Ticuantepe which is near the Bethel. It's a small dirt road, with almost no traffic, definately no buses, and an incredible view. My camera can NOT do it justice, but here's a picture anyhow....

Anyway, after our service group finished, we exited the kingdom hall and I thought to myself.... "Self, how in the world are we going to get some 30 people to this territory without a bus and with only one truck?" After a few minutes of deliberation, I decided it would be a day of a lot of walking.... I just didnt see how it would be physically possible to carry that many people in a little pickup truck... But, as always, I was mistaken. Not knowing the language often has me feeling disconnected. People are talking all around me, right next to me, or at me.... I see your lips moving, but I don't know what you're saying. Most of the time, even though they might answer my question, the answer seems so absurd that I think I must have misunderstood them. This was the case this morning, I mus ..

The Beginning of a New Year

Sun, 06 Jan 2008 10:37:51 +0000

I can't believe how fast the time has gone by. 2008 is here.... and I've been in Nicaragua for 2 and a half weeks now. It's going excellently. A lot better than I was expecting, actually. The first 2 days were definately a rough patch.... but I'm totally past it now. It was pretty interesting readjusting to Nica lifestyle.... I got pretty stinkin spoiled by my 20 minute steaming hot showers and.... flushing toilets. hahaha No, no... I'm just kidding.... well, not really.

So I'm somewhat settled down in the home of Roberto and Adriana Avellan, a brother & sister in my congregation. They have an extra room in their house, that I'm staying in for the time being, until I can find my own place. It's a pretty comfortable place, minus the cold showers, but I pretty much refuse to take one, even IF there was water. (today has made the 5th consecutive day we haven't had running water) Normally I have to heat my water on the stove, when I want a shower, and pour it over my head. But the process of heating the water (as opposed to not heating it) is totally worth it because even though the house is closed up, there are huge gaps between the wall and the tin roof, and the very very strong wind that El Crucero is experiencing right now sends a breeze right into the bathroom. Definately not pleasant when you're wet! Multiply that by 10 if the water's already cold. And YOU thought Nicaragua was tropical, close to the ecuador, and HOT, HOT, HOT. Well, you are wrong, wrong, wrong! Of course, there are places that are quite hot and sticky.... and I admit, most of Nicaragua is.... but somehow I ended up in like the coldest spot this side of the country. Go figure. But, don't get me wrong.... I'm sure all you northeners (pretty much anyone north of Virginia) will find El Crucero's weather like a pleasant springtime. I< ..

A Full Day of Service in Nicaragua!

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 15:01:01 +0000

Field Ministry! OH MY GOODNESS. It's just so simply amazing. I am so floored by the service here. I've been looking for some really nice experiences to write up to post for you guys... so far I haven't experienced anything very unusual for Nicaragua. For Canada, the States, and even Mexico, however, normal service days are very unusual. I've been accompanying a sister named Patricia on her bible studies every Friday, and it's a looong day. I'll tell you about last Friday's day. There's no service group for Friday morning, so we left together from El Crucero and caught a bus to a town called El Salto. It's about a 40 minute ride away. So, we started our first study at about 8:45 or so... the road down to the first community was a dirt road, it hasn't rained for a while so it's very dusty and the wind is strong. We walked up to a house, it's quaint, completely open air, there is no glass in the windows, just a sheet pulled back that can be let down for privacy. The 'kitchen sink' is outside, clean dishes piled next to it on a makeshift countertop made of 2 planks of wood sitting across 2 barrel tops. Clean laundry is hung up on a swaying clothes line that criss crosses in front of the house, and we had to duck under the damp clothes to get to the house. "Bueeenaaas!" we call out, which is like saying "Hello!" except the literal translation is "Good!" A lady comes out of the house, a huge smile on her face "Buenas!" she replies as she waves us in. She's the mother and she calls to someone else in the house, one of her 2 grown daughters who brings out 2 plastic chairs, then 2 more, then a 5 gallon bucket. Another girl comes from around the corner and greets us, Bible Teach book and Bible in hand. Patricia and I sit down in one of the chairs, and the 3 women take their perspective places, 2 in chairs, and one on top of the upside down 5 gallon bucket. (I think that one would leave a mark.)

Adventure, Here I Come!!

Fri, 21 Dec 2007 18:52:11 +0000

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 ..

5:00AM at the Airport

Wed, 19 Dec 2007 06:14:59 +0000

Well, I'm sitting here at the Charlotte Airport. Huddled in the corner soaking up the last tidbit of broadband that I can. Withdrawl starts in 30 minutes.

The airport is relatively empty at this time in the morning. The roads were also very clear. Who gets up at 3:30 in the morning to get to the airport? Perhaps a crazy person.... so then what do you call someone who didn't go to sleep at all??

That's right, I stayed up all night. And now I sit here, looking at my airplane, contemplating the level of sanity that I posess, and the very uncertian and quite intimidating turn my life is about to take.

Nicaragua has so many good points, and a number of rather uncomfortable ones too. But I've come this far, and I'm not one to give up so easily. (That should be apparent after the episode with the residency paperwork) Though I've got cold feet at the moment, I'm thinking it may just be the weather.... after all, it is 35*f here in Charlotte, and www.weather.com tells me its a whoppin 75* in Managua. Last time I went to Nicaragua, I was scared to death until I landed.... And as soon as I did I breathed a huge sigh of relief.....

... and now they're calling me to board.

See you guys south of the border!!!