A Nicaraguan travel experience

The title of this post might be a bit boring, but I spent enough time already thinking of a better one, so that's it!

The adventures I am talking about are our experiences traveling to Waslala, Nicaragua for a Central American teacher's conference/get-together. Namely:

• BAD ROADS
• Beautiful scenery
• Border issues
• Police officers that liked to chat
• Interesting topics at the conference

You might notice I put BAD ROADS in all caps. Must've hit caps-lock by mistake. Whoops my bad! 

Actually, the roads were actually nice for most of the way (excluding a stretch of holy highway in Honduras) until we got to the last 25-30 kilometers around Waslala where the pavement stopped. Admittedly, the ride would have been smoother if the driver (me) would have driven slower, but where's the fun in that! And since I was with two other vans, I wanted to keep up with the lead vehicle which happened to have a pretty crazy driver also (Alvino). Each time we went over a major bump you could hear the luggage bounce up and down in the back, and inevitably Lidia would giggle about that for some reason. It was really funny to hear the sequence "brake...bump...jounce, jounce...haha" (repeat several times to get the full effect)

Be that as it may, the road we took led us through some amazing scenery: the huge, verdant rice fields and blue mountains of Nicaragua; the rugged, rocky terrain of Honduras; and the winding, tree-lined roads of outer El Salvador. It made the 17+ hours it took to reach our destination seem less monotonous.

Beautiful Nicaraguan rice fields. Seriously breathtaking!

We stopped to take a picture along a particularly pretty mountain range.
Left to right: Paty, Lidia, Maria Eva, Melody, Verónica, Samuel, Elmer

Occasionally (twice to be exact), the monotony was also broken up by police officers in Nicaragua that really wanted donations. Foreigners in Central American countries make for easy targets, so sometimes you get pulled over for the tiniest of infractions in the hopes of getting a hunk of cash from someone who doesn't know better. Fortunately for us, though, we had Alvino who was very familiar with the culture and knew exactly how these things worked. Of the total of $350 they wanted in fines, they were only able to extract $20. After that, I made sure to be more careful to pass only on dotted lines or when there were no policemen around.

And just when we thought we might finally have a trouble-free trip to our destination, we got hung up at the Nicaraguan border. Due to a law that had just been enacted, we were only allowed to take one of our vans into Nicaragua (we had three). So after much haggling, it seemed we might have to go home again, or go by bus and leave our vans--neither of which seemed like a very attractive option. However thanks to God answering prayers and, again, the expertise of Alvino, we were able to talk to the big cheese of the border agency and convince her to let us pass just this once.

Just enjoying lunch time while waiting for our border issues to get resolved.
Left to right: Verónica, Lidia, Paty, Elmer, Samuel, Maria Eva, Melody

Boy, were we ever glad to finally go under this sign after all the issues!

We finally arrived, safe and sound thanks to God's protection and answered prayers, at the clinic in Waslala, Nicaragua where the conference was held on Tuesday evening. Tired and hungry, we quickly ate food that some kind souls had saved for us and sought a place to lay down. The girls and boys each had a house to stay in, but due to a lack of mattresses, Elmer and I and three others got to sleep in a motel the first night. One of the best nights of sleep I ever had!

Wednesday and Thursday were packed full of sessions where we learned about classroom discipline, teaching mathematics and drawing, financial topics, etc., which Mary, Melody, and I took turns translating into sign language so Elmer and Verónica could also follow along. Honestly some of the topics didn't really apply to deaf classrooms, but we still learned some very good things. One of the ideas I got was to maybe have some kind of garden for my children. There's nothing like nature to capture the imagination of a child. Plus it affords tons of teaching opportunities. We also got to meet many other teachers from Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua.

The clinic close to Waslala, where the conference was held.

On Friday, the ones that stayed around after the conference was over, went on a nature excursion with Pablo Yoder (the one that wrote The Work of Thy Fingers). We hiked for a while through the woods, saw some monkeys, birds, and other wildlife, ending up at a sizable waterfall. At the beginning of the hike Pablo had made a pact with two other men that they would do whatever he did, so when we came to the falls, Pablo scrambled up the rocks and stood directly beneath the torrent of water! Of course the two men followed suit, not wanting to go back on their word. Some other people including ourselves tried it as well. The cold water was like a masseuse pounding on my back due to the 20+ foot drop.

Part of our picturesque hike...

The water felt sooo good after a good, long hike!

Left to right: Samuel, Elmer, Melody, Verónica

At the end of our hike we were greeted with an even greater spectacle--a live sloth! Sure it was ugly, but it was still amazing to see one in its natural habitat. Pablo showed it around by lifting it by the hair on its back, careful to avoid the dangerous, flailing claws. The sloth might seem to be a stupid creature, but let it sink one of those razor sharp claws into your flesh, and next thing you know you will need to go to the hospital to get the claw removed even if you manage to kill it.

A real, live sloth straight from the woods!

Pablo explained that the sloth is a very slow creature and it takes its time to do everything, including using the bathroom. It does its business only once every weeks! The sloth we saw had a ring of green around its neck, which was said to be algae. Apparently they are so slow at getting around that the algae grows on their bodies!

On Friday night, we traveled further into the town of Waslala to buy fabric from Pablo Yoder's store. Afterwards, we played some volleyball until dark and ate supper nearby. By eight or nine that evening we were ready to get some sleep, knowing that we needed to get up at three o' clock the next morning to head out.

But get up we did! We started that early in order to get home around three or four that afternoon, but God had other plans. Due to radiator trouble on one of the vans, and some slow going, we were FINALLY able to see our lane at 9:30 that night for a total of 18 1/2 hours on the road! The other two vans got home even later (midnight) because of the radiator finally giving out and having to tow the problematic van all the way home from about the border of El Salvador. However, in spite of some hiccups, we were all very thankful to God for giving us safe travels, and for all the new things we had learned.

For me, it was an experience that I probably won't readily do again soon, but it was still something very worthwhile!

Us being...us. Left to right: Lidia, Melody, Paty,
Elmer, Maria Eva, Verónica

We even got a tour of the clinic!

Pablo Yoder leading a discussion on having gardens as
a part of school.

Paty, singing fervently with her eyes closed, while Mary
and Verónica have some fun. Everyone else was sleeping.

From student to teacher

Announcement: After a lot of work, the CICS website is once again up to date. It includes profiles of all the staff and students that you can read to find out more about each one, and also a photo gallery. We hope to be updating it fairly frequently with news, information about new students, new photos, and other things of interest. Check it out here.

Now that I think about it, I've already been away from home two months! It sure doesn't seem that long... And half that time has gone by without me writing anything. Time to get to it!

I finished school in Guatemala, said goodbye to my teacher and the family I boarded with, and hopped on a shuttle that would eventually take me to the bus station. During the trip, I thought about meeting the deaf again, and I about couldn't wait! The deaf here at CICS hold a very big piece of my heart, and I'm not sure I realized how much I actually missed them.

Mary, my teacher in Guatemala Spanish school, and I. 

Upon arriving at CICS towards the evening, I gave Elmer a huge bear hug and said hi to Melody, Paty, and Zulma. After unpacking, I helped consume a delicious meal of chicken, rice, and salad. Quite a welcome and I didn't even have to help make it! (I did wash the dishes though)

It was a lot of fun to use ASL again! Unfortunately, my focus on Spanish in Guatemala didn't help with retaining sign language. I quickly discovered that I had forgotten quite a few signs, which was very embarrassing. I had even forgotten some of the name signs of the children! However everything quickly came back with a little practice.

I spent the next few days getting my classroom ready for my students. Cleaning every nook and cranny (not my favorite part, I'll readily admit), getting my desks and chairs set up, putting charts and posters on the wall that my family helped make. It was all very exciting! My classroom wasn't quite ready by Wednesday, when school started, but it didn't matter. What mattered was I would get to see all students again!

Class decoration before and after.

And now we're about a month into school already! Admittedly, the level of enthusiasm has worn off a  little bit, cause that's just how things go once things get into the grind. School is never easy and takes a physical, mental, and spiritual toll on a person. Also, my class isn't as easy as it was last year. I have the same students as last year, plus one extra student, Miguel. Now you may wonder what is so hard about one more boy...

Miguel, in spite of his cuteness and friendliness, can be a bit of trouble in the classroom. He has a very hard time paying attention in class. As in "one plus one is... oh, look teacher, it's a bird! In the tree! Out there! LOOOK!!!"

"And duuuuude, there's a nest, too?!! Amazing!!

"Ok, Miguel, remember you need to pay attention."

"Oh, yes, sorry teacher. I remember, I know. I need to let those things go and pay atten-- Whoooooaaaa! That bird just totally flew over to the other tree!! Jairo, check it out!" And then, Miguel and Jairo aren't paying attention. Of course, Miguel doesn't sign those words exactly and I'm over-dramatizing, but you get the point. :) Miguel also has problems with respecting authority and obeying promptly, as do my other little boys.

To say the least, this year has been harder and more work than last year. There are times (and not just in the classroom) when I wonder why I'm doing what I'm doing. I wonder if it's really worth it. Does what I'm doing really matter? Do the deaf even know why they're in school? Do they realize how fortunate they are to have that opportunity?

Then I realize for the hundredth time that I need to let it go. I need to give it all to the Father who is in control of everything. He is the one that can see the intents of every heart and will reward those who do His will.

But isn't easy letting go, you know. Especially for me. I like to fix things, make them better. However once I do--once I pray for help and acknowledge that I can't do it on my own, that's when things get better. And honestly, I don't know when I'll learn... I can be feeling good and thinking that the day will go well, when something happens and all goes awry. But when I am having a crappy day, all it takes is prayer and a plea for help, and God never lets me down. I have been amazed at how often a bad day turns into a good one, just because of prayer. Amazing!!

So do I like school? In spite of everything? YES. Miguel has been struggling with counting, but now is finally starting to get it, and that's just so exciting! To see the look on his face when he finally remembers that six comes after five is just amazing. Jairo has been doing much better in that area as well. Just today, after many different ways of explaining to Joel that adding and subtracting are different, I made a number line with sidewalk chalk and had him jump forwards or backwards depending on the addition or subtraction problem. Just to see him finally "get" it and tell me "Aaaah, now I know!" was very invigorating. Eduardo's satisfaction in shaving off a bit of time in his addition speed drills gave me a new desire to keep teaching the best I know how and not give up. And so on...

Please pray for all of us staff: Matthias, Mary, Melody, Verónica, Elmer, Paty and Lidia, and myself. Pray that we could have patience, humbleness, and wisdom in abundance. Also pray for the director and the committee in charge of CICS.

Here are some other things you can pray for:

• Beatriz - her family situation is anything but good. Her father is getting worse it seems. He is continually drinking, and doing unspeakable things to his family. Please pray that God would protect Beatriz, and her mom and siblings from harm. Pray also that her father would come to know Christ, and that his life would be changed with the power of Jesus's blood! Pray that Beatriz could remain faithful and look to God for strength and help.
• Silvia - with a new dorm mom (Verónica), Silvia needs to test and see what the new boundaries are. Pray that Silvia would learn to respect authority and be able to let down the walls that have been built up over the years to defend her heart from further wounds from those she trusted. Pray that she could come to know Jesus as her Savior.
• Carlos - he wants to do what is right. Every Wednesday at prayer time he asks for prayer that he could grow closer to God. He just finds it so hard to change. Pray that God would work in his heart, and that he could truly change.
• Also pray for the deaf that don't come to school anymore. Along with Ana and Kevin, who can't come this year because of their age, there are others as well that sometimes come to visit. Pray that they would come to know Christ and give their lives fully over to him.

Because Antony (a new student) likes selfies, and he is
just so cute!

Román (another new student) enjoying a game of catch.

Miguel, Eduardo, and Jairo playing Rats during a small break in class.

A nice drawing Kenneth (son of Nata y Becky) put on my whiteboard.

And the race is on! Teresa and Beatriz see who is the fastest on the bicycle.

Silvia wants a selfie, too!

Antony and Jairo get to know each other through a game of grab-the-ball.

Miguel concentrates for the perfect shot while Carlos watches.

Teaching new students is always challenging, but also
very funny sometimes!

Miguel proudly showing off his sticker that he earned
by studying well in an extra evening practice session.

Eduardo chews pensively on his straw as he carefully
colors a page of his animal book.

Pupusa night! Melody and Verónica show off their handiwork.

Everyone gathers around to see the new little girl, Gabriella. She hasn't
come to school yet, but plans to attend on Monday.

Gabriella enjoys a game of spinning jacks with Mary.

Another shot of Gabriella. We are very excited about
having a little girl again! The last six new students
have been boys. Not that those are bad--just, you know
something different is good once in a while.

A sight to behold!

In the past, I've talked a lot about all the hours of Spanish school, studying, and other Spanish related activities that have mostly occupied my time here. After a full week of learning, my head is usually almost swimming with the uses of subjunctive, imperfect vs. preterite tense, estar vs. ser, idiomatic expressions, and a boatload of new vocabulary. My teacher, Mary, sometimes says "Aww, pobrecita la cabeza, Sam!", referring to my head that's about to emit fumes if it has to remember another iota of information. :)

But luckily for me and for all other sufferers of the head-about-to-explode syndrome, there's a solution: the weekend! In my weekends here, two major activities I did (besides taking naps) were hiking the volcano Acatenango and traveling to Tikal to see the ancient Mayan ruins. They are, I might add, two experiences that are at the top of my list of "things I'll never forget".

The trip to Acatenango was a group trip organized by a friend, Deano, that I met here at the Spanish school in Antigua. He graciously invited me to join their group of nine, which I did, without fully realizing the pain my poor body was to endure later on!

On the way to the drop site. Not a clue about
the beating we were about to take. :)

Our initial ascent. Looks easy, right?

Some of the what the path looked like. On the way up it
was very foggy which made everything wet and slippery.

The hike begins at 1,400m (4,600 ft) up a generous slope of about 30-40 degrees with 25 pound backpacks. That may not seem like much, and indeed, it seemed easy at first, but after a while you start to want to throw in the towel. Finally, after close to six hours of hiking up to an altitude of 3,676m (12,060 ft) through slippery mud, sand, and volcanic residue, we reached our base camp. We were still not at the top, however; that was 300m further and the hardest climb of all!

Our basecamp. Hardly any of us slept because of the rocks,
icy cold, and noisy neighbors, but better than nothing!

The final ascent. What made this part hard was the
volcanic sand underfoot. On top of having to climb at
a 40 degree angle, you also had to take about two
steps for about every foot you traveled!

However, in spite of all the hard work, it sure was worth it. About all I could say was "wow, wow, wow......wow!" Nothing prepared me for what I was about to see. I was literally "on cloud nine"!

Some of the crew that made it to the top for sunset. Left to right: Lilli,
Daniel, Monica, Michael, Danny, and myself.

When we got to our camp that afternoon, only some of us climbed all the way to the top to see the sunset. The rest stayed behind to wait until the next morning.

We woke up the next morning at 4:00, hardly any of us having slept a wink, and prepared to climb to see the sunset. The millions of stars shone like diamonds in the crystal clear sky above us as we trudged slowly in the dark up the final slope. In all my life, I have never seen stars like that. With no lights for miles, you could literally see millions and billions of them! Again, all I could say was "wow, wow, wow..." I couldn't help but think then of the One who placed all of them there with merely His spoken word. What an amazing God we serve!

Once we finally reached the top we walked over to watch for eruptions from the active volcano, Volcán de Fuego. We saw a few small ones, but nothing to write home about. I thought we might not see any, and one of the other guys had literally just finished saying "Wow, wouldn't that be awesome if there'd be a huge explosion right now?", when BOOOOM and the top of the volcano opened with a spray of bright red lava and a huge puff of smoke. We all stared incredulously as the lava trickled down the sides and slowly turned to the color of the volcano. 

After the eruption, we turned our eyes towards the east where we witnessed one of the most beautiful sunrises I have ever seen. (This post is full of superlatives, isn't it? That's how it was, though!) Again and again I had to think of God and to marvel at his creation. And maybe it was a bit silly, but I felt closer to God as I stood 14,000 feet up in the sky and saw the cities, rivers, and forests beneath me. Or as the psalmist so eloquently says: When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? Psalms 3:3-4

As a little side note, my aforementioned friend, Deano, made a very entertaining video of the trip, which has some more details about our trip. He is a master of talking "Espanglish" and is not afraid to try to say things, even though it might be embarrassing (a quality I very much admire!) You can find the video here.

The weekend after hiking up Acatenango, I traveled to Tikal. The trip maybe wasn't quite as spectacular as the volcano, but it still was quite interesting for a history lover like me. Tikal, for those of you that don't know, is an ancient Mayan village, and one of the most famous Mayan regions in the world. The park is renowned for its well-preserved Mayan temples and its many other buildings and ruins. It's located in the northern part of Guatemala, about a 10-11 hour trip if everything goes well.

Unfortunately, everything didn't go well. On the way there, we had two flat tires on the bus which lost us about 2-3 hours. When we finally got to Flores, our stop, it was already too late to go on the tour I had paid for. However, due to a very kind guide, and some answered prayers, everything worked out surprisingly well. I was put on another tour without having to pay extra and I got to spend the same amount of the time in the park.

Scientists estimate that around 120,000 Mayans lived in Tikal during its peak. While I was looking at the ruins, I thought about how the villages must have looked many hundreds of years ago. Mayan men and women bustling around, working their farms, babbling a strange language. Slaves working in the hot sun to erect temples for the Mayan gods of the sun, earth, fire, and water. Mayans in costumes singing and dancing around a fire worshiping their deities. What must it all have looked like? 

One of the main Mayan villages or plazas. 

The view from the top of Temple IV. In the distance you can see other
temples peeking up above the jungle.

Besides all the ruins, we also got to see a lot of wildlife. Since Tikal is a jungle, it sustains a multitude of creatures inside its vast borders. We saw a grey fox, numerous spider and howler monkeys, many species of birds, and two toucans--all in the wild! And that's not even scratching the surface of all the wildlife that finds refuge under the jungle canopy of Tikal.

Visiting these ruins was a great experience. However, in a way, it made me feel a bit sad as well. All this effort and work of the Mayans to please who? or what? Do I put a proportional amount of effort into worshiping God, who I know is real? Quite a challenge, isn't it? But at the same time, I can rejoice that I can have a personal relationship with my Maker. I don't need to tremble and constantly offer sacrifices to "please" Him, even though He requires me to do my part.

I hope you enjoyed this little sketch of my visits. If you are ever in Guatemala, take some time to visit these places. You won't be disappointed!

And as always, thanks so much for your support and prayers! In a few days I have plans to travel to El Salvador to begin another year of teaching school for the deaf. I'll really be sad to have to leave this pretty town of Antigua, but at the same time, I can't wait to get back to my home away from home. Pray that this school year would go well, and that we would be could instruments in the hands of God as we interact with the deaf of El Salvador!

Aprendemos Español!

So I'm now well into my month of learning Spanish here in Antigua, Guatemala and it's been quite the ride! It's been a while since I've written, so I thought I'd invite you to have a peek into my daily activities.

I already told you a bit about my family for home-stay, but I'll elaborate a bit more. There's a total of five in the family that are regularly in this house, although there are also others (boyfriends, girlfriends, visitors, etc.) that come and go. There's the lady of the house, Odilia, who makes food for and cares for us and the students next door. On top of all that, Odilia is also a teacher at the school, so she is a very busy lady!

Adolfo is the man of the house. He also helps clean and cook, besides doing his job of selling avocados door to door now that they're in season. He's usually the one that sits with us to eat while Odilia is out. He always likes to spur on Spanish conversation by asking us questions like ¿Qué hiciste hoy en la escuela? or ¿Cómo fue tu día?

Then there are the "children": Hector, Paty, and Saira. All of them have a "special someone" that comes and goes. Hector is the one probably the closest to my age--him and I have lots of fun conversations. I taught him how to solve my Rubik's cube one night. You should have seen his face when he finally could do it on his own!

We have a lot of fun together even though we're usually not all in the house at once, except maybe on weekends. They make it a point to include students as if they were a member of the family.

One weekend, I went with some of the family to a local fiesta to see some
dances. Left to right: Paty, Paty's boyfriend, me, Hector

As far as my school goes (it's not always the same for everybody), it's five days a week, six hours a day, with four of those hours in the morning and two in the afternoon. Some of the classes, especially in the morning, consist of talking, reviewing, and group activities. The student can guide the class about as much as he wants. If I have a topic I'd like to talk about, we talk about it and discuss it. If there is some vocab I'd like to learn, we learn it. All of this makes school very individualistic, which is perfect. And almost all classes are done one-on-one which makes for a very immersive experience.

Group discussion/practice time. This time, we each had a piece of paper
with a theme. The "moderator" asked each of us several questions about
the theme that we had to answer with our opinion. These types of activities
are my favorite!

Michael, from Switzerland, along with his teacher.

Snack time! After the first two hours of school, we take a pausa to stretch
our legs a bit, talk, and enjoy some snack courtesy of a little tienda and a
small amount of quetzales (Guatemalan currency).

There are also the activities that the teachers do with the students, such as field trips. There are organized activities at least once a week which students can participate in, if they so choose. So far I've seen the ruins of San Francisco, a church/monastery that was partially destroyed in an earthquake, a cathedral, a coffee farm, a museum about the Mayans, a jade museum, and a nice view of Antigua from a place called Cerro de la Cruz. The teachers usually go along and explain to their students the history and culture of each place (in Spanish of course), so it's more of a hands-on Spanish class.

Coffee spread out to dry in the hot, Guatemalan sun.

You can't just walk by the coffee, you have to touch it!

Some Mayan musical instruments displayed on the
wall of the museum.

A view of Antigua from Cerro de la Cruz. The volcano directly ahead is
called Volcán de Agua. Its top is almost always obscured by clouds.

An active Catholic cathedral called Iglesia la Merced. 

Also Iglesia la Merced. Shown here is an argument.
Silvia, my teacher on the left that is pointing, explained
that the illustrations were ears of corn, but the rest of us
were sure that they were grapes.

The inside of Iglesia la Merced. 

The ruins of San Francisco. Before the earthquake it
had been a huge cathedral, and a place where the monks
and nuns ate and slept. Very interesting to think about
the people that might have lived here.

More ruins, with the town of Antigua in the background.

A papaya tree growing by the ruins, with some not yet
ripe papayas clinging to the trunk.

So you might have guessed by now, with all these things happening, I might be a bit busy. You could say so... There's never a lack of things to do, that's for sure! Every day after school, I go to my room to study and relax a bit. It seems no matter how much I practice, there's always more to learn! But that's how I like it.

Finding an isolated spot to study can be difficult, but
here I managed to find one.

About the only time I can really relax is on weekends. Saturday and Sunday I don't have classes, so I take it a bit easier, although I still study some. I usually save my sightseeing excursions for the weekend, because it's a bit easier to manage. Just last weekend, I went with a group to hike up a 4,000 meter high volcano, called Acatenango. That was an experience I'll never forget! I'll share that experience in another blog post, though, because it's kind of a long story.

I also have plans to visit Tikal, an ancient Mayan village now in ruins. At Tikal, there are many Mayan temples and pyramids that you can climb up and from which you can see for miles. My time here in Guatemala is fast running out, but I'm sure glad I came. It will be an experience I'll never forget!

Well, that's about it for this installment! I hope you enjoyed and thanks as always for your prayers and support! Please continue praying for me. In spite of all the fun I'm having, it's not all enjoyment. Probably the biggest struggle for me has been consistently having to be outside my comfort zone. At home, everyone around me believed the same things I did. I never had to explain why I don't drink, why I don't smoke, why I pray, or why I cling to such strange beliefs. Here in Guatemala, in the midst of all sorts of people, it's very different.

That said, I also know it's really good for me to be out of my comfort zone, even though it's not easy. I have to think about exactly what I believe and why. My prayer is that what I say (or don't), and more importantly, how I live, will be a witness and testimony to others.

Before I go, here are some prayer requests:

• Pray for me that I could live out my convictions and not be ashamed to share what I believe and why. Pray that my life could be a witness to others.
• Pray for my language learning. Pray that I learn all I can.
• Continue to pray for CICS and those in charge as they organize everything for a new year.
• Pray for the deaf in El Salvador, that they could continue to learn to communicate as well as learn more about God. Pray that we staff could teach them well.