12/16/10 A Day in the Eyes of a Tourist!

Today we spent the day doing the tourist thing! We went to the local markets and bought lots of awesome gift for when we return. I tried to get almost everyone that donated to my trip a little something with an interesting story behind it. I could not have come here if it weren’t for those who prayed and donated. Therefore, it would only be right to get them a small token of my gratitude. For those I couldn’t afford to get gifts for, I wrote in this journal just for you!! I want you to experience what I had the incredible blessing of experiencing. I want you to fall in love with these children almost as much as I have fallen in love with them.

I SWAM IN A LAGOON TODAY!!! If you do not know what a lagoon is, PLEASE look at these pictures!! This large area was once an inactive volcano. Then, over the years, it hallowed itself out, it rained a lot, and BAM! LAGOON!! Usually I would be very reserved about going into water of a foreign country. I would be afraid of bacteria, amoeba, paranas, WHATVER! You name it, I’m probably afraid of it, or allergic to it. But not this time. The beauty of this place completely captivated me. And next thing I knew, I was jumping off a deck on the side of the mountain and CANNONBALLING straight into the water! TALK ABOUT FREEDOM!! There is something so liberating, yet, terrifying about free falling. You feel free to do anything, yet, gravity has total control. I guess you could compare this to your relationship with Christ. It can be totally terrifying jumping straight into the arms of Jesus, straight into a life unknown. But while you are jumping, while you are in the process of living your life for Him, this free-falling feeling gives you the ability to completely place your life in His hands. You have no idea what is going to be waiting for you, but you know exactly where you will end up: SAFE. Safe in His arms for eternity. Just like gravity, Jesus has it all under control. He knows exactly what time you are supposed to hit the water, according to the laws of physics, and just like the water, He will be right there to catch you before you hit rock bottom. Ah, the beauty of having a savior like mine!

This place was huge, tropical, wonderful, and the lunch was delicious!! I mean, who else can say that they swam in a volcano while listening to the sweet melodies of WILD MONKEYS in the trees all around them?!?!? Not many, I can definitely tell you that! This is a place I would love to return to, even if only for a moment…… Oh man, time to leave!! Next Stop: JUNGLE CRUISE!!

This cruise was AWESOME!! All 12 of us, plus Julia and the boat driver all got on one little boat and took a cruise down the river. The plant life was gorgeous!! The birds were so majestic! There were houses IN the river that you could rent out during holiday seasons. That’s right, I said, IN the river!! You needed a boat to get from one house to another because they were on tiny little islands that barely came above the water level. There were even SWIMMING POOLS that came just above the water line where if you stepped out of the pool, you could step right into the river. Weird, huh? Apparently, this is one of Nicaragua’s main attractions. You can rent a river house for any occasion for the same price as a hotel room in the United States!! How cool is that?

Best part of the jungle cruise: WE HUNG OUT WITH A WILD MONKEY!!! There is an island in the river that is home to many different species of monkey, and each boat tour stops by the tree so the tourists can look at the monkey. Well, there one female, her name is Lucy, and she is the most comfortable with humans. So when the boat stops by the tree, she will HOP ON THE BOAT to see what the tourists have “brought her.” It did not matter if you meant to bring your sand which as a gift to Lucy or not. It was hers once she jumped on the boat! She took bread out of the mouth of my friend and she took my bread out of my hand! She hung out with us, sat with us, talked to us with her little monkey squeak, and then went back onto the tree after we drove around for a bit. IT WAS INCREDIBLE! A real, live, WILD monkey! That’s some National Geographic stuff right there!! Ahh, we are exhausted, now time for dinner!

When we got off the boat, we went to a local restaurant that is famous for its DIRT floor. In America, the dirtiest you can get is throwing peanuts on the floor, and even then you might be facing FDA and CDC code violations. But not here. It was all dirt, all the time. No AC, just fans. With a straw roof. Top of the line here in Nicaragua ;). That wasn’t even the worst part. Some of my friends are Pescatarians. Which means, they are vegetarians, but they still eat fish. Therefore, they ordered fish on the menu. Julia advised them not to get it, that they didn’t really understand what they were ordering. You see, in the US, you order fish and your local restaurant, and it comes out grilled, or fried, or at least…dead. Not here!! The fish was dead, but still had the scales, the eyes, and even the smell of the water they came from!!!! And they were about 2ft long!!! I nearly passed out. I am NOT a seafood girl, ESPECIALLY when it is STARING AT ME!! So Julia, being the loving mother figure that she is, kindly explained to the waiter what we meant, and they took it back and had it cooked, American style. Poor things! Their confidence was shot down because they thought they were doing so great!! The waiters, not my friends ;) Haha. Anyway, after that whole incident, the food was wonderful! And no dirt got into my food!! After dinner, it was back to orphanage and into the mission house to sleep. Best. Last. Day. Ever.

12/17/10 Final Goodbyes

This is it. The moment we all knew was coming, but none of us wanted to admit it. The kids knew something was up because we didn’t hear Bryan’s “lovely” singing outside our window to wake us up. When we packed up all of our belongings and went outside, the bus driver, our dear, dear Ruben, was there to take us to the airport. All of the kids were standing outside the door waiting to give us all hugs. The caregivers must have told them that we were leaving. Little Sara was mad at me. She didn’t want me to leave, and I can’t blame her. I didn’t want to leave either. I have no idea if I am ever going to see these beautiful beings again. Every single one of them has changed me so deeply, that words would never ever do it justice. We all cried and shared really long hugs. When I look at these kids, I don’t see mental retardation, I see freedom. When I look at them, my priorities in this life are completely rearranged. Suddenly, the hustle and bustle of the US has absolutely no meaning in my life. I don’t have place in my heart for monotony anymore.

I don’t have place in my heart for unnecessary stress; or the desire to have “the next best thing,” a second pair of shoes, a nice house with a white picket fence, 2.5 kids, a 9-5 career, a Benz, (or even a Toyota!). NONE OF THAT STUFF MATTERS!! When you die, you can’t take any of it with you. And that constant yearning for more, for rest, for relaxation from chasing after something so fleeing, will only suck the life out of you. Who says you have to be the next Bill Gates, or Martha Stewart, or Donald Trump? Who says Kim Kardashian is the real form of beautiful? Who says being thin is the way to look? (Because I have seen thin, I have seen these kids wasting away, and let me tell you, there is NOTHING BEAUTIFUL about someone starving because they cannot help it, let alone starving themselves because they want to have a “certain look.”) WE say it’s important. We humans in the “developed” world that think we have it all together. We that think we know the all the answers and the best way to live life. Well, I will tell you who doesn’t care about what we think is beautiful: Jesus. God. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Mr. LOVE himself. The creator of beauty, whose ways are higher than our ways, and thoughts higher than our thoughts says this. The sunrise is beautiful. The way a fawn knows exactly when she is about to give birth to her baby deer, is beautiful. The way the moon and the stars show up every night so no one has to be in pure darkness. The way those “orphans” stretch their hands to Him, sing their “little” songs, and dance for Him. The way a man lays down his life for a friend. The way someone shares their sand which while they listen to a homeless man tell his story. The way you spin and spin until you get dizzy and fall down, and you laugh so hard you cry. The way a mother holds her child when they need comfort, and the way the child responds with eternal gratitude. THAT. IS. BEAUTY.

I refuse to go back home unchanged. Every single child has taught me something about myself I never knew before. I saw such ugliness in my life every time I looked at those beautiful faces. And when I finally expressed my “ugly,” when I finally confronted my biases, my selfish tendencies, and prideful negativities, Jesus swept them away and gave me a clean start. He gave me a second chance to let Him shape my life and to make me look more like Him. To make my life look more like these kids. When the world sees Nicaragua, they might see horror, tragedy, and hopelessness. But, now, when I look at Nicaragua, I see a nation. Beautiful people waiting for beautiful people like us to come and hear their story. When we hear their story, our lives will be transformed. And when we do something to help their story, their lives will be improved. And when we let it impact OUR story, OUR lives will be changed forever. That’s the secret. That’s how we will make a difference in this world. Until next time, Nicaragua. I love you.