Wednesday - Fun with Electricity & Teaching

The week is half over and we are really getting our arms around the culture. We can drive around town without feeling like we are in a different world and we are all trying our Spanish on a regular basis. For the simple things, it is just easier and more fun than using a translator...and who can resist saying "Los Estados Unidos." It practically rolls off the tongue.

We started the day with Mike getting the Gumby award. He was quite flexible and worked on small but time consuming tile projects all day yesterday. He also did a great job with the teaching in Jenotepe.

I am going to keep the bathroom talk to a minimum because I am sure it is getting redundant. Just know that we are making great progress. I am sure there will be more pics tomorrow. I did need to include a pic of Don. He is no small guy and has been Nate's teammate all week. He is a lot of fun and can flat out churn some concrete by hand...a job which fell to me this morning. My back and shoulders are going to be feeling it in the morning!

Nate is always good for a little adventure and today was no exception. He was framing up a door in the "crater" bathroom. Don was cutting metal studs to length (shown above) and I was leaning against the metal stud wall watching and laughing at everyone's antics...when I noticed the 5 gal bucket Nate was standing on was going to become insufficient soon. So I went to the other room to grab a step ladder....and then I saw the lights flicker.

Apparently when Nate screwed the stud on the left side of the picture into the wall, it connected to another metal stud in the wall via the screws. Well there was a hot wire that was not completely capped (though we thought it was) that had electrified both studs. He never felt it because he was standing on the bucket. When Nate went to attach the header for the door to both, we got an arc weld. It shot sparks and left a bit of a tingling in his elbow. Had I still been leaning against the rest of the wall, I probably would have gotten a bit of a jolt too. Now that my wife is all worried, I should add that the amperage here is not the same as in Los Estado Unidos. We have seen Nicaraguans twist hot bare wires together using their bare hands. Nonetheless we will be treating it the same as back home...with extreme caution.

The pic below is Nate holding the wire tester as were trying to determine the source of the electricity (lit orange tip means a "hot" wire).

I think that should seal Nate's new nickname...it all began when we were staying at his parent's house in Atl one the way out of town. His parents have some really incriminating photos of him around the house as well as some pretty funny memorabilia. I got a particular kick out of this one...

...and Sparky is born!

Sparky (the early years)

...and for all you that don't believe that's him...

On a different note, I found a new friend. This tiny gecko was hanging out in one of the bathrooms.

Then we were headed back to Jenotepe for tonight's teaching. There are lots of interesting sights along the roads in Nica...thinks we would never see back home. This small Toyota has at least 7 guys in the back (one on the bumper) and is going about 40 mph down the bumpy highway.

As we made our way through the tight streets of one town along the way, we saw this guy selling meat out of the back of his pickup...in 90 degree heat. Yes, that is a whole unrefrigerated pig's head you see under his arm.

The teaching went well. We had about the same size crowd as last night. I really enjoyed getting to know Oscar. He and his wife are missionaries from El Salvador, who lived several years in Canada before moving to Jenotepe with CFCI. They are one of those sweet, caring couple's that you could sit and talk to for hours.

It was also good to spend some time talking with Jorge. He was the translator both evenings. He met his wife when she came to Nicaragua on a mission trip and they have been married for 4 years. He and I had a chance to talk prior to meeting starting and he was a great encouragement. We discussed things that were difficult in scripture and how to approach them. He is really wise for a guy in his 20's.

Well, time to hit the hay. Last night the AC was not working and sleeping was pretty rough. Mike went to the Asian market today with our host and bought a large oscillating fan as a back-up...and the AC is back on. I have a feeling we will be going from one extreme to the other.

Tuesday - Shorter Work Day & Evening Teaching

Everyone's feeling a little more energized today. With two days of demolition, heavy lifting and hard labor behind us, things are getting a little easier.

Mike, Bob, and I continued to work on the crater. We were able to get most of the plumbing completed as well as backfill the hole with dirt and concrete. By the end of the day, it was starting to look like we might finish it this week.

Meanwhile Nate and Don continued to run at a record pace. Their bathroom is framed up, the shower curb is laid, and they will be putting up drywall and laying tile tomorrow.

We knocked off at 3:00 to get ready to make the hour-long drive to Jinotepe for the evening seminar. It was back to the bucket showers since the water was not on yet. To give you a better idea of what is involved in a bucket shower...first, when the water comes on for the evening, you turn on the shower so it can fill the 50 gallon drum. That is your sole water source for the next day. When you want to take a shower, you get a smaller bucket and dip it in.

The drive over was beautiful. We climbed out of Managua and up over the mountains. Outside the city things the topography changes and there are rolling mountains, tall trees, and vistas with volcanos dotting the skyline...you can faintly see the Mombacho volcano out on the horizon. The photo is not great...we were running a little late and I was trying to take a few pics while Fabricio was driving 110kmh over a rough highway.

Then out of the other window the sun was setting and we could see the Pacific Ocean in the distance!

Mike taught the 1st of two sessions on Spiritual Leadership. The material was taken from a combination of Oswald Sanders book by the same name as well as additional material from Andy Stanley's Next Generation Leader.

The seminar was supposed to run from 6:00 - 8:00...so knowing the way things work in Nica, the pastor told everyone to arrive at 5:30. Well at 6:15 four people had arrived. When we finally got started around 6:30 about 20 were there. Mike did a great job and the content was well received...

...and tomorrow I'll be giving it a try. I hope Part II goes as well as Part I...you prayers are appreciated.

Monday - Bathrooms!

Wow! It is hard to believe it is only Monday!!! It feels like we have been working for a week at this point. We started the morning with a hearty breakfast of eggs, gallo pinto (beans and rice mixed), tortillas, coffee, and fresh pineapple juice. A highlight for many of us is the fresh fruit juice. It is hard to describe well but it is delicious.

Today's project was bathrooms...

While Mike, Bob, and I continued to work on the crater we created yesterday in one bathroom...(note the dark hole between Bob's feet. That is the raw sewage line...that later Mike and Bob were up to their elbows in.)

...Nate and Don began making gopher holes in the other (looking for the water and drain lines underneath). They had much more luck than we did and Nate seems to have the golden touch. They located the pipes, ran new drain and supply lines, and had them cemented over in one day. They will probably be laying tile tomorrow. He has been cranking out so much work that the rest of us are a little jealous.

Meanwhile Bob continued to diligently pour over the crater as we carefully chipped away at more concrete, dug a little more dirt, planned for the lines we were planning to run.

It was a great feeling at the end of the day to have the hole in the drain pipe covered, the drain lines run, and everything backfilled. Tomorrow we get to finish pouring the underlayment and maybe even lay a little tile...maybe...

They even broke out the Gumby award for Bob in honor of his diligence and persistence with the crater!!! It was well deserved...he is tired.

On a different note...I have to share a real bright spot on my trip. I took the family camera with me so I could update this blog. I thought Steph has downloaded all the pictures off of the SD Card...but when I plugged the card into my computer...I had this face greeting me.

I have made it my background!

Late yesterday we were going over the list of items that were to be accomplished this week...and realized that we should probably get started soon. So we broke into teams and hit the ground running this morning.

...I realized I left out a pic of the front of the new offices. While the front is small, the building is fairly large inside and takes up most of the lot.

Over breakfast Fabricio walked us through a few of the points from his sermon the night before. His topic was faith and one of his illustrations was the example of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in Daniel.

...then it was time to get started. Nate and Don jumped on building walls early. By lunch they had most of the framing done...

...and by the end of the day doors were hung and the first coat of mud was drying.

Meanwhile Mike, Bob, and I started on one of the bathrooms.

First was tearing out a wall, ceiling, light fixture, and prepping the new wall. Most of this was fairly routine...other than figuring out the electrical system. There were wires running in several directions and breakers controlled odd combinations of lights & outlets. We finally figured out that we needed to take some time and try to map the system.

Then came the real fun. We needed to tie into the exiting drain to the septic tank and had a feeling it was somewhere under the tile floor where we were going to put the bathroom. So we started and exploratory hole. By the end of the day we had a small canyon...complete with holes in one water line and two drain pipes. We successfully capped the water line and are going to be able to use it for the bathroom. Tomorrow we tackle the drains!!!

On a different note, the living conditions are not bad at all. The beds are comfortable, the food is quite good thanks to Joelydia's cooking. Last time I was in Nica, I gained 5 lbs...it may happen this time as well.

The electricity has been pretty reliable but the water really has not. It is supposed to come on around 8 pm and run until 6 am. This means showers usually involve dousing yourself from a bucket and refilling the barrels when the water is on. Last night it came on at 3 am and was gone again by 5 am. However it came on early tonight and we were all able to get a shower under running water! Ahhh the simple pleasures!

Well, it is about that time...we will get an early start again tomorrow. Goodnight all!

We made it! After a short overnight at Nate's house in Atlanta (where we saw some very incriminating photos from his earlier years...when he had hair) we caught the 7:45 to Miami then on to Managua. Even though it has been 3 years, it feels like much less.

The temperature when we landed was 90 degrees. After a week of cold and snow, the variety was kinda nice. We had a late lunch at a chicken restaurant named Tip Top, made a brief stop at the office to unload luggage, and then it was off to see a few of the sights.

The Cathedral in the middle of town...

View of Lake Managua from the top of the volcano in the center of town...

The crew...let's just say there is no shortage of testosterone. If you take a minute to picture what you think an all male construction trip would be like...the jokes, dinner conversation, etc...you would probably hit the nail on the head. So far, we are excited to be here and are having a good time. The team left to right...Me, Don (the Enforcer), Mike, Nate (who is living up to his reputation), Bob (the expertise), Fabricio (the director in Managua), Joe (who is taking the picture and is not shown), and Osvaldo (Joe's father-in-law and resident expert on Central American construction techniques).

The building has a segmented layout so it is hard to get a good picture. Behind the table you can see the guys bunk room. The large opening to the left of that will be the other bunk room. The white wall on the right edge is one office and there is a mirror office out of the frame on the left side.

At the end of the room are two doors. The door on the right is an existing bathroom. The door on the left is empty but will become a second bathroom with 2 showers in it.

This is the 2nd bunk room. In the back left corner you see where 2 walls were added. Behind those is an existing bathroom. We are moving the wall with the door out and adding an additional shower, sink, etc.

This is inside that room...

After a brief history of CFCI and vision for the future, I was ready to get a little demolition started.

So I started removing one of the doors from its frame...

...and drew 1st blood of the trip. Yes that is my leg. A little Neosporin and it was back to work.

Well, we are an hour behind (9:40 here) but we are supposed to get going at 5:30 in the morning so I am going to call it a night.

Nica Pre-Trip

I am really looking forward to the Nicaragua trip this Saturday! It is hard to believe it has been almost three years since I have been down there. Last time Steph was 8 months pregnant with Zac believe it or not. Grace Church has a very good relationship with Christ for the City International (see links), which is a ministry that equips local pastors with training and resources to better serve their communities. Grace puts together six or seven trips to Nica every year. Teams usually stay in homes or rent bunk rooms outside of the city.

What is the purpose of this trip? CFCI leases office space in Managua and few months ago the building changed hands and they were told they would have to find new offices. After a significant search, they found a bank that was vacant and was a great fit. In fact, there was even a couple of large rooms that are suitable for housing teams. So five of us are heading down to build walls, move plumbing, and run wire. The goal is to have it "team ready" when we leave the following Sunday. We are also taking two evenings to hold a seminar on Spiritual Leadership for local pastors in Jinotepe.

I do not have any pictures of the new offices but hope to be able to update the blog while I am down there. We could use prayer for:

- team wellness (Nica has a few bugs we do not have here in the US)

- smooth logistics (there are lots of tools and supplies that will need to work out for us to get the job done in time)

- an effective seminar (our prep, their understanding, etc)

- my packing (seems like I always forget something)

Here are a few pics from the March 08 trip...

The 2008 Team - Jimmy and Tom were the other teachers. Mike was the QB and logistics guru while Joey was along to see where Tom would like to build a house one day.

Downtown (museum on left, Nica Flag in plaza, cathedral on right)

This type of house is pretty common in Nica. What is interesting is that you would never know it walking down the street. Nicaraguans take pride in their appearance and will almost always be very clean and nicely dressed.

A little girl we passed on a tour of a neighborhood...

Martin Luther Seminary is where we were teaching. It is laid out in a big square with a courtyard in the middle. This pavilion is in the middle of the courtyard. It is where we gathered before class, during lunch, and at the end of the day.

One of my classes...I was teaching Bible Study Methods. It was a HUGE stretch for me. I had never taught the material, never been to Nica, was teaching 8 hours per day for 4 days, and was scared out of my mind. This was compounded when I was out of material at the end of the 1st day. I definitely learned more than the students.

I am really looking forward to teaching this time...much more comfortable with the material, and only one hour at a time...WHEW!

Graduation for all 3 classes...everyone received a certificate and two reference books in Spanish. It is really amazing how few basic resources are available in Spanish. Books and resources we take for granted every day just are not available down there because they have not been translated.

This is Robert. He was everyone's favorite student. He is a Nicaraguan who served in the US military. He was a great encouragement to us all.

A student hung around during a break to ask a few questions...BTW, note the louvered windows. It was 95+ degrees everyday, no AC, and very little breeze. I am a little concerned about Saturday because when we leave from Atl there will probably still be snow on the ground and when we land a few hours later in Managua it will be near 90.

We were able to get in a little sightseeing...this is Mike on the zipline in Managua. It is actually 3 ziplines...this 1st leg is over 500 meters long.

I hope we get to do it again this time!

Granada is a really old, historic town. There is a nice square in the middle with street vendors and some really unique churches, hotels, and restaurants.

One of our last mornings, Alcides (the director for CFCI in Nica at the time) invited us to breakfast at his house. He cut a fresh papaya from his own backyard for the occasion.

Looking forward to what is in store this time!