“I dragged myself out of bed - 7:30 am on a Sunday is not exactly my style, even
though I am the ‘early bird’ of the Manna crew. I simply could not wait to get
back to one of my sanctuaries here in Nicaragua, the absolutely beautiful 50 meter,
Olympic Sized, eight lane swimming pool used for the ‘Nicaraguan Professional
Team’ (whatever that means) and is property of the army here. Today was my
first day one-on-one out of the community with a community member! Alan and I
were going swimming. In English classes of the past, we had talked up our
‘competencia’ a great deal. I was humbled as Alan emerged from the men’s locker
room ready for swimming in boxers for his swim suit. But all too quickly, we
dove into the water laughing and smiling about being in one another’s company.
Bless his heart, he simply could not figure out how to use the pair of goggles I lent
him for the entire hour... leaking... too small... one eye off... too big... leaking...
forget it!’
“After warming up a bit, Alan was a bit more reluctant to go through with our
‘competencia’, but for a guy who has swum a whole 10 or 20 times in his life, he
was really something in the water. Come on now, you all know Alan, this
competencia inspired the ‘muscle man jelly maker’ to learn to swim more fluidly.
We filled the rest of our hour with swim lessons, basking in the sun, and of course
he did not forget to leave out his famous, all too frequent, flirty lines... but Alan
has one of the best hearts of anyone I have ever met. After buying me a gaseosa,
he showed me ways of the buses, and led me on a tour through Marcado Israel, a
beautiful exchange for the previous swim lessons. We ended our journey in
conversation with my broken Spanish and his English that is improving ‘cada dia’
over the delicious Quesillos Marta. Alan informed me that (yes, a direct quote) “I
used to smoke and drink but I have not done so in 2 years because I love Jesus and
Jesus loves me”. He seems well, studying and working hard, loving his family
and Jesus, and always trying to impress the ladies. I cannot wait for my next 7:30
am Sunday wake up call.”
Happenings
• Laura, Melba, and Johanna received a loan through our Micro-finance
program. Laura is selling clothes and sewing blankets, aprons, etc. Melba
is selling under garments and Johanna is expanding her cake business to
include other pastries and foods.
• Laura and Oscar (by Monte Hermon) just bought a new stove and have
plans to install a toilet in the upcoming months.
• Michael Flores became a dad two weeks ago. The baby is a girl, named
Michelle (with a Nica accent) and she's hanging out at the hospital for a
while longer since she was a premy. However, everyone is super excited for
the new addition to the family.
• Elena graduates from high school in November. She plans to go to UNAN
in February and is thinking about studying law.
• Gabriel is becoming part of the literacy team so that Olga can focus on law
school and graduation.
• Halle and Kathy received a generous donation from their church to buy two
new microbuses.
• English Class Murder Mysteries are happily still taking place, this time with
a cruise theme.
No comments:
Post a Comment