St. John Goes to Nicaragua

Day Two! I think I can honestly say that today is the first day of my life I have ever been awakened by a rooster. At 5:45 AM. Not cool, rooster, not cool. I can't blame him too much though - it was already bright and sunny outside. I was told this was the rainy season. Therefore, I brought a raincoat but no sunglasses. I tried to go back to sleep but without much success. Eventually I gave in, climbed down from the top bunk, and took a shower. I would not say that the water was hot. It was not freezing, but definitely not hot.

Breakfast included my favorite: BEANS AND RICE! Yum!

We got back on our cute little bus and headed into the country for church. I mean way out in the country where there are most certainly no paved roads. We did see some very pretty scenery. And it continued to be beautiful and sunny. These mountain roads would not have been fun in the rain, so I am very thankful that it was clear. The church was bright turquoise and up on the top of a hill. There were a bunch of children milling about as well as some chickens and ducks and dogs. This one-room church was about the size of a school classroom. We were told that we would have to sit men on one side and women on the other but there was no more room on the women's side when we got there so some of us ladies had to sit on the other side. I was immediately worried because in this tiny building were two big speakers and a microphone. We started with some singing using a giant guitar, a regular guitar and a smaller guitar. Guitars for Goldilocks, I like to say. I was right to be worried. The pastor practically blasted us out of the room with his microphone. He was speaking very loudly AND using a microphone. When Fidelina got up to translate so Stephanie could introduce us, she refused his offer of the mic. We sang a verse of Amazing Grace for them which we were nervous about on the bus but having heard them sing first, we knew we were not competing for any kind of vocal prize. I pitched it a little high but not unbearably high. We even had some harmony thanks to Pam, Letha, Kelly and Charles. After a fairly long sermon in Spanish, the pastor addressed us and blessed us and told us we were doing God's will. They presented a new baby to the congregation and there was a lot more singing. I thought things were wrapping up but we were still singing when Fidelina said "let's go." We all got up and left and the singing stopped shortly after that. Fidelina was rubbing her ears and said she couldn't take it any more. We didn't hang around to talk, got back on the bus and headed home for lunch.

Afternoon update! I jinxed us. We left the team house around 3:00 for a tour of Matagalpa. As we headed down the hill, I could see some clouds forming over the mountains. We walked around the town stopping to look in a grocery store and at the cathedral. We finally found the delicious Creama sandwich cookies which we fell in love with on our last trip but had not seen anywhere so far this time. Just to be safe, we bought four large packs. The more we walked, the cloudier it got. We went to a coffee house that had lattes for $1. Nice. There was also a quick stop for ice cream. Mission trips are about more than food, I promise. We'll no doubt get to that tomorrow. The last block before we got to the bus we found ourselves in a bit of drizzle and by the time the bus got back up the hill it was raining. Now, as we wait for dinner, we are listening to the rain on the metal roof. Ahhhh.