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Nicaragua Journey: July 2012
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Thursday, July 12, 2012. Monday evening—three days ago- we hosted a party to thank people who had worked for the Gateway to Hope Garden Tour, which funds arts camps for Nicaraguan children. It was the eve of our departure for Nicaragua, and my environmental conscience was in hyper-vigilant. Instead of disposables, I provided glass bowls and metal spoons. When guests unwrapped their ice cream, we saved the Styrofoam sheets. Then, the final test: what to do with the Ziplocs? Fast forward to our Nicaraguan ...
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Nicaragua Journey: A Cross-Cultural Exchange
http://nicaraguajourney.blogspot.com/2012/07/monday-eveningthree-days-ago-we-hosted.html
Thursday, July 12, 2012. Monday evening—three days ago- we hosted a party to thank people who had worked for the Gateway to Hope Garden Tour, which funds arts camps for Nicaraguan children. It was the eve of our departure for Nicaragua, and my environmental conscience was in hyper-vigilant. Instead of disposables, I provided glass bowls and metal spoons. When guests unwrapped their ice cream, we saved the Styrofoam sheets. Then, the final test: what to do with the Ziplocs? Fast forward to our Nicaraguan ...
nicaraguajourney.blogspot.com
Nicaragua Journey: January 2010
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Sunday, January 31, 2010. 8220;After great pain,. At Casita Memorial Park, north of Leon, Ebelina tells her story. In 1998 she lived in El Porvenir, a village on the side of this volcanic mountain. Several days of torrential rains had followed Hurricane Mitch. Then on October 30, she heard a loud rumble and ran outside to look for the helicopter. Instead she saw a roaring wall of mud. It surged through El Porvenir, burying her waist-deep, crushing three ribs, and breaking her cheekbones. 8221; we ask.
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Nicaragua Journey: February 2011
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Saturday, February 26, 2011. Pella: Friday After Midnight. The van hums as we exit Highway 163 onto Washington Street. Looking at the Pella tundra, Marlo says, “In Nicaragua, you can be poor and survive, but not in Pella.”. Through the flurries, Wal-Mart’s windows beckon across a deserted parking lot. Remembering our empty refrigerator, we turn in. 8220;Yes,” the wan clerk says. “We are still open- 24-7, 7 days a week.”. Thursday, February 24, 2011. Tortillas- Start to Finish: A Blog in Pictures. 1 Mix c...
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Nicaragua Journey: Spanish—and Judgment—at a Phoenix Resort
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Saturday, March 10, 2012. Spanish—and Judgment—at a Phoenix Resort. Our first day of an Arizona getaway, at noon, we were sick abed with flu. A maid knocked. Marlo staggered to the door. I listened from the bed. 8220; Habla Ingles? Do you speak English? 8221; he asked the maid. 8220; Solo Español. Only Spanish)” she answered. He croaked out a few Spanish sentences. 8220; Estamos enfermo. S (We are sick)”. 8220; No necessita limpiar el cuarto. You don’t need to clean the room.)”. God wired me to enjoy wri...
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Nicaragua Journey: Beginning
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Wednesday, July 11, 2012. It’s our first day in Nicaragua. But my baptism into another culture started three days ago- in Pella Wal-Mart. Hayley and Skylar, ages 5 and 7, had agreed to help me select appropriate gifts for Naschly, the Nicaraguan Compassion child their age, whom Marlo and I visit next week. I suggested a backpack filled with something to play with, to wear, and to eat. We set out. They led. I followed. I thought. A good choice by two blonde and blue-eyed North Americans. Back home I remov...
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Nicaragua Journey: February 2010
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Friday, February 12, 2010. Another unexpected shift, besides those in my last post, has occurred upon my return home. My blogging energy has evaporated. I feel a need to focus, instead, on surrender and on drafting the book. So, I’m taking a blogging break. I don’t know how long. If I resume, I’ll announce it via Facebook and emails.(Become my Facebook friend! Meanwhile, I’d appreciate your occasionally. Lifting up the Nehemiah Center, Nicaraguans, and the book project before our Father. I do not underst...
nicaraguajourney.blogspot.com
Nicaragua Journey: January 2011
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Monday, January 31, 2011. It is 6 pm at the Des Moines airport, and the wings of our American Eagle plane are de-icing for take-off. Marlo and I didn’t plan on taking off until 6 am tomorrow. But this morning we woke to phone call from the airline: “We are calling all international travelers—tomorrow’s flight will be cancelled because of freezing rain. Would you like to catch a flight this afternoon instead? We say yes. Then we condense a day’s work into six hours. And we haven’t even left Iowa. God wire...
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Nicaragua Journey: The Checklist and the Hammock
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Saturday, February 11, 2012. The Checklist and the Hammock. Since arriving home, I’ve been oh-so-effective-and-efficient:. Unpack van. Check. Listen to phone messages. Respond. Check. Start laundry. Check. Assess food supplies. Start a pot of soup. Check. Buy groceries. Check. Sort an 18-inch stack of mail. Check. . . Poised above the clutter sits the shelf I blogged about yesterday with its owls, serenity prayer, and Nicaragua fabric. I enter, prepared to attack. And instead, I turn my back. . . On the ...