#8

So as most of you might have guessed since you heard nothing of natural disasters or accidental plain crashes we made it back to Nicaragua safe and sound. The flight was LONG but I guess we're becoming accustomed since we were able to actually sleep most of the time. We got some funny looks from baggage check in since both our bags were 50lbs right on the nose, (good thing I took out the blow-dryer).

We decided this time around that we were going to do our best in picking our battles so to speak with the culture down here. For example; a big back pack, 1 guitar, 2 computers, a large purse full of books, and two enormous suit cases on a 3 hour hot and crowded bus and then 1 hour on a cramped ferry was a "battle" we were not willing to fight. So we got a taxi and a hotel for the night and the next day another taxi to the ferry, (the ferry wasn’t so bad it just rained on us a little but that actually felt good).

Arriving at the dock was a relief and exciting since we immediately were re-united with friends from the cong. Ben and Sandra took us back to the apartment which we had hired a sister in the cong. to clean every week so as to prevent any un-expected visitors upon our arrival. It worked! The only casualties of our being gone nearly 5 months was some moldy clothes all my treasured spices were moldy and I’ am pretty sure there was a cure for cancer in one of those containers but I was afraid to get too close, and as you can see in the photo some mold now growing on a couple of our ceiling tiles due to we think a small hole that a bird pecked into our roof.

Another pleasant surprise is my basil plant, its huge as you can see in the picture and I’ am not sure what they were feeding it but I think its getting bigger. Needless to say this inspired me to start planting some of my other herbs and vegetables that I brought with me. I planted some thyme, cilantro (weirdly enough you cant get that here), and some rosemary. One of my bible studies is coming to the apartment on Monday to help my plant my spinach which we're really excited about. Its funny how much you forget in 5 months but here are a few things that we forgot to prepare ourselves for. 1) The huge and painful blisters on my ankles from walking soooo much. 2) Having my book bag fully stocked before leaving the house, I kept thinking a couple of magazines would be sufficient then I remembered where I was. 3) Don’t go grocery shopping without a game plan. This last one has been a painful reminder since we often find ourselves sitting in our apartment staring out at the hot humid day willing ourselves to leave and walk into town to get groceries but not quite being able to actually do it. We try our best to get everything we need for the week all at once but quickly find that its difficult to walk back home with all of it so we start saying to ourselves "oh we can get that tomorrow or the next day when we're in service" but then that day comes and goes and we forget and all of sudden we're in the dreaded day of no food and not wanting to leave the comfort of our apartment. I know this might sound dramatic or lazy or exaggerated but food is just about the only thing that can make or break our day.

Tonight we're off to try out some of the "fritanga" food or "patio" food as I like to call it, at one of my bible studies house after the meeting. Last Friday (our first meeting back) we were both handed talk slips for this week so it seems the adventure is already afoot. We cant wait to hear from everybody we enjoy so much getting your emails. Until next month,

Kirk and Kells