30 Days of Thankfulness: November 29 and 30--The Rest of the List

The end of November is here! We'll admit, there have been a few days this month that we've grumbled, "WHY did we think this blog-everyday-thing was a good idea?" Admittedly, it has been more of a task than a joy to take a picture and write each day, though we truly are thankful for all of the things we've written about this month.
So as the month comes to an end. . .I hope that we'll maintain a sense of thanks regardless of circumstance. I was reminded by another blog from a missionary here in Nicaragua that true Christian thanksgiving is about an attitude that isn't so much about having good things or having everything worked out. “In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). Would I still be thankful to my Creator even if many of the things we've mentioned this month disappeared? Our car breaks down. We get sick. Our internet goes down again. I don't know. Something I'm working on, for sure. It is pretty easy to feel thankful when everything seems to be going our way.
Here are a few things we didn't get to write about, but that we'd jotted down when we started this journey:

Caponeras--The little three-wheeled motorbike/taxis that take me part of the way home every once in a while when I can't get a ride otherwise. It costs about 75 cents for a 5-minute ride.

Galletas de Oro--A few weeks ago my classroom aide, who is Nicaraguan, was eating a Dutch cookie (Stroopwaffle) during preschool snack time. I couldn't believe it! It turns out that a Dutch man who lives here (and whose kids attend NCA), taught his wife how to make these delicious treats and now markets them in Nicaragua! YUM! Fun having something "Dutch" here!

Spanish Classes--We are thankful for a weekly Spanish class afterschool at NCA, a weekly chat session on our neighbor's porch each Monday night after our children are in bed, and a great iPad app we use almost daily to improve our Spanish. A slow road, but we are determined!

Seranias Market--Our closest "store" (4 minutes in the car or a 20-minute walk), it's nice to have a place to quickly grab a 2-liter for a party, a pack of spaghetti, or some bananas. Kids like picking out random treats here for behavior, and enjoy that parrot that screams "Que Rico!" when you enter.

Jairo--MANY people have made our lives possible here in Nicaragua. Jairo has spent a LOT of time with our transition here, specifically in terms of our paperwork for residency. He has spent entire days sitting in  the immigration office on our behalf, only to find out we didn't come with the correct paperwork. We are thankful for this help; on our own, we'd be in big trouble. While we're still working on our cedulas (residency), he always says, "Don't worry, Mr. Henry. Don't worry!" I try to take his advice!

Nicaragua--At an English-speaking Thanksgiving service last Sunday, a man stood up to thank God for Nicaragua. "We're here because we love Nicaragua, and we love the people of Nicaragua." That's true. We need to remember to thank God for the privilege of living and serving in another country, and for the welcome we've felt from the people here. Nicaragua is a beautiful, broken place (a statement true of the whole world, I suppose), but we are right now called to this PLACE and we are thankful for this dot on the map that is slowly becoming much more than a dot!

30 Days of Thanksgiving: November 28--You

We are thankful for you. If you are reading this (or had the opportunity to read it by seeing the link), you are a friend of ours. We are keenly aware, now more than ever, of how deeply we depend on a community. We're talking about our community back home in the States, and we're talking about the new community we've formed here over the last four months. God created us to be in community with one another, and we praise Him on this Thanksgiving Day for surrounding us with so many strong and loving people, people who demonstrate His love so well to us. You enable us to serve here in Nicaragua, to follow a call to serve here through your prayers, generous financial support, and practical help. You enable us to be better parents, raising three kids with the help and love of so many--something we can't alone. You enable us to seek justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God. We love walking with you; walking alone here in Nicaragua isn't even an option. . . .so THANK YOU for being a part of our lives.

30 Days of Thanksgiving: November 27--Water Delivery

Many people here in Nicaragua, including our family, drink purified water. The water here in the city is supposedly fairly safe to drink, but because this isn't true 100% of the time, and because the water that comes to our home is stored in water tanks, increasing the risk of contamination, we choose to go the safer route. This means buying 5 gallon jugs of water and refilling them when they are empty, which is not nearly as convenient as filling up a cup of water directly out of the tap. It is almost as convenient, though, because every other Tuesday, there are "water guys" that come right to our door with full containers and take away the empties. While this seems very insignificant, we are grateful for this service that makes our lives a little simpler.

30 Days of Thanksgiving: Nov 26--Our First Visitors!

We have been anxiously anticipating the arrival of November 26 since before we left to come to Nicaragua because we knew that when November 26 arrived, so would our first visitors, Mur and Micah--my sister and nephew--who we have missed more than you can imagine. Soon after to our arrival in Managua, Henry made a count down so we could keep track of how many days it was til they  got here....

Looking back at all of those little dots, it's hard to believe that the day is finally here.  We are so thankful for their safe travel and arrival, and for the opportunity to introduce them to our new home, friends, and lives.  We are excited spend the week with Mur catching up and showing her the hottest spots in Managua (Nicaragua Christian Academy, the grocery store, the bakery...) and we are also excited that Micah will be spending the next 6 weeks with us as a part of our family.  We are very thankful for how small our world has become, allowing travel and visits like this to be possible.

 

  Reunited at last!

30 Days of Thanksgiving: November 25--Music Class

When my students leave on Mondays at 12:30 pm, my school day is not over! I quickly push around tables, set out carpet squares, and get into "Music Class" mode. Today was my fourth week leading a 30-minute music class with 17 NCA preschool and kindergarten students. Stealing a bit from my own kid's experiences in Music Together classes, we have a ball exploring instruments, playing music games, dancing with scarves, clapping beats, singing silly songs, etc. I have two adult helpers to control the craziness, and I'm thankful that they seem to love the class, too! While we only have one more scheduled class, I think there was enough interest that we will repeat the class for students after Christmas. We're also thinking about ways to use music in other settings as well--possibly Tesoros de Dios or an orphanage? We'll see where He leads! I'm so thankful for the gift of music, and the opportunities I've had at NCA to use music in my classroom and beyond.

 

 

30 Days of Thanksgiving: November 24-Sunday Game Nights

Typically at this time on Sunday evenings, Ruth and I are sitting at the table of our neighbors Karel and Myra, deciding which game to play together. . .a last hurrah of the weekend before another busy week. The tradition has been going on for a few months now, and we love the fact that our baby monitor can act as our babysitter as their house is only yards from our own! We've learned to play pinochle and they are now addicted to Settlers of Catan. . .and we always enjoy a good game of euchre together as well. We're thankful to have people to play games with and for new traditions as we settle into community living here in Nicaragua, though we still miss our game buddies back in Grand Rapids--Noah and Megan and Phil and Bridget and James and a few others, too.

30 Days of Thanksgiving: November 23--New Christmas Decorations

There are very few material things we miss here in Nicaragua, but as we are entering into the holiday season, one thing we are missing is our decorations.  We are a family that loves holidays and traditions, and as Henry listed off all the things we normally do during Christmastime that we won’t be able to do this year, Andrew and I felt a little ache in our hearts.  We are slowly acquiring some decorations (including the Charlie Brown version of a fake Christmas tree), which we are thankful for because they make life feel a little more normal.  We are also excited to start some new Christmas traditions as a family (swimming on Christmas day?  Decorating a palm tree?).  We are also VERY thankful that while we won’t be travelling home for Christmas, my family will be coming here to celebrate with us. 

30 Days of Thanksgiving: November 22--The Cafetin

Every day, Monday thru Friday, Andrew, Henry and Mae come here for a fabulous lunch.  This is "The Cafetin," NCA's cafeteria.  It is nothing like the school cafeterias they have experienced in the States--a hard working crew of wonderful women spend their days cooking homemade food from real ingredients.  The majority of the food they eat (besides Monday pizza days!) is Nicaraguan, and usually includes chicken, beef, or even fish (which our kids surprisingly LOVE) with a side of rice, plantains in a variety of forms, and salad.  These healthy and filling meals are provided for less than $2.00 a person. It has been a blessing to know that our kids are eating well without the hassle of having to prepare lunches in a country that doesn't have Lunchables, and for Andrew to have a way to fulfill his craving for trying as many new foods as possible. 

30 Days of Thanksgiving: November 21--Trampoline

Between all of the houses in our neighborhood you'll find a community trampoline, a joint Christmas present to all the children from all of the parents in La Veranera (last Christmas, so before we moved in!). Not something we'd expect to find in Nicaragua, this "Brinca Brinca" is something we are thankful for. It is well used every day by all of our children. . .Charlotte has no problem jumping with the "big kids" now. Besides Charlotte falling off when getting off by herself a few times (without major or minor injuries!), and Henry getting a little over-zealous while wrestling the neighbor kids, it has been a mostly safe place for our kids to play and "unwind" after a day at school! And you better believe that I (Andrew) am on it daily as well, though some of the kids tell me I'm over the weight limit.

30 Days of Thankfulness: November 20--Mae!

Happy Birthday, Mae! Mae turned 5 today and celebrated the day away--Toad in the Hole and balloon decorations for breakfast, brownies and songs at school, special prayer at elementary chapel, ice cream with neighbor friends at the Cafetin (cafeteria) after school, dinner of her choice (fettucine alfredo, fresh squeezed OJ, and green beans) followed by cake and opening a present (a new doll. . .first new doll since she was 2!). And a trip down memory lane with photo albums and videos from the past.

 

She'll celebrate with her classmates and a few friends next week at a party at our home. We're a little nervous to host a party; birthday parties here are huge. . .we attended a party a few weeks ago for Mae's classmate at a Burger King Playland, complete with DJs, a clown/magician, a clown/face painter, huge goody bags, food for kids and adults, door prizes, cake that looked like it was straight out of Cake Boss, piñata, etc. . .it was so much fun! But I'm afraid our party might not quite be up to the same standards! Oh well. . .that isn't what it is about. . we'll just enjoy fun times with Mae and her friends!

 

We are SO thankful for Mae today. She is a wonderful friend to her many friends, a girl who loves to say "Thank you!" throughout the day, a girl who loves to laugh and make people laugh. She loves asking questions about God and Jesus and loves singing His praises, too. She's a great big sister to Charlotte--very patient! And a good little sister to Henry--very patient! We are thankful to God for the gift of Mae on this November 20 and for His faithfulness to Mae during our transition to Nicaragua.

 

Click below to see:

Mae a few years ago. . .so cute!

 Who knew Mae would some day become a "Global Baby"?

 

30 Days of Thanskgiving: November 19--Geckos!

These delightful little guys are as much as fixture in our home as our stove, toilets, and Netflix. We have between 3-10 living in and around our home, appearing at random on walls, windows, or the ceiling. They range from tiny tiny--like your last pinkie knuckle--to about 6 inches long. Charlotte loves yelling "Gecko!" when she spots one of these guys, but the rest of us typically ignore them. Henry still occasionally likes to catch them (one night we caught five in about 10 minutes!) Besides the novelty and the entertainment, why are we thankful for geckos, you might ask? I'm so glad you asked. They eat bugs! We've been told not to harm the geckos or try to get them out of your house, because they keep down the insect population big time. That said, we have LOTS of ants all of the time in our house, and a variety of spiders, moths, flies. . .but I think the amount of bugs is indeed much more manageable thanks to these guys who work in our home at no cost to us!

30 Days of Thanksgiving: November 18--Health and Safety

I hesitate to "speak" this "out loud" but we have been extremely healthy so far here in Nicaragua.  There are many real possibilities of health issues we could face--dengue fever (a disease carried my mosquitos that our city is currently on red alert for), parasites and other stomach bugs from food (Andrew and I have different levels of daring when it comes to eating raw fruits and veggies here), car accidents (you should see the crazy driving here!) or from our kids playing HARD and rough all day long. We feel so blessed that we have avoided injury and illness so far.  Please pray for our continued health and safety.

This is Henry and Mae peering over the edge of an active volcano! No eruptions or earthquakes yet, either!

30 Days of Thanksgiving: November 17--A Nicaraguan Bank Account

We FINALLY have a Nicaraguan bank account (we started pursuing this at the beginning of August), which means we can avoid the many fees we were paying to withdrawal money from our US bank account.  This also means that we can now pay our utilities over the phone instead of having to wait in an endless line at the bank.  We are very thankful that there is a lady who speaks English at the bank!

30 Days of Thanksgiving: November 16--Hammock

Hammocks are everywhere in Nicaragua--the perfect hang-able, collapsible resting place off of the ground (i.e. away from scorpions and other creepy crawlies!) Hammocks are made throughout Nicaragua, and while certain towns are known for their hammock industry, we bought ours at Huembes Market in Managua. It has lasted through the rainy season, though it has had up to 4 children swinging on it at a time. Beyond colors fading a bit, and the predictable purple poop splotches from the birds in the trees above, it is still a great place to rest and relax for a few minutes each day! I've actually dozed off in it once or twice, but it's never long before a child gives you a rude awaking with a huge push!

30 Days of Thanksgiving: November 15--Nicaragua Christian Academy

So, we made it about halfway through November before we skipped a day of blogging. . .sorry to those of you checking our page hourly, waiting for the update:) We have our excuses about yesterday. . .beginning with no internet in our house for 3 days, and ending with the NCA Talent Show from 6:00-9:30 last night! Henry and Mae, along with 8 other kids from our neighborhood, opened the show, which is an annual tradition, with a remake of the disco sensation "YMCA." Our version, titled "Why NCA?" involved the many reasons why we are so thankful for this school for our children here in Nicaragua, and why Andrew is excited to be a small part of the vision of NCA. Here are the lyrics from the song that the kids sang last night:

Young man, there's no need to feel down.
I said, young man, pick yourself off the ground.
Because, young man, there’s this really great school
The kids who go there are so cool. . .

Young man, let your parents know.
It’s a place that you should want to go
You can learn there, and I'm sure you will find
Many ways to have a good time.

 You might be wondering: “Why NCA”?
You might be wondering: “Why NCA”?

The teachers are smart,
You can eat Daisy’s food,
Mr. Star is a real cool dude!

You might be wondering: “Why NCA”?
You might be wondering: “Why NCA”?

 Aprendemos English!
We can learn espanol!
Our classes are never slow!

There are lots of sports you can play,
And you can wear what you want on Color Day,
We have lots of great diversity. . .
We’re from thirteen diff-rent countries. . .

You might be wondering: “Why NCA”?
You might be wondering: “Why NCA”?

 If you have a bad day,
Go find Mrs. Mejia
she gives candy when she sees ya!

You might be wondering: “Why NCA”?
You might be wondering: “Why NCA”?

 The Eagle Center rocks—
for chapel and ball,
and hangin’ with Mrs Hall!

The best part is that deep down inside,
We have love for each other that we can’t hide
We are brothers and sisters in Christ,
We are one big happy family!

 And now you know: “Why NCA”?
And now you know: “Why NCA”?

There’s no other school
That’s just like this place!
It puts a smile on my face!

And now you know: “Why NCA”?
And now you know: “Why NCA”?

Despite the difficulties with the sound system last night, the kids did a fantastic job, complete with custom-made bellbottoms and elaborate choreography! We didn't win one of the prizes, but that wasn't really the point--the kids worked really hard together and I think they really are thankful for their school community as well. We'll post a video of the performance soon!

30 Days of Thanksgiving: November 14--Pan Ticomo

 

 

 

 

About 10 minutes from our house down the Careterra Sur is the lovely "Pan Ticomo" bakery, a place we frequent probably far too often. We are thankful for a place to buy cheap, really good bread, rolls, buns and of course "American"ish donuts and pastries. On the weekends they also sell nacatamals, a traditional Nica breakfast meal of corn meal, meat (chicken or pork), potatoes, and other veggies wrapped up in a banana leaf and boiled. Henry and I enjoy these quite a bit, but if I'd absolutely have to choose, I'd probably pick an apple fritter over a nacatamal! We miss the wonderful Wealthy Street Bakery being so close to us on Union Ave SE in Grand Rapids--haven't found cinnamon rolls as good here--but we are thankful to have a "new" bakery that our family can claim as "ours!"

Mae and Addy were bribed for this photo with a. . ..--can you guess?

Yup, a donut!

30 Days of Thanksgiving: November 13--Popsicles:)

Nothing like a cold, low-cost popsicle to cool ya' off after a long day at school! A huge box of these plastic-wrapped artificially-flavored wonders is relatively inexpensive at Pricesmart (our "Costco"), and is now a staple in the Ippel household. Kids from our neighborhood also are frequent partakers of these refreshing delights; they may or may not be used for bribes and small payments! Yes, of course we eat (and drink) plenty of real locally-grown sweet fruit, but there is just something about these popsicles that we are thankful for, and we're thankful to have friends with whom to share.

30 Days of Thanksgiving: November 12--Marlene

This is Marlene, and we are very thankful for her.  Marlene watches Charlotte 2 days a week so that I (Ruth) can volunteer at Clinica El Samaritano.  Watching Charlotte is not an easy job these days because she is very curious, has a lot of energy and LOVES the freedom of being able to run around our neighborhood, but Marlene does an excellent job of lovingly caring for her... probably better than I do in fact.  When I leave Charlotte in the morning, she is usually half naked, barefoot, and wild looking, but when I come home, she is dressed in matching clothes, has a barrette or braid in her hair and shoes on her feet.  Marlene also helps us around the house which we are extremely thankful for.  Unintentionally, she has also become my personal Spanish tutor.  She speaks no English, but she and I seem to communicate really well (mostly, I think, because she is very good at understanding bad Spanish).  She is not afraid to correct me, which I really appreciate.  We really appreciate her and she is becoming a part of our family.  Please pray for Marlene's dad... he is very sick and has been for awhile.  Marlene plays a huge part in caring for him, and this has been a difficult time for her and her family.

30 Days of Thanksgiving: November 11--Guards!

We feel very safe in our community, which always has one guard stationed by the front gate. Our neighborhood has never had a robbery,  which is very unusual here, and something we are so thankful for. Many missionaries and Nicaraguans that we've met have had multiple incidents of petty theft or robbery while living in Managua, and because of this almost all larger homes and communities employ a guard. Pictured here is the wonderful Manuel Antonio Herrera, with Charlotte "Spidergirl" Ippel and Quentin "Superman" Norman. Our two guards rotate 24-hour shifts; not a very fun job, and I'm sure the pay isn't much. We're EXTREMELY thankful to have friendly men to welcome us home each time we drive up to the "La Veranera" community! Charlotte loves saying "hola" to the guards multiple times each day:)!

30 Days of Thanksgiving: November 10--Ultimate Frisbee

On Sunday afternoons at 3:00 sharp. . .oh, I mean 3:45ish. . .or whenever people show up . . .between 20-40 men, women, boys, and girls appear on the NCA soccer field for a game of Ultimate Frisbee! I'm not sure how long the tradition has gone on, but Ruth and I enjoy the fellowship and mostly friendly competition with a variety of expats, missionaries, and Nicaraguans. We are sweating before the game starts due to the heat and humidity, so you can only imagine how nasty we are after the second game (if we can muster through both!). The younger kids (including all of ours) run around together on the NCA playground, though we've recently hired a neighbor girl to keep her eyes on Charlotte during the games. Ruth had a nasty ankle sprain after stepping in a hole on the field (some of you may remember the Rehoboth prairie dog holes back in the day?) a while ago that kept her off the field for a month, but last week she made her strong comeback and has mostly recovered.

30 Days of Thanksgiving: November 9--Our Neighborhood

We love our neighborhood.  We live in a “compound” with 4 other missionary families, and they have become a family to us.  Their support and encouragement has been such a blessing to us from the very beginning. We arrived to our new home in Managua for the first time at 10:00 at night, and by 7:00 the next morning, our kids already had friends!  There are 15 kids in our neighborhood between the ages of 2-12, and they play together every day, running around outside and from house to house.  We have really enjoyed the adult friendships too—I (Ruth), being the crazy extrovert I am, have so appreciated having friends around to talk to all the time.  Andrew and I have a perpetual longing for a deep community, and have found it here.  We exchange children, borrow ingredients and cars, play games after bedtime (we are so glad we brought our baby monitor!), ride to places together, share meals, exercise together, share struggles, Facebook chat each other at night even though if we talked loudly enough we could hear from one house to the other, help each others kids with homework, and the list goes on… We are so thankful to God for providing us with this safe and loving place that has become a home away from home for us. 

30 Days of Thanksgiving: November 8--Crazy Cellphone Deals

Beginning at 6:30 AM, our cell phones begin to receive text messages from our cellphone company, Movistar. (You have two cell phone provider choices here. . .Claro is the other company, and they provide our internet). The texts continue periodically throughout the day, touting amazing "deals" for recharging our "saldo," or minutes. We're not on any type of contract here; we just recharge our phones with "minutes" whenever we are running low at any corner store, and it's great to do it when there are deals. Granted, we don't always understand what the deals are, but they seem SO good all the time:)We've also heard there are tons of restrictions on these deals, but we also don't understand those restrictions, so ignorance continues to be bliss! We use our cell phones MUCH less here than in the States, but we are also paying MUCH less than the monthly $100 Verizon bill we were accustomed to, and we are thankful to both have cell phones here in Nicaragua.

30 Days of Thankgiving: November 7--Mrs. Sandra

A smooth day in the PreK2 classroom at NCA wouldn't be possible without Mrs. Sandra Telleria, my (Andrew's) trusty sidekick and classroom aide. She's been working in the PreK2 room for 5 years, which gives her quite an edge when it comes to experience in early childhood education! Sandra is up for anything, and always looks for ways to make my day a bit easier and less chaotic. She VERY RARELY shakes her head and says, "Mr. Ippel!" in a certain tone after I plan a very messy, crazy lesson for the students that leaves our room and our children a disaster:) I am so thankful for her ability to communicate in English and Spanish--she helps speak with parents, translate documents and newsletters, and is my private Spanish tutor after my students leave for the day. We have a rule that I can only speak Spanish with her after 12:30; unfortunately I'm a bit inconsistent with following that rule! I appreciate the way Sandra communicates her faith and her strong relationship with God-her faith shines through in our conversations throughout the day. Sandra has two children attending college in California and is looking forward to a trip there over Christmas to spend time together as a family.

30 Days of Thanksgiving: November 6-Carpool!

There are a minimum of 19 trips made from our neighborhood to the school (about a 10 minute drive) each week, and I (Ruth) only have to do 4 or so, and none in the morning!  It is such a blessing to have neighbors to carpool with, although it often means piling 10 people into our 7-passenger Odyssey—the trunk is actually the most coveted seat!

 

Don't worry--this picture isn't actually part of the carpool:) Quentin and Charlotte are just carpool wannabees!

30 Days of Thanksgiving: November 5--Our Van

Ruth always said that our Honda Odyssey in the States was her favorite earthly possession, and the first tears she shed as we said our many goodbyes were as our van pulled out of our driveway at 707 Union for the last time.  Imagine our surprise when we pull into a used car lot in Managua after hours of car shopping and see a 2003 Honda Odyssey that was in our price range.  We are so thankful to have a car that we know and love—the roads are crazy here, so it’s nice to have something familiar while driving.  We never knew that the Odyssey was capable of off-roading, but it’s proven to be very versatile many times! We are also thankful for our favorite car wash here that will thoroughly wash our van inside and out for just $4!

30 Days of Thanksgiving: November 4--Magic Jack

We are thankful for our Magic Jack. Magic Jack is this wonderful and magical thing that allows us to have a Michigan phone number and call friends and family in the US any time we want to!  What a blessing--communication is SO mush easier now than when my family was living as missionaries in Africa 20 years ago.  Magic Jack is internet based, and our internet is often patchy, but we’ve found that if we unplug and plug it in enough we can usually get it to work. Call us anytime… we’d love to chat (and if we don't answer or if we hang up on you, it's because our internet isn't working--it's not because we don't like you)!

30 Days of Thanksgiving: November 3--A Bike

We only have one (wonderful) car here, and there are often times where Andrew and I both need to be in different places.  Our solution (for now) is that Andrew bought a $50 Japanese-made bike, which he rides down the Cow Trail to school 3-4 mornings a week, freeing up the car for Ruth to grocery shop, volunteer at the clinic and do car-pool runs.  The ride is 3 miles downhill, and only takes him about 15 minutes.  It is always an early morning adrenaline rush for Andrew, dodging puddles, chickens, moto-taxis, busses, large flying insects and rabid dogs (okay, they probably aren't rabid, but it makes it exciting to THINK that they are rabid while biking away from them as they chase him).  He hasn’t attempt the ride up the hill from school to home yet—it would be killer. We just throw the bike in the back of the van and drive it back up at the end of each day. We are very thankful for his safety in biking so far;  there are no bike helmets in Nicaragua big enough to fit Andrew’s massive head, so we will have Ruth’s sister bring one when she comes for Thanksgiving. We also are thankful for Chepe, a gardener at NCA who is also a bike mechanic extraordinaire! His skills have already come in handy.

30 Days of Thanksgiving: November 2--Taco Seasoning!

November 2:  We are thankful for Taco Seasoning

I have to say that this is one of the things that we miss the most here in Nicaragua.  Before coming here, I never that it would be at the top of my list (because people who speak Spanish eat tacos, right?  Yeah, just a different kind of tacos.) We are thankful, though, because a friend from church sent us several packets of taco seasoning, and we have been thoroughly enjoying them! Thanks Tammy!

30 Days of Thanksgiving: November 1--Hot Water Heater!

November is here, and Thanksgiving is around the corner! I'm not sure how much turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes we'll be eating this year in the land of Nicaragua. . .but regardless of what we eat on November whatever-the-date-is, we certainly want to spend intentional time being thankful, celebrating the joys of our new life in Nicaragua-- both the interesting and the mundane. So each day in November, we'll share one thing for which we give thanks, in no particular order. THANKS for reading:)

November 1: Hot Water Heater

Our house has a hot water heater, which is rare here in Nicaragua.  Many of our friends either have no hot water or use “duchas” which are electric heaters that are attached to your shower head, also known as “widow makers”--mixing water and electricity isn't ever a great idea. Because electricity here is so expensive, we try to only turn on our hot water heater for about 15 minutes a day for morning showers, but we are so thankful that we have it!  We are feeling especially thankful for it now because Andrew recently locked the door to the water heater closet before realizing we didn’t have a key, so we were without hot water for several days until a locksmith replaced the lock!