This past week, Nicaragua took a break from life-as-normal
to celebrate Nicaragua Independence Day, or “Fiestas Patrias.” This past week
began with colorful dances, traditional food and outfits, and an annual program
showcasing the history and beauty of this country. Click here to see some of
the dancing (yikes!) and below to see Charlotte sing and Mae recite some poetry by
Ruben Dario, Nicaragua’s most famous poet. Henry's poem is too long to upload here; visit here to hear him show off his Spanish!
The festivities ended with a break
from school (3 days, actually), which allowed our family to head to the beach together
for an awesome respite.
We are not only celebrating Nicaragua right now! We’re celebrating
a good start to a new school year, and the healthy routines that our family
craved after a fun, unpredictable summer. Job charts, family meetings, bedtime
routines, exercising, reading together . . . good stuff that typically flies
out the window during summer vacation!
We’re celebrating
the smooth transition of Charlotte into NCA International; she LOVES school and
can’t stop sharing what she learns each day. We’re thankful our other kids are
loving their teachers this year, too!
We’re celebrating
a good start to our ministries this year. The SOAAR program is off and running;
the first month of coordination is exhausting and overwhelming at times, but I
think we’ve found a good rhythm with students and volunteers classroom assistants.
It is wonderful to NOT be in year 1, though we are by no means experts yet!
Ruth is back at House of Hope and AMOS, ministering to groups of women each
week; we’re celebrating the partner organizations that exist here in Nicaragua
that we are privileged to work with.
We’re celebrating
the natural beauty of this place we have the privilege to call home! Our time
at the beach ended today—a few days of sand and sun and boogie boarding that
was good for the soul and spirit! It was our first-ever “only family” vacation
in Nicaragua, and it was a nature-lovers dream! The kids had to say goodbye to
her hundreds of hermit crab friends that they gathered and released constantly.
We saw a huge whale swimming close off the shore, which was a first for all of
us, and the kids came across a troop of howler monkeys in the trees near our
room. We followed three baby sting ray in the shallow waters, and Henry and I
re-covered a nest of turtle eggs that was under attack by dogs and vultures (I’m
guessing they came back to finish their meal, but we tried!).
Happy Fiestas Patrias week! May you find many things to
celebrate this day!
