The Rest of the Story

In one of my newsletters last year I wrote about Blanca and the passing away of her daughter due to heavy rains and flooding. You probably don't remember the story but the events of that day are quite clear to me still. I remember:

* The currents of water the rushed down the street that day. Taking pictures and watching rivers of water and being amazed by its strength.

* receiving the email from Liam, director of the school, that told of the tragedy.

* going to Francys' house to share the news with her

* the tears

* loading my car with people from the community

*picking up coffee, sugar, pop, cups, napkins, bread, etc. Food that would be served at Blanca's house (Nicaraguan tradition)

*travelling the dirt road to her house and walking the last stretch because there was no road

* seeing Blanca weeping over the body of her child

* Genesis, her 4 year old daughter, unsure of what is going on and why so many people had gathered outside her home

*the many members of the community that came soon after the accident and stayed until late into the night (Nicaraguan tradition)

* petitioning for God's grace, comfort, and peace to rest on the family and community

* Blanca telling me that she can't imagine she would ever be able to smile and laugh like she used to

But that day was not the end of the story... slowly but surely Blanca returned to work and began moving on, always keeping her daughter in her thoughts. And slowly over time I started to see her smile and I even started to hear her laugh.

Anita's death was not suppose to happen. She was a young girl of promise. She was always very positive and happy, loving and caring. But God allowed her to go and we wonder why it was so soon.

While the community mourned with the family, the night of the tragedy, we gathered outside their very primitive home. The physical needs of the family became apparent to the greater community and NCA developed a plan to help construct a new home for them.  

With Blanca outside her old house and a bit of a work crew

Blanca's new house

Letter from Blanca:

May the grace of the Lord shine in each home and on each of the people that shared of their own resources for my family.  I am profoundly grateful for the huge support you have given for my house.  Thank you from my heart and may the Lord multiply your generosity.

May God bless you and care for you in all your ways, and may He always be with you.
Blanca Morales and Family

Hanging out with old friends

I've been so blessed to be able to catch up with old friends who either live nearby or were in the area visiting. I think it's inspired me to go on a road trip someday to catch up with friends who live throughout North America, hmmm...

Meeting up with Fran in Metrotown (Burnaby, BC)

 Spending the day with Doug, Tammy (college roommate) & their kids. So great to see you Tammy after 8...9... years! Hope we can visit again soon.



Thanksgiving with Robin, Jessie, & Jenn (photographer). Enought food to feed us for the whole week, perfect for student life.



Then there is dinner with the Boersma's (old neighbours from Nicaragua) on Tuesday evenings. These are old pictures by about 5 years. Hannah is a little more grown up now but has the same personality, so fun to see.

World Food Day

October 16

"We don’t mean end hunger. Who would want to stop hungering for love, justice and righteousness? But in a physical sense, some of us need to choose hunger. That’s the fast part." ~ Steve Bell

Click here: Canadian Foodgrains Bank

Fast. Pray. Give.

Click here: Fast for Change

Fall is Coming

I have been watching like a hawk for the leaves to turn colour. Here's a picture I took on my bike ride this afternoon. My conclusion after the ride was that it's a little early to see the trees in their full beauty yet but this is a start.

Making New Friends

The masters program I'm in is pretty intense and doesn't leave a lot of room for other things in life. Pretty much I'm with the same 13 people all day for 5 days out of the week and then sometimes on Skype at night. It means that we are getting to know each other pretty well. What's unique about our group is that many of us are from different places and so we have looked to one another for friendship and support. Recently we have gone out to eat on two occasions in order to celebrate birthdays. With an international group like we are, it means we don't go to the normal restaurant chains.

Richmond celebrated his birthday Mexican style

Shine and I

Cheryl's birthday started with a Korean birthday soup (seaweed and tuna)

And later we went out for a taste of Africa

Time of Transition

     I always knew that transitioning from Nicaragua back to Canada was going to be a hard one. In fact the night before I left I was laying on my bed and I kept thinking, "It would be a whole lot easier if I just stayed." So, I'm not going to try to hide what I already knew before I left Nicaragua: the transition is tough, change is always a little stressful for me.

    This blog post was inspired by my 2 year old niece Anna. Anna lives really close to my parents house in Ontario which means that I saw her a lot this summer and we did a lot together. Let me give you an example, one day I sat down beside Anna and told her that I was going to go away for a night and I wouldn't see her for 2 days. She looked me in the eye and had a very serious expression on her face and while shaking her head said, "Noooo". Anna reminded me that it's okay to express sadness when saying goodbye or farewell to something you had.

Anna helping me clean cupboards

       Since I left Ontario, Anna has been expressing the absence of her aunt. I feel like her actions express what our feelings as adults are when we say farewell to someone except we tend to hide our feelings a little better or express them in different ways. Let me match up some of her actions with my feelings:

      1. One night after I left, Sara was putting Anna to bed and she kept saying "Aunt Aimee, Aunt Aimee". Sara suggested they pray for Aunt Aimee which they did. When saying farewell to one place and transiting to another I do think it is important to be able to talk about it. Many people have asked me how I'm doing and I usually say "okay". A few people have sat down with me over coffee or gone for a walk with me and have really asked me. I've appreciated those listening ears. Like Anna so many people in Nicaragua are in my thoughts and prayers. 

      2. One morning while outside Anna saw an airplane flying overhead and Sara said, "That's what Aunt Aimee went in." Anna started running in the field after the plane saying "Aunt Aimee, Aunt Aimee". Oh I can soo relate to this feeling. The feeling of wanting to be back at the place you left; of wanting just one more glimpse. The feeling that the place is so far away; you want it but you just can't have it. 

      3. Anna saw William talking on the phone one morning and was sure that he was talking to Aunt Aimee (which he was not). She was then sure that she wanted to talk with Aunt Aimee too. We did, on Skype. I have been able to talk and communicate with people in Nicaragua. It has been great, but so much is missing from the communication because I'm just not involved in their lives or in Nicaragua the way I use to be. Again you get the feeling of closeness but at the same time it feels like they are sooo far away.

      4. Anna saw someone riding a bike like mine and again said "Aimee, Aimee". As you can see it is one word she has perfected. Certain things do remind us of what we have left behind. When I see them it makes we smile. For me that was having dinner at a Mexican restaurant with two friends, Robin and Jessie. 

At the Mexican restaurant with Jessie (in photo) and Robin (photographer): real mango juice!!

        Perhaps if you haven't moved or made a big transition in your life you won't relate to these thoughts. But I'm pretty sure these feelings will ring true in the lives of those who have. The other night on the phone my dad told me that you can make anywhere home if you stay there long enough. I think that is true. I like to think that I take a little bit of my homes with me where ever I go. Last weekend I was in Houston, BC and someone said to me, "How long will you be home?" This made me smile.  

Nica-eh Continues

Due to popular vote I've decided to keep using this blog to post updates. I've also decided to keep the name since it includes a hint of both my Nicaraguan and Canadian life. I can't deny the impact the time I spent in Nicaragua has had on my life and so the name sticks.

I've officially been orientated back into school again. The other day I shouldered my backpack and got on the bus to go to school. Riding the bus has been an interesting experience which often involves a certain amount of waiting. This morning for example the bus I was waiting for didn't stop because it was "full" (by Canadian standards). That means I needed to wait for the next bus which did come about 10 or 15 minutes later. I'm going to try biking now in order to get exercise, enjoy the outdoors before getting in the classroom, and save money.

Today I went for a bike ride along the Fraser River and took this picture. It was taken about 15 minutes by bike from where I live. One of the beautiful things about living in this area is even though you're in the city you get a bit of a country feel.  

Surprises

Last night I arrived in British Columbia and was greeted at the airport by Jessie and Robin Vanderhiede. We stayed up so late (or perhaps early would be a better way to state it) catching up on eachothers lives. I spent all day today with them and they graciously showed me around the area; Langley. I was feeling like it was a very big place and of course I don't know anyone here except them and the Boersmas. Well the big surprise was that when we walked into Staples, Kim Boersma nearly ran me over with her cart! Wow, what a reunion! Of course we have planned to see eachother but I'm not even sure Kim knew I was in town yet. I think this was the reassurace I needed that this place isn't as big as it seems. I praised God for this little collision because I realized that a simple decision to go to another store first could have meant we would have missed eachother and never known differently.

Novelties

After living in Nicaragua for so long there were some things about living in Canada that I had forgotten about but was able to take complete advantage of them over the past two months.

1. Mailboxes: As a kid I loved to be the first one to the mailbox by the road when the little red flag was up. I loved looking through the letters to see if there was any 'real' mail and not just bills. This summer I would often visit my sister in the afternoon and loved to see her red flag up when I biked into her driveway. After a while I got the title of the mail lady.

2. Peaches: When I bit into my first peach in August it tasted juicey and sweet as I expected, but it felt exciting which I didn't expect. Later I realized that I hadn't eaten a fresh peach in seven years. I might have made up for it by now.

3. GPS: I think I would still be lost if I didn't have the GPS along. I was able to drive into Toronto and Niagara Falls with little difficulty by just following the directions. I have a love/hate relationship with it though. There is a part of me that just doesn't want to always obey it. One day I decided that I was going to trust the directions and found myself downtown Guelph, facing a road closed sign creating a dead end, uphill, and pulling a tent trailer!! Grr...

4. Hot baths: Even though it was summer I took many a hot bath while engaged in a good book.

5. Pay at the pumps: Since in Nicaragua you have full service at the pump, I had to learn the trick of pumping gas in Canada. Here there is even an option to pay for your gas purchase right at the pump. You don't even see another person! Wow talk about trust.

6. Newspaper: Every morning the newspaper came to my parents house. At times I would buy a paper in Nicaragua but of course it was always in Spanish and not super easy to read. It was quite enjoyable to sit and read through the news in English everyday.

7. Public Transportation: Twice in Toronto I road the public transportation. It was quite roomy and also air conditioned! A far stretch from my bus riding adventures in Nicaragua.

Celebrating mom's birthday in Toronto

Last Day of School

I'm usually not a big fan of the last couple days of school. It's sad to see the kids leave and to say goodbye and they are usually very hyper and very ready to begin their vacation. This year we did have some fun in the last couple days. I had to laugh when one of my boys came to school with a frog. No bowl or tub, just the frog in his hand. Even though he told me he was training the frog not to jump, the first thing it did was jump out of his hands and directly into a group of girls who proceeded to scream.

Ahh. What a great looking class. We ended the year with a prayer and they wanted to be sure there was time for them to pray in the prayer as well. Many of them prayed for my travels and plans for the coming year; is was very sweet. I'm so thankful for this year I've had with this class; they have taught me so much and I will miss them.

Brazos de Amor - 'Arms of Love'

On Friday my students stepped up to the challenge of visiting the kids at an orphanage called Brazos de Amor and investing into their lives. Each week this school year a parent of one of my students has come and had a devotion time with my students. More recently she spoke to them about experiencing God through the 5 senses. To wrap up what they had learned we decided to have them share it with others. My students were broken up into 5 groups. Each group had to share a short lesson about one of the five senses and how we use it to experience God. Following the lessons students again broke up into smaller groups and shared their testimony. We've talked frequently throughout the year about accepting Jesus into your heart. We decided to organize the stories of our lives into a testimony to share with others since it isn't really about us but about what God has done in us. I was very proud of them all for having the courage to share their testimony with the kids at the orphanage. After we returned to the school some of the students said to me, "Miss Bootsma that was awesome. I really liked sharing with the kids in the orphanage." This confirms for me once again their great big hearts. Most times a field trip means going somewhere to be entertained or recieve something. This field trip was different in that the students needed to be willing to surrender their desires and give themselves fully in service to others.

This is the group that did a lesson on touch. The final activity here is a cinnamon roll hug which is a favorite activity in this class.

This is the hearing group.

Before heading out to play soccer the students prayed for the kids at the orphanage.

And it's play time. Amada, on the right, is one of my students joining in some races.

Recent Events

I'll officially be leaving Nicaragua in less than a month. As a result, I've decided to plan some trips to places I had heard about but never gone to before. Friday a group of us went to Chavalandia. This place opened about a year ago and is quite unlike most places in Nicaragua although might seem very common to a North American. At Chavalandia you can rent rollarskates! Amazingly they also have helmets and kneepads too. It was actually very well organized and tidy. I was quite impressed. Claire and Jennifer find themselves on the ground quite often but had a blast inspite of it.
The second place we visited was Hertylandia. This is a Nicaraguan style waterpark. The property is actually very large but only a small portion of it is funtioning. It looks like it was probably a happening place many years ago. There are 3 waterslides but they can only run one slide at a time because of water pressure. Part way through the afternoon we asked them to switch the water to a different slide so we could try out other one too.

They also had go carts at Hertylandia. We asked a guy raking some leaves if we could use them. He came over with a jug of gas which he siphon into the cars. Besides the horse on the track was a pretty normal ride.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Veruca Salt demanding a trained squirrel from Mr Wonka
Augustus Gloop and his mother

Grandpa Joe and Charlie

The class I have loves acting and they are very good at it. I had copies of scripts for Charlie and the Chocolate factory in my closet. I thought if any class could pull this play off it would be this one. The first time we read through the play it took us a week of reading classes and I nearly tossed the books out the window and said forget it. But we pressed on and had auditions and then started practicing and practicing and practicing. The students got involved in designing sets and costumes as well. They worked very hard and Friday we preformed it twice. I was soooo pleased with the production. They're bound to become famous one day. Grandpa Joe hugs Charlie after hearing that he won the last Golden Ticket

The first graders played the Oompa Loompas with Miss Angie

Willy Wonka taking his guests down the chocolate river in his boat

Willy Wonka explaining the Great Glass Elevator to the remaining kids

MUCH THANKS TO KATE AND CAREY for their support and help. There were so many people who helped us pull off this project.

Somoto Canyon

I am getting to the point here in my stay in Nicaragua that if there are any last places I want to see or things I want to do, it has to happen soon. Visiting Somoto was one of the places I really wanted to see. A bunch of friends and I drove a couple hours north one weekend to experience it. The canyon was only officially registered or 'discovered' in 2005. I'm sure that many people have been to the canyon before that, but now it is much more developed with tour guides, etc. We choose to take the complete tour which took between 6 and 7 hours. The hike included climbing, walking, and swimming. I had just watched the movie 127 hours before this trip and I must admit it was in the back of my mind. We did not encounter any falling or loose rocks though. The water was 'delicious' to swim in and even more cool because of the canyon walls on each side of us.

Note to future travelers to Somoto:

* In case you decide to endeavor on this trip do not be persuaded by the guides to climb up to a cave. It's swarming with bats and littered with their poop. Definitely not worth the awkward positions and unseen footholds.

* Do not wait until Saturday afternoon to find rosquias (not sure of the spelling). Rosquias are cookies made of corn. They are so popular that stores are sold out hours after being made!! So disappointing.

* If you miss the rosquias on your way out of town, you must stop for guilas (another crushed corn treat) on your way back to Managua!

Invention Convention

Another year of clever inventors have completed their 'patented' inventions and presented them at our recent invention convention. Since we've had invention projects in fourth grade for several years now, I've had second graders tell me that they already have their invention idea. So here's what will soon be hot on the market... Jono saw the need for students to be able to hide their work without having to set up folders or books that fall down. He invented the No Copy which is a removeable cubicle. After the invention convention he had people putting in their orders, specifically teacher I believe.

Isaac thought taking soccer cleats to school was too much of a hassle. He invented a way to turn his normal shoes into cleats when it is time for soccer practice and back into shoes again when practice is over. This would certainly be a top seller in Nicaragua.

Almost every year students think of some sort of desk organizer. Here is Abi with her School Supply Tree Organizer.

Gamal saw a worker in his house scrubbing the dishes and it looked uncomfortable and hard. He invented a glove with scrubbies on it to make the work easier.

Survivors (More than a Conqueror)

We just had our 4th - 6th grade retreat at Centro ABEM again; this is the fourth year we've implemented this idea. We really enjoy putting this event together but even more watching the kids live through it. This year our theme was Survivor, an idea inspired by the current Survivor being filmed in Nicaragua. The kids had to work or participate in some sort of competition in order to get their food. They were appalled that we weren't going to serve them food this year but hungry bellies figure out what they need to do to fill them. Our teaching lessons this year involved building a shelter, learning to start and maintain a fire, killing a chicken, and ladder making. Our chapel times at the retreat were led by Pastor Dave who spoke about not just being a survivor but being more than a conqueror. He really challenged the kids to examine their spiritual lives to see whether they are really living for Jesus, know Jesus and have Jesus in their heart. We praise God for another successful retreat and that there were no injuries; especially considering we gave students saws, knives, and matches to use. Score board. We also made T-shirts and gym bags for prizes with the same logo.
Getting instructions in the Tribal Council area.

Building a shelter from bamboo and plam branches. The kids love to hang out there after they were done. Some put palm leaves on the ground and laid down in them. I was really impressed with the speed they were able to construct their shelters and the quality of them.

What better place to eat lunch than in the newly built shelters.

Here is one of the brave students who took the chicken by the head and wrung its neck. Lots of people told me this was going to be a bad idea and that none of the kids would want to do it. We decided that every tribe had to elect 2-4 people to go and kill and chicken. Every group had more like 10 students that wanted to go and had to decide on just 4.

Dissecting the chicken and identifying its organs. This chicken ended up being a rooster. I had asked the students to look for 5 organs and the ovaries being one of them. This team showed me their organs and then explained that they didn't have ovaries in their, "So then this must be the testicles" said one of the boys as he held something up for me to see.

Plucking the chicken. There were some comments about armpit hair in this process.

Preparing Rice, Chicken and Veggies over the fire and their slaughtered chicken over the grill. They ate off banana leaves and with scoops made from gords.

Early risers stirring up the hot coals to get the fire going again....

so everyone can enjoy a delicious breakfast of bacon, eggs, gallo pinto, and pancakes.

Using the ladder to get up to the rafters and tie a bandana.

Each team had to compete in a competition of ladder making and then using the ladder to tie up their bandana as seen in the previous picture.