Boo ya, made it!

I arrived in Managua yesterday at 12pm to a very bald and Hawaiian shirt wearing Halle August and the lovely Kathy August, a great couple I have known since I was a kiddo. I took 3 flights, BUT got upgraded to first class! That was just neat. I felt pretty pompous as they asked me if I wanted a "Hot towel please?" and gave me luxurious meals and free dranks. Needless to say, it did make travel better. The one thing I missed about good ol' coach is that the people you sit by ACTUALLY talk to you. They don't pretend you're invisible. Blaise-blah.

We drove to my new home and I conked out for 4 hours. (I think this will turn into a play-by-play if I don't be careful...) Anyways, after my nap, I really hit the ground running. I was dubbed with a second name, "Intern," and know it will be a never-ending joke throughout the summer. Boy. We picked up our first team at 8:30pm yesterday. Already one of my favorite things is watching people's reactions as we drive through the streets for the first time. "Oh my gosh, there's a baby on that motorcycle! It's a sandwich!," "There's like, 12 people in that Cab!," "um... 3 people just ran a red light.... is that legal??". I completely understand, it certainly is a different world down here. Rules are, to follow the Pirates of the Caribbean example Kathy said earlier, more like guidelines in Nicaragua. They don't have the authorities here that will reprehend people's law breaking. So, you see many people run red lights (I stopped counting after 13 today), hold your breath as you suddenly merge into the left lane because a car is parked illegally on the side of the street, and grow to understand that the people know how to walk in and out of traffic without getting hit.

Oy vey. This is great.

Today we took the team to Old Managua and talked about the history of the Earthquake in '72 and the Sandinista takeover in '79 and all the affects (good and not so good) it's had in Nicaragua. Since history can be taxing, we took the group to a lookout where you can see Lake Nicaragua and ziplined! It was really neat to see a lot of fears conquered today, and I am beginning to see the reason and necessity behind the order of events and activities when planning for a team. This kind of thing bonds a group together fast, and provides a shared experience that builds trust. Hey... we talk about this in my major! Real life application! Cool!

We ended the day with some projects around the Sports Center. (That's where I'm staying, by the way.) One group did some work on a wall in the baseball stadium and the other did some touch-up painting on the murals outside of the stadium. Kathy made us a Nicaraguan dinner and the team did some group debriefing.

That's what happened today!

I'm loving it here wieth all my heart. I feel assured that this is where God wants me, and I know He will show me an astounding amount of new things. It already feels like home. Keep up the prayers, or thoughts, please.

You rule. Email me if you want!