My Nicaragua

Random Details From My Solo Flight to Nicaragua

I translated for mission groups that came down and pretty much got to join 5 different groups and help with whatever they were doing.

I lived on a mountain (Pochocuape).

I was gifted two beloved pets, Shakira (a hummingbird) and Mantequilla (a very loyal butterfly).

The possibility of being jumped by a gang of drunk men with machetes arose.

I stood on a volcano (Momotombo).

I walked on a gorgeous beach in Leon.

I slept on a cardboard mattress for a couple nights. Those were the best nights of sleep.

One house I slept in had a tin roof and some rats found their way on it. It was interesting, to say the least, with the scurrying and such. A cat climbed the house and took care of them.

I made 500+ new friends and wish I could remember all of their names.

I taught English classes to brilliant students.

I helped open a new clinic.

I helped a group distribute 500 shoes to kids from the 2nd worst dump in the world after washing their feet.

I got drenched by a torrential rain while in the dump in a white t-shirt. Very uncomfortable.

I sneaked out to a discoteca... :)

I helped take 19 kids to MacDonalds for their first time.

I was on a bus when its tire busted in the busy streets of Managua.

I saw my Waxhaw neighbors in Granada.

I ate one of my most favorite fruits in the whole world, maracuya.

I "smuggled" a machete through customs.

I blended in and missionaries thought I was Nicaraguan.

I helped start new feeding programs.

Perry Brown became my new grandfather.

I discovered I will always have my missionary grandparents' heart for people.

I am pining away for Nicaragua. It has been consuming my thoughts ever since I got back on Tuesday. My second family is waiting for me to return and I can't think of anything else but returning, how I am going to return, and what I am going to bring next time, etc. They just stole a huge chunk of my heart. Here are options for what to do next summer. (as of now)

1. Go back to Nicaragua for 1 and a half months with Pack, Heidorns, and hopefully my mom. (To study Spanish and translate for missionary groups that come down to Pochocuape)
2. Work at my future as-of-now-imaginary job for the summer.
3. Stay at Chapel Hill and work for the summer.
4. Stay home and do nothing but love on my kids.
5. Go on random trips around the US or another country out of the US.

Nicaragua was one of the best experiences I have had in my life and I feel as if I will always be attached to it. I HAVE to go back. The point isn't the fact that I have to go back, it's that I want to go back. The friendships I have formed with the people of Pochocuape, Nicaragua are relationships that I want to last forever. How can that happen unless I go back? (often...)

My plan is to work during these upcoming semesters in order to save money to go for almost 2 months. Alas, there are cons to this plan. Being away for two months is long and I'd miss friends and family A LOT.

Yet God's plans are always bigger and very different.

Sometimes this "plan" of mine feels like another crazy dream. But I feel God telling me not to limit myself. It is as if He encourages my dreaming habit by taking me through experiences that I will cherish for a lifetime. For the past 2 years, I have wanted to go to South Korea to teach English. He inspired this with 2 years of teaching at an Korean/English camp. I feel in love with Koreans and was ALL about going to Korea to teach English for a year. After that I would hopefully venture off to graduate school and study education administration.

I felt strongly about that.
I felt that God was calling me to go.

When I went to Nicaragua, all my little Nicaraguan homedawgs were begging me to teach them English. They were hungry to learn. One of a teacher's biggest dreams is to have students that are eager to listen to every word and zealous to apprehend something completely different. After teaching a couple English lessons, the kids picked it up quite rapidly. It was the best feeling ever.

The differences between going to Korea and Nicaragua

1. I don't speak Korean, and I want to improve my Spanish.
2. Korean is a butt load of work, and I am already trying to master Spanish. So juggling two languages seems possible. One at a time is best, eh?
3. I don't have to learn Korean to teach English in Korea, but I have to learn Spanish to teach in Nicaragua.
4. I would rather learn Spanish than Korean.
5. Nicaragua is a 3rd world country and having an opportunity to learn English is almost non-existent in many areas of Nicaragua. Most Koreans are learning 4 languages instead of just one. I feel as if they have more opportunities in the learning-a-language area.
6. I feel more needed in Nicaragua.
7. Since Nicaragua is more recent, I keep in touch with them more frequently than with my Korean amigos.
8. It's cheaper to go to Nicaragua.
9. I have more connections in Nicaragua.
10. I feel passionately about Nicaragua...

So pretty much, Nicaragua wins.
But is this just a crazy dream? We'll find out.

Should I be working summers to save up for the future?
or
Should I be doing the things you can only do when you're young?
or
Should I be helping raise my siblings and supporting my family in NC?

I can't do everything.

It is awfully hard to decide though.
It is desperately hard to grow up.
It is even harder to know what God wants me to do, because I know if I am not following His plan I will be very unhappy. But I feel very lost.

I feel lost but thankful that God gave me the opportunity to go to Nicaragua and experience His love through some of the most beautiful people in the world. I will never forget their love and hospitality and hope to experience it again and again and again.