Day 3: Culture Shock

Well, I made it.  I am in the beautiful country of Nicaragua.  I had a long day of travelling that actually went pretty smoothly.  However, I did have one pretty emotional goodbye:

I didn't think saying goodbye to Dr. Pepper would be so hard

Anyways, once I finally got to Managua, I was greeted with such a warm welcome from Lindsay, Jordan, and Julio.

This was the awesome poster they made for me.

So, I should probably explain who everyone is: Lindsay is the lady in charge of the interns.  She was the one who I skype interviewed me, found where we are staying, figured out our transportation, etc. Jordan also works at El Puente with her husband Michael and her two daughters.  Julio is an awesome translator who I actually met on my last trip to Nicaragua.  There is also Leah, another intern who was on my same flight and we didn't even know it.  She is going to be a sophomore at UGA and she has a great heart for the Lord.  Leah and I are the first interns here-- there are six more coming in the upcoming weeks.

Leah and Reagan are to the left, Michael and Sydney are to the left

From the airport, we drove to where we are staying in Granada, which is about an hour away from Managua, the capital. There we were introduced to our houses and Francisco, another translator who is my roommate until another male intern comes.  My house is absolutely beautiful-- it has everything I could possibly need including a pool!

Yeah, it's awesome

Anyways, the next day, we dove right in and biked to a small church called Fortin.  This church is in a more rural area of town and was pretty humble with just a roof-- no walls, simply benches and a concrete podium. There, we met with a 6ish members of the K-Life team from Fort Worth Texas.  We played with kids and ran a VBS.  Then, the pastors wife and daughters fed us lunch which was rice and a orange stew made out of cornmeal (maybe), chicken, spices, (honestly, I have no idea what it was really).  I was, however, delicious.  It's cool to see them cook on a giant pot over a fire.  I spent the remainder of my time there doing dishes and trying to talk to the pastor and his family.  I quickly realized how rusty my Spanish is. 

Then, Francisco, Leah, and I went grocery shopping where I saw them sell raw cow testicles.  Then, I made us some pasta, and we played cards with everyone.

So, I am feeling culture shock here like never before.  Although, I'm not shocked by seeing 3rd world poverty, though, it is a very poor country.  I am shocked by the speed of life here. On every trip I've been on, people always talk about how things move slower outside America, but I have never really experienced it.  You see, when I went on other short mission trips, my days have always been jam-packed and exhausting.  I become very task-oriented and I get as much done as possible.  As an intern so far, it has been a different feel.  As an intern, I think I will be more relationship oriented, than task-oriented.  For example, while the team was playing with the kids, I was able to simply sit down with the pastor and his family and try to follow their conversation.  At night, I can just eat and play cards with my new friends for hours.  I'm beginning to realize how productive this seemingly unproductivity really is.  Life is about relationships, not jobs, not tasks, and certainly not money.  Nica culture embraces that.  Hopefully, this summer, I will embrace that as well. Unlike my previous trips, I don't want to remember this summer by the things I did but rather by the people I met and became close to.