July 10, 2005

SUNDAY MORNING

     We made it to Nicaragua!

     It’s pretty hot here in Managua.

     Because of the threat of Hurricane Dennis, we left the church parking lot a bit earlier than originally planned, and pointed the CCUMC bus and the Jill Williams Suburban down I-95.  The 6 who volunteered to ride the bus were – along with David Luther, our volunteer driver – quite warm (since the rear AC was inoperative).  Nonetheless, we zoomed down the Interstate, sipping water, finding only a couple sprinkles along the say, and arrived at MIA plenty early.

     All 28 bags were off-loaded at the curb, and quick good-byes to Jill and David were followed by our entrance into the International Check-In line.  Within about 30 minutes, we had the bags tagged, had checked in everyone’s ticket, and sent our ¾ - ton of luggage through Security.  Soon, we loaded onto the Boeing 757 and departed MIA at 7:25 PM.

     There were bumpy patches of air along the way, but the flight was uneventful, and we dodged a little thunderstorm just before we touched down in Managua.  Going through Immigration was easy, and we were then met by a representative of the Ministry of Health.  He reviewed all our paperwork, and decided that it was OK for us to bring all our drugs and supplies into the country.  We were also met by Brenda Rose, the in-country missionary from Missionary Ventures, and she stayed with us as we were walked past the Customs agents by the Deputy Health Minister (we got to completely skip that line, since Brenda R. had it all arranged ahead of time).

     A 40-minute bus ride landed us at “The Mission House” for the night.  This is a nice, walled and razor-wired compound where we tried to sleep….more later.

     It was quite warm and humid, and thunder-claps seemed to be nearby.  We moved into boys and girls bunk rooms, and then met on the porch chairs, where Brenda R. shared some tips:  don’t walk the streets after dark, don’t put toilet paper in the toilets, don’t drink the water, etc.  She also shared her story about how she came to live and work here the past 5 years, having left her nursing job in Clearwater, Florida.

     She told us that a big baseball rivalry game was going on tonight here in the capital city, and that, depending upon who won, there would likely be celebratory gunshots in the streets…. So we were not to be worried by this.

     It really poured rain for an hour, cooling the air down nicely.

     We finally hit the bunks about midnight; the fans were a welcomed relief…

     And, sure enough, about 5 AM the gunshot celebration began, some of them right outside our compound.  It’s still going on 90 minutes later. 

     Oh well, we’re not down here to sleep….

The group leaves on their trip

Kathleen and Madisen prepare for a team meeting in Managua.

Noel and Pam on the warm church bus