Less than two months left :-(

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So after getting an e-mail just now from my father telling me very bluntly that I need to update, and since I'm finallyyyyy in a cyber and have time, here goes a hopefully nice, long entry for you all. I apologize for the delay but I rarely have time to go to a cyber anymore and when I am on the computer in the house I don't like to be on for very long because the whole family uses it!

Where did I leave off on the last one? Hmmm...Ah! The arrival of Ted Anderson and Bille and MOPers! So that was back in February. Lo siento!!! (Sorry!) So Isaac and Pablo and Susan and I were all so excited about them arriving, (four of my MOPers came with Ted so it was a big deal for me), that we didn't even go to culto. We went to the airport just to wait for their arrival to Nicaragua. I was honestly going nuts. And it felt so weird for me, and made me feel even more at home in Nicaragua because there I was welcoming someone into thye country, not being welcomed! When I finally saw Bille come through to get her luggage I went nuts but of course we still ended up waiting about a half hour more. Oh well haha. When she finally came through I like jumped on her and we cried and then I ran around hugging the other 8 or 10 people that I knew. I get excited easily. That week I spent all my time with them. I don't go to the project on Saturdays, EVER, and since they were going I went. And then Sunday we all got up early and took the project to the beach! We were on the bus singing our lungs out, songs from the Mission of Peace, and it was SUCH a flashback. We always used to do that and so it was weird to be with some of the same people, in the same country, doing it again. Then that Monday I went to the project and I spent Monday Tuesday and Wednesday night in the hotel with them. What a blast it was. It was such a good decision. The four of us MOP girls were in a room together and it was sooo nice. Plus the rest of the people in the delegation were AMAZING! They all brought me in like one of their own and I have remained in contact with them. That Thursday we all went to the Mombacho Volcano which is a semi extinct Volcano near the city of Granada. We toured the Volcano and then went to the canopy to go ZIPLINING! AMAZINGGGG. You could do it just normal, or upside down, or like superman and so of course I did it every way possible! haha. The workers there made it an even better experience. They didn't just do their job, they really wanted you to enjoy it so they talked to us and were just really fun. It was just such and amazing week to be able to spend with them. And then Thursday night Rachel and Emily came home with me and spent the night at my house because their plane didn't go out until later on Friday!! :-)

I then had a week or two where nothing out of the ordinary happened. My normal routine of classes and staying at the project and all that stuff I always do. Not that it's bad there's just nothing distinct I cant hink of to write about. Or if there is, it's somewhere further in my notebook that I write everything in haha. Then March 8th I went with some students and a professor from Pfeiffer, my future university, and other people from the Western North Carolina Conference to a town about an hour away from where I live, called San Marcos. They were a VIM team, I believe, and Dr. Phil had asked me to come with them to help with Spanish. I felt a little weird at first because I knew nobody on the trip but Dr. Phil but everyone welcomed me in right away and asked me about life here and all that and just made me feel right at home. We stayed in a really nice hotel in San Marcos and my two roommates are girls that go to Pfeiffer, so I will get to see them next year! :-) We were working on finishing up a church they've been building there, a Methodist one in fact, so I actually did a lot of the same work I've done at Chacocente, which I didn't mind at all. Every day we worked at the church all day with construction and then at night had a sort of VBS with the kids. There were quite a few church members that spent all day with us working, talking, laughing and just making us feel welcome. So I left with even more Nicaraguan friends. In fact, I'm taking the bus to San Marcos tomorrow to visit them. But that's another story haha. Anyway every night we had VBS and it was so funny because the kids in the neighborhood would hear about it and every evening we had MORE kids show up. I think the final night we had somewhere around 85 or so kids. Also one of the guys in the church is a dance instructor so he came to the hotel one night and gave some of us Salsa lessons. I can't dance. haha. And I went twice to the market in another town to buy our lunches. Nobody but Dr. Phil in the group was fluent in Spanish so I went with one woman from the church and one or two women from the group to get stuff for lunch and I loved seeing what they thought of Nicaraguan markets. They sure are interesting haha. Then my last day with them I brought them to Chacocente and showed them around and it seems as if quite a few of them were really touched by it. I need to send them more info in fact. It's now nice to know some more people in NC and have already been invited to hang out with people and visit their churches and all different things! They were just some really amazing loving people and I am so glad I got the opportunity to spend the week with them.

Something cute...My last day with them I took the bus from near the project to the bus station in Managua. I had my suitcase and on that bus it was no problem but I knew that then on the route to my house it would be really annoying to try to take it on the bus. So Joel was there waiting for me at the bus station to help me. :-) It was just nice.

Then the next day was crazy exciting!!! KELSEY AND MARIA GOT TO NICARAGUA. Oh my gosh there is just wayyy too much to write about here. That was just pretty much the best 10 days I've had here in Nica, aside from the usual problems haha. We went to the Volcano, and the market, and spent nights at the project, and hung out with the youth in Sabana Grande, and went to the beach with the project and a delegation and just wayyy too much many amazing things to spend all the time writing about it. All I know is that they seemed to enjoy themselves, and I know I am truly and always will be, insanely grateful to have two best friends like them that would raise the money to come down here. HUY! AUGUST!

I also am very grateful for my family here. Nothing in particular just I am. Pablo and Janeth are wonderful to me, I call them Mom and Dad a lot. And a lot of my Uncles I actually call Uncle so and so. I have just really bonded with the people here and I love it. Even my little sister swears I'm her sister. She got in a fight with Joel over it because he said no she's just your "sister" and Belen got really mad and was like NO! SHE'S MY SISTER!!!! It just makes me feel good to be loved and accepted like that. Heck my uncles even call me their neice, and one of them said I can have the plot of land left in our patio to put my house on. I was pretty excited about that one, cause I know now I can move back to this country no problem! hahaha

Well although I don't know when all of these things happened but staying in the project is always rather interesting. I never realized how protective mother hens are until I watched one honest to goodness chase Juan around his yard when he got like 3 feet away from her chicks. It was sort of hysterical. I stayed at Basilia's house last week and we had culto in the yard. I love that about Chacocente. You just have culto wherever and it doesn't matter how you're dressed, if its indoors or outdoors, its just culto and thats what matters. Then on Monday I stayed at Karen and Calin's house, but they went into Managua with the youngest girl so I was babysitting the other three for the night. I played Mom for a day, and I must say I'm getting good at it haha. I actually really cooked lunch, dinner and then breakfast for them. And in Nica thats not just easily heating something in the microwave. Oh no, I actually made the fire and really cooked rice and beans and fried cheese and stuff. And washed the dishes and swept and cleaned and ironed their uniforms and all that. I was so proud of myself I called my mom to tell her hahah. But then at night someone thought it was funny to scare us and was jiggling the door handle and pushing on the shutters and I only slept two hours because I was worried about the girls. Oh well it happens I guess haha.

Uhm just keep praying for everyone, theres always a million problems in the project but especially pray for Uriel. I'm always worried about him.

It's funny. I also now have friends not only in the project. There are a lot of kids that attend the school from outside the project so I've gotten to know a lot of their parents, and also just a lot of the people around the project. So of course, as I always do, I make friends all over! haha

Kelsey and Maria were here for Easter, which was quite different from Easter at home, but most definitely the best Easter I have EVER had. We had culto at 5 am. And Kels and Maria got up for it! haha And of course, since it was Easter, the church was packed! We had a normal culto, which I love and then afterwards had a treat of coffee and sandwhich type things. A bunch of us youth were all sitting around bored after that so we decided to all go to the public pool in Sabana Grande. About 15 or so of us all got ready and went there around 9 in the morning and stayed until 3 or so in the afternoon!! Of course I was in heaven because I love swimming and we were all nuts haha. We were making human towers and doing flips and all this stuff (they dont seem to have safety rules like we do) and it was just awesome. They even had a tower building competition and we WON! A bottle of soda! haha It was very exciting. Maria won two races haha. And the guys had a fun time swinging us and throwing us into the pool. They all thought it was hysterical how easy it was to throw me and how high and far I fly. It was so much fun. I think I made them throw me at least 10 tens. So much they actually got bored of it hahaha. It was just so much fun! Then we just went back and had another church service, like every Sunday. But ahhh it was just amazing!

Okay! THERE! I updated! hahaha

Chelsea

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Comments

[Emily]

Wish I were there!
It really has been a long time since you updated...and I cannot believe that it has already been over a month since I saw you and Nicaragua! These past couple days, I was at a scholarship interview/program, and I met a boy named Nico, and all I could think about was "Nica," of course...haha. I miss you so much! I am so proud of you and glad that you are soaking up every minute. I love you!