Challenges

Yesterday was an extremely long day for our team. We were kept busy all day long. After spending the morning at the literacy center, we quickly ate our lunches at our families´homes and went over to the high school and taught classes all the way until 5:30 pm. Our classes were very hectic and kept us in constant motion. One class we taught had 73 students in a class room space that would have only been used for 25-30 students in the U.S. By the time we had changed, gone to church, and ate a late dinner, our team was exhausted.

Sleep is always an interesting part of our stay down here. There is a holiday on Thursday and last night the fireworks/fire crackers/ear splitting explosions began. Our fireworks back home have nothing on the stuff down here. The funny part is that our team laughed when ear plugs were suggested on the packing list. The laughing is over. The other nocturnal treat is that of the barking lizards. We used to live in a naive state of bliss and thought that these sounds came from birds in our houses, but we have now been educated. These loud lizards get especially noisy at nightime. There is nothing like waking up in the middle of the night, in the pitch black and hearing that sound.

Today our team had to work extra hard. We had to take Grace to the doctor today. This experience is really the next step in immersing ourselves in the culture. We would have preferred to skip this step, but it became evident that was not an option. We visited the health clinic in our village this morning. The doctor and staff were very kind and after an injection they then ordered some lab results. This is where we hit a snag. The first lab we went to was closed due to lack of power, which is a daily event down here. With the help of a good friend down here, Jairo, a local who speaks English beautifully, we took a trip to Masaya. Masaya is 30 minutes away and after trying several labs, we found one that was open and could get our results back this evening. So finally after consulting another medical student and another local doctor, we had a diagnosis. It is Impetigo. She has an infection in her body that seems to hit in waves along with over 40 big blister like sores all over. We will be praying over Grace this evening. Please pray for Grace too!

Jackie, Rina and Tarissa did an amazing job teaching thethe kids English this afternoon. It is hard enough to teach these large classes with five people, but they did it with only three. Our team has continued to show a real sense of community and love for one another throughout all the challenges they have faced so far on this trip.