Long Overdue Update

The 22^nd of January officially marked four months that Nate and I have been in MCC!!  We have survived 103 full days in Nicaragua (103 days equals 14 weeks and 5 days)!  Pretty exciting, I know…try to contain your enthusiasm.  At any rate, I feel we are LONG overdue for a more “formal” update. 

This past Tuesday the 18^th, we “officially” moved into our house in Teustepe.  We have been living out suitcases, backpacks and plastic bags for nearly four months.  Not to mention that we have spent the night in thirteen different locations since we left our adorable, little apartment in Boulder, Colorado on September 13th, 2010.  I felt an amazing sense of patience through this time of transition.  I knew we wouldn’t be settled into our home until sometime in January or February, and this has definitely been the case.  Amazingly enough, I have had the strength, patience, flexibility and resilience to stay positive and upbeat through this time.  With these sentiments, I feel my prayers were answered in this aspect of my life.  I know many of you were praying for these things for us as well.  We greatly appreciate your thoughts, prayers and support!

By no means do we have a “regular” schedule yet, and we are still all over the place, through all our transitions and our work.  Travel is a requirement, not a luxury.  More and more, we are settling into our home in Teustepe and making it feel like ours.  Our house has had an extreme makeover since November.  The owners have put a new plywood drop ceiling in our kitchen, bedroom and bathroom, plus repaired various panels throughout.  Having a drop ceiling versus just an aluminum roof overhead cuts the heat (and dust) immensely within the house!  We are VERY grateful the owners have spent the money to make these repairs happen.  Additionally, our whole house has been repainted a cheery, pale yellow with a brick-red trim along the floor, which matches our tile floors.  We are constantly cleaning up, unpacking and organizing our house to our liking.  Teustepe will be our headquarters, from where we will travel to Managua for Monday meetings (usually we spend a night or two in the MCC office where we have our “own room” with some things we have left there to minimize hauling things from one place to the other.)  Additionally, we are easing into our visits in the communities surrounding Teustepe where we are working.  We are meeting new people all the time and trying to keep people’s names and families straight in our minds (this will always be a challenge).

To summarize the last four months with a few action words—

Jumping—Through immersion, we have been jumping into the Spanish language with active listening skills and the confidence to make mistakes when speaking.  We have noticed our language skills improving, and daily we are learning new vocab words.

Easing—We have been easing in into our work with AsoFénix.  With about 6 weeks of language study under our belts, we have regularly gone to the AsoFénix office every Monday for staff meetings.  We are getting to know the staff and interns, and becoming familiar with the many projects that AsoFénix undertakes in rural communities.  

Swimming—We have been swimming through a new culture since our arrival—new norms, new customs, new foods, new rules, new etiquette, and so on.  In the literal sense, we have gone swimming five times since we been here, locations include the Pacific Ocean, a swimming pool and a volcanic carter lake.  

Laughing—We always remind ourselves to laugh!  Times of transition are not the times to criticize and critique oneself.  You just gotta laugh at yourself (A LOT) and laugh with others (even when you have no idea why they are laughing)!

Learning—There are ALWAYS new things to learn!

Favorite Motto: “poco a poco” (which means “little by little”)

"Poco a poco" we are learning the language, learning the culture, learning about the people, learning how to get around by public transportation, learning new foods, learning how to be together as a couple (in daily life and work), learning how to ride a motorcycle, learning how to live a life in simplicity and in alignment with those around us.

With that said, you hopefully have a taste of what we have been experiencing.  Our photos are also good windows into our experiences, but by no means can we capture it all in a photo, although I do try to take lots of photos!  We will continue to share the glimpses of our new lives here in Nicaragua through photos, stories and entries like this.  Thank you again for all your thoughts and prayers for us through these transition times!    

The Art of Being Flexible

Being flexible in a foreign country is key to survival and success.  I would put this trait over any other trait that is essential for traveling and living in another country.  Living in a Latin culture, it is especially necessary to realize the importance of being flexible. 

What does being flexible look like in American culture?  You are meeting a friend for coffee and she calls to tell you she will be a half hour late, traffic is horrible.  You say, “Okay, no problem. I’ll be waiting in the café for you.”  This is being flexible, right?  What about at work, when you have a meeting scheduled and someone important can’t make it.  Most likely you found this out earlier in the week or at least have a day to call others involved in the meeting to reschedule.  This is being flexible, right? 

In Latin cultures, like Nicaragua, there would be many similar situations, but perhaps a bit more last minute.  On two occasions, Nate and I have arrived to the AsoFénix office ready to go for our 10 am Monday meetings.  We are patiently waiting and time is ticking away.  Finally at 11:30 am, I ask someone if we’re having our meeting, they laughed and said no.  Well, now we know we don’t have to be waiting around for a meeting that isn’t going to happen!  The first time this happened, we were both a little miffed.  We had traveled about an hour on two buses across Managua to arrive on time for the meeting, which consequently didn’t occur.  A simple phone call would have aided us in this knowledge.  We left the office that day feeling defeated.  Six hours of our day traveling and waiting around for meetings that never happened, we felt like we wasted a day.  There could have been ten other things we could have accomplished in those six hours, but alas, we ride the buses back home with our heads hanging low.

‘Time wasted’ would be the North American viewpoint of this situation, because time is like a commodity.  Time has the ability to be bought, gained, saved, spent and wasted, all with an emphasis on the future.  If we save time now, we will have more time for later.  Then we can accomplish x, y and z tasks.  This would get me ahead for tomorrow. 

In Latin culture, time is not viewed in this regard.  Time is fluid and based on the present moment.  There is no necessity to plan tomorrow when it is today, because as we all know that plans change.  Plans may get in the way of living life in the present moment.  Not to mention that within the fluidity of time there is an emphasis on relationships.  It would be rude to not stop and chat with people along the way, so being “late” to wherever you are going is not important.  Fostering relationships and checking in with those around you is the most important “task” at hand, not arriving early to a meeting that will most likely start late anyways. 

How does flexibility tie into all this anyways?  Here is a perfect image a fellow North American coworker offered recently.  She said, “You have to be like a spaghetti noodle down here to be able to go with the flow.”  We (North Americans) all laughed and couldn’t agree anymore.  It was earlier that morning that several changes had occurred in the office.  The date for a renewable energy fair that AsoFénix is organizing changed dates for the THIRD time in six weeks.  Just nailing down a date more than a month in advance is practically impossible to do in a culture that doesn’t plan a week out!  This was frustrating for many involved in organizing volunteers and logistics for the fair.  Response:  Okay, I’m flexible!  Good thing we have a white board calendar in the office!  I’ll erase the date and change it!  Ironically, I choose the ONE permanent marker out of five other white board markers on the white board to write the “new” date.  I realized this after the fact and scrambled to find a way to erase it before it stuck for eternity!  Coincidence? 

As mentioned earlier, this was one of those mornings that our 10am meeting was cancelled.  All the Nicaraguans seemed to know the meeting was canceled, but none of the North Americans knew of this until 10:10 am that morning.  Response:  Okay, I’m flexible!  I’ll just learn how to use GoogleDocs and have an impromptu meeting with the interns about a project we are collaborating.  In addition to our “usual” Monday morning meetings, we usually have a staff lunch prepared for everyone.  We found out there would be no lunch for us at noon, or any other Monday in the future because of budget cuts.  Response:  Okay, I’m flexible (but hungry)!  We’ll eat lunch later or pick something up on our way to the bus stop!  To top it all off, Nate and I had our bags packed for a week to travel to the country to live with a local family.  We were ready to leave after our supposed lunch.  The man we were going to travel with tells us around 10:30 am that he has to buy more materials in Managua the following morning, and won’t be leaving until after that.  Response:  Okay, we’ll go with you tomorrow!  Our bags are packed and ready to go!  We’ll leave them at the AsoFénix office, and return to the MCC office, where we always have a bed to sleep in!

This is what flexibility has looked like to us “cheles” (gringos) here in Nicaragua.  We are learning that the ability to adapt and go with the flow in any given situation will aid our survival, and ultimately our happiness here.  If we got all bent out of shape with our panties in a wad every time our plans changed, we would never last in this culture!  Instead, I opt for new lessons—cultural adaptability, flexibility and going with the flow!  I challenge each of you to try it out in your own culture and see how you fair.  Can you be any happier when you realize that you are ultimately not in control?  Can you be open to things changing as you go?  Practice the “Art of Being Flexible” in 2011!