The Real World: Nicaragua

This is the true story...of 10 strangers...called by God to go to Nicaragua...work together and have their lives changed...to find out what happens...when people stop being materialistic... and start getting humbled...THEREALWORLD:Nicaragua.

How did you end up on that trip?
This was originally supposed to be the "Money Money Money" blog from True Life, but I've decided to combine it into this post. Bear with me because its a long story. It all started when I went to a Super Bowl party with some intense Steelers fans. I was keeping a low profile at the party and not socializing/yelling much because I was secretly cheering for the Cardinals, when in reality I was only invited bc I solemnly swore to fling around a terrible towel at any and all given opportunites. So despite not interacting with the Steelers fans who were visiting the DC area, one Steelers fan, Jonathan, to be exact, decided to friend me on f book. Note: apparently he loves f book and will friend anyone that comes within a 15 foot radius of himself, LOL love you J! Since we were now officially friends haha J and I began to chat, asking the usual questions you do to someone you barely know. When asked about where I worked, I told him how I was considering leaving my job and taking some time to travel to possibly Nicaragua, and other places before grad school. J told me his friend Kristen loves Nicaragua, has been multiple times, was going to be going in March, and that he would connect me with her. I remember thinking how sweet it was of J to help me, but didn't actually think it would turn into anything as I was already planning on applying for a trip to Nicaragua through Frontline (my home church).

Welp, I was completely wrong. Kristen and I began exchanging emails and she told me when the trip was, how much it cost, and who was going (not like i knew anyone on the list haha). I later talked to her on the phone for 45 minutes to get more details. At this point and time there was about 3 weeks before the actual trip. After a lot of prayer, (yes I know I should have read the bible as well to help me with my decision, but I was being lazy LOL ) and getting excited from talking to Kristen, I decided I was going to go. Since there wasn't much time remaining before the trip, I figured I wouldn't have time to fund raise money, so I made the executive decision to pay for it out of my own pocket. I remember calling my Dad on President's Day to tell him of the great news and he totally squashed my excitement for the trip by saying "A foreign country?! You're going to get shot" , " This is not a smart financial decision" , " There is plenty of need in DC, why can't you just serve people there". After the phone call I remember deciding that because I would soon have no job yet be paying rent through the summer, and have to be forking over $120K for grad school over the next two years, I should only go if I could somehow get this $1500 by either investing in the stock market, or some other type of miracle.

PUNCHLINE OF THE STORY: I prayed to God asking for wisdom if I should go on the trip and if I was supposed to go that he would provide the financial means for me to do so. Welp, God is incredible! Later in the afternoon I went home to do my taxes via Turbo Tax (which is amazing by the way and everyone should use it!!!! ) and within the hour I was finished. The last step was finding out that I was to receive a federal/state tax return in the amount of $1567 DUN DUN DUN! Just barely over the exact amount I needed to go to Nicaragua. HALLELUJIAH PRAISE JESUS! So yes, I called up my Dad, told him I found the money, and was going on the trip!


Where exactly were you?
Two hours north of Managua (see star on map above). Went to small villages including Bethel, Santa Maria, and Chonco (sp)

Who did you go with?
Vision Nicaragua. And no, we didn't work with any orphanages contrary to popular belief. Mission is to provide for the spiritual (i.e tell about Jesus), emotional (show Gods love), physical (food, houses, medical help), financial (teach skills and trades for self-support and alternatives to working in sugar cane plantation) needs of the people of Nicaragua.

What did you do there?
Ate lots of gallo pinto, took cold showers (only option), taught the Nicos how to do the robot dance, gave lots of hugs, smiled all the time, spoke spanglish, played soccer with the Nicos, watched kids annihilate a star pinata we brought to Bethel and Santa Maria, went to a local water hole for baptisms, handed out gift boxes to the children of Bethel and Santa Maria, assembled and delivered rice, beans, and Bible traks door-to-door to families of Bethel and Chonco, did daily devotionals with the other Gringos (aka other white people from Vision Nicaragua), attended youth group night/sermon night/dance night with the youth of Bethel, learned some dance from Bethel's Church Dance Team, spent a night in the village of Bethel at la casa di Connie, saw a pig and rooster for the first time in real life, held a parrot on my finger, experienced the awesomeness that is chocolate and strawberry flavored Chicky, contracted strep throat and went to the doctor only to be given medicine one of which I refused to take because the translator was unable to tell me the english equivalent, received a sweet pink bracelet and a heart felt letter from my new BFF that lived in Bethel aka 13 year old Irene, realized that roosters are incredibly dumb animals that don't just crow once when the sun comes up but instead crow sporatically with the intention to annoy, always rode in the back of an open flat bed truck with an assortment of nicas/gringos ranging from 15-25 total people, saw a volcano smoke daily, cried when I learned that most of the young men I met have a death sentence from kidney disease as a result of working in the sugar cane field which uses harmful agrochemicals such as aldrin, chlorothalonil, maneb, copper sulfate, endrin, and Nemagon, watched Carmen do some awesome evangelizing with the use of the evangecube, came within 1 foot of a gecko, sang Hillsong United songs in espanol, and got a tour of all of the mini businesses (the block company, the welding shop, the tienda, the medical clinic) that Vision Nicaragua has set up to provide an alternative to working in sugar cane plantations.

What did you learn?
Conveniently God taught me something every day I was there, so the next 5 posts will describe each of the 5 days I was there, more in depth about what happened each day, but more importantly what I learned about God's character and how I as a Christian should be living my life.

Thanks for everyone's prayers while I was gone!