Hey everyone, you can write to me in Francia at yn4rra at winlink dot org
Your email will get translated to ham radio signal, sent over to Nicaragua, and translated back into text for me to read. At least, that´s how it´s supposed to work and how it hopefully will work after we get our end of it fixed. :) It should be working within the next few days, so maybe I can write back to you too.
I forgot to mention in the last post that Dawn Zimmerman, our mission director who was hurt in that motorcycle accident, is doing very well now. She met us at the Puerto Cabezas airport with her right leg and arm wrapped in bandages, on a crutch to support the leg that had to have gravel dug out of the kneecap, and she was smiling. She´s intensely hard-core and very much in charge of and taking care of all of us SMs. The idea that I might have been trying to take care of her is laughable.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Moments from my first week in Francia
Sunday, August 24,10 am
I´m in Managua´s domestic airport waiting to board my flight to Puerto Cabezas. We wait and wait and they don´t call us, and finally we realize we´ve been bumped to the next flight. We ask when it will come. The best answer we can get is ¨when our plane lands.¨ It´s a long wait. I employ the time well by getting Jeremy to teach me how to handle a hacky-sack.
Sunday, 2:15 pm
Finally in Puerto Cabezas, we get off our tiny plane and enter a deluge of rain. We run through to the tiny airport building, and one of the attendants hands us a note from the Zimmermans saying they´ll be back for us at 2pm. So . . . where are they? Then we ask where to go to pick up our luggage. The response: ¨Oh, it didn´t come on the same plane as you. It´ll be here at 8:00 tomorrow.¨ Oh. No. Most of us didn´t pack enough clothes and toiletries for this twist.
Sunday, 7pm
The Zimmermans came for us, we went shopping for bicycles, notebooks, and shampoo in the market, and now we´re at a little restaurant eating the local food—grilled chicken, cabbage-tomato-and-onion salad, plantain chips, and, of course, beans and rice. Next we plan to head out on the flatbed truck for Francia Sirpi. It should be a fun ride!
Sunday, 10pm
Two hours, five bruises, and two lungs full of exhaust fumes into, it´s not fun anymore. We´re driving on what must be the most rutted dirt road of its size in the world, and I´ve been bouncing around the bed of this truck, hitting the walls, our carry-on luggage, and bags of beans and rice. Plus, the wind carries away all my body heat by convection. I lean back into some bags and brace my knees against the truck side. The jolts kill my knees and back every two minutes, but I´m a little warmer. Two more hours of this, though? I´ll never make it. But then I look up—and the stars are glorious.
Monday, 10am
Rusty Zimmerman is talking to us about the mission and our jobs here. He´s drawing a map of the villages our mission serves. I´m wearing the same too-big, sweaty, muddy scrubs I wore yesterday, and I haven´t showered. It´s ridiculously humid, and these little black gnats are turning me into a pin-cushion. I´m also trying to adjust to the fact that I have an affectionate spider-monkey sleeping wrapped around my neck. This is a lot to take in . . .
Tuesday, 11am
Becky told me she left the clinic a little messy, but she couldn´t have prepared me for what I found. In the three months since she left, we´ve had two or three break-ins. People have thrown our equipment around looking for stuff they can sell (they usually take scrubs, for some reason). Furthermore, in the absence of human habitation, the cochroaches have moved in. A layer of cochroach poo covers rotting cardboard boxes, musty rubber rubs, and rusting metal basins stuffed full of bandages, medicine, instruments, and who knows what else. The disorganized junk covers shelves, counter space, and the floor. The worst part is, we´ve been cleaning for three hours and it still looks terrible. If I didn´t have all seven of the other SMs working with me, I would be sitting in a corner crying right now.
Tuesday, 1pm
I found Rilla Westermeyer´s old Peanut Gallery (UC student directory) in the clinic, and I´m looking through it during lunch for pictures of people I know. When I mention Rilla´s name in front of Ms. Brown, our cook, she lights up with happiness. Apparently Rilla, who came as a student missionary from Union several years ago, was a big hit in this village. She became fluent in Miskito rapidly and started a Pathfinders club for the kids. ¨All children Rilla good,¨ declares Ms. Brown. Later I´m sitting in the hammock trying to learn Jesus Loves Me in Miskito. Ms. Brown sings along, then says approvingly, ¨Maybe you be like Rilla.¨
Tuesday, 5pm
Our luggage is finally here! Dawn Zimmerman stayed in Puerto Cabezas to wait for it and brought it with her on the bus. I will never underestimate the value of a clean shirt again.
Wednesday, 5pm
We four medical SMs have been cleaning the clinic ourselves today, since the other girls have gone to the school to teach. The clinic looks so much better—we actually have clean, usable counter space now. I just finished putting all my IV´s and needles in order by gauge, and I feel so triumphant.
Wednesday, 6pm
I´m running around playing ¨Cut the Cake¨ with a swarm of Miskito children as part of evening Bible School. We just finished singing songs in English and Spanish, and 13-year-old Payton Zimmerman has been translating into Miskito for us to tell them what to do. After we finish the game, we walk home with the kids who live in our direction. I stretch the limits of my Miskito with the kids nearest me: ¨Naksa,¨ hello. ¨Nakisma,¨ how are you? ¨Ninim dia,¨ what is your name? How will I ever remember their names? They´re the most incredible conglomerations of sound I´ve ever heard. Brudilia, Ceedilia, Nesli, Kati. That last one is close enough to mine for me to remember. :) Payton tells me it means ¨moon.¨ Maybe that should be my name while I´m here.
Thursday, 4pm
Inventory of the pharmacy. All day. Typing up how many we have of what meds. Trying to figure out what the meds are for—we´re just CNA´s, after all. Some of the labels are in Spanish, and that makes it harder to look up in our drug book. Some of the meds aren´t labeled, they´re just sitting in plastic bags, and that makes it really hard. Some meds are rotting, and we have to throw them out. We´ve finished all but the bottom shelf, but we just ran out of battery on the laptop. The rest will wait till Sunday—we´re going to Waspam tomorrow. We´re going to talk to the people at the hospital about how to use our microscope to test for malaria, and we´re going to get internet.
Sorry about no pictures yet--I´m working on it, having trouble with my computer.
I´m in Managua´s domestic airport waiting to board my flight to Puerto Cabezas. We wait and wait and they don´t call us, and finally we realize we´ve been bumped to the next flight. We ask when it will come. The best answer we can get is ¨when our plane lands.¨ It´s a long wait. I employ the time well by getting Jeremy to teach me how to handle a hacky-sack.
Sunday, 2:15 pm
Finally in Puerto Cabezas, we get off our tiny plane and enter a deluge of rain. We run through to the tiny airport building, and one of the attendants hands us a note from the Zimmermans saying they´ll be back for us at 2pm. So . . . where are they? Then we ask where to go to pick up our luggage. The response: ¨Oh, it didn´t come on the same plane as you. It´ll be here at 8:00 tomorrow.¨ Oh. No. Most of us didn´t pack enough clothes and toiletries for this twist.
Sunday, 7pm
The Zimmermans came for us, we went shopping for bicycles, notebooks, and shampoo in the market, and now we´re at a little restaurant eating the local food—grilled chicken, cabbage-tomato-and-onion salad, plantain chips, and, of course, beans and rice. Next we plan to head out on the flatbed truck for Francia Sirpi. It should be a fun ride!
Sunday, 10pm
Two hours, five bruises, and two lungs full of exhaust fumes into, it´s not fun anymore. We´re driving on what must be the most rutted dirt road of its size in the world, and I´ve been bouncing around the bed of this truck, hitting the walls, our carry-on luggage, and bags of beans and rice. Plus, the wind carries away all my body heat by convection. I lean back into some bags and brace my knees against the truck side. The jolts kill my knees and back every two minutes, but I´m a little warmer. Two more hours of this, though? I´ll never make it. But then I look up—and the stars are glorious.
Monday, 10am
Rusty Zimmerman is talking to us about the mission and our jobs here. He´s drawing a map of the villages our mission serves. I´m wearing the same too-big, sweaty, muddy scrubs I wore yesterday, and I haven´t showered. It´s ridiculously humid, and these little black gnats are turning me into a pin-cushion. I´m also trying to adjust to the fact that I have an affectionate spider-monkey sleeping wrapped around my neck. This is a lot to take in . . .
Tuesday, 11am
Becky told me she left the clinic a little messy, but she couldn´t have prepared me for what I found. In the three months since she left, we´ve had two or three break-ins. People have thrown our equipment around looking for stuff they can sell (they usually take scrubs, for some reason). Furthermore, in the absence of human habitation, the cochroaches have moved in. A layer of cochroach poo covers rotting cardboard boxes, musty rubber rubs, and rusting metal basins stuffed full of bandages, medicine, instruments, and who knows what else. The disorganized junk covers shelves, counter space, and the floor. The worst part is, we´ve been cleaning for three hours and it still looks terrible. If I didn´t have all seven of the other SMs working with me, I would be sitting in a corner crying right now.
Tuesday, 1pm
I found Rilla Westermeyer´s old Peanut Gallery (UC student directory) in the clinic, and I´m looking through it during lunch for pictures of people I know. When I mention Rilla´s name in front of Ms. Brown, our cook, she lights up with happiness. Apparently Rilla, who came as a student missionary from Union several years ago, was a big hit in this village. She became fluent in Miskito rapidly and started a Pathfinders club for the kids. ¨All children Rilla good,¨ declares Ms. Brown. Later I´m sitting in the hammock trying to learn Jesus Loves Me in Miskito. Ms. Brown sings along, then says approvingly, ¨Maybe you be like Rilla.¨
Tuesday, 5pm
Our luggage is finally here! Dawn Zimmerman stayed in Puerto Cabezas to wait for it and brought it with her on the bus. I will never underestimate the value of a clean shirt again.
Wednesday, 5pm
We four medical SMs have been cleaning the clinic ourselves today, since the other girls have gone to the school to teach. The clinic looks so much better—we actually have clean, usable counter space now. I just finished putting all my IV´s and needles in order by gauge, and I feel so triumphant.
Wednesday, 6pm
I´m running around playing ¨Cut the Cake¨ with a swarm of Miskito children as part of evening Bible School. We just finished singing songs in English and Spanish, and 13-year-old Payton Zimmerman has been translating into Miskito for us to tell them what to do. After we finish the game, we walk home with the kids who live in our direction. I stretch the limits of my Miskito with the kids nearest me: ¨Naksa,¨ hello. ¨Nakisma,¨ how are you? ¨Ninim dia,¨ what is your name? How will I ever remember their names? They´re the most incredible conglomerations of sound I´ve ever heard. Brudilia, Ceedilia, Nesli, Kati. That last one is close enough to mine for me to remember. :) Payton tells me it means ¨moon.¨ Maybe that should be my name while I´m here.
Thursday, 4pm
Inventory of the pharmacy. All day. Typing up how many we have of what meds. Trying to figure out what the meds are for—we´re just CNA´s, after all. Some of the labels are in Spanish, and that makes it harder to look up in our drug book. Some of the meds aren´t labeled, they´re just sitting in plastic bags, and that makes it really hard. Some meds are rotting, and we have to throw them out. We´ve finished all but the bottom shelf, but we just ran out of battery on the laptop. The rest will wait till Sunday—we´re going to Waspam tomorrow. We´re going to talk to the people at the hospital about how to use our microscope to test for malaria, and we´re going to get internet.
Sorry about no pictures yet--I´m working on it, having trouble with my computer.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Sabbath at COVANIC
Because we´re missionaries, we´re expected to help with church. We should know that, but it still surprised us when the pastor came up to us on Friday at lunch and asked which one of us wanted to preach on Sabbath. :D We weren´t sure whether he was kidding or not . . .
We managed to convince him that none of us were up to preaching, but it was a little scary for a while. We did, however, help with Sabbath School by reading en espanol from Ellen White about the activities in the New Earth. (We were practicing our parts for a few days before). And then the pastor asked for volunteers to lead songs during the baptism. No one spoke up. Ruth and I looked at each other and said, ¨Hey, we can sing.¨ So we did. We stood up front and the people told us which songs to sing, and we announced them. Of course, we didn´t know the songs, so the people in the front row actually started them. We just pretended we knew what we were singing. Still, there we were, leading songs we didn´t know in a language we don´t speak fluently. Pretty cool experience, really.
After church, the pastor asked us to help lead the youth service in the afternoon. We thought he meant we should plan the whole thing, so we spent a few hours planning songs, games, Bible verses . . . When we got there, we discovered they already had a plan and they just wanted us to jump in and help. Since only Jenny is fluent in Spanish, that´s not exactly easy for us to do. The lady in charge kept grabbing my arm and talking to me really intensely in Spanish. Sometimes I can understand when people speak Spanish to me, but I had no idea what she was saying. I kept telling her, ¨No intiendo [I don´t understand].¨ Apparently she thought if she just talked louder and faster I´d understand what she wanted. :P With Jenny´s help, she finally got me to lead songs I didn´t know again. :D
We also played Sword Drill with our Bibles (the game where you have to look up a Bible verse faster than everyone else). That´s another one that´s harder with the language barrier. Not all Bible books sounds the same in Spanish and English. :P
I´m pretty impatient with the language barrier right now. I can tell I´m getting better at Spanish, but too slowly! And when we get to Francia Sirpi, we´ll have a whole ´nother language to learn. We started last week--some of the students here speak Miskito. We spent one evening trying to learn Miskito from them by means of our limited Spanish. The dean was also tranlating for us between Spanish and English, so we were speaking three languages for about half an hour. It made my head spin. :P
I forgot to say last time--for those of you who know Josh Enevoldson, Jeremy Meyer that I´m working with is his cousin. And another SM, Christina Tozer, knows Angela Gaedke from Camp Wawona. It´s nice to have friends in common.
We fly out to Puerto Cabezas (Port) tomorrow, and then we´ll go to Francia Sirpi, where the real adventure begins. I don´t know how soon I´ll be able to post again--maybe from Port. When I post from Francia, it will be short posts with no pictures. I´ll try to get pictures on soon, but I haven´t gotten that together yet and I can only do it from Port.
Don´t let that discourage you, though--send me an email, letter, package, whatever! And keep praying--it should be crazy organizing the clinic and figuring out life in Francia. Also, it sounds like Dawn Zimmerman is hurt pretty badly--I think they had to do sugery on her knee to get the gravel out.
I miss you all! Much love from Nic :)
We managed to convince him that none of us were up to preaching, but it was a little scary for a while. We did, however, help with Sabbath School by reading en espanol from Ellen White about the activities in the New Earth. (We were practicing our parts for a few days before). And then the pastor asked for volunteers to lead songs during the baptism. No one spoke up. Ruth and I looked at each other and said, ¨Hey, we can sing.¨ So we did. We stood up front and the people told us which songs to sing, and we announced them. Of course, we didn´t know the songs, so the people in the front row actually started them. We just pretended we knew what we were singing. Still, there we were, leading songs we didn´t know in a language we don´t speak fluently. Pretty cool experience, really.
After church, the pastor asked us to help lead the youth service in the afternoon. We thought he meant we should plan the whole thing, so we spent a few hours planning songs, games, Bible verses . . . When we got there, we discovered they already had a plan and they just wanted us to jump in and help. Since only Jenny is fluent in Spanish, that´s not exactly easy for us to do. The lady in charge kept grabbing my arm and talking to me really intensely in Spanish. Sometimes I can understand when people speak Spanish to me, but I had no idea what she was saying. I kept telling her, ¨No intiendo [I don´t understand].¨ Apparently she thought if she just talked louder and faster I´d understand what she wanted. :P With Jenny´s help, she finally got me to lead songs I didn´t know again. :D
We also played Sword Drill with our Bibles (the game where you have to look up a Bible verse faster than everyone else). That´s another one that´s harder with the language barrier. Not all Bible books sounds the same in Spanish and English. :P
I´m pretty impatient with the language barrier right now. I can tell I´m getting better at Spanish, but too slowly! And when we get to Francia Sirpi, we´ll have a whole ´nother language to learn. We started last week--some of the students here speak Miskito. We spent one evening trying to learn Miskito from them by means of our limited Spanish. The dean was also tranlating for us between Spanish and English, so we were speaking three languages for about half an hour. It made my head spin. :P
I forgot to say last time--for those of you who know Josh Enevoldson, Jeremy Meyer that I´m working with is his cousin. And another SM, Christina Tozer, knows Angela Gaedke from Camp Wawona. It´s nice to have friends in common.
We fly out to Puerto Cabezas (Port) tomorrow, and then we´ll go to Francia Sirpi, where the real adventure begins. I don´t know how soon I´ll be able to post again--maybe from Port. When I post from Francia, it will be short posts with no pictures. I´ll try to get pictures on soon, but I haven´t gotten that together yet and I can only do it from Port.
Don´t let that discourage you, though--send me an email, letter, package, whatever! And keep praying--it should be crazy organizing the clinic and figuring out life in Francia. Also, it sounds like Dawn Zimmerman is hurt pretty badly--I think they had to do sugery on her knee to get the gravel out.
I miss you all! Much love from Nic :)
Friday, August 22, 2008
I can blog from Nicaragua!
Ok, that sounded goofy, but I just found out, thanks to Evan Oberholster the magnificent (you´re awesome, buddy), that I can send emails to my blog and it will post them. So I don´t have to wait till we go to town to blog--i can email short blog posts from where i live via Ham radio. I´m happy about that. :)
Right now I´m still in Managua, at the Adventist academy COVANIC, using internet at the director´s house. We will fly to Puerto Cabezas on Sunday and then go to Francia Sirpi, our final destination. Because our tickets were already reserved for Sunday and the flight bookings are so tight, it was impossible for me to fly out early to take care of Dawn Zimmerman. (For those who didn´t get my email: Dawn is one of the permanent missionaries at Francia. She was in a motorcycle accident earlier this week and got badly burned. There was talk of flying me out earlier than Sunday to help take care of her, but it didn´t materialize for the above reason. They got a local nurse to take care of her, and I think she´s probably better off with someone fully trained.)
This week we´ve been at the Managua Adventist academy, COVANIC. We were supposed to have ¨teacher orientation¨ here, mostly for the SM´s who will be teaching in the school, but also for us clinic workers who will give health classes. Unfortunately, the people at the school didn´t have a good idea of what Christina Vargas wanted for us. They asked us what kind of work we would be doing and what we needed, and we had no idea. The teacher SMs don´t even have a curriculum. :( So the director´s wife showed us the basics of how to make a lesson plan on Wednesday, and then Thursday and today we sat in classes and observed. (That helped us get to know the kids better). Other than that, this has been free time for us. We´ve talked to each other, practiced our Spanish and a little Miskito with the kids and teachers, helped in the kitchen with dishes and food, and excercised. :) (Crazy American girls, running all over campus).
I think it´s been good for us to have this time to adjust and get to know each other. Last night we started having worships together, and we want to continue all nine months. And we´ll continue running. Christina is really gung-ho about excercise, and i´m wanting to be too. We´re getting the other girls into it. :)
Here´s who we SMs are:
Mindy from Southern: She´ll work in the clinic with me--she´s pre-physician´s assistant and a CNA.
Jeremy from Southern: He´ll also work in the clinic--he just finished a biochemistry degree and is going to medical school next year. He´s a CNA.
Jenny from Southern--health sciences major. She´ll help in the clinic, but she´s not a CNA.
Christina from Southern--used to be occupational therapy major, but now she´s undecided. She´ll teach high school English.
Tekoa from Southern--Social work major, will teach elementary school.
Ruth from Walla Walla--she´s going to teach science. She just finished the physical therapy pre-reqs.
Bridget from Walla Walla--just finished a two-year business degree and might go back for elementary ed. She´ĺl also teach English.
And me, the only one from Union. Feeling a little out of it, but I keep singing the school song to cheer myself up. :)
I miss you all! pray for me.
Katie
Right now I´m still in Managua, at the Adventist academy COVANIC, using internet at the director´s house. We will fly to Puerto Cabezas on Sunday and then go to Francia Sirpi, our final destination. Because our tickets were already reserved for Sunday and the flight bookings are so tight, it was impossible for me to fly out early to take care of Dawn Zimmerman. (For those who didn´t get my email: Dawn is one of the permanent missionaries at Francia. She was in a motorcycle accident earlier this week and got badly burned. There was talk of flying me out earlier than Sunday to help take care of her, but it didn´t materialize for the above reason. They got a local nurse to take care of her, and I think she´s probably better off with someone fully trained.)
This week we´ve been at the Managua Adventist academy, COVANIC. We were supposed to have ¨teacher orientation¨ here, mostly for the SM´s who will be teaching in the school, but also for us clinic workers who will give health classes. Unfortunately, the people at the school didn´t have a good idea of what Christina Vargas wanted for us. They asked us what kind of work we would be doing and what we needed, and we had no idea. The teacher SMs don´t even have a curriculum. :( So the director´s wife showed us the basics of how to make a lesson plan on Wednesday, and then Thursday and today we sat in classes and observed. (That helped us get to know the kids better). Other than that, this has been free time for us. We´ve talked to each other, practiced our Spanish and a little Miskito with the kids and teachers, helped in the kitchen with dishes and food, and excercised. :) (Crazy American girls, running all over campus).
I think it´s been good for us to have this time to adjust and get to know each other. Last night we started having worships together, and we want to continue all nine months. And we´ll continue running. Christina is really gung-ho about excercise, and i´m wanting to be too. We´re getting the other girls into it. :)
Here´s who we SMs are:
Mindy from Southern: She´ll work in the clinic with me--she´s pre-physician´s assistant and a CNA.
Jeremy from Southern: He´ll also work in the clinic--he just finished a biochemistry degree and is going to medical school next year. He´s a CNA.
Jenny from Southern--health sciences major. She´ll help in the clinic, but she´s not a CNA.
Christina from Southern--used to be occupational therapy major, but now she´s undecided. She´ll teach high school English.
Tekoa from Southern--Social work major, will teach elementary school.
Ruth from Walla Walla--she´s going to teach science. She just finished the physical therapy pre-reqs.
Bridget from Walla Walla--just finished a two-year business degree and might go back for elementary ed. She´ĺl also teach English.
And me, the only one from Union. Feeling a little out of it, but I keep singing the school song to cheer myself up. :)
I miss you all! pray for me.
Katie
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
