Surfing and Other Vacation Activities

Yes, I did surf, and yes, it was fun - and much easier than I expected. I stood up on my first attempt, and on my fourth try I stayed up all the way in to shore. I really enjoyed it - I could see myself getting into it as a hobby - and then the sad truth looked me in the face and told me, ¨You live in Nebraska.¨ :(

We stayed Tuesday night in San Juan del Sur, then took the bus back to Managua Wednesday morning to start the next part of our adventure - the journey to Corn Island. And what a journey it was! Wednesday night at 10pm we left on an overnight bus to Rama, which arrived at 4:30am, giving us just enough time to lug all of our bags down to the docks and board the Captain D., a small ship which left at 5am. We floated down the Rama River toward the Carribean coast, then out onto the sea. The river part of the trip wasn´t so bad, but the sea was rolling high that day. We found out later that the Captain said that the sea was the roughest it had been in his experience making that voyage. Jeremy and Mindy got drenched with waves splashing onto the deck, Bridget and Ruth threw up, and I crashed onto the deck when the bench I was lying on flipped over.

Altogether we spent 13 hours on the Captain D. By the time we got to Corn Island on Thursday night, we were exhausted. But it was worth it - we rented a little house on the island and spent the most relaxing week we´ve had since we´ve been in Nicaragua. We had television, air-conditioning, a refrigerator, real mattresses - and, the real point, beautiful beaches a short walk away. We spent time with the islanders - a man named Sparky invited us to his house Saturday afternoon for a traditional meal called rondown. It´s made of fish, breadfruit, yucca, plantain, and flour-and-water balls all cooked together in a big pot under leaves. He served it to us with beans and rice cooked with grated coconut, and gave us whole coconuts to drink and eat too. The whole meal was extremely delicious. Then that afternoon we went out to the beach with Sparky´s kids and played in the sun and water.

My one regret about Corn Island is that I came down with a bad headcold Friday night and kept it the whole time I was there. It prevented me from scuba diving and snorkeling with everyone else. But I still had fun - played on the beach, went to a baseball game, went out to eat with friends, got sun-burned . . .

We came back to Managua last Thursday - the same trip in reverse, except the sea was a little calmer. Also, we took a small ponga up the river instead of the bigger ship. Then we took the long bus ride from Rama back to Managua, where we spent the weekend. We all went to a SuperBowl party at the home of one of Payton Zimmerman´s teachers from the Nicaragua Christian Academy. (What a game!) And then Monday at noon we hopped on the 24-hour bus that would take us across the country back to Puerto Cabezas. I don´t know when I´ve been more miserable in my life. The roads are not paved most of the way, and it was nearly impossible to sleep. My shoulder is bruised from banging into the wall of the bus so many times. But here we are, in Port once more. We´ll take the bus back home to Francia in the morning.

Time to prepare for groups to come in and do mobile clinics! Our last three months should be busy. Keep us in your prayers, that we can stay motivated and accomplish much in our remaining time.