Day 2 (or the 1st full day) in Nicaragua.  If I was going to write a manual on how to push a mission team to their limits within the first 24 hours, the first chapter would be about coffee in the morning.  There was some coffee early, and then it disappeared.  After it disappeared you could see the nervousness on the groups faces.  The nervousness manifested into brief looks into the kitchen, and then you would hear quiet conversations about the “coffee.” Then the brief looks lead to long looks in to the kitchen, and then they would go into the kitchen and ask about the “coffee.”  It is a good thing coffee translates easy. 

Like most things on a mission trip, things worked out in the end…there was more coffee…and it was delicious.  After breakfast

we had an opportunity to learn about the history of Nicaragua from a historian from the national university. The hour long scheduled lesson went almost 2 hours….it was fascinating. If Luis wouldn’t have stopped the historian to recover our schedule as much as possible, we could have listened to her all day. It is just another way to better understand the people of Nicaragua and the events in history that shaped the people and the country today. 

We also took the chance this morning to get to know each other better. We have about as many from the Carolinas as we do from KC.  The exercise involved getting into small groups and telling the group two lies and one truth. Of course I would get stuck in the group with Carla. Never do an exercise with Carla that requires you to lie to her. Also never do those exercises with fishermen or golfers…they have it down to an art. 

Part of the team went and explored Managua while part of the group started packing medicine for tomorrow. We then took the trip to Jinotepe. It is unbelievable how beautiful the country is. On the trip up the mountain there were hydrangeas everywhere. We’ve arrived in Jinotepe. Our accommodations do exceed the El Puma.  We’ve had our logistics meeting and did our first round of home health kits. It is kind of the quiet before the storm. Tomorrow will be our first day in the community. We have a busy morning ahead of us setting up the clinic and pharmacy along with seeing the first patients. The construction crew is anxious as well. We keep hearing rumors that we won’t be digging as much….and we just got a couple of brand new picks with handles.  We’ll find something to dig. 

-James