Tripped Up

Our last night in Granada we prayed and were split on where to go for the next week. I didn’t feel like I heard anything about where to go which meant it was 2v2 and so they made me choose. That was a big weight put on my shoulders. If someone didn’t like where we ended up and started to complain I would struggle to not take it personally. I chose Ometepe island. A large island made up of two volcanoes in the middle of the largest lake in Nicaragua. Kinda cool right?

We get up and pack and head to the bus stop at 9am with the bus due to leave at 9:30. Yeah…that bus didn’t leave until around 11am. So we sat there talking to the European travelers that were also heading for Ometepe for 2hrs on a hot bus. Once the bus did take off and they started collecting the money for the trip the guy attempted to get us to pay extra for our bags and all of the locals started to tell him off for it and telling us not to pay it. We didn’t pay the extra and he was very upset with everyone for a while. I’m not sure Lindsey realized it but I think she was the reason he calmed down. She started talking with his teenage son and just asking him about himself and so on and I watched the man roll his shoulders and slowly relax and even smile as she attempted to chat with him in her broken Spanish.

At the bus station in Rivas we quickly grabbed a couple of taxis and headed to the ferry landing. My taxi driver saw Jacobs Guitar and asked what songs he liked so Jacob named a Christian song and the driver turned it on and after introduced us to one of his favorite Christian songs. I need to learn it. It was good. We made sure to get his contact information to help us get back to the bus station when we leave the island.

Apparently we were spoiled by our ferry in Costa Rica. This ferry was tiny and the waves were rough. Yes, I said waves on a lake. It was so rough that even on the second level Lindsey got splashed as we went down into a trough! The ferry was also slower than our ferry last month and it took an hour to traverse half the distance that the ferry in Costa Rica covered. Not to mention the seasickness!

While we were on the boat a man started asking us questions and in turn we asked questions about him and we learned that he had a farm on the island and so we offered to go help out one day. He was thrilled and so we set up a day and time to meet him.

A long slow hour later, we disembark and head up the road to our hostel. Never have we felt so at home. There was just something so homey about the place. The owner greeted us and her daughter invited us to church that night, upon hearing about why we were there.

We definitely came on the wrong night. We thought it was going to be a prayer service but it was a general meeting for planning out the next month. We sat and waited because we weren’t sure what else to do. Eventually we were asked to introduce ourselves and why we were there and afterwards we chatted with everyone. They were all so kind and so much fun to talk with. We were invited back for the actual prayer service the next night and also invited to see the new church plant they had started on a different part of the island two days hence.

When we got back to the hostel we made plans to rent vehicles for our adventure day so we could go and explore the entire island. Jose and I went in on an ATV together while Lindsey got a moped and Jacob and Gwen got motorcycles. We were gonna have so much fun with the freedom provided through our own vehicles!

We got up the next morning and the transportation had been delivered to our front door. We paid and after putting on our helmets and Jacob giving a few other safety tips to our two wheeled friends we headed out to find “ojo del agua” a natural spring with crystal clear water that they had turned into a pool. As the holder of the directions, being the only one not driving, I got to look around at all of the crazy beautiful scenes that we passed.

Once we arrived we spent several hours just playing in the water and watching the monkeys in the trees overhead. Such a peaceful spot, so relaxing. I could have easily spent my entire day there. There was a rope sing that everyone took turns jumping off of and Jacob finally beat Gwen at something by doing a backflip off of the rope. He was proud of that one, haha!

We found a quiet spot on the shore of the island for lunch and then went to a chocolate spot for some dessert and a gorgeous view.

Then we headed to “the point” to watch the sunset. After we turned off the main road around the island we ended up on a dirt road that was a bit rough. No big deal for the ATV though. Once we arrived we didn’t know which way to look! The sunset was in front of us but the volcano was lit up by that same sunset behind us. I wish my phone could have captured them together!

Of course it’s getting dark as we go to leave. Jose and I take the lead since I have the directions and Gwen follows right behind. We get to the main road and wait for Lindsey and Jacob. And we wait, and wait, and wait. We decided to give them just a couple more minutes before we went back to look for them. My first assumption was that Jacob was having trouble getting his bike to start again (he had trouble starting it when we got it that morning). We see a light behind us and I felt relief then fear as I realize it wasn’t either him or Lindsey. A man pulls up next to us and asks if we are waiting on some friends and we reply that we are. He then tells us that he thinks it’s one of our friends that was in an accident. We wasted zero time in getting turned around and heading back. We found a crowd of vehicles and people and Jose runs over as does Gwen. I don’t want to add to the crowd so I simply stay where I am and start praying.

Gwen comes back to where I am and tells me that Jacob has asked that I ride in a car with Lindsey to the hospital. He was already in the car with her so we simply trade place. The light isn’t on in the car so I have no idea what we are dealing with so I do the only thing I can and try to not make Lindsey hurt worse as I pull her to me and attempt to comfort her. As I do that I am also trying to get us directions to the hospital because the 2 girls in the front seat didn’t have signal on their phones. I trusted my team to deal with anything left at the scene.

They had all followed closely behind us and were ready to help in any way they could as we helped Lindsey from the car and into the hospital. Jacob went in with her while I gathered her things and made sure we had her ID. Gwen and Jose made plans to go back for the moped on the four wheeler together as Jacob and I traded places again.

While I was inside attempting to translate for Lindsey and the doctor and get any information that we needed Gwen and Jose came back and Jacob and Gwen took one of the motorcycles back to our hostel to return because we decided we were going to use the rest of the vehicles the rest of the week to get around. It’s a good thing we did or we wouldn’t have been able to get very far or do most of the things we did.

While they worked on that, Jose posted himself outside the hospital so he would be ready to run whatever errand we might need. Meanwhile, inside, I was asking Lindsey for the details of the accident so I could relay it to the doctor.

She was driving down the rooted, rutted, dirt road when she hit a patch of sand and the moped slid. Out of control, she ended up tangled in the barbwire fence that lined the path. Jacob having taken up the rear of our train watched the entire thing happen. He then went over and calmly started untangling her from the fence telling her that she would be okay and that God was with her, while all around them people were panicking. Someone offered to drive them to the hospital on the back of their four wheeler but they turned it down as someone else offered the use of their car. Jacob took that offer and that’s when the rest of us made it back to them. I guess you could say she got tripped up.

The doctor rinsed her leg with saline and prods at the cuts a little before deciding that three of the cuts on her legs need stitches (later found a 4^th) plus two of the cuts on her shoulder. We barely got started when I had to ask them to pause as I ran to her bag and pulled out her sarong in order to blindfold her. She didn’t want to look but couldn’t stop herself from looking which didn’t help anyone, so blindfold it was. I spent the next couple of hours comforting her through the pain of 29 stitches, reliving my own car accident from 7 years before with every stitch and groan of pain. It was a very long two hours.

After it was done though Lindsey turned around and ministered to the doctor. The look on his face was one of complete shock! She told him how God said there would be suffering in this life but we can look forward to a future without suffering with Him. 

Lindsey and I spent the next day hanging out in the hostel as she started her recovery. That evening our team time became how do we get the bandages off of Lindsey and get some new ones on without causing her a ton of pain as we pull of the scabs that are stuck to the bandaging. It took more than an hour but we got it done. While we were all working on that we got to hear about the crazy day of ministry Jose, Gwen, and Jacob had. To find out about it go read their blogs!

The next day I went out to ministry and Jose stayed back with Lindsey now that she was feeling a little better and a bit more mobile. Of course, I spent the night before texting Jose a whole list of instructions and do’s and don’ts. He loves when I send him long texts late at night 🙂 

Gwen, Jacob, and I spent our morning at a school that was attached to a foster home. They were doing their Christmas plays and we may have gotten distracted from sweeping and spent most of the time watching. Afterwards, we played baseball with them because unlike other Central American countries, Nicaragua is big into baseball instead of soccer. Baseball played with a small rubber ball because they didn’t have an actual baseball.

For a couple of hours that afternoon we helped fertilize the fruit trees by digging holes and filling them with fertilizer. Gwen dared me to eat a lemon I had picked up off the ground. To be honest I picked it up to inspect it to see if it was still good to eat. So I agreed to the dare and spent the next several minutes trying to peel the thing with my fingers. It was the best lemon I’ve ever had in my life and I was very sad when it slipped out of my hand just a few bites in and landed in the dirt. So I found another one still in the tree and took it back to share with Jose, my fellow sour lover. It was perfect when I ate it two nights later.

It was thanksgiving so we went to the most gringo place we could find for dinner and ordered some food from home. While we were waiting we saw a group performing in the park and went over to take a look. It was some sort of traditional dance and quite fun to watch. We applauded as they left the “stage” and that’s when we heard the MC announce in Spanish “and now the foreigners have a special performance for us!” We were the only foreigners present. Jacob and Lindsey were all over it though and went out on the stage. A song was queued up and they danced to it for about 30 seconds or so. IT was very awkward and therefore hilarious to watch. They came back to where the rest of us were standing and a man rushed over holding a camera and asked which of us spoke the most Spanish. Someone pointed at me but most of us pointed to Jacob and the man proceeded to interview him because this was on live TV! Oh and dinner was good too.

That evening I helped Lindsey get out of her bandages again and this time get a shower. How refreshing it must have felt to get the dirt and grit off, and finally have clean hair. Reminds me of the first time I had my hair washed 2 weeks after my accident. What a luxury!

Lindsey decided that she was up for coming to ministry at the school/foster home with us so we covered all of her cuts and stuck her on the back of the 4-wheeler with Jose. That left me with the choice of riding the moped with Gwen, whom I trust but I know from Costa Rica that I won’t have anywhere to put my feet and it’s a 15-20min drive or ride on the motorcycle with Jacob. I was leaning towards the moped since I’ve ridden with her on that before and Jacob has said he has never driven a bike with a passenger but the length of the drive made me reconsider and so I rode a motorcycle for the second time in my life. The first tie being when I was four and sitting on my mom’s lap as she rode sidesaddle, in a dress, behind our minister, after a church service. I digress; Many of ya’ll know that I overthink a lot of things. On the moped I was told not to lean into the turns while on a 4-wheeler you do lean with the driver. My question was which do you do on a motorcycle? I still don’t really know the answer but we survived turning onto a dirt road so whatever I did was right. I think I need to get a motorcycle license…You don’t agree?

This time we did our own skit. Our traditional David and Goliath was a hit of course and we followed that with an analogy for the Gospel. Then back to the yard for another game of baseball. Afterwards we went to the foster home for a free lunch and Lindsey was able to meet someone from the states that is a nurse. She brings tons of medical supplies with her and so she looked at Lindsey’s stitches and offered to drive her back to our hostel in a truck so that she wouldn’t get anything dirty by riding on the 4-wheeler. She also gave me a ton of supplies to spice up my first aid kit.

The next day we had to pack up and return to Granada for a mini debrief where they would announce the new SQLs . Lindsey couldn’t carry her pack because of the stitches in her shoulder so we had a bit of rearranging to do with our things so that we could carry everything. A long boat trip later Lindsey and Jacob hop in a taxi with most of our packs  so that Lindsey won’t get jostled too much and Gwen, Jose, and I head to the bus station.

Our last week in Nicaragua was supposed to by at a ministry called House of Hope in Managua but with Lindsey’s injuries needing to be kept clean (we would be sleeping on the floor) and the fact the Jacob was a raised up SQL and therefore Jose was the only guy on our team (they told us the guys would have to really watch out for each other) we decided it just didn’t make sense. We had contacts here in Granada and with two other teams staying in town as well we figured we could hang out here too. So we went back our first hostel and picked up where we left off. Everyone remembered us of course sine it had only been a week and we were able to get plugged in to some of the same ministries as before. So our last week in Nicaragua looked a lot like our first so I’ll spare you the same details twice over.

I will mention that without Jacob around I was forced to translate for everyone and that’s very hard and stressful for me. Plus we were thrown into situations where we needed to have an hour’s worth of lessons planned for a group of kids and I had to come up with and translate back and forth for that as well. I was also just feeling very empty all week. I had been told some things that hurt my feelings and felt like a slap in the face to all the hard work I’d put in to the last week and it left me drained. Or you could say it tripped me up and put me off balance. I’m feeling better now, though not quite at 100%. Maybe I’ll feel refreshed after this debrief. 

Stay tuned for a blog about announcements from debrief and who my new team will be!

 

I’m going to miss doing life with these guys!