As I sit here on the kitchen floor on a couple of foam pads, brought from our bedroom with my girl Jennifer, I realize the lack of things to do after dinner. It has been just Jen, Alisa, and I for four nights now and because Alisa is working so hard on a promo video Jennifer and I frequently find ourselves very bored. The nightly question arises around 7 pm after eating dinner, Jen asks "Beer'knee, what are you gonna do tonight?" and the response is always the same, "Jen, I dont know." I should probably explain the whole "Beer'knee" thing before anyone begins to worry. Our amazing pastor here, Pastor Luis, for some reason pronounces my name, "Beer'knee" so now, the right thing for Jen to do, would be call me the same thing so the locals think they're right. So apparently Brittany has become "Beer'knee" for the time being. So back to the question. It has just become apparent to me that for the first time in 3 1/2 months, I am so bored at night that it's crazy. Once we have eaten, there is nothing to do, nowhere to go, no couch to sit on, no TV to watch, and especially with 6 of our girls scattered among Jinotepe… there is even less to do because conversation runs out real fast with 3 girls that you have seen everyday for almost 4 months. So that is why I am writing this blog… because at this moment in time, it just seems to be the thing to do. And because Jen has nothing to do, she is sitting right next to me helping me write this. Even though we feel that this is boring and we are wasting our lives, I know that some day in the future we are both going to look back on this moment and want to be here again. Although about an hour ago a bat followed me into our room, and right now the heat is uncontrollable and my stomach is growling and there is no food to eat, and I really dont want to go back into the room to go to bed becasue their are three mice living in Leighas suitcase and tons of mosquitoes in the room that wake me up every night, I really am enjoying this time of doing nothing. Needless to say, you know a good friend when you sit next to each other and enjoy boredom together.
Let me tell you a little bit about my friend Jen… She is interesting to say the least. She is 20 years old. She is from Texas but goes to school in Arkansas. Her birthday is August 2nd. It has been almost four months, and I cant even begin to explain her eating habits to you. She has an extreme passion for poverty, which i think is fantastic. She can juggle, which makes me jealous. Her humor is undoubtedly comforting. She never fails to make me laugh, whether its the way she dances, cracks jokes, or is just herself. Her dad is a pilot. Her mom is a hairstylist. Only three days after getting home from this trip she will board a plane that is Spain bound where she will then hike for about a month accross the country of Spain. She will then be home for a short bit when she will then board yet another plane bound for Argentina where she will be attending school next semester. I truly wish at 20 years of age i had as much drive as she does.
Now i am asking Jen to write a little paragraph about me….
Now let me tell you a thing or two about my girl Beer-Knee. She popped onto the scene in Grand Rapids, Michigan twenty-two years ago and wasn't afraid to rough it with her two brothers and several guy friends growing up. The teen years rolled around and Beer-Knee dominated the girls' lacrosse team during the four years of high school. How do I know that Beer-Knee dominated the lacrosse scene when I wasn't there to witness it? I can only imagine that she rocked the field because she has tried numerous times to whip our butts into shape, much to her own frustration as our wall-sits fail to be the required 90 degrees and our arms and legs quiver while Beer-Knee tells us to hold our "plank" position. Not only did her schooling as a physical trainer come in handy here in Nicaragua, but her buldging triceps earned during her waitressing days have also aided our team in carrying water jugs and other various large objects. Leave it to Beer-Knee, the strong, trusted leader, to fall prey to two freak accidents during this trip. Pobrecita. All I'm sayin' is that her humor and contagious joy work like a charm to keep our sisterhood on track.
And now it's time to write a little word about our girl Alisa who is sitting accross the kitchen working so diligently on this video…
Knick-named the Stompin' Flip-Flopper, our girl Alisa was brought into the picture twenty-three years ago in the hood of Los Angeles. You can always rely on her to leave you in the dust while walking to town or verbally attack any of the three dogs that live here on the Nueva Vida property. It has been said that people would travel from all over the state of California just to visit Alisa, the beloved barista, at her local Starbucks location. Our girl is real generous and is always willing to let people borrow her computer or Bible concordance. If you ever have the opportunity to walk with Alisa through a local Nicaraguan market, be prepared for her overly dramatic expressions and extremely loud voice to compensate for her lack of Spanish when communicating with the vendors. She is the most joyful when she is fasting and has a musical background along with several members of her family. She is the perfect person to go to when you have any needs in the department of cinematography, and don't be alarmed if some day you see her name scrolling across a screen in Hollywood. We're not sure if she will ever be able to abandon her love of travel in favor of settling down, but like she says, "I'll go where the Spirit leads…"
Needless to say, our extreme boredom here on this fine evening of April 28 has brought some serious blogging entertainment to you folks back home! 🙂 Hope you enjoyed it and I can assure you, now that all 9 of us are back home, there will be no more nights of boredom because have many things to pack into these final two weeks!
