About two weeks ago, my team was informed that we would be packing up, splitting in two, and leaving our new home. Just when we had gotten settled, the plans were shifting. I found out that my little half-team would be leaving the island of Ometepe and heading back to the mainland of Nicaragua to go to a town called Rivas. We would be spending the week at the house of a local pastor, a woman named Sarah who also works at Cicrin. Not going to lie, I was a little worried about how nine girls would be fitting into a house that is normally home to one, but when we got there all my fears were...

Wow, is it possible a week has already passed since we first arrived in Balgüe? And what a week it has been. Last Saturday, we packed up all our stuff and left Cicrin and all our sweet kiddos for a week. Leaving their precious faces was not easy, but knowing we'd be back before too long made the parting somewhat easier. I've grown quite attached to my life there.  After our goodbyes and hugs, we started down the road for a brand new adventure of ministering in Balgüe. Balgüe is a little town at the base of one of the volcanoes here on Ometepe. It is a beautiful...

Our travels have brought us to the other side of the island to the town of Balgue, the poorest town on the island. We anticipated less ideal conditions, but we have been very blessed. Living with your momma pig and piglets in your yard seems very normal to us now. We never tire of looking at the baby piglets either. After being here for only 24 hours the church members felt like family. It is amazing how welcoming they are of these 10 American girls. We are the first missionary team to stay here, and are honored to be here. One of the cooks already wrote us a caring note in...

When I was packing to come to Nicaragua, I loaded up very heavily on one thing: bug spray. I knew there would be bugs, and lots of them, but yet I was woefully unprepared for insect invasion that awaited me. Our first steps on Ometepe were plagued by swarms of gnats so thick I don’t think I could even see the island until they died off. We hated them because they smelled like decay and choked the air we were breathing, but they didn’t do us any real harm. Now that they have died, however, the big boys have come out to play. Currently, I’m pretty sure I’m more bug...

Variety is the spice of life Living in routine is comfortable. Sometimes, however, you have to spice things up.  I have been switching things up with our beans an rice. Today we has some delicious beans and rice accentuated with some picante sauce. Although I am still working up to a larger amount, the variety in my life makes normal routine more fun. Some day I will be a hot sauce champ. If you are really wanting to switch things up try beans and pasta. It is good stuff, especially with some salsa de tomates (aka ketchup). Unfortunately, mom, we don't have the size containers you...

Smiling faces and hosts of swarming gnats welcomed us to the beautiful island of  Ometepe, Nicaragua on Wednesday. After a straight flight from ATL to Managua and a two hour bus ride, we arrived safely to the port city of San Jorge, Rivas at 1am and settled into our hostel for the night [Shortest travel day ever]. At 7a, Kayla and I set out early to buy local SIM cards for our phones, breakfast for the team and find the ferry that would take us to Ometepe.  Several of our ladies speak Spanish very well, so one of them went with us to translate. It made the whole...