So I probably should have done a blog update before now, but I’m still kind of new to this whole blogging thing so please bear with me.
Back in January, 4 days after I moved to Nicaragua, I was at a weekly Ultimate Frisbee game that some of the missionaries play. I was just watching, trying to see if it’s something I would be interested in doing in the future. Well while I was sitting on the side lines there was a girl who I recognized so I went to talk to her, and then her brother-in-law came and sat and we were talking. During the conversation I learned that her brother-in-law, Chase, and his wife, Julie, were thinking about moving to Nicaragua so I gave him one of my business cards so he could check out our ministry if he wanted to. Long story short(ish), they applied and have now joined us. They’d like to be down here by September or January so that means that they need to start their support raising process as soon as possible.
In our ministry we’ve been blessed to have been provided with great support raising materials that we provide to all of our new missionaries. It’s part of my job to teach those new missionaries this material, that meant, I got to go to the states to teach it. At first, I wasn’t sure how I felt about going to the states again so soon after getting here. Statistically it’s better for missionaries to not go “home” the first year or two after they move so they’re able to get settled in their new culture better. So this left me with some apprehension, also knowing that I will be going to the states later this fall to do more fund raising myself.
Anyway, since Chase and Julie live in Oklahoma, and no where near Minnesota, Michigan, or South Carolina where most of my friends and family are, I thought it might not be to bad because I wouldn’t have to say hard good-byes again, and I’d get to stock up on some things that are cheaper in the states. Also, I realized that where they live is only about 3 hours away from Dallas, where I have three girl-friends. Two of these friends are the girls I went to Morocco with in 2003, one of which I hadn’t seen since then. I decided I would drive down to see them, so that was something else to be excited about.
Then the day before I left I thought to myself, I’m going to the states for a week and I’ll be staying with this couple that I don’t know. That made me slightly nervous, but I was hopeful that they wouldn’t be complete weirdos who I didn’t get along with. Thankfully, I was right, they weren’t complete weirdos, no more than myself anyway (not sure if that says a lot though). It was actually a very fun time and it felt like we knew each other for years. That’s exciting for all of us knowing that when they are able to move down it won’t be hard to get along.
It was a great, quick, visit. Although I would have liked to spend more time with my friends in Dallas, I was still very glad to come back home to Nicaragua. I flew in and out of Oklahoma City, but stayed in Dallas the night before my flight. It was very hard to not speed up to the airport trying to get home quicker, although it would have just meant sitting in the airport longer.
So here are some of the things that were weird for me while I was in the states:
- It was cold! So not sweating on a daily basis was kind of weird.
- When I drove it was hard to pay attention to the speed limit (in Nicaragua it’s hard to speed because of all of the potholes and other obstacles you have to avoid).
- Also when driving in Dallas there was one time I was going to drive between two cars on a 3-lane highway and I had to resist from honking the horn to let them know I was coming (it’s common courtesy in Nicaragua to honk so people will know you’re coming so you can either get all the back in your lane, or not move over into theirs).
- Remembering that I can flush the toilet paper, in Nicaragua the plumbing isn’t that great so you’re supposed to throw your toilet paper away instead of flushing it.
Well that’s it for now… hope you’re all doing well!
Traveling Katie 