Everchanging Nicaragua

Well, on Saturday night Esmir and I took a taxi (the bike was still in the shop) to the coffee shop and nobody was there. It turns out everyone cancelled, but didn't let me know. So we pretty much just threw 5 bucks out the window, but that's Nicaragua. On Sunday I went to the second church service to meet Melissa and get my bag which I had left at her house on Thanksgiving. I also burned a cd for abdhie with the frontier horizon t-shirt designs i had made so she could make some more shirts. Apparently they were a hit, even though I don't particularly like them. Eli asked me to go to lunch with him and then to a soccer game, so I accepted gladly. We walked to pizza hut and finished off a family sized. He got a call and we found out the soccer game was cancelled, so instead we went to his house and watched some NFL football and I used his wireless internet for a little while.

On Monday morning I went to get my motorcycle from the shop. They had fixed the chain, and repainted the chain cover. They gave it to me with the idle a little low, but i adjusted it and everything was good. I went into the school and hung out a little while, and then went to dance practice. I told them that I might quit, and they were a little surprised. I told them that I would stay in the group until this Saturday, because we were supposed to have a show for the TV and everything, but that after that I wasn't sure if i'd continue. It's far away to drive everyday, and we never really do anything, not to mention that they never pay us, so I told them I was a little bit irritated. They said that this part of the program was just promotional and that we'd be getting paid once we started going on tour. The thing I was fed up with was that they kept adding new people and subtracting others, and we never learned anything new. Everytime I went was worthless, and I didn't want to waste my time.

After practice I went to the gym (in the dark because the electricity was out) and I thought about what to do with the whole dance thing. I thought it'd be cool to be on TV, and it was pretty hilarious just being part of this group, but I didn't know if it was worth all the time that I was putting into it. I didn't make up my mind on anything in the gym, but was leaning towards leaving the group.

On Tuesday I woke up early and headed out to Esperanza (the dump school). I noticed that as I was driving something was rattling, so I pulled over to check it out. A pin was loose, an important pin that connects the exhaust and other important parts. I got out my basic tool kit that the bike came with (which is a piece of junk) and tried to tighten the pin. None of the wrenches fit the nut, so i had to just tighten it as best as i could with a wrench and my thumb. I drove off and it started rattling again, so I just decided to take it to the shop again. I showed them what was wrong, along with a couple other things that I wanted fixed (the turn signals allways fall off because the nuts work themselves off the bolts when i drive) and they told me that it should be ready by 2 in the afternoon. So, I took a bus to La Chureca to spend some time with the kids. As I walked in, i saw the security guard that I had met the first time I went in back in September. I talked with him for a while because he's a really cool guy. He said that he's gotten to meet a lot of gringos who come in and out of the dump, but he say's i'm the first one he's really gotten to talk to much. We talked about the different aspects of La Chureca, as well as about the differences between here and the United States. I do want to get to know him better, but I didn't talk to him for more than 15 minutes. I said good-bye and walked into the dump.

As I was walking down through the dust and smoke, dodging animal waste, sporadic fires, and trash piles, I heard my name called from behind me. I turned to see two young kids who i'd never seen before. I said hi, went up to them, and asked how they knew my name. They told me that they had friends that went to school who had talked about me. That made me feel kind of encouraged, and I continued to talk with them. They were collecting iron to sell to a middleman just outside the dump. They had two bags full of scrap iron, each weighing about 25 pounds. I took one bag and they shared the weight of the other, and we walked up the hill and out of the dump to the man who would buy it. Everyone watched as I helped these two kids (Jose Noel, eleven, and his half sister Margarita, twelve) carry their heavy load. I was surprised at how hard it actually was to carry a 25 pound bag of iron up a hill, mostly because of the awkwardness of all the scrap pieces. How they do it multiple times a day is amazing. We got to Don Manuel, the middle man, and he put the bags on a scale. They weighed in at a total of 52 pounds, and they had a bag of aluminum as well which was relatively weightless but had some valuables which totalled 12 cordobas in value. In total they made 64 cordobas between the two of them, with the 12 cords from the aluminum and 52 cords at 1 cord a pound for the iron. Once split, the each made about $1.70 for the heavy load. We walked back down into the dump, and passed Margarita's house. There they had another bag ful of iron, and decided to do a second trip. This one I guessed to weigh about 20 pounds, but they said it was 35. We made the trip up the hill, collecting little washers or nails along the way. The bag weighed in at 20 pounds, much to their disappointment, but at least we could joke around about how bad they were at guessing the weight... it's a shame they weren't that far off in the other direction. I decided to just hang out with them a little while instead of go to the school, since by then it was already about time for school to get out.

I walked out and got a bus back to the shop. On the bus I ran into Alvaro, a young guy like me who works in Juntos Contigo, which is a computation class in another part of La Chureca. His bike was in the shop for maintenance, so we went together. Neither of our bikes were ready yet, as it was only about 12:30, so we went to get some lunch. It wasn't the best, but I was really hungry so I scarfed it all down. We went back and I got my bike, but his wasn't going to be ready until five, so I took him on mine to where he needed to be. We went to the house of a girl who works with Juntos Contigo as well, as they were going to an event together. We sat and talked for a while, and enjoyed an orange soda. Alvaro told me that Don Manuel was practically stealing that iron from the people in La Chureca, as he goes and sells it for 25 to 45 cords a pound. That reminded me of the time I talked with a man in La Chureca who sold plastic bottles at 3 cords a kilo to a man who turned and sold them for 28 cords a kilo. It's unbelievable how those middlemen oppress the people of La Chureca. I said goodbye and left at around 2:30 to head home.

As I was on my way home, I passed the hotel that Brad was staying at. I had seen his driver going into the dump to drop off bags of clothes in the school, and he told me that Brad was just relaxing at the hotel for a while. I decided to turn around and stop by the hotel to say bye, since Brad was leaving the next day. At this point everyone who was with him had left for the states, and he was alone for one last day. He said he was headed to the beach and invited me along. I didn't have any trunks, but he lent me a pair of his, and I pulled my bike into the hotel. We were off to the beach by 3:30, but Brad realized he didn't have a surf key to put his fins on his board. We decided to stop by the MANA house, where a group of Americans are staying for a year doing service here. Dane was there, who is the best surfer of the group of them, and he decided to come along as well, with his board and surf key. We talked in the car about a bunch of cool stuff. I told Brad about what I'd learned economics wise that day in La Chureca, and he was really intrigued. We read some verses in Proverbs that speak to the rich oppressing the poor and about how balanced scales are righteous in the Lord's sight but how unbalanced scales will bring destruction. Brad asked me if I'd like to be part of Love, Light, and Melody, his recently started non-profit. What that would entail is really just what I've already been doing... spending time with and learning about the people there. He was especially interested in me finding out more about the economics of the place. We want to try and possibly create a way for the people to get a fair price for their work, and that way maybe they could move out of the dump and just go there to work, not live. We think that something along those lines should be possible, since the fair price is apparently around 3 or 4,000% of what they're making. Brad said that he'd have to talk to Casey and Daniel, as well as their small board to see if I could come aboard, but that he was excited to meet someone who was on the same page as him.

The surf on Tuesday was a blast. We only had two boards between the four of us (Brad, Dane, myself, and Bismark, the driver) but just being in the ocean watching the sunset was great. I got to try both boards, Dane's seven sixer and Brad's six sixer. Dane's was much easier since it was longer, but I managed to get to my feet on both. We only surfed for about an hour since the sun was going down, but it was beautiful. On the ride home Brad told some stories about his experiences in La Chureca. He said that on Sunday he was with his favorite family there, and one of the girls, named Mercedes (now back into being a crack addict and glue sniffer at 16 years old) stole Casey's cell phone and some other things of theirs. They got them back, but he said it was so hard to think you're making so much ground in the way of friendship with these people, and then they slip back into their old ways and you feel like you're back where you started. He told us another story of when he first met the family, and a relative of theirs, Senor Ortiz, was dying. He was in his fifties or sixties, and was laying in the dirt with a bag over his head to keep the flies away. He was so out of it that it was almost as if he was in a coma. Brad was with Bismark at the time, and they said a prayer with him and called the police, news stations, hospitals, and firemen hoping that somehow an ambulance would come. They were told an ambulance was on the way, but they had to leave before it got there. The returned two days later and asked about Senor Ortiz. The family said that he was still the same, and that the amulance had never come. Brad and Bismark rushed over to where he was, and again prayed for him and gave him water. Brad said that he heard God speak to him saying, "Praise Me," and they began to sing worship songs with him. They heard the sound of sirens and an ambulance appeared from around the corner. They got him on a gurney and took him to the hospital. The next day, Bismark saw his name in the obituaries. Brad told us that he had asked Senor Ortiz if he had known Jesus, and he said yes. Brad said he was so happy to know that one day he will see Mr. Ortiz in heaven. Brad then asked Bismark in Spanish if he had that part right, and Bismark said no. He hadn't known Jesus, but Bismark witnessed to him, and the day before his death he accepted Christ as his savior. When Brad heard that with us in the car, he was speechless. We were all taken aback, and were just so overjoyed with how good God is. That was such a cool story.

We went out to dinner afterwards, and then back to the hotel. Brad gave me a copy of his new CD, along with his first rash guard, which is a tight shirt that surfers wear to keep from scraping up their chests on the board wax. I was so grateful for the gifts, as well as for the time he invited me to spend with him. I said goodbye, but it was more of an "hasta luego," because he's coming back for another trip just before Christmas. It was a pretty cool day, yesterday.

Today I went to the school again, this time for the last time this year. Today was the last day of school, and there was a party with food, singing, and dancing. The news channels were there, and presented 12 kids with the opportunity to go to Disney World in Florida. I'm not sure on the truth of that promise, but when I got home today at 2:00 I saw the kids on TV, and that's what they were saying. I don't know the details, but apparently some people from the States are paying for six boys and six girls from the dump to go to Disney World. I'm going to look more into that, because I have a feeling it was just a publicity stunt and that the kids are getting set up for a big let down.

I went to dance practice again today, but it wasn't any better, and I decided to quit. I said goodbye to everyone, and went home on the bike. I told them to call me if they really had something serious, but that I couldn't keep coming for nothing. Today they told me that the show for this Saturday had also been cancelled, because we weren't ready, but the only reason we're not ready is because they keep adding new people who have to learn everything over and over again. Some of us know it all, but we just keep doing the same thing over and over because half the group doesn't know it. I think the whole thing might fizzle out, because on Monday when I told them I was thinking about quitting, two of the other guys told me that they were also thinking about it. They said that if I was out they wanted out too. I feel kind of bad about it, but it was a waste of time and gas money.

Tomorrow I'm looking forward to my first day in La Chureca completely on my own. I'm not sure if I'll take the bike or if I'll just go in a bus, because I won't have the school to leave the bike in. Hopefully I can get the position with Love, Light, and Melody and start spending full days just learning about the people there. It's an exciting time right now, and I'm seeing a lot of God at work both in me and around me.