The past two weeks were very full, and I'm sorry for not getting to the blog. This one might be a long one, so before you continue I'd suggest going and getting a glass of water and maybe a snack. I'd tell you to get some calala and churros, but you'd have to be here to enjoy that.

I now have tried almost all of the Nicaraguan dishes, juices, and snacks, and can tell you what to go for and what to avoid. My Spanish is really coming along, and I'm now able to "platicar" with whoever I run into, be it street kids or businessmen. I'm just starting to get comfortable here, and then I realize that I only have half of my trip left! That realization makes me both sad and happy. I'll try not to think about it. I can still do a lot of things before I leave, and I have a lot to look forward to upon my return. I think that things will work out exactly as they should.

So, to pick up where I left off, I had 5 days to myself, as Esmir was out of town, and I enjoyed them. I visited La Chureca often, with my problematic road hog faithfully getting me there. I went and visited the Cisneros, who are a family who own a small hotel in Managua. I met them through Brad Corrigan, who stays there on all of his trips. They are a great family who really have a heart for Nicaragua. I met with Priscilla, the last of the three children of the owners, to talk about my family coming down. She gave me a list of places to try to visit when they're here, and I reserved a couple rooms for us. I have to say that I am really anticipating the arrival of the Johnson Clan. I haven't been able to do much traveling yet, and there's an awful lot to Nicaragua apart from Managua. We're planning to visit a few volcanoes, islands, lakes, beaches, historic cities, and of course some orphanages and La Chureca. It should be a real blast.

On Saturday, the 15th, we had a huge party in La Chureca. I still don't know exactly how it all went down, but it was pretty much the craziest thing ever. I got there at seven in the morning to get everything organized. We passed out tee-shirts to all the kids in the school. The tee-shirts had pictures of a limousine, hummer, and suburban, and were given by a wealthy Nicaraguan who has a limousine rental business in Miami. I think that's right. Anyways, all the kids got black shirts and those helping organize (like me) got a white one. We finally broke all of the kids up into their respective age groups and headed out to load up on buses. There were six school buses waiting and ready at about 9:00, and we filled all of them with both kids and their parents. I decided to take the motorcycle rather than leave it behind, and we headed off for what shouldn't have been, but was, an adventure. We had a police escort of three cops on motorcycles, as well as a fire truck and ambulance, all with their sirens blaring. "Santa Claus Nica" was there too, in the bed of a truck waving to the people as we went by. Also in the caravan were about 20 expensive SUV's, including the hummer and suburban from the tee-shirts, as well as the limousine. We took a big lap around the whole city (for who knows what). The police were doing indian runs around the whole caravan, stopping traffic at the stop lights for all to pass, and racing up around us on both sides to get to the front of the line in order to stop traffic at the next intersection. It was pretty crazy, as I was just driving alongside the buses waving to the kids and trying to stay out of the way of the fly-by cops. Then it got crazier. A cop passed me on the right-hand side of the buses (which I think is much safer than on the left-hand side because on the left there are cars flying by in the opposite direction). He was about 100 feet ahead of me when I see an old man fall to the pavement and the cop's bike crash into a rack of car wheels for sale on the corner. The man was somehow between the buses and the curb, and the cop tried to get by him on the curb side but took him out and crashed into the rims, sending everything involed in all directions. The cop was fine, but the man seemed to be pretty badly injured, as he lay on the pavement moaning. I guess it was good that the ambulance was part of the caravan, as it drove up and its crew loaded the gentleman into it. The policeman stood nearby looking kind of embarrassed, as it seemed to be his fault. It was a really nice bike that he wrecked too.

The caravan continued as if nothing happened, and once the man was in the ambulance I proceeded to follow the buses, but with greater caution. We finally got back near the dump and went to Expica, which is a big open space under a very high ceiling that has carnival rides and a stage in the back and front, respectively. The kids all were given food and gifts, and there was singing and dancing. After the big party I went back to the dump to help out with the first meeting of the new church of La Chureca.

Pastor Ramon was already there, along with the churchplanting team from Verbo, and a number of people from the dump neighborhood. We opened with a prayer and some worship songs, and Ramon gave a 15 minute talk to the people. It was a very successful first meeting, and hopefully they will continue to get better from here on out.

I'm going to skip to Tuesday morning, when I appeared for the first time on national tv in Nicaragua. Yeah, finally something happened with the high school musical gig. We went at 7 in the morning to the main channel of Nicaragua, canal 2, and were special guests on their version of the Today show. We did a song in which only two members danced (Bop to the Top with Ryan, played by Isaias, and Sharpey, played by Yamileth--for those of you interested). The number was preceeded by a group interview in which I said very little, but understood pretty well for the majority. I was surprised actually at the professionalism of the tv station, in spite of the man trying to sell his husky puppies inside the building.

Tuesday was followed by Wednesday, and another tv appearance. This time we all danced (on channel 11) and had a group interview afterwards. We gave away packets of notebooks (which we're supposed to be advertising), and people called in to the tv station like you do a radio station in order to win. One of the callers was a teenage girl and she was talking about how much she liked me, and they made me blow her a kiss on tv. It was kind of hilarious. On Thursday I went with Esmir to Priscilla's going away party, as she is going to Sevilla, Spain to study as well as evangelize for a year. Brad Corrigan was down for a week, and he and his friend Jonathan Kilinger were there as well as many of Priscilla's close friends. It was a really fun time of hanging out and getting to know William, Raquel, and Priscilla. We ate pizza and cake, and afterwards danced and talked. I learned a few salsa steps, but I really need to take a class.

I went to La Chureca early on Friday to help out with a party with Juntos Contigo, which is a small program that works with kids apart from the Esperanza school. We had a couple pinatas and all the kids got some rice, chicken, and world renowned coca cola. Brad Corrigan and Jonathan, along with a small group of Korean missionaries who have a ministry working with glue-sniffers in the biggest market in all of central america, came in about noon to have another party. We gave the kids some gifts and sang some worship songs together. It was a really good afternoon. It was a great reminder of God's love for us in sending His son to die for our sins. I am ever reminded of how I deserve to live just like these kids if not worse, but God has been so good to me to give me all that I have. None of us deserve any better than to live like the people of La Chureca, because we have all made mistakes and done things that have hurt both ourselves and others. For some reason, inspite of all that we have done against him, God has never stopped loving us, and in fact loves us so much that he sent his son to die for us so that we don't have to pay the penalty for our wrongdoings. That's the motivation for my being in the dump everyday. These kids are awesome and God loves them just as much as anyone else, and I just want for them to be able to partake of his love for them. There were two kids at the party with Brad who tried to enter in with their jars of shoe glue (many people in La Chureca and other impoverished parts of Managua sniff glue to get high and eliminate the pain of hunger). They wanted to be able to get gifts just like everyone else, but we told them that if they wanted food, candy, and toys that they had to give us their jars of glue. The first little boy, probably of about ten years old, just wouldn't give up his glue. Brad and I, along with Bismark, who is a great guy Brad uses as a chofer around the country, talked to him and prayed for him and he finally let us have the glue, and he took the gifts with a smile. Later, the other boy saw that the first had gifts, and asked what he had to do to get some too. He showed us that he no longer had his glue, but we knew that he had hidden it outside. We told him that if he wanted gifts he had to go and get the glue to give to us. He saw that it was worth it, and had the first boy go out and get the glue to give to us. That experience reminds me of what God asks of us. He has an amazing gift of eternal life waiting for us. It's a gift, as in free, we don't have to pay anything for it. All we have to do is see that we are not perfect, and accept Jesus' payment on the cross for our sins. For us to say no to His gift is just like if those boys were to say no to all the toys and food and instead go on sniffing glue. This life is short and temporary, and is nothing compared for the eternity to come. What really matters is the life after this one, and there is nothing like the freedom we have in Christ once we put our faith in Him to save us rather than ourselves.

I was on tv for the third time yesterday, as we appeared on another channel, but then got a call from Priscilla asking me to do a radio show in the afternoon. Eynard, a friend of Priscilla's who I'd met at her going away party, has a Christian radio show and wanted to interview me on my work in La Chureca. We talked for a while before so that he could get a background of what I've been doing in the dump, and then we had a half-hour interview all in Spanish. It was a fun experience, and I was really excited not only to share what God's been doing through me in La Chureca, but also just to be able to understand all of his questions and to express myself in Spanish. There's still a lot for me to learn, but I'm really happy about how far I've come. After the radio show Priscilla invited Esmir and I to a young people's gathering at her church. She attends Hosannah, which is Managua's biggest christian church, with a weekly gathering of almost 1,000 young people from 18 to 25 or so. It was a really fun time, and afterwards she invited us to dinner at one of her favorite local spots. We spent about 2 hours there just talking together about her going to Spain, our experiences in Nicaragua, and about our hearts for the country. Priscilla really is a solid girl and I think that she will do great things both in Spain as she goes for a year but also in Nicaragua when she returns. I wish I had met her earlier, but I'm sure I'll see her in the future.

Today we had a really long morning practice with High School Musical. We're supposed to have a pretty big show this coming Thursday, so we had about 9 new people practicing as extras to look more like the movie, and we are working hard to get things ready for the big event. I'm still not a fan, but apparently I now have fans, so we'll see how it goes.

Everything's cool except the weather down here. Merry Christmas Everyone!