May Madness

Another month has come and gone for us in Nicaragua. Comparatively to the beginning of April, May has started off rather slowly for us due to the lack of teams coming down. But at the same time, as I sit here and begin to write this blog, I realize that these weeks are still incredibly full of stories.

For instance, we have started encouraging the youth group at our Nica church to start prepping for the youth group teams that will be coming down at the end of June. Unlike our highly structured and engaging youth groups at home, we’ve found youth group in Los Cedros to be quite different. Instead of engaging activities, good worship, and small-groups, Nica youth group is very serious. It is usually centered around reading a passage from the Bible and then the leaders have to prod and push the students in to sharing their thoughts. In some ways there are benefits to the lack of program, but we’ve also noticed that the leaders have a lot of difficulty getting the students to engage in youth group on Monday nights. So, the goal of this team coming down in June is to encourage these students in sharing their faith, and also indirectly modeling and helping establish more of a youth program. While we don’t want to come in and just place our U.S. programs and walk away, Josh and I both agree that some changes to make youth group more engaging would be good. Let’s be honest, there isn’t a whole lot to do out here in L.C. so providing them with a safe place to have fun and to learn about God could be revolutionary.

Anyways, one of the things the students decided to do is to be a physical presence in the streets of Los Cedros. I have been trying to imagine what this would look like at home and it just doesn’t compute. We take these humongous speakers from the church to the street corners, jerry-rig them to an outlet, plug in a few guitars and microphones, and then proceed to sing worship songs for about an hour. Within that time, the students come to the microphone and read Bible verses or pass out little Bible verse cards to people who are walking by. While it can be a struggle to get the students away from hugging the walls and talking to people, they are a lot less apprehensive to talk to people then I was at their age

Top: Josh helping to lead worship on the streets. Some of the youth group boys getting ready to say their Bible verses. Lining up at the microphone...The infamous fence the youth like to sit in front of so they don't have to sing or talk to people.

Another cool thing we were able to do last week was to take all the teachers from the school to the beach. We borrowed the church van, piled in some coolers filled with goodies and headed off to spend the day enjoying the beach. It was actually kind of funny because the teachers wanted to leave at 8:30 in the morning! Josh and I thought what are we going to do at the beach so early? But, one thing Nicaragua has going for it is the fact that by 9:30 you are ready to go swimming cause its already hotJ! True to Nicaraguan form, we didn’t end up leaving by 8:30, but we did end up spending the whole day playing volleyball, wave-diving, swimming and eating way too much food. It was wonderful to be able to bond with the teachers in this way.

Top: Burying Carlos in the sand. The women teacher's playing a rousing game of beach volleyball. Enjoying the amazing ocean! Middle: Josh's escape from the sand. A few artistic shots of the beach in Nicaragua.

Beyond the relation side of our time, we finally have a fully functioning kitchen and bathroom! You would not believe what a difference having running water and privacy can make until you live without it for awhile. We can finally see the top of our kitchen table, we can put dishes away, and wash dishes after dinner instead of putting them in a plastic bag to be keep the ants out till we can wash them in the morning. As for the bathroom, waking up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom is no longer dreadful…Josh said the other day “it’s so nice not to have to get ready to go to the bathroom”. All of these things we take for granted at home, and we didn’t realize how much they actually make a difference until this past week when we had the pleasure of using them for the first time!

Finally, one of the most heart-breaking and difficult things I’ve experienced so far was leaving Josh for three glorious days to go on a ladies retreat this past weekend! Okay, well it wasn’t actually that hard or heart-breaking but it was nice to miss each other. Anyways, ladies retreat is a pretty big deal down here. Missionary women from all over Nicaragua come together for a three-day retreat at one of the beach resorts. For some of them, it is the only time of the year they get to sing in English, or to be with other English speaking people. I enjoyed it immensely and I’ve only been down here for 3 ½ months, can you imagine what it is like for some ladies who’ve lived here for years and who hardly ever get to return to the states? One thing that was really cool about the retreat is that they really try and spoil the women with “pretty and yummy things.” For instance, each session we had a little bag waiting on our seat that had a manicure set, gift cards, cookies, etc. Every session was also fully stocked with lots of chocolate from the States, which I think is the best idea anyone has ever had! Another thing they did was to have a book and magazine swap. People brought books and magazines they’d already read and no longer wanted and anyone could take as many as they liked home with them. This, like running water and a private bathroom, may not seem like such a big deal but when you don’t have access to English books and magazines it is honestly so exciting! Needless to say, I came back re-energized by the message I heard, with four new books, and with a sugar hang-over.

Me, Sherah and Becky on the beach at Women's retreat. Little baby Leandro, the newborn son of the school's assistant Ophelia.

Other than that, life continues to move on. We have been here for three and half months now and have managed to enjoy life and to come through still married! Ha ha! Now we await the arrival of family, more teams, and the long awaited rainy season. So, until next time, hope things are warming up in Seattle as they start cooling down for us here in Nicaragua...bring on the rain!

For your viewing pleasure we've attached a little video of what our street worship sounds like. The video footage isn't so great since its dark, but its cool nonetheless.

Team Time

Hello all! Believe it or not another two weeks has gone by and it is time to share the stories and pictures we've accumulated. These past two weeks have seemed to go by rapidly as they have been filled with the comings and goings of friends, family and teams from home. We have both enjoyed the change in routine immensely and it many ways it has refreshed our vision for being down here.

The first week in April there was a team of 27 junior-highers from Cascade Community church that came down. Their intentions for the week were to love on the students and to paint the new kitchen and sports closet that had been constructed a few weeks before. They were a wonderful group of youth and the students loved having "gringos" to play with at recess. The first full day the team was here they had a special event for the junior high age youth of Los Cedros. There were soccer games, hot dogs, puppet shows and even a showing of Narnia in Spanish (English subtitles for the gringos). It was a great way to kick off the beginning of their week in down here.




Top: Soccer games are always a hit! Josh dishing out the dogs!
Bottom: Famous chef Lee Lockridge, Nicaraguan preschoolers get "pool time" instead of "nap time"...just kidding this was a special treat.

In the middle of the junior high team being here, we had one very special visitor come...my dad, David. It was a very surreal experience to be waiting for his arrival at the Nicaraguan airport! His arrival could not have come at a better time as we had both been wrestling with a bit of homesickness due to our desire to meet our new nephew. So, as a way of rejuvenating our spirits, my Dad whisked us away for a weekend at the beach!

You can see from the pictures that San Juan del Sur is an incredibly exquisite place. Discovered enough to have restaurants and comfortable hotels, but still untouched enough to maintain the quaint sleepy little fishing village feel. If Josh had his way, we'd probably move the community of Los Cedros out there and have classes on the beach! I've been there before but Josh has not, so it was even more fun to watch someone experience the beauty of the surroundings, breathtaking vistas, and delicious lobster! In between the hugs and brainstorming sessions with Dad and a little vacation, our spirits have been re-bolstered for the tasks that lay before us.




Top: View from the hotel Pelican Eyes looking down at San Juan Del Sur. Our delicious lobster lunch...not exactly diet friendly. Bottom: Me and Dad at the VIP movie theater, comes complete with a lazy boy and the ability to order dinner, drinks, candy, etc. from your seat! The U.S. should take notes!, Josh and I soaking the beauty of San Juan in!

Yet, even amidst our vacationing, we were reminded of the country and people we are serving. The picture below is of a Enrique, a waiter at one of the restaurants Dad frequents with his Agros teams. True to his nature, Dad was boasting about the fact that he was with his daughter and son-in-law and with delight in his eyes, described that we are working at a school in Los Cedros. Enrique stopped him and said "Los Cedros! That's where my wife and four children live!" He went on to tell us his story. He came to San Juan Del Sur 4 years ago in search of work. He got a job at the restaurant we were eating lunch at and his been working there ever since. He earns $60 a month, pays $30 for a room ( which is literally just enough space for a bed, stacking bins, and perhaps a small table to put a TV on) , he gets to go home to his family 2 days out of every month, and it takes him 8 hours by bus to get there. Can you imagine...you get to see your wife and four kids 24 days out of every year...there is something horribly unjust about that! Needless to say, it was a good reality check of the blessings we experience every day, and the situations these people deal with as well.



A picture of us with Enrique, whose story you just read.

After our brief respite from reality, it was back to work with the arrival of a medical/building/art class team from Northshore. 1/3 of the people did medical classes with the women of Los Cedros teaching them basic things like first aid, dietary needs for young children, and dental hygiene. Another 1/3 helped with the construction of our bathroom! In about a week we will finally have a bathroom attached to our house! Man will we be spoiled...the bathroom we've been using has been perfectly fine, but there is just something about having your own privacy that makes a world of difference. Finally, the last 1/3 of the group did art classes with the 1st-6th graders, which I ended up being the translator for (man is that ever tiring!). There was a duel intention for these art classes: the first was to introduce the students to their creative side and the second was an art contest for a future fundraiser. We chose the two best drawings from each class to use in a fund raising calender that will be made back in Seattle. The proceeds from the calendars will be given to the school to help with the feeding program, buying school supplies, and whatever basic needs the school has. It was a lot of fun to have this team down here, which is reflected by the fact that each day at least one of my students asks me "when are the gringos coming again?"




Top: The beginnings of our bathroom...wahoo! Fourth graders waiting for the first prize announcement.
'Middle: Getting the creative juices flowing. Hamy 2nd grade winner with her picture. Marvin, a 5th grader trying his hand at some volcanoes.
Bottom: 1st graders are so cute! A smile of satisfaction as Jorge is announced as the boy 1st place winner for the 6th graders.

Of course there are many more stories we could share, but most likely you will stop reading this if we carry on for too much longer. So, we'll sign off for now!

Easter in Nicaragua!

Wow! Another two weeks have already flown by and it's time to update the blog again. The last couple of weeks have had a different ebb and flow to them due to "Spring break". School continues to proceed with it's successes and challenges. I tried giving my students their first vocabulary quiz which was met with mixed success. One of the challenges I'm finding with these students is that most don't have parents who make them sit down and do their homework every night; in fact, many of them may only have one parent or none at all. As a result, studying is not something that they take very seriously. However, I am truly loving getting to know the students better and continuing the process of how to best teach them English.

Josh continues to be busy with his Spanish learning. He has become much more brave about formulating his own thoughts in conversations; while he still struggles with understanding when he is spoken to, he has made huge progress. In fact, one of his fellow classmates (we go to Spanish class once a week) was just telling me how impressed she is with him. He came into their Spanish class feeling like it was way over his head, and in just five weeks he has outgrown the class.

Beyond Spanish, he has joined a "gringo" soccer team which plays against other Nicaraguan teams. It has proven to be a nice outlet for him, as he can get a little stir crazy with this wide-open schedule of his. When he is not studying or playing soccer, he continues to work at getting internet over to the school, which has been met with a few technical difficulties. But, it wouldn't be Nicaragua if things worked the first time! Hopefully that will all be resolved this next week and we will have internet! Wahoo!

We have discovered in the past two weeks, that one thing Nicaragua has on the States is an understanding of how to properly celebrate holidays. For example, this week is "Semana Santa" (or holy week) and we have had the entire week off from school. So we spent the week split between our Nicaragua family and our fellow American missionaries. I could write an entire blog post about all the things we did, so I will just let the pictures do the talking for us. However, one of the most exciting things that happened this past week was the birth of our first nephew Jude Thomas Stroh on March 24th (one day after his uncle Josh's birthday). We are so excited he his here, but it has made us wish we were home to celebrate with our family.

Well, it's time to sign off. But, this week marks the beginning of "Team Season." Meaning, we are entering the time period where teams from the States come down. So we will soon be busy with all the activities of those that are coming down to help with the school and serve in the community of Los Cedros. Stay tuned for more crazy stories from Nicaragua!




Top: MF helping the ladies chop pounds and pounds of carrots, onions, garlic, chayotes (a veggie) in preparation for Pastor Manuel's birthday celebration. The huge kettles the food will be cooked in...they actually killed a pig for his birthday! Middle: Josh playing soccer with the kids while the women prep for dinner. We served about 300 people dinner! Bottom: Pastor Manuel and Pastora sitting on the new couch set the church congregation bought him for his birthday. They also hired a mariachi band to come serenade him. Funny thing is, it was only his 43 birthday! Just wait till he turns 50!



Top: Teaching Pastora how to make chocolate chip cookies. We have success! Pastora said: "I love these cookies, they are so easy to make, taste so good, and they make so many!" Middle: Game night at Quinta Allison with our fellow American friends. We are all now obsessed with Dutch Blitz!


Our nephew: Jude Thomas Stroh born March 24th, 2008. The new Stroh Family: Micah, Casey and Jude.

A Week in Pictures

Due to technical difficulties we weren't able to add pictures to the last blog post we added...so here is a look at last week through the camera lense!

Some beautiful plants Josh surprised me with. They have spruced up the front our house so much!



When we aren't bumming internet off of our friends in Managua...we go to our "internet cafe"...aka blue plastic chair in the school's field which is adjacent to the cabinet factory.


Josh helped to make a sidewalk with Elvis to the kitchen...phew physical labor is hard!




Here are a few pictures of some of my kids and the second grade class in session. The last two pictures are of some of my first graders... They love to say "Mira me profesora" (Look at me teacher!)...they are so cute!


Josh and I reached a new milestone in our marriage this weekend...I have officially succeeded in cutting his hair! Seriously it was a little rocky there... but I'd say I did a good job :).

See you in a few weeks with more stories and pictures!

10 Things "We've observed" about Nicaragua

Hola mis amigos, this is Josh here. Mary Frances has been keeping y'all up to date on our happenings, so I'll try to keep it as interesting and lively this week as she has faithfully done. It has been so enjoyable to hear from you all and receive your encouragement. We can't express how much we love hearing from you. It is truly amazing that we are able to communicate using this forum. Thank you Lord for technology! Can you image, before the dawn of the internet only being able to communicate through snail mail.

I thought we might take a diversion this week and use this entry to share with you some of the cultural idiosyncrasies that we have observed while being in Nicaragua. If you haven't had the chance to live or spend time in another cultural you may want to prepare yourself for a shock. No Travis, going to Cabo doesn't count. But if you've had the pleasure of living abroad, you will probably recognize a lot the things we have seen. So what is life like in Nicaragua?

10 Things "We've observed" about Nicaragua:

1. Fire is nothing to be afraid of. Seriously, you feel like mowing that grass do ya? Why not light it on fire instead. In the Nicaraguan worldview, unlike our western view, fire is a tool, not something that is reserved to singing cumbyaha around the campsite. Fire is used for cooking food, burning piles of leaves in the front yard, and yes, clearing that field that is overgrown.

2. If you can hear yourself sing or talk to your neighbor in church, that means that the music is not turned up loud enough. In Nicaraguan churches the sound system only has two levels, off, and completely pegged at maximum volume. I am not sure how the small children in front manage to escape permanent hearing damage, but I know I haven't.

3. Garbage is disposed in two places: in the garbage can or out the car window. I would say 10 percent it is placed actually in a garbage can, the remaining 90 percent somehow finds its way onto the ground. It really is sad to see all the trash.

4. Policemen will pull you over for no reason whatsoever. If you are driving and you get pulled over and you can't think of any reason why, that is probably because there isn't one. Just give the cop what he is looking for, a little respect, let him know he is in charge, and he will probably let you go scotch-free. Slipping him an Abraham Lincoln might help too. Just kidding.

5. Electrical work is always done while the current is hot and dangerously close to blasting you into the next room. I don't know why it is, but Nicaraguan electricians must be incredibly brave or incredibly under trained, but either way, they are all very young. Humm?

6. Next to the steering wheel and the brake pedal the most important part of a car is the horn. While passing pedestrians or other cars you have to assume that they are not aware of your presence. You should use your horn frequently to announce yourself to all.

7. Water should be replaced by oil in just about every recipe. Although we have come to really love the Nicaraguan recipes that we have had the pleasure to try, it is shocking how much oil is loaded into each meal. "I've never been able to see my reflection in my food before."

8. Your head is not only used for directing you body in the direction you wanna go, it is also a handy place to carry heavy objects like 100 pound bricks and 5 gallon jugs of water. I don't know where this strategy developed, but is awesome and believe it or not actually works. I don't know if it is the reason why Nicaraguans tend be shorter on average than North Americans, but my theory is that it has something to do with it.

9. Motorcycles are given out to those people who couldn't pass their drivers ed class in hopes that they will remove themselves from the gene pool. Just about every serious accident involves a motorcycle here. In that way, it's not to much different from the States, but there does seem to be an IQ difference between those on motorcycles and those in cars.

10. When something is broken, the number one way to fix it is by hitting it really hard with your hand or some blunt object. This is my favorite one, and the one that matches my own philosophy of handy-man work. Oh, what's wrong with your TV? Smack it. Oh, you can get that keyboard working? Hit it with a hammer. What's that, your washing machine isn't working? Slam it on the grounds as hard as you can.

Hopefully some of these "light hearted" but true cultural observations will help you gain a better understanding of the world of Nicaragua. Everyday is truly a new adventure. Continue to pray for Mary Frances as she is trying to figure out how to deal with disciplining some of her rowdier children. Also, please pray that my ability to pick up Spanish will come quickly and I will be able to step out fearlessly to you use what little I know.