After months of planning, the big day had finally arrived. Troy and I were up early to meet the team at 5am at the airport. I, of course, didn't sleep well and woke up saying, "I've changed my mind; I'm not going." But, as we all know, I went.
It was reassuring to see familiar faces at the airport, but I was still anxious.
The waiting in SAT went quickly, and the flight to Houston was smooth. We were scattered throughout the plane for that one. With a longish layover in Houston, there was time to get a snack and begin to get to know each other. For the flight to Managua, the Zimmers and I had moved our seat together. I slept a bit, until my motion sickness started kicking in. This was one of my fears about this trip. I don't handle motion sickness well.
We make it through immigration, security, and customs. I'm still feeling pretty queasy. As we load into the van, I make it known that's cannot sit in the back. It becomes an ongoing joke about "my spot". Several people, including a young boy, approach us for tips. It's hard to say "no", but we were instructed not to do it. I'm kind of used to it from our travels to other countries.
As we drive though Managua, we see literal shacks made of tin lining the city streets. We also pass the dump, where some people (families!) actually live! Then, all of a sudden, we turn a corner and are at a shopping mall, just like you'd see in America. It's so strange to see both ends of the spectrum so close together.
Lunch is at a restaurant called Tip Top. I know Rob was hoping for something more authentic, but I'm grateful it's recognizable-fried chicken! There's even a play area like McDonald's, and there's a birthday party occurring. It's quite elaborate, even by American standards!
The drive to the compound is about 45 minutes, and I was feeling much better after getting some food. The compound is very nice. It surrounded by a high wall on all sides and manned with an armed guard 24/7. There are 2 houses, one for the teams and the other for Jorge and his family. It's very warm in the house, but at least we have an AC unit in our room that we can use at night. Karen, Kristin, and I end up sharing one room, with Theresa, Deanna, and Emily in the other. All the men had to share one room and bathroom!
We had a quick information meeting with Jorge, which eased some of our nerves. I know that I'm still anxious about my role on the hygiene team and look forward to meeting our leader on Sunday. One thing that Jorge said that I found amazing was that Pepsi is easier for these poor people to get than clean drinking water! His biggest piece of advice was that the week would fly by and don't have any regrets about missing out on time spent with the people. I plan to take that very seriously.
Dinner was a chicken stir fry; a nice easing in to Nicaraguan food! We played some bananagrams before heading off to bed. Unfortunately, before bed, I discovered that there's no hot water! At least it's warm weather here!
My biggest fear about this trip, that I hope doesn't come true: that I won't be useful. That the spot I took on this team was "wasted".
1 comment:
So excited to hear about this. I hope you don't hold back too much!
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