Although there is always a bit of sadness about leaving at the end of a trip, I always have a big sense of relief, especially on trips like this. I’m quite excited to be heading home, back to familiarity and comfort. I love mission trips, but being in a different culture is exhausting. My brain has constantly been on the move this week, taking in all the Spanish and trying desperately to translate it. I don’t know if any of you have ever had the picture of your brain as a little man looking through a card catalog for info, but my little man has been working overtime. I can see him throwing the cards in the air in frustration!

Along with trying to comprehend all of the Spanish I possibly can, I’ve been overwhelmed by different sights and smells. It seems that Nicaraguans burn everything, and some of us have been left wondering if people are smoking something. There’s always something interesting to look at outside our bus windows: women carrying baskets on their heads, busy shops, poor homes, near collisions of taxis with our bus… trying to take it all in can leave you on overload. Today, we spent a bit of time in downtown Leon, and as well as trying to take everything in myself, I noticed several people taking me in. An old gentlemen was staring me down as we walked past. I smiled (weakly) but he continued to stare at me, or almost through me. It’s so awkward.

Although I’ve been tired and sometimes overwhelmed, I have been very blessed the past couple days. As Drew mentioned in our last blog, we had our “pastor appreciation day” yesterday. I was so excited as I sat in the hotel and realized that I was doing mission work with my husband. It’s been great just being here together, but it was especially great to be involved in one specific ministry together.

It was also a lot of fun to interact with the pastors. I was extremely proud of Drew and how well he communicated in Spanish. He had a conversation with one pastor for about 30 minutes without any translator. I contributed a bit, but I’ve found that I hear it better than I speak it. I understood the whole conversation, but had a hard time putting any of my thoughts into words. I get flustered and forget everything. So frustrating! And Drew did have them laughing… a lot! Carlos, the pastor that we spent the majority of our time talking to, had recorded a CD, and he was insistent on getting us a copy. Today, he dropped a copy of that CD off at El Ayudante for us. Drew made a copy of my Christmas CD for him. It’s so exciting to make friends in new countries.

Today we’ve been winding down. This morning we had a house dedication for the home that Drew and the construction team has been building. Drew was very proud to show off his work. Although meager and humble, it is much better conditions than her previous home. She was so thankful, and had tears in her eyes as she told us thank you. After that, the VBS team raced back to El Ayudante and made over 100 sandwiches to take to a local school.

We went, planning to do our usual VBS schedule, and were told that they didn’t want us to preach the Word. So, we simply gave them food, a few soccer balls and crafts, waved adios and then went on our way. I was just happy I didn’t have to sing “Yo tengo gozo” again.

This afternoon, we had a chance to tour the cathedral in the middle of downtown Leon. They took us up on the roof and we had a great view of the city. As we walked through the interior of the sanctuary, Drew commented how funny it was that a country that has so much poverty had such an extravegant cathedral.

Now I’m going to go let the little man in my brain take a break for awhile.