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November 07 Nicaragua Day 3I´m going to post my photos only on facebook, here is a link for you to see, and i´ll caption them better there.
Today was our first day working at the orphanage. Lyndon, Clayton and I rotated through shovelling backfill into a wheelbarrow (one long shovel, one short shovel), and tying rebar. The ladies painted the office building at the entrance a nice minty green. After one ten minute stint with the short-handled shovel, I coulldn´t do any more shoveling, it just about wrecked my back. So i helped with the high painting parts.
It was pretty hot this morning, the occasional breeze helped but it was still pretty humid. The girls were hanging around us at times, some of them helped to shovel and they all wanted to paint (but werent allowed to). We wore name tags (both the team and the girls) and that was very helpful.
We had lunch with the girls and they are starting to warm up to us. We sorted all the stuff we brought to give away this afternoon - the morning heat and work took quite a bit out of me, even with a 20 minute nap I felt pretty bushed for an hour. Darlene said that I´d feel better if I got up and did something, and sure enough, she was right. I did a bunch more tying rebar and some painting, then after our lemonade, we went to visit Christina and Chepe and Marisol in the bario. It was nice to see them again and fun to play with Chepe. I got Christina to smile with her dimples for a picture too.
We are a pretty tired bunch tonight. Tomorrow we are painting in the morning, then off to Masaya in the afternoon, to the market there and the volcano. What kind of shenanigans will we get into with Clayton and Judy along? (And five of the girls from the orphanage.)
I´m missing everyone back home, but I´m not missing the weather! Hahaha
Mike
November 06 Nicaragua day 1 and 2
This morning: Juanita, Olferts maid from way back, came for breakfast. She gave Lyndon a jar of chileros!
Managua: little girl selling bags of water at an intersection
The group of us in Sunday school in Managua.
These are footprints in volcanic ash or mud, from about 6000 years ago. In Managua.
We went to the outdoor auditorium, Clayton did a "Taylor Ave Boys" trick and found a way onto the stage. The acoustics were great, I sang the refrain of "Because He Lives" at center stage, it felt like a studio. Then I took a bow for the Managuans in the passing truck.
We also got a tour of the national concert hall too. Nice place too ' sits 1200, the RWB has performed there.
Our driver Pablo, wife Amanda, and little Pablito
At the orphanage, the girls demonstrated their Nicaraguan dance skills
And one recited her peom she wrote on "the importance of love".
Lyndon and his two greatest fans.
Me and my two greatest fans.
Lester and I talking on the roof of Doña Normas guest house at dusk (before supper, about 6 pm).
Sunset before supper
I experienced joy and sadness both today - sadness in knowing that there will be some of the kids from last time here I wont see, joy in seeing the girls at the orphanage, and how they just wanted to be teenage girls. They loved Baileys curly blonde hair. And they saw Bens long blonde hair in the pictures I brought and thot he was handsome too.
I was trying to get text messages through to anait since landing at the airport last night. Turns out I was sending to the wrong number last night (780 and not 781) and today she was receiving but we were not getting back responses. So I was missing my family connection a lot. And I know anait has a lot on her mind while I am away, i wish we could share that together, and this experience together too.
Its hot in Managua, but not as hot in Diriamba. Bailey is taking care of me, telling me when to sit down and when to get out of the van. And the earplugs she gave me a really comfortable, so I slept really well last night. And in turn, she walked with me to the cyber cage tongiht, and she stayed close to "El Gigante Mike". So I was able to take care of her too.
Now I am IMing with my family: A and I have a running joke about camels, and she just asked me:
are there camels in nigadagrwa? Good night all. I will post again tomorrow night I think.
March 01 the Three QuizI haven't posted in forever, and today I decide to answer a blog-tag quiz here, of all things. ;)
I was tagged by Swivels. THREE SCREENNAMES I GO BY: TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE: (not necessarily in that order) THREE THINGS I WANT TO DO REALLY BADLY RIGHT NOW: October 12 A survey (call me crazy...I know)This came from Tiana and Emily... 1. Were you named after anyone? I don't think so, but my Great Uncle Scott always claimed to be my namesake for my middle name. August 15 Veggie-truckLast October was the last time I picked up used vegetable oil for my truck.
It turned out that batch had more water in it than I thought. Even though I let it settle for a couple weeks, my truck complained fairly bitterly when asked to burn that fuel.
I pumped it all out and went on diesel for a time.
A long time, actually. I didn't have enough time to go back to the same place and get more bad fuel, or find a better supplier.
And I had to replace the water pump and glow plugs (and wiring harness) to the tune of $1800 last fall. <shudder> I should have bought the parts on eBay, I would have saved myself at least $500. But unless you buy them ahead of time, you usually can't wait. (Now I know - I have already bought six fuel injectors, for ~$800CAD total, they are $450 each from the garage).
Anyway, I have been driving the truck on diesel since about Thanksgiving last year. And paying for it.
About a month ago, I looked at the oil I had pumped out last fall and saw that it had settled out well over the winter and spring, so I pumped the top 75% of the containers back into the truck and ran it on that. Which worked ok, but my auxiliary fuel pump doesn't have enough oompf to give enough fuel pressure at highway speed. So it's back and forth between veggie and diesel.
Now I just got a call from T, she has just pulled up to the driveway and the transmission shifter is not working (there was a clunk apparently). Sheesh.
 July 28 So this is what it's like to be 40A week after my birthday, and I've figured out what being 40 is like.
I've lost my tech voodoo.
I've found myself on a Saturday morning at somewhat loose ends. I decided to watch Harry Potter: The Prisoner of Azkaban on DVD while Tiana takes the little girls to their grandparents for a week of camp.
I turn on the DVD player under the TV and put in the disc.
Nothing.
We have an XBox connected to the TV too, so I look around and see if only one of the two can be connected at the same time. Then I realize that likely Emily or Ben can get the DVD working faster than I can.
So Ben comes up and gets it running in about two minutes.
This whole 40-thing is starting to sink in.
So I sit down with my morning coffee and start up the disc.
I've got the wrong disc in - it's the Special Features disc. But it takes me a bit to realize it. I change it to Disc 1. It starts up.
Apparently I've got the wrong disc in again. I am seeing the open titles for The Polar Express, starring Tom Hanks. I'm looking at the DVD case for the phone number for Jay's Video where we rented this from, so I can ask them to look in their Polar Express case for the Harry Potter disc.
Just as I am ready to call the video store, another movie starts - the Will Farrell Elf movie.
I've been watching previews on the disc.
Sheesh.
Hi, my name is Mike, I'm forty, and I've lost my tech voodoo.
July 21 40 fun facts about MikeIt's my birthday on Sunday (take a guess how old I am!), and for my party tomorrow, Tiana made up a quiz. For those of you not able to come to our party, feel free to try this quiz out and answer me online or via email. Points will be given for originality. I'll post the best answers next week sometime.
July 19 The Internet has crashedFor those of us who have had a shaky Internet connection for a couple weeks, here is perhaps the reason why:
The internet has crashed: http://www.scaryideas.com/video/3017/ April 22 The House of Diehl...April 12 Wiki birthdate searchThe rules are:
1) Go to Wikipedia
2) In the search box, type your birth month and day but not the year 3) List three events that happened on your birthday 4) List two important birthdays and one death 5) One holiday or observance (if any) EVENTS: 2003 - Members of 101st Airborne of the United States, aided by Special Forces, attack a compound in Iraq, killing Saddam Hussein's sons Uday and Qusay, along with Mustapha Hussein, Qusay's 14-year old son, and a bodyguard.
1954 - Al Di Meola, American guitarist (I think this is one of Joel's favourites)
1973 - Rufus Wainwright, Canadian singer
DEATH: 1998 - Hermann Prey, German bass-baritone (b. 1929) I have at least one of his recordings of German Lieder that I bought while in university.
HOLIDAY: Germany- Ratcatcher's Day. |
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