Two weeks in...

Some of the noteworthy events of our first 2 weeks in Matagalpa include a visit from the bishop to our house with a large Nicaraguan “gift basket.” He was actually just passing on gifts he had received from his most recent visit to a mountain community. He does these visits 2 to 4 times a week trying to visit all 600 communities in the diocese at least once every 2 to 3 years. We happily received his gift and he had the opportunity to see and ask how we were adjusting. We are still waiting for ¨the green cow¨ (our gigantic papaya) to ripen. Then what? We're not too sure, but I did search some recipes for papaya and found one for black bean and papaya salsa.

We had our kitchen sink faucet changed twice. The first time because we wanted one with a higher neck on the spout. One of the guys doing some other plumbing work on the house changed it one evening with one that Daniel had brought from extras he found in Honduras. The next day while Daniel was out at the bank trying to finish up opening an account, I heard a pop and spraying water hitting the tin ceiling in the kitchen. I ran over and tried to hold my hand over the faucet knob that had shot off and from which water was spraying 5 feet up in the air. Not quite sure how to turn the water off (from under the sink or the main water supply somewhere...should have looked under the sink), I had the slightly frightened Juan Pablo hold his hand over the sink knob (which made the water flow furiously out the faucet...we have abnormally good water pressure here) while I ran to the phone to call Daniel. He directed me to check under the sink, which I did promptly and turned off the water. I guess I've stressed responsible use of water enough because Juan Pablo had been yelling, “Hurry, you're wasting water. You're wasting water,” while holding the knob and watching the water flow into the sink. Here I am splattered with water and water still coming down from the ceiling after ¨pop #2¨ when Daniel thought he'd run to get the camera after turning off the water.



The other sink knob popped the next day leaving us without the conveinence of flowing water in the kitchen sink though a bathroom sink was just down the hall. Daniel broke down on Monday evening and decided he was up for the job after he bought another similarly long-necked faucet (normally he hates plumbing work) and put the new faucet in. It has served us well so far. Not sure whether the lesson is we shouldn't be so particular about the faucets or when we are particular, be really so and use a good replacement the first time.

Our second trip to the property as a family (Daniel has gone up many times with a surveyor, the land owners, a local civil engineer who works for the government during the week and for the bishop for free on the weekend) was mainly for Daniel and Fr. Francis Mary to clear out some parts with machetes and to measure the exact placement of a very large rock. We did some exploring during which we saw a huge movement of leaf-cutter ants crossing the path.
The kids have become fast friends with the Fr. Francis Mary.

Yesterday we celebrated the Feast of All Saints with myself and the three kids walking over to a little fabric store for some costume materials. Daniel stayed at the house varnishing a bookcase/stair-guard he is making for the house. The stair-guard is necessary because the concrete staircase to the second floor where our bedroom is makes and L-shape on which one side is the wall and the other side is nothing to keep the children from falling down to the concrete floor.

When we returned from our outing at about 10AM, I sat down to sew furiously at a St. Veronica tunic and “Face of Christ” cloth for Maria Victoria, a Pope John Paul II chasibul for Emmanuel, and a St. Michael the Archangel cape and tunic for Juan Pablo. Their complete outfits weren't actually put together until about 3 minutes before the 4PM children's Mass. Thankfully we have only a one minute walk up to the Cathedral. Actually, the instructions for the Mass were for the children to bring a statue or picture of a favorite saint, but not standing out enough as gringos, we decided we'd try to share a tradition by dressing up. Plus we don't have any statues or photos of those saints. They got lots of smiles so maybe the tradition will begin here. Maybe I'll start a new tradition next year by starting on costumes before the day of the Feast.

When the Mass was finished we all processed through the streets singing, shouting, and holding up our icons of Saints. St. Michael in defending mode.

Today we had Mass in the Friars' very small chapel with just ourselves and Frs. Francis Mary and John Anthony. It is the Feast of All Souls, during which we are called to remember and pray for the dead, that their souls may be purified and be brought into the presence of God and all the saints forevermore. Priests are allowed to pray three Masses on this day each for their different intentions. So the friars invited us over for their second Mass of the day while the other brothers were out and making it known they didn't mind our crying, squirming children in the close quarters. We discussed with the children the night before during night prayers about praying for those who have died and trying to remember all those we know who have died. When Daniel first asked them who they knew who has died, Emmanuel said, “Jesus died.”

The other day while in the yard in back hanging up laundry, I'm pretty sure I heard the neighbor's parrot say from over the wall, “Caw, caw, I gotta go pee.” So the boys may not be learning much Spanish, but they might be teaching some English to the Nicaraguans.

I did an art project with the boys one day after receiving lots of dried beans and corn. We made pictures with them and some other things we found outdoors.

I don't know if all kids make faces as much as mine do or if it is just because they have the king facial expressionist as their father.