Day 104 May 12,2009 (Tues)

In my journeys, I've seen such beauty and such destruction. I've seen such joy and such pain in people. I've eaten meals with the poor and the rich in spirit and pocket. I've taken my last Nica bus and walked my last Nica paths. I've studied. I've interned. I've met great people and lived in what will now be just brilliant memories. I feel like I've seen so much yet I realize I've seen so little. Regardless, the beauty of God's creation and people continues to astound. Thank you for all who've read about my journey abroad. I've been plenty busy with ups and downs like a rollercoaster sometimes...but I made it. We all made it through yet another experience. Gracias a Dios!

Nos Vemos,

Dilaun

Day 102 May 10, 2009 (Sun)

A FUTURE NOT OUR OWN

It helps now and then to step back and take a long view.
The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is even beyond our vision.

We accomplish in our lifetime only a small fraction

of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work.

Nothing we do is complete,

which is another way of saying

that the kingdom always lies beyond us.

No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.

No confession brings perfection...

No set of goals and objectives includes everything.

This is what we are about:

We plant the seeds that will one day grow.

We water seeds already planted,

knowing that they hold future promise.

We lay foundations that will need further development.

We provide yeast that produces effects far beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything,

and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.

This enables us to do something,

and to do it very well.

It may be incomplete but it is a beginning, a step along the way,

an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest.

We may never see the end results...
We are prophets of a future not our own.

-Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador, who was assasinated for speaking up for God's Kingdom and justice in 1980

Day 100 May 8, 2009 (Fri)

On Friday and Saturday, we stayed at Laguna de Apoyo. It is a volcano with a gigantic crater that has been filled with water. People swim and kayak in it. There have been hotels built all along the land. It is absolutely beautiful and really relaxing. I basically laid on a hammock the whole weekend.

We met some interesting backpackers as well. One girl from San Francisco is a financial analyst or advisor but her company just closed. She decided to take the next two months and travel. Another girl from Germany got unpaid vacation for a year. Yes a whole year. She had been saving up money and now she is traveling the world by herself for this year. She's only about one month in but she already been to a few different countries. She knows 4 languages, lived in the Sudan when she was a kid, super impressive stories. By the time the year vacation is over, she will have visited every continent. Another guy and his son are traveling around Nicaragua for 3 weeks trying to find land to build a house on. I think they were from Iowa. The dad can buy land on an island and build a house all for like $50, ooo or something ridiculously cheap like that. It's just cool how you meet people that inspire adventure.

Day 99 May 7, 2009 (Thurs)

I'm in the last few days before I pack up all of my things and go home. I realize I have accumulated way too many items on this trip. Today we presented our finals projects from our internships for the past few weeks. I have written a lot of PR/Communication pieces to be used by the Nehemiah Center. The other two boys I came with produced video projects. It was very interesting. All the families came out to support our work then we went out to dinner at this really nice restuarant. The waitresses have on traditional Nicaragua dresses and there is live music playing.

Afterwards, my host parents Alex & Maria took me and Dan to a movie. We were interested in seeing Wolverine so first we went to this mall called Galerias. We had the wrong times so we got there late. The next showing wouldn't be for an hour. Then we saw the movie was also playing at another mall called Metro Centro. It's across town but we drove there and even arrived in perfect time. The problem was that the movie was playing only in Spanish without subtitles at all. Dan and I would have been lots on all the details except the killing basically so we decided not to buy tickets for that movie. By this time, even though we were all tired, Alex was really determined to see the movie so we drove back across town to Galerias because by this time, an hour had passed. We got there just in time, bought tickets and good thing it was a great movie because otherwise all of that would not have been worth. Dan said, It's just one more good story we've got to tell about our adventures in Nicaragua.