(I'm going to have to wait until I can find my camera to upload pictures, sorry! Sheesh, all this moving around and packing and unpacking... haha. Welcome to life.)

 

     My first car was (and still is) amazing. This annoys my sister to no end, as her first car wasn't so hot, but I was thrilled to be the exception to the rule that says "Your first car should not be amazing or enviable, because you'll most likely wreck it." Well being here in Nica, I have come to the conclusion that first kitchens, like first cars, are usually not the greatest. So I'm going to adapt that car rule and make it say "Your first kitchen should not be amazing or enviable, because you'll most likely wreck it."

     Well I am pleased (?) to report that I am definitely NOT the exception to this rule, as our kitchen (my kitchen, as Manuel calls it) at El Puente is quite a bit.. less classy than my dream kitchen. We've got limited space, cement countertops, water that cuts out at the most inopportune times, and ants in every nook/cranny/corner AND the refrigerator. Well, it's mostly just the ants that bug me. (Haha. Bad pun.) Yet like with your first car, no matter how bad it is, you have a special attatchment to it anyway.

     I have been put in charge of pretty much everything that goes on concerning the kitchen and meals. Grocery shopping, cooking each night, making sure things stay relatively organized, and conning some of my team members into helping... though to be fair, they volunteered. It's a responsibility I am very glad to have, though at times it can be a chance to test my servant attitude!  :)  What a change going from cooking for 5 or 6 people to cooking for 14.

     The other major thing to adjust to with cooking is the difference in culture and what is considered 'normal'. For example, yesterday I learned that while Americans eat soup for dinner, here in Nicaragua it's just plain wierd. The day before that, I learned that the normal way to cook eggs here is to deep fry them (just like the majority of other foods), though any health-conscious person from home would shudder at the thought. Today, I'm going to learn how to cook/fry rice so that it has more flavor. And more oil. Oil is a pretty big ingredient in Nica, by the way...

      So all in all I think I am adjusting back to life here rather well, yet I know the transition is far from over. This next week we should be starting up some more of our ministries once again, and I believe we'll be deciding which ministry/ies to really invest in over the next four and a half months. I still don't know what that's going to look like for me so I would appreciate your prayers for this decision! I'll keep you updated on whatever happens. Thank you so much and I love you all.