Nicaragua Conference

On Wednesday the 16^th of May we left the beautiful Guatemala City and began our trip toward Nicaragua where the Mexico and Central American YWAM conference would be from the 17^th through the 21^st.

At first I was worried about the trip.  Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE road trips, but when it is a road trip through really hot countries in a 15 passenger van without air, plus a 3 year old, a 7 year old and a 10 year old, one begins to wonder if they will actually make it to the location alive.  Well make it we did!  We left Guatemala City around 11, a little later than we had expected due to one of our traveling buddies realizing their passport was expired at the last minute.  It was really God showing us His faithfulness because they realized the passport was expired the night before and not the morning of as we were trying to leave the country.  So 11:00 it was and off we went.  There were the Garcias (the family with the three kids), the Martinez (us) and Adela, a girl from another base here in Guatemala.  It was nice in the van because there was lots of space to spread out.  Mario and Carlos Garcia were our official drivers and they did a great job of getting us out of Guatemala and into El Salvador, where we stayed the night.  There were a few times that we had to stop in the middle of the highway for the cows to pass by- only in Central America!!  We couldn’t have a trip through El Salvador without eating their famous papusas for dinner.  It was crazy to me because they use the US dollar in El Salvador but the value of things is definitely different than in the US.  Each papusa was 45 cents and the coke cost “two quatas” or fifty cents.  

Papusas to El Salvador are like tacos to Mexico.  After dinner we looked for a place to stay that was close to the El Salvador/Honduras border.  We found a hotel on the side of the road and decided to check it out.  The first and most important feature was the air conditioner.  It worked wonderfully and we slept wonderfully on a surprisingly comfortable bed.  We didn’t sleep as much as we would have liked to, though, because we were out the door and in the van at 4:30 the next morning. 

We made it through the border without any problems and quickly discovered that Honduras has some of THE worst roads that we have ever traveled.  It felt like a video game as Mario navigated the van in a zigzag pattern so that we wouldn’t hit any of the huge holes that were all over the road.  It didn’t make for very good sleeping conditions, either, so most of us were tired by the end of the day when we got to Nicaragua. 

filling out forms at the Honduras border

just a small example of the potholes in Honduras

We got to the Nicaraguan border just as the heat began and we got through as quickly as we could.  A few hours later and we were arriving in Dyriamba, the city where the YWAM base and conference were.  We were pretty hungry so we got some lunch before going to the base to see everyone.  I am bummed that I didn’t take pictures like I should have, but since we were tired and trying to get ready for the conference I just didn’t think about it.  It was nice to see the base, though.  It even has an elementary school right on the property where some of the staff are teachers to the children of the neighborhood. 

We had just a little bit of time to run to our hotel and get ready for the opening night of the conference.  I took a quick shower, because no one feels glamorous much less ready to face the general public after two days straight in a van.  We had dinner and an opening ceremony that night and I am pretty sure I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

The next few days were filled with sessions, getting to know new people, and best of all being encouraged and refreshed.   The typical food of Nicaragua is rice and beans, known there as Gallo Pinto.  We had Gallo Pinto almost every meal- not even exaggerating.  They have it for breakfast, lunch and dinner!  The meals that didn’t include Gallo Pinto included rice, and there was only one meal the whole time we were there that did not include rice in some way, shape or form.  Mario loved it since rice is one of his favorite foods, but I on the other hand, will be just fine if I don’t eat any rice for the next year. 

We left on Monday morning around 7:00 to head back to Guatemala.  We decided to wait until we got to El Salvador to eat lunch/dinner so that we wouldn’t have to exchange money into lempiras (the currency of Honduras) and ended up eating around 4:00.  At that point we made the decision that we were going to make a straight shot back to Guatemala without stopping to stay the night in El Salvador.  Mario and Carlos did a great job of getting us home safely through the blazing hot sun and pouring down rain that we experienced that day. We finally got home around 1:00AM.  We were definitely tired, but it was good to sleep in our own beds instead of having to stay in another hotel.  

Here are some of the views we got during the trip:

Overall we are really glad that we got to be a part of the conference.  We really feel that God opened the door to meet lots of new people who are doing what we are doing.  It is always a good feeling to know that you are not the only one who thinks and acts the way you do.  We look forward to seeing how God is going to use these new connections in the future, but for now we are glad to be back in our beautiful Guatemala!!!