Monday, June 1

Bienvenidos a Nicaragua!

Greetings from Nicaragua! We had an exciting, truly Nicaraguan-style first week back...and it all started before we even left the airport.

We landed at the airport amidst a fearsome thunderstorm, which was quite beautiful from the air, but overpowering once we were on the ground. The pilot did a beautiful job at landing the plane through the gusty winds. We waited and waited to get off the plane, and once we finally did, we found ourselves among hundreds of other travelers, standing in the hallway, waiting to get into immigrations. We waited, and waited, and waited some more. Due to the swine flu epidemic, we had our first chance at thermal imaging...we stood in front of a thermal imaging camera and saw our body temperature, while several Nicaraguans, faces covered with masks, gave the yes or no to move forward. When we finally descended the escalator to the immigrations area, it was a nightmare. Hundreds of people stood around, waiting to be processed. After traveling 14 hours, this is NOT what we wanted to see. So we waited some more, and after a bit, a Nicaraguan lady behind us motioned to one of the officers standing there and motioned that we had a newborn, could we go to the front of the line? The officer nodded yes and directed us to a line, open only for families with small children. This really infuriated some people, and there were angry shouts and tempers bursting at these Americans who had managed to get to the front of the line.

When we finally made it to the baggage claim, there were bags everywhere. We had to wait another half an hour until our bags made an appearance, then we finally made it outside, where Seth and Sarah awaited us, while the rain came down in torrents.

We had made arrangements to stay at another MCCer's house while in Managua (they are currently in the States, thanks Alan and Beth!). When we arrived, we plodded into the house, eager to get into bed. We had planned to meet with our country rep the next morning and head to our home in Matagalpa after lunch. Unfortunately, we had forgotten that plans are rarely kept in Nicaragua. After talking with some friends, we learned, to our horror, that our landlady had just fumigated the house, but the smell was so overpowering, our friends did not recommend returning for at least one more day.

Below: The dining room is in the foreground and living room in the background (our suitcases took up most of the living room)


This continued on for 2 more days, living out of suitcases and sweating in the Managua heat and humidity, trying to figure out what to do with the boys with no toys and living in a city we are not familiar with

Below: The kitchen sink/bathroom sink/water play area


Below: Sebastian wore his birthday suit during his time in Managua, but he still got a heat rash


We talked to our friends who checked out our house morning and evening, and hearing that everything needed to be scrubbed and washed, including bed linens, towels, clothes, toys and kitchen dishes/utensils. We finally decided to head up and clean the house ourselves.

Below: Zach gets his shoes on in preparation to leave for Matagalpa, his "pink" home, as he calls it


We arrived at our house in Matagalpa, 3 days after arriving in Managua...tired and sweaty, but excited. The house smelled fine, and although it was a bit dirty, the boys were happy to have their toys and beds back and we couldn't have been happier!

2 comments:

Sarah Gingrich said...

Dear Colleen, I can so relate!!! So glad you are home and settled. Traveling with little ones can be so draining. I hope that you can relax now and enjoy your babies : ).

Alan & Beth Claassen Thrush said...

Hey, Forrys! Glad you could use our house for a few days. Yes, the heat is brutal...lucky you for living in Matagalpa!