Presidential Passing

How many of you have had the president of your respective country pass by the front door of your house? Not too many I venture. Well last evening we had the pleasure? of having the president of Nicaragua drive (yes, he was driving his own vehicle) past our house. He was in town to give a speech about something, no doubt railing against the imperialist Yankees and the Nicaraguan people who oppose his attempts at creating a dictatorship. Anyhow, it was interesting to see the pre-procession security searching for bombs (our neighbor lady said that it was the first time she has ever seen them doing anything like that, shows how popular the pres. is) and to recognize the relative lack of security during the procession (he drove by with his windows open). I put a video up so that maybe you can see a bit of what it was like.

Father’s Day

Father’s Day is celebrated on June 22 here in Nicaragua. Here is a picture from Zach’s school, the children performed some special songs and dances for all the fathers. The words in the background say, Dad, you are a champion.







A picture from our church, we had a special service for the dads, complete with special food and decorations.














Here, from Left to Right are Karen, Ruth(Roberto’s daughter) and Jacqueline who are planning out the next activity.

Here is a picture of all the dads in our church. From left to right is Julio, Roberto, Joel (Roberto’s son-in-law) and Steve. Notice how few men there are in the church.

The small-business fair

Some pictures of the fair in San Ramon, held on the main street. San Ramon is the main town we pass through on our way to the country, and is located about 15 minutes east of Matagalpa. Many NGO's and cooperatives were there, educating and hawking their wares.









Here is a picture of “our’ ladies, trying to sell their jewelry, baskets, jellies and wine.














Here is a picture of Alex (red shirt), the son of one of the farmers we work with (man on right with guitar). He has an amazing voice, and has won a national award for his singing.








Nathaniel enjoyed walking around the fair. Here, he and his Nicaraguan 'grandpa', Roberto enjoy a few moments together.
















A picture of a sign outside an eatery that we frequent on our trips back from the country. Comedor is the Spanish term for an eatery.

Artesanian

Here the women are making jellies, jams, wines, jewelry and wicker baskets for the small-business fair that was held the 6^th of June. The jams were made from tomatoes, pineapple and papaya and were delicious!










Here is a photo of Colleen working on a cross-stitch project, as some of the women look on. Colleen will soon start classes on cross-stitch, with the hopes that the women will learn to make pillows and other things to sell.











A picture of flor de Jamaica (Hibiscus flower) with water, boiling down.












A picture of Doña Julia making wicker baskets. They are made from a type of cane. Steve helped to make strips from the cane, and here she is weaving them to make baskets. She learned this from her grandmother and mother, and is teaching the younger girls. She related that her husband left her a few years ago for another woman, but said he was very abusive, and is better off now that he is gone. This is the story of many women here.