The first picture is when we went back to Jinotega on the bus. This is when the police stopped the bus and pulled of all the adult males. Shane said they made everyone get in line and gave everyone a complimentary pat down.

Here you can see Shane angering the officer by asking what to him was a dumb question. "Why are you patting everyone down?" The officer said that what they were doing is normal and that Shane just thinks it wierd because the police dont do stuff like that in his country. Must have been having a bad day. But they didnt haul him away for his impertenant question, thankfully, and he got back on the bus. We heard on the radio later in the bus ride that someone been murdered with a machete nearby. (not a weapon usually needing a pat down to discover by the way!)

This is an elder who traveled from 6am until 3pm in the wheelchair in the back of a school bus to come and give a talk in our pueblo. His name is Lucio Calero. We went in the ministry before he gave the talk. His visit encouraged everyone in our group, no one missed that meeting that was for sure! He stayed two nights with us and left the next day to give the talk in San Dionisio. Which was in the other part of our territory. But now its our new home!!!

Here is the front of our house. We live with the special pioneer couple. They kindly let us move in with them after our first house flooded with rain water and the second came with a free live-in landlady and three friends.
Here's a shot of the flooded place.

It was a tough first two weeks, but we have a home now with Jese and Meyling and we love it. Besides we figured that it just meant Satan wanted to make things really hard for us because he knows how many good people are in the town who deserve to know about Jehovah God.

Jese and Meyling basically gave us their kitchen so we could turn it into a studio apartment.

We had a concrete floor put in. It had a dirt floor before. It's the kitchen/ living room and bedroom all in one. Glad we got rid of the motorcycle, or then it'd be the garage too! Its small, but we say its cozy. And like most cozy places, easy to get messy but also easy to clean.

Here's the shower. Yup outside. You can shower under the stars. Or sometimes under the rain and get yourself doubly clean. The plastic walls arent very tall so its a good thing Shane is a boy and not a girl.

This is the potty. Yup an outhouse. But we keep it very hygienic. We wash it every other day and put in sawdust and lime. No, not the green juicy fruit. Lime, the white powdery kind you put on your lawn if you live in the east.

This is the cistern we keep water in. Right now its empty because its the rainy season and water still comes to the outside faucet. But in Dec./ Jan. starts the dry season and the town runs out of water. So we will have to fill this every two or three weeks when the water trucks come. We will have to use a bucket to shower from. I shudder to think of it, but that's life.

Here's our group. There are about 20 people regularly in attendance. Jese, Meyling, Shane and myself are the only ones baptized. But everyone likes to participate. Everyone sings too, even as we all muddle through the new songs. And Shane says people particularly like the student talks. One week Meyling is assigned and I am the householder. And the next week its my turn. One week Meyling is encouraging me not to get revenge on my husband and the next week I'm persuading her not to get drunk on the weekends. Probably seems confusing to some of the students...but it seems like everyone likes how realistic the talks are. They've only had meetings here since december and the school just began when we got here in June. Its a real privilege and a lot of fun.

This is a family from a community about an hour away on foot. Fifteen years ago some brothers came from Matagalpa a city an hour and a half away (by vehicle) and left them the live forever book. They visited them three times but couldnt come back. the family finished the books on their own. Ever since then they've considered themselves Jehovah's Witnesses. When Jese and Meyling found them they were very very excited to resume their study. They finally attended their first meeting and have made almost all of them since!! Rain or Shine. They also came to the assembly in May

Here's the outside of their house.

The C.O. assigned us some help from Matagalpa. A Congregation will come once a month and help in us work the territory. Twenty people came two weekends ago. They were such a big help. They met many interested ones and we get the joy of going back and beginning the bible studies!

Here's the group. The guy in plain clothes was a random drunk who ducked in at just the right time for the picture.

And here's them relaxing a bit after the ministry. Shane wants you to know this is most of the service commitee for their cong. And yes, they swam in their dress clothes.

Some of them stood up and hour and a half in the back of the truck to get here. We love their support and enthusiasm.

And this is Islia. She has been studying about two months. I love to study with her. No matter what she is doing she always sets everything aside for her study. Her mom and dad both died tragically, so she really loved the chapter and the resurrection. Her husband has joined us for one study. And all three of them read the My book of bible Stories together.

Extra pics.

OUR STREET

Neighbors house

Neighbors stinky dog. But he guards our house too. so we feed him. His name is Toby. He will win your heart.

Gotta tell a story about the neighbors. One day meyling and i went to visit and get in a sly witness. They started telling us about their daughter. a lovely 14yr old. two years ago she fainted in the school playground. they rushed her to Matagalpa. and the dr. did an ultrasound on her stomach and found a huge blockage. No one knew what it could be. The mom then remembered that ever since she was little, the girl always played with her hair...in her mouth!
the dr. shut of the machine and said he knew exactly what it was and to prep the poor thing for surgery. a few hours later they pulled out a hairball. long and black and curved, the size and shape of a banana.
Now, I have to add, much to my horror and to the blushing 14 year old daughter, the mom went into the back room or under the stairs or something and pulled out a plastic hospital bed pan. The she dumped out the contents on the floor in front of us. I was speechless. Meyling looked at me and tried to explain the story over again...assuming from the lifeless look on my face that I didnt understand. Well, I did understand. I just didnt know what to say and felt mortified for the poor young lady watching her mother present the horrible "hair banana" at the feet of their international guest.

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written by  Shane Perry on August 12, 2010 from San Dionisio, Nicaragua
from the travel blog: Shane and Vanessa's Nicaraguan Adventure
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So I just thought that I would add a few thoughts. First of all we are NOT moving all around because we have nothing better to do. :) That's a detail that should be mentioned. Way back when, The Branch asked us if we would be willing to move out of Jinotega(The first place we went) because they wanted to send more foreigners into that area. It's a nice place to get started. So we left following the direction and that's what we've been doing ever since.

A second point that should be mentioned. If you move to Nicaragua you will not have to live in a House like what we have in San Dionisio. I don't want it scaring people off. There are many nice places that also have need. It's just that San Dionisio has a great need, even for Nicaragua, and that's why we're there. There are many many nice places that allow you to have Internet in your home, hot showers, etc. Just expect 6-8 productive bible studies instead of 10-15. :) It's really a win win situation. In summary, if your thinking of coming down... Just do it! :) (Sorry if there was some Nike copyright infringement there...)

written by  Shane Perry on August 13, 2010

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Thanks for the update, now the kids can stop crying themselves to sleep waiting for a new blog post. Honestly it was a very encouraging post so I guess it was worth the wait. We are glad you guys are doing well and keep up the good work. Glad to see Shane's negative body language did not get him in more trouble with the police. I hear people down there are much more touchy feeley even the police. Again we miss you guys and keep up the good work.

written by  The Cumella's on August 16, 2010

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It was cold on that Mountain pass for wearing a short sleeve shirt? Was the bus heated?

written by  jm on August 17, 2010

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We're still not sure which guy is the random drunk.

written by  jm on August 17, 2010

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Nessa-Are flip-flops with socks the style in Nicaragua?! Loved your entry--looking forward to hearing more about Pioneer School and the 'bell'!

written by  VA Mom on August 20, 2010

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Thanks for the comments! First, Shawn, That's just my manly way of communication. If you remember, I believe you found my presence intimidating as well... :)

As far as the Mountain pass is concerned. It's not what I would call cold cold. It was probably in the upper 50's low 60's. The temperature actually feels quite chilly when you realize that all the houses are at that temperature, and besides the heat the the engine throws off temperature control in the bus is non existent.

The drunk can be found in that large group picture on the far left. :) Giving him commands like, go higher, go lower, and he was doing it. Everyone knew that he was there looking for more money to buy more licor. Poor guy. I swear some of the people use it here to self medicate.

And as far as style, style is not something that we think about much here. We destroy our clothes in the preaching work. Probably half of my service clothes are stained beyond repair and the other half have holes and tears that have been patched. Add into that a healthy mix of second hand clothes and you can send us to Paris to walk down the runway.

written by  Shane on August 21, 2010

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I was going to ask what "licor" was but Google says it is some kind of booze made from citrus plants, so never mind. Its getting hard to be smart. So are you guys still going to be able to stay a while longer? Have you gone through all your PBS specials that you downloaded? Do you know all about the makeup of blackholes and dark matter? I like the pic of Shane on the computer it looks like he taped a piece of paper to the screen and is pretending the computer is working.

written by  Shawn on August 24, 2010

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Shawn, sadly yes I have gone through most all of the TV specials that I put on my computer. Including the entire five seasons of the bad SciFi series Babylon 5 from the early 90s(Think b version of Star Trek the Next Generation)... Yes I know it's sad. But it's either watch that or watch the geckos hunting moths on the walls. Which would you choose? And I spelled liquor wrong.... I was hoping that the readership on the website would be able to figure that out on their own. The actual stuff that the guys drink down here is something they call Guado, or Aguardiente. It think it's something like grain alchohol and costs about 1.20 cents for a whole liter and a half. I'm scared to try it... it would probably make me go blind so I think I'll pass.

written by  Shane on August 24, 2010

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