Things Work Differently Over Here

Sure there are assembly halls all over the US, especially Texas, but do you remember the time when we rented places for the assemblies? How was the sound organized? Where did the equipment come from?

Most likely there funds were especially set aside or equipment stored somewhere for just that use. Well here in Nicaragua they rented the local baseball stadium for the spanish assembly.  Where did they get the sound equipment? They took it from our kingdom hall! And many others in the circuit.

Sound equipment is so expensive down here and they dont have a circuit fund they can dip into like we do or necessary a place to store this stuff. So, after the meeting we started taking the equipment apart to take it to the stadium.  Their special day was on Sunday and they spent all day Saturday setting up, they had a few brothers stay up all night to watch over everything.

This was in Rivas, just a ferry ride over on Volcano Island - Ometepe, they had an assembly just for the 4 spanish congregations on the island. The ferry ride C$50/pp (<$2) each way is more than many could afford, so they cleared out a field in the back of one of the kingdom halls and had their assembly on Saturday.

VOLCANO ISLAND!

Most of the congregation went to Ometepe this trip, some like us left on Saturday after the meeting, others left very early Sunday Morning to make the 9:15am service meeting. As many already know from past posts, it takes 30min-1hr to get to Rivas from San Juan. It is then another 10min to the port in San Jorge and 1hr- 1hr 15min ferry boat ride to the island. The ride is rough, you can sit at the bottom which is very hot, not very much airflow. Or, you can sit on the very top where you get a nice breeze, but the sun can fry you and the sway at the top can make you pretty sea sick if your weak.

It cost C$50 a ticket per person. Since Jessica and I took our motorbikes it cost us C$153 each, one way.

We stayed at a little bed & breakfast called The Cornerhouse in the middle of town. A cute place with only 4 rooms and a great cafe, with real coffee and real food. It cost $30 for Saturday night and $35 for Sunday night, because breakfast is usually included but the kitchen was closed on Sunday. It was really comfortable and clean...the only problem is it's right on the main road so @6am in the morning you hear all the big trucks driving up to the port, everyone honks and motorbikes revving their engines. Saturday night the club 3 doors down was open until 3am, I think I was singing 50 cent's "up in da club" in my sleep.

Sunday Morning we all met for service in the central park, right in front of the Catholic Church. The bells where chiming, calling for their parishioners. I thought they were just warning people we had arrived. LOL

The group was split up to 2 Cars, 3 bikies and walkies. Those who did not have a vehicle stayed in the port town, Moyogalpa to preach. Those in Cars went to Altagracia. The Motorbikes, myself, Jessica and Mark (he rented a scooter on the island) started on the road to El Quino and worked all the way south to Balgue. Once we hit Los Angeles it started to pour so we had to stop under a bus stop until the rain died down. We worked until 330 pm. It rained most of the morning, but that didn't stop us motorheadz.

For lunch the 3 of us stopped at a cool vegetarian restaurant that had GREAT hummus and organic hot tea/coffee. It was right off Santo Domingo Beach, the view was beautiful. The bathroom was interesting so Jess wanted to take a picture.

We found some interesting people, mainly Germans, Italians and French. One place took me off road, up hill about 400m on the motorbike then another 250m by foot through the jungle. The man was not interested, but it was a cool place to explore.

We had planned to be tourist on Monday but there was so much of the territory that wasn't finished because of the rain (it rained everyday), we decide to do service again Monday morning. We didn't regret it! We had all planned to return home Monday afternoon but in the very last block of the territory in Moyogalpa Nathan and I found a young girl (11yo) and boy (16yo) that were born and raised in Miami. Both parents are Nicaraguan and own a pulperia (mini corner store) in town, they moved to the island 2 years ago. We showed them the tract and video, they seemed very excited. I decided not to waste time and offer them a bible study using the Good News Brochure, they both jumped on the chance and their eyes lit up when they saw some of the questions that would be answered using the bible. Katherine chose the chapter on 'Why does God allow suffering?' and Edwin chose 'What happens when we die?'. Unfortunately, they could not study today since it was 11am and they had school @12pm until 5pm. The best bet was the next morning...which means Jessica and I would have to stay another night on the island while everyone headed back home. I guess it wasn't a hard choice since I was praying that our trip wasn't going to be a waste, I had to do my part and work with the spirit. The next morning we met them at their store, we met their parents, who were very nice and waited for them to finish their chores and had GREAT studies. The kids are very energetic and Edwin seems to have a bit of A.D.D., but the both clicked right away with the scriptures and already had some thoughts that fit right in with what they learned. We plan on returning to Ometepe every Tuesday for their bible studies. 

Jehovah really did bless our efforts, because I stayed I was also able to start another bible study with a local that works at one of the hotels, his English was pretty good but I had to do the study in Spanish, his comprehension wasn't there. I was able to find a Ministerial Servant/Regular Pioneer from the local Spanish Congregation in Moyogalpa and introduced them to each other, he will continue the study later this week.

All in all it was an exhausting but satisfying trip. The third night we stayed on the island Jess and I did not stay at The Cornerhouse, we needed more sleep. We stayed just right out of town in Hospedaje Soma, it was $40 a night but it was like we were in the jungle, no car noises or clubs but all the sounds of the animals in the jungle.

The rest are just random pictures from the trip...

Mark was so excited when he rented the scooter, he was giving everyone rides.

I was passing time until everyone showed up for service on Monday morning.

Every time it rains on the island the streets flood. Yes, that's my bike, I thought it was going to get washed away. I had to wait until the rain slowed and the river wasn't so bad to save it, Jessica's to.

Rocky. Scott and Shayla's dog, he went door to door too.

Playing games until the rain stops.

As Promised...Our Motorbikes!

Ok so, here's the story:

This was essentially a 2 week process. Since we are not residence we could not register and legalize the bikes, we can buy them but it all had to be in the name of a local. It's been a big problem with the brothers because when you buy used, who knows how many owners it will go through by the time you buy it and when it's registered the same name has to match all the paperwork. To prevent this we decided to buy new... little did we know, it didn't matter.

Day 1:

A special pioneer (we love our specials!) was willing to help us. On Tuesday we got to Rivas at 9am with the brother and started the process, thing is they sold the scooter we looked at for Jessica the week before so they had to call the closest distributor to send another. The salesman said 45min, it was already 11am. We left to eat lunch, which in itself was an awesome experience, Bro. Mendoza’s experiences were so encouraging we talked for 1.5hrs. So we thought, it was more than enough time for the dealer to get the scooter. Ha! The scooter came in on a chicken bus and was left at the bus station because the battery died and they couldn’t ride it to the dealership which is 5 blocks away. They pulled the battery and set it to charge. (now 2pm).

We still need to register the motorbikes (that is the inspection, circulation and insurance paperwork), so I decide to try to start the process at the police station. Fortunately, I found a copy shop across from the station that knows the system. Instead of us going to the police station and waiting in line, trying to ask for paperwork and going back and forth to windows and banks, he does it all for us. Yeah! By 230pm I had the sales paperwork from the dealer on both bikes so we went back to the copy shop so he could start the process. He was able to get insurance $70 for both bikes for 1yr. The problem is in order to enter the registration paperwork they need photos of the VIN # on the chasis and motor of each bike, the battery for Jess’ scooter is still charging. The salesman drove me to the scooter so I can take the pictures. Now 330pm the paperwork has been submitted but we can’t do the inspection until we have both bikes. The bike finally roles in and they take it to the mechanics shop for a once over (4 strokes are sticky when they haven’t been turned on or run, they are hard to start, ours only had about 3-5mi on them).

By 4pm..ish we had both bikes we waited another 30min for the official to inspect the bikes. One little problem, Bro. Mendoza’s ID was from Bluefields and his address needed to be changed to Rivas, the official wouldn’t sign off on the paperwork, NOOOO! Bro. Mendoza had to go to the next town over to try to get an address change. He came back about 5pm and said we needed to return the next day @ 3pm to pick up his new ID.

We rode home took 45min, because they are new we can't drive faster then 37mph, we have to break in the engines for 1000km. Needless to say it was a long day and ride home. (6:15pm)

Day 2:

At 2pm the following day this is Wednesday we pick up Bro. Mendoza at the Kingdom Hall in San Juan and ride back to Rivas to finish the paperwork. In was nerve racking because this is the first time I have someone ride on the back of the motorbike and it was a 45min ride.

We arrive and Bro. Mendoza picks up his new ID that takes about an hour. Another hour later we get news that the inspections can’t be done. The police station is closed because there was a car accident and everyone…I mean everyone decides to close up and go home, whether or not they went to the accident!

We rush back home and barely make our 6pm meeting, I had the #3 talk.

Day 3:

The copy shop guy told us to be back at 8am, we arrive at 8:15, and he didn’t arrive until 8:30am. We waited another 1.5hrs to get someone to inspect the bikes after paying the $C50 (about $2) to do it. The copy guy took the paperwork and returned in an hour and told us he couldn’t complete it because Bro. Mendoza needed to pay for a police record, it’s like a background check. They go to the bank to pay for it, that’s where they pay for everything that’s government related, we had already been there 3 times during this process. When they return it takes the copy guy another hour to complete the paperwork. Finally! Almost, we are now legal but it will probably take about a year to get our plates. The last thing we have to do is have a lawyer fill out a contract between Bro. Mendoza and I that states something to the affect that although the motorbikes are under his name legally we paid for them and they belong to us and Bro. Mendoza is not responsible for anything that happens regarding the bikes.

Are you as exhausted reading this as we are? Lol, here are some pics of  our bikes, first ride and first oil change.