I am a runner...

I have been running for over 6 years. Prior to running, I dabbled in exercise by going to Curves about 3 times a week, but I didn't feel like I was getting much out of it, other than creating a habit. While I was working out at Curves I met one of the trainers who had run a marathon with a charity organization and as a mentor she was seeking other runners or potential runners. It wasn't long before I went to an informational meeting and signed up to raise money for the American Stroke Association and train for my first half marathon run.

I started running long runs with the team. Our first "long" run was 1 mile, then 2 miles, then 3 miles. We increased our mileage by 1 mile each week and once I hit 4 miles every run was my "longest run ever". I wasn't fast, but I felt such a sense of accomplishment when I reported my mileage to my husband every Saturday. He was genuinely amazed, especially when I got to 7 miles and beyond, as those distances were unthinkable. I was training for the 2005 PF Chang's Half Marathon in Arizona but I decided to run the Seattle Half Marathon about a month before the Arizona race. I needed to know I could do it before I got on a plane and flew to Arizona. So I signed up. I ran the Seattle Half Marathon in 2004. I teared up as I heard the Chariots of Fire theme song playing and then I saw the finish line and I knew I was going to make it. Then I saw Joe and the kids cheering for me and it was almost too much. I left for Arizona knowing that I could do it.

After 2 successful races, I was hooked. This half marathon thing is pretty fun. As much as I liked the charity group I was running with, year round fundraising is more than I wanted to commit to. So I started my own Saturday morning long run group. Over the past 5 years runners have come and gone but every Saturday you will find me there. I think of a long run like I would a leisurely trip to a coffee shop with friends. You can get a lot of life figured out in 8-20 miles. You can talk about anything on a run. I've talked with friends about medical issues, relationship struggles and parenting dilemmas. Every topic is fair game on a run. I have shared some of my darkest times and some of my highest highs on the trails with my friends. It's not hard to get together with friends, when you are training for a race, if you do it on the trail. Every Saturday morning you could find me running long with friends until...

We moved to Nicaragua. Eleven days before we moved to Nicaragua, I completed a Half Ironman distance triathlon (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run). I gave myself permission to take it easy, recover from the race and the move. It was a good thing too because it was averaging about 90 degrees when we got here and 95% humidity. I didn't run the first week. The second week I ran once, then I got bronchitis. I felt zapped and decided to take it easy (not run through it like I would at home) and try to get better. It was 4 weeks before I felt well enough to run again. I ran 3 times that week. Then I got a urinary tract infection and was out for a week. Then I ran 1 or 2 times a week for a few weeks, then we visited friends in Jinotega (no running for 2 weeks) then we moved to Matagalpa. I ran twice the first 6 days we were here. Then the next week we went on vacation back to San Juan del Sur and Granada for a week (no running) and then back to Matagalpa. So my running has been less consistent than it ever has been. It's not ideal, but it's OK.

But I am supposed to be training for a race. Before we left for Nicaragua, one of the things that I was really having a hard time saying goodbye to was the Seattle Half Marathon. It's the Sunday after Thanksgiving and a great time of year to be a runner in Seattle (IMHO, I know I have friends who don't agree that running in the wet cold is fun). I did it that first year in 2004 and I have done it every year since. I have run it in the pouring rain, the snow (which turned into pouring rain), and in the most beautiful fall Seattle weather you can imagine. I love that it's hilly and I can run it in long sleeves and a hat. I just love that race! I was really having a hard time "breaking my streak". I can easily see doing this race every year for as long as my legs will go. I remembered that the Seattle Marathon has offered a race for active military serving in Iraq and they run the same day and they get a special shirt and medal. So I picked up the phone and called the Seattle Marathon office. I asked if I paid for the race, if they would let me participate by running in Nicaragua and still getting my shirt and medal. They readily agreed and even offered to mail my medal and shirt to Nicaragua. So I am registered for a half marathon next weekend. My longest "training run" prior to Saturday was 6 miles (and I only ran that far once). This Saturday Joe and I ran 8 miles here in Matagalpa checking out 2/3rd of our race course for next weekend. Man it hurt. I even fell when I tried to run on the "shoulder" and started to twist my ankle and had to crash land. I bloodied my knees a bit too. Fortunately I was upright when we caught site of 3 vultures on the side of the road about a mile later! But there is nothing like the day after a long run and a fall to make you feel old. But next Sunday I will get up early, pack my race food and drink, remember the possible bathroom stops I scoped out this week, and run 13.1 miles. Why?

Because I am a runner! I only truly realized this when I stopped running. Running is part of who I am. I now know that I can take a break from running and still be a runner. I can get injured and take care of myself and still be a runner. I don't need to fear "getting out of the habit". I can take each day in Nicaragua as it comes and still be a runner. I don't really know what the next 6 months will hold for me but I do know that when I get back home, I have friends who are waiting to run with me and they will be patient with me if I am not as fast as I used to be. We will have a lot of catching up to do...

A Vacation from our Adventure...???

So we left for San Juan del Sur last Thursday to celebrate the 9th anniversary of San Juan del Sur Biblioteca Movil with our friend Jane and others. So we hopped in the van with 7 of our newest friends for the 4 hour ride to SJDS. We got in Thursday afternoon and met up with Jane and 50 6th and 7th graders from Colorado who have been preparing for this trip to Nicaragua for a year. They did fundraising and planning and learned some Spanish and prepared activities that they would run for 500 kids during the library celebration. They were a cool group of 7th and 8th graders. We also enjoyed getting to chat with the teachers and principals that agreed to take 50 middle schoolers to Nicaragua for a week. We got to break bread with them and hear what they thought of Nicaragua.

On Friday afternoon Jane was preparing spaghetti and meatballs with our friend Heather and a couple of hotel staff members. They were preparing to make meatballs out of 20 lbs of ground beef. The gas oven was lit but apparently the element didn't fully ignite and when someone opened the oven door the gas that had been collecting in the stove ignited from the stove and exploded blowing people into cabinets and walls and blowing out 2 ceiling tiles above. It was only and explosion and not fire so the damage was only bumps and bruising and serious anxiety. We brought all the meat and ingredients for dinner up to Jane's house where we continued to prepare the rest of the meat, make spaghetti sauce (Jane's special recipe: one of each kind of sauce available in the store in town plus one can of crushed tomatoes), make garlic butter without a garlic press (my first time ever peeling and mincing 4 heads of garlic all in one sitting), make garlic bread and stuff 9 piñatas with candy for the celebration the next day. Then we got to eat spaghetti with the middle schoolers for dinner.

Saturday was the library celebration. There were 9 piñatas, one for every year of the library's operation, one each hour. There was traditional Nicaraguan folk dancing, about 20 different free activities for the kids (brought by the middle school students) do and take home. There was music, games and general fun. There were so many kids there who have been impacted by the library. It is such a great part of the community. They have English classes available for adults in the evening and they host numerous activities for kids before, during, and after school. I am so thankful that Jane had the vision to make a difference. The celebration was an opportunity to recognize kids and adults who are reading the most. In most houses in America kids have more books than immediate family. In Nicaragua kids have more immediate family members than books. The library gives them the opportunity to read a variety of books.

Then we went to a special dinner after all the Saturday festivities. We were tired on Saturday night. On Sunday morning we rested, it just felt right. We let the kids play at the beach as we watched them from our hotel balcony. When we called them back they came. We had dinner with our old neighbors at the local pizza joint. We went to bed early on Sunday night after packing our bags in preparation for our Costa Rican border crossing on Monday morning.

On Monday morning we went to drove down to the Costa Rican border (about 35 miles from SJDS) with someone we met in Jinotega. She is a nurse and has been down in Central American for over 20 years. She took Gus' stitches out for me, so I didn't have to. We did as much research as possible on how to get from Nicaragua to Costa Rica and Costa Rica back to Nicaragua but nothing ever goes quite as planned. We need to leave the country every 90 days. There is a lot of misinformation about how the process works and if you ask people, it doesn't always go the same. We ended up making it down and back in about 5 hours. It was stressful and I am so glad we aren't going to have to do it again before we leave as we will get a 3 month extension in Managua the next time (in February).

After our less than pleasant border crossing we had lunch in SJDS and then headed to Rivas to catch the "Chicken Bus" (apparently so named because they are likely to have passengers with live chickens riding them). The "Chicken Bus" is an old US school bus that is colorfully painted and lovingly cared for by the owner. They are very affordable. The ride from Rivas to Granada (about 1.5 hours) is 25 cordobas (about $1.25). But they pack the bus! We got on early and sat in the hot bus but that meant we had a seat. People get on the bus while it is parked selling water (in a bag, Joe bought one) juice (in a bag), chicken, tortillas and coleslaw (in a bag) and various other Nicaraguan food items. Also for sale on the bus were underwear (men's, women's and children's) socks, remote controls and bandanas. The bus left Rivas with several people standing. For about 45 minutes my shoulder was in a man's groin (I was uncomfortable but he didn't seem to notice). Bags and packages are stored on top of the bus. We saw aluminum roofing being loaded on to a bus next to us and 50 lb bags of rice or beans are normal as well as costco sized packs of toilet paper. We had a large luggage that would have cost 10 cordobas (about $.50) to store on top but Joe wanted it with us on the bus but the baggage handler told us it would be "expensive". How much? 20 cordobas. Our bag rode with us not with the rice, beans and toilet paper. So the full bus left Rivas and picked people up along the way. Needless to say we survived but I am very glad Joe has made the trip a few times solo so he knows the ins and outs of the Chicken Buses.

In Granada we met with the friends who let us stay with them for 3 nights. I finally got to meet the family that I emailed with during our fact finding stage. They have an 11 year old daughter and a 12 year old son. We went to "7:30 Men's Bible Study" which includes women and children and starts at 8:00, only in Nicaragua. It was wonderful though. All the singing was in Spanish and the Bible Study time was done in Spanish and English. I definitely felt the Holy Spirit in that place!! I wish we had something like that in Matagalpa!

Today we visited an old fort that was built in 1748. We walked about 20 minutes to get there only to find that it was closed. There was a maintenance guy working and he told us he would let us in for 5 minutes as long as we didn't climb the towers. It was really cool to see something that was built 250 years ago that is still standing. The middle structure of the fort had walls that were breaking away and you could see the original straw and mud that the bricks were made with. After the fort, we headed to the Granada cemetery which is huge and amazing. We took some cool pictures but I can't upload them yet. I hope to add them to this post.

After that we came back to the house and then went out for lunch with our friends. After lunch Joe took the kids back to the house while I went to the grocery store with our friends. As we were walking back to the house with groceries, Joe called to say that when he and the kids arrived at the house, there were 3 guys standing out front and when he was unlocking the door to the house he heard banging on the roof. When he went into the house he saw a guys foot coming down into the atrium. He yelled at him and the guy took off (along with the 3 guys in front of the house). Very scary! The kids were with him too.

So tomorrow morning we get on a bus (should be nicer than a chicken bus) to Managua. Managua is the capital city of Nicaragua and everyone we have talked to about Managua says it's not a good place to live, it's dangerous, it's scary, stay away from the bus terminals (and that's just the Nicaraguans). So I am hoping all goes well. We are going from Managua to Matagalpa.

After flying rocks, exploding ovens, stressful border crossings and attempted break ins I am hoping this last leg of our "vacation" is smooth and I look forward to sleeping in my own bed tomorrow night!!

Later that day...

I didn't think I would be posting again so quickly but the adventure continues...

I spent the early afternoon blogging my thoughts on living in Matagalpa (on Notepad in the house as we still don't have Internet). As I was working, the boys played outside. I noticed it was alarmingly quiet so I went out to check on them. They were playing nicely outside and I told them that such quiet play was usually indicative of something wrong but all seemed good. I went back inside knowing all was well.

About 45 minutes later I heard crying, and more alarming, Joey yelling for me. Then I saw a site no mother ever wants to see. Gus crying hysterically with his right hand covering his right eye and a generous amount of blood coming from under his hand. I ran! Joey was apologizing profusely that it was all his fault and that Gus had been hit in the face by a rock attached to a rope (the full story was not necessary to assess that this was not good). I took him inside to clean off the blood so that I could see where it was coming from. I went to turn on the water...no water. I used a clean cloth and purified water (probably a better choice anyway) and was able to determine that he had a gash about 1.5 inches long right next to his eye. Then Bridget came in and screamed and said "oh my God, he's bleeding!!!" which was not really helpful. I sent her to her room. Oh, did I mention that Joe was gone at a cafe (not certain which one) using the Internet and was scheduled to be back between 30-90 minutes later? I wasn't sure if he needed stitches but I was quite sure that my Spanish wasn't good enough to take him there, in his current state, with Joey and Bridget. So I sat him on my lap and rocked him in the rocking chair to try to get him calmed down. He was in pain, and it was genuine but he was also scared because a large rock had crashed into his face. I was able to get him calmed down by singing to him (I am pretty sure that my voice is only soothing to my offspring). Then I decided that I needed to try to track down Joe. The neighbors were not home but I had the plan of explaining that I needed to call Joe and asking our neighbor to call the 2 cafes that I thought he might be using and see if he was there. That didn't work. Then I decided to look up the number for the cafes and I would attempt to ask if he was there. I grabbed a phonebook and started looking up the first cafe, Cafe Latino. I found 7 listings but none of them listed a city. There was a truck parked outside and I took the phone book to the man sitting in the truck and told him in Spanish that I needed the number for Cafe Latino in Matagalpa. He was able to look in a completely different section of the phone book but it wasn't there. Back to square one.

So we had to wait. I put some Neosporin on it with pain reliever and kept singing to him. I told Joey and Bridget that they needed to not scream and freak dad out when they saw him but just tell him that mom needs you and Gus got hurt. Bridget kept a constant watch on the street. I kept singing. If it had been in San Juan del Sur I would have sent Joey and Bridget out together to check the few places he might have been but we don't know Matagalpa enough and I didn't need my 2 kids lost in a new city to add to my adrenaline levels. So we waited.

Eventually, about 45 minutes after the incident, Joe came home. He was pleased that I didn't freak out but told him that I needed his opinion. He decided rather quickly that he wanted to take him to the emergency clinic, which was only 3 blocks away. It was 10 minutes after 5:00 when he arrived so we got to pay the "after hours" fee.

Joey went with him, feeling responsible for what he did. About 10 minutes later Joey came home to tell me that they were going to give him 4 stitches. I asked if dad sent him home. "No". "Does dad know you came home?" "Yes". I later found out that the cleaning and numbing of the wound proved more than Joey could handle and he left. I also found out that Joe had to ask them to wait as he was getting queasy watching, and Gus was having a really hard time. But when all was said and done, it was $36 for doctor fee, emergency visit, stitches, and eye drops.

Once we saw what his face looked like in the evening, I have no doubt we would have ended up at the clinic that night. The cut was just a small section but his face was hit with a rock. I am very grateful that I went to bed knowing that his vision was fine and his cheek and bone weren't broken. So now we wait again, for the swelling to go down and then the bruising to go away.

I had plans of having the kids' pictures taking this weekend for our Christmas cards, but I think I am going to hold off until we can see both his eyes...

I will let Gus explain for himself how the incident happened. (see video)

And feel free to read Joe's take on the situation at www.joehafner.com

Gus would love to hear your comments.

Matagalpa Musings...

This entry does not have much direction or cohesiveness but I haven't blogged for a while so put away your red pen, sit back and ejoy (or endure) the ride...

We just moved into a house in Matagalpa. Matagalpa is a large city in the mountains, not far from Jinotega where we stayed for 2 weeks with our friends who are missionaries there. We are renting their old house here in Matagalpa.

We have a business right next door that sells some produce and it varies. Today it includes yuka, bananas, plantains, jamaica tea, cuajada seco (a dry parmesan like cheese), guyaba jelly, coffee, dry red beans, honey and oranges. They also sell goat meat (refrigerated), chicken and beef, cuajada (soft cheese), cream (not for coffee, more like sour cream), milk, an unpasturized butter product (which I haven't bought yet but I am thinking of buying for recipes that are cooked, like macaroni and cheese). I am hoping that they will have other options over the next few weeks. I really wish I could get an avocado! I think they must be out of season right now because I haven't seen one since I left San Juan del Sur. I am also eagerly awaiting mango season which, I think, starts in January.

There is a little "soda" on the property as well and they sell 2 or 3 things a day and when they run out, that's it. We have eaten there a few times. We got 6 meals and 6 glasses of juice (we bring our own plates and pitcher) for about $8. It was a chicken dish with a souplike sauce and we all ate it for lunch but there was enough sauce and 1 piece of chicken left so I cooked up some pasta and pulled the chicken off the bone and the kids and I ate pasta with sauce and chicken for dinner. It was a pretty economical meal. Unfortunately they don't serve dinner and if you want all the lunch options you need to get there early. It's a pretty cool thing to have next door.

We have 4 major grocery stores here in Matagalpa. My favorite is La Colonia. It is big and air conditioned (although it's not particularly hot in Matagalpa) and, most important to me, it's well lit! I haven't actually shopped there yet because I have been doing my shopping at La Matagalpa, the locally owned grocery store. It's a good size, not very well lit, but I can find most everything I am looking for there and I like supporting the local business. I was not able to find potatoes there today though. Also I wanted to buy "refried beans" (smashed red beans sold in a bag) but they didn't have any for sale. They did have a "free" bag of refried beans with the purchase of a bottle of ketchup, but none sold individually. The Nicaraguans really like their ketchup too. When Bridget and I went to a cooking class in San Juan del Sur, we made "Tacos Nica" (which may or may not be called that in all of Nicaragua but that's what I was told we were making). We made what we would call in the US "taquitos" with chicken, bell peppers, onion, and carrot. We topped the tacos with Nicaraguan coleslaw (cabbage, carrots and vinegar) and then they put "crema" (like soupy sour cream) and KETCHUP on top!! Uh, no thanks on the ketchup for me. Don't get me wrong, I like my ketchup...on FRENCH FRIES and even hash browns but please stay away from my tacos. I am all for cultural immersion but I don't think I need to put ketchup on my tacos for the full experience!

Now back to the free refried beans when you buy a bottle of ketchup. This is something that intrigues me about Nicaragua. There are no weekly mailers with the sale prices here and no coupons. There is, however, someone in grocery stores who has yellow "GRATIS" tape and he tapes with reckless abandon. I purchased a bottle of vegetable oil last week and it had a packet taped to it with about 1/8 cup of oil. Now maybe that's for when you go on a trip and need to pack oil? I don't know. But I am all about getting the most for my money so I used it to keep my pasta from sticking together after it was cooked...but I didn't need all of it so I left it open propped against the full bottle and the kids ended up oiling the countertop...live and learn. I also bought blackberry (yes blackberry!) jelly with 2 small packets of more blackberry jelly taped to the top (those remain in the fridge). But my absolute favorite tape job was the Raid insecticide with a package of baby laundry detergent taped to it! They must really be pushing the Raid though because they had bar soap taped to some bottles and shampoo. If I had to get a Nicaraguan job, I think I would want to be the person who gets to tape!

OK, back to the house. The house we are renting belongs to our friends in Jinotega. They lived here for 10 years before they moved to Jinotega. There was another missionary family who lived in it for a couple of months. Their stuff is stored in the 4th bedroom. We get to use 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. Just about right if you ask me. The house has plenty of room and a big yard and the house comes with a "rental dog". We don't have to feed him but we do need to watch where we step in the big yard. The kids love to play with him and I think anyone who tried to break in with him here would have to be an idiot. He's a black lab mix and is as strong as an ox with a bark that can be heard for blocks.

The boys room has 2 bunk beds and Bridget's room has a full sized bed. Which is nice because if anyone wants to visit us, we can put Bridget in the boys room (she's actually been sleeping in there anyway, but that's a differnt story) and our guests can sleep in her room. The master bedroom has a king sized bed and a bathroom. We have never had a king sized bed so it's quite spacious.

The first night we moved in here it was just me and the kids (Joe was in Esteli). I got the kids to sleep and sat on the giant bed to read. Then I heard a noise. Then I saw the ceiling tiles bowing as "something" ran across the space between the ceiling and the roof. I knew there were rats here that the owners have been dealing with so I wasn't surprised. It was disturbing but I am tough, I can deal. Then about 30 seconds later I heard it again and the ceiling tiles were bowing right over my head. That was when I decided to bunk with Bridget. When Joe came home we attempted to sleep in our bedroom the first night but the rats were too noisy. We tried again the next night but they were too noisy again. Then we found a dead rat on the stairs and that night we were able to sleep in our bedroom without rat noises. Bridget didn't like being displaced so she is very happy to have her own room again. We talked to a contractor today about closing up some gaps to keep the rats out and while we showed him what we wanted done we found 2 more dead rats. Hopefully the dead rat finding will continue until we are rat free. I also found a mouse in a blanket I was carrying but mice are not as disturbing as rats (wow, this trip has given me perspective). Oh and a dead cockroach here and there is not a bad thing. The really good news is that not only have we not been biten by mosquitoes since we got here, all our SJDS mosquito bites have healed and our legs look good, but....

On Thursday we leave for San Juan del Sur to visit our friends there and celebrate the 9th anniversary of Biblioteca Movil. We are riding down with our friends from Jinotega and their 5 kids (in their 16 passenger van). We are staying Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday night. On Monday morning (early) we are taking a taxi into Rivas (16 miles inland from SJDS) and catching a ride with a friend we met in Jinotega who is going to Costa Rica to satisfy her requirement to leave the country every 90 days. We also need to do that so we are going to drive across the Costa Rican border with her, only about 20 miles from Rivas. From Costa Rica we will cross into Nicaragua and get a ride into Granada to stay at a friend's house (he will be in Costa Rica) and meet a family (that has kids Joey and Bridget's ages) that I have been corresponding with but haven't met (Joe has on one of his trips to Granada). We are planning on staying Monday and Tuesday night in Granada and coming back on Wednesday. We will take a bus from Granada to Managua on Wednesday and hook up with our friend who lives in Managua and he will give us a ride to Matagalpa as he has business to do up here. So it's a pretty simple trip we have planned, what could possibly go wrong?

So that's about all that's going on here. I like the tempurature in Matagalpa a lot. It's sunny and nice but the mornings are nice and cool like spring. I went for my first run this morning and loved the tempurature but now I have to deal with mountains. From what I can tell, in Matagalpa, you are either running up a hill or running down a hill. Even if you try to run sideways, you end up going up or down hills. I am going to ask around and see if there are places in the city where one might run that might include rolling hills. I "ran" 2.5 miles today at a 16:06 pace and my legs are tired! Only 19 days till my Nicaraguan "Seattle Half Marathon"!

Adios...until I post again...