Women's Retreat at Montelimar Resort

This weekend I had the amazing opportunity to go to a Women's Retreat at the nicest resort in Nicaragua (or so I have been told). It was just what I needed, spiritually, mentally and physically.

Early Friday morning my dear friend Sister Meg showed up at my house for coffee and to escort me on the bus to the Guyacan (the intersection of the roads to Matagalpa and Jinotega and the road to Managua) to meet my friend Beverly and her friend Joy to drive to the retreat. I haven't ridden on a bus in Nicaragua by myself and when I expressed some nervousness Meg just insisted on escorting me with her super awesome Spanish and bus riding skillz....

Beverly told me that they were aiming to arrive at the Guyacan at 8:15 but that it could be later than that. I still operate on an American Type A time schedule so I wanted to arrive at 8:00 (just to be safe). Meg got me there by 8:00 and waited with me until Beverly and Joy arrived around 9:00. Once I was connected with my ride I started to relax....

We picked up Beverly's daughter (and my room mate for the weekend) Cheree in Sebaco (just a little ways down the road). Joy wasn't going to the conference but heading to the airport in Managua. We were going to drop her off at the airport and Beverly would drive her car to the conference and then we would drive it home after the retreat. About 5 minutes before we got to the airport, Joy mentioned a few of the cars quirks including the inability to remove the key from the ignition sometimes. She told us that when that happens she just has to leave the key in. Hmm.... OK.

So we drove from Managua to the beach resort. When we arrived and parked we couldn't get the key out. Beverly drove it around, prayed over it, parked and reparked it and that key wasn't going anywhere. We locked all but one door and prayed and went inside to check in.

The resort is amazing. We got our rooms dropped off our stuff and checked out the conference room and "blessing table" where you could bring books and magazines to give away and take what you liked. I was in heaven and was able to get 5 books and 2 magazines. Then we headed over to the restaurant for lunch. It was so nice to be able to eat from a salad bar and NOT HAVE TO WASH ANY DISHES! The food wasn't the best I've ever had (kind of like a cruise buffet) but I was able to find one or two things I really liked at each meal. I had good French onion soup, ratatouille, vegetarian tacos, and a really tasty coconut "cake" which was like chocolate mousse, but coconut. All the food is labeled in Spanish, English and French. I was entertained by the English translations of things like "Chicken Hunter" and "Strawberry Card Game". OK, enough about the food, I ate well!

I loved the way the retreat was scheduled with wonderful speakers and ample free time to enjoy the resort. I have never felt more relaxed, rested and refreshed at a women's retreat. The teaching was amazing and I my spirit was filled. The beds were comfortable and I slept well. The resort was beautiful and relaxing. This was the best women's retreat I have ever been to, but I can't imagine anything like this in Washington! I may have to schedule my next trip to Nicaragua to coincide with the women's retreat again....

I had a chance to talk with other women there and hear their stories, how God is working in their lives and what brought them to Nicaragua. It was such an interesting group of women and I feel blessed to have had the chance to hear their stories. The team that came for the weekend did an excellent job of ministering to the women. When I first heard that the speaker was coming from the US and she had never been to Nicaragua I wasn't sure what it would be like. Would she be speaking about things that would be applicable to life in Nicaragua? The things we struggle with here are different than in the US, could she really "get it"? Wow, after the first session, that thought never crossed my mind again. The theme of grace was perfect. The team that came with included a professional photographer who offered to take professional portraits of anyone there (especially cool for the handful of nursing mothers who brought their babies). There was a hairdresser who would cut hair or do manicures for everyone. There was a woman whose specific gifting was prayer and anyone could go to her for prayer. There were door prizes for everyone an a goody bag. The goody bag included taco seasoning and spice packet mixes, as well as hand sanitizer, m&ms, and other American treats.

After the last session we had some time to enjoy the resort before we left. Beverly went out to check the key (the car was still there) and was able to get it out of the ignition but it wasn't beeping when she opened the door so she was pretty sure the battery was dead. We found jumper cables in the back and tried to have another woman from the conference give us a jump start but her battery was dead too. Weird. So we got someone from the resort to give both cars a jump. Hers worked ours didn't. After several attempts the Montelimar staff member said he could put the battery on a charger for 30 minutes and see if that worked. He did that and 45 minutes later we were trying it again. By now we have someone from maintenance helping us and after about 30 more minutes he determined that a fuse needed to be soldered but that he could push it together enough to get it started. We did that and were followed by the other car to make sure we didn't break down. Beverly decided she didn't want to drive the car all the way to Matagalpa (through Managua) in the dark so we drove it to an orphanage about 1 hour from the resort (they knew the owner and allowed us to leave the car there) and waited for Beverly's husband to drive from Managua and pick us up. He picked us up and we headed off in safety. We stopped in Managua for Subway (it smells and looks exactly like in the US) so I think I can now officially say I have been to Managua. Previously I had only been to the bus terminal or driven through. I ate a meal there so I can now count it as one of the cities I have officially visited.

Things went smoothly, we stopped in Tipitapa for gas and headed off. A few yards down the road, we stopped. Flat tire! Crazy! Beverly's husband was a pro and we were up and on the road again in no time. By the time we landed in Matagalpa it was after 11 PM (Joe was originally expecting us a little after 6) and so we kicked Bridget out of her room so that our friends could sleep here and not drive another hour on dark mountain roads.

So there is my women's retreat and adventure. Surprisingly I was more relaxed with all the car issues on the way home than I was just trying to catch my ride at the start of the weekend. I guess all that relaxing and recharging really worked!!

La Laguna and Restarante Asados Matagalpa

We have been trying to get to the local swimming pool with our friends Jason and Karena for a couple of weeks now and we finally found a day where we weren't busy and the weather cooperated for us. This little pool is not too far outside of town but it's about 2 miles from the main road. Since there were seven of us we had to take 2 taxis to get there. But after some clever taxi hailing we made it to the pool.

The pool is not heated and so it was very refreshing. It was a little cloudy, which we tried to ignore, but apparently it was due to recent rains. The kids had fun doing cannon balls and jumping in and swimming. The pool deck has several covered cabanas with tables. There were only a couple other families there besides us. Right after we arrived they walked over to the little restaurant across the dirt road and bought a big bottle of rum to go with the Coke they already had. They were really enjoying themselves.

We all swam around for a bit and Joe helped coach Karena on some stroke adjustments as she expressed an interest in doing a sprint triathlon when they return to the states. Doesn't he look at home in that coaching from the pool deck position?

After the kids grew tired of swimming they played some Frisbee across the pool. If you don't catch it and it goes in the water you have to dive in after it. Then we were all starting to get hungry and ready to call it a day. As we were packing up to go and the 2 families were getting ready to go some sort of challenge was thrown down between 2 of the men. It appeared to be a race but we later found out it was a contest to see who could swim the farthest underwater before coming up for air. It was quite the animated contest and I had to film it. (see video)

At the end of the video Gus comes up and asks me "What did you say about someone being so drunk they can't stand up?" because one of the women who had been drinking was requiring assistance walking up to their truck. Joe got involved in the judging of the "contest" and when it was over told me that if they offered us a ride in the back of the truck (instead of walking 2 miles on hilly dirt roads to get to the main road to catch a taxi) that he would take them up on it. To which I firmly replied that not only would we not be riding in the back of their truck but we would be staying as far away from their drunk driving as possible!! We make a good team as we seem to pick up on different things...

We started to walk on the 2 mile road when a big bus came toward us. We flagged it down and got on. The bus was empty and apparently not a public bus but the driver allowed us on and drove us the 2 miles down the road and dropped us off about 1 mile from our houses and wouldn't let us pay anything. That was very cool!

The restaurant was nicely decorated but empty. This would normally scare me about a restaurant but I don't know if we eat at weird times, but we have frequently gone to great restaurants with no one else there! That is not usually a good sign in the US! We ordered a great meal of beef, pork and chicken with gallo pinto, tajadas (fried plantain chips), and nica coleslaw. Then I decided to splurge and get a margarita and Joe and Karena ordered some sort of fiery coffee liquor with tequila drink. Jason ordered a maracuya drink. It was quite exciting to have flaming drinks at our table. I had to post the picture of the "sheesecake" on the menu even though we were too full to order any!

When we were done eating (and very full) the owner of the restaurant has the driver take us back into town. We had a lovely day with friends experiencing new things in Matagalpa. Just another great day in Nicaragua....

At the waterfall with friends...

Today we went to Salto Santa Emilia with our friends Norman and Virginia. We packed yummy sandwiches, chips, pop and cookies for a picnic lunch and also brought swim suits and towels. We headed out at 9:00 sharp to drive up to the waterfall. It's about 45 minutes outside of town on a road that has "character". The kids and Joe got to ride in the back of the truck but I got the plush accommodations of the back seat. It was a bit bumpy but better than it would have been on a bus.

The entry to the waterfall is through the property of a small restaurant. I think it cost 20 cordobas (or dobs as we like to call them, but no one in Nicaragua does) per adult to visit and kids were free. We walked down several stairs and we were all reminded our our house in San Juan del Sur with 95 stairs to get up to the house.

We laid out tablecloths to sit on and wasn't even 10:30 before Norman was ready for lunch and Gus never needs much prodding to eat. We cracked open the chips and started eating. I was also trying to get Bridget to eat more as she weighed 77.8 lbs when we left for our trip and we just weighed her here and she has grown an inch and only weighs 71 lbs. Both boys have lost about 1 lb each and grown about 2 inches. Bridget has lost 7 lbs and grown 1 inch!! WOW! So, while she still looks healthy (photos provided for evidence) and has plenty of energy, I am trying to encourage her to eat. So chips and sandwiches at 10:30 it is!!

Virginia gave Bridget a new sun hat which came in very handy when the sun came out. The boys also enjoyed wearing it. Then the kids and Joe hiked up to the caves behind the waterfall to check things out.

After lunch (if that's what it is when you eat at 10:30) the kids and Joe went to climb up behind the waterfall. There is a wide cave behind the waterfall where we have heard that bats live and that it is also available for camping (no thank you). Joe took the more treacherous route down and got a little rock climbing in.

It started to warm up a bit so the kids decided to go for a swim. It was a bit chilly and took some coaxing. Bridget and Gus decided to try to skip rocks instead until Joe went in. They all swam out to the waterfall and climbed on the rock. This was the kids first swimming experience since San Juan del Sur in November.

After swimming the kids played around skipping rocks and Joey found some clay in the caves which he used to create a clay house on a rock (which is still in my laundry room...) and then he caught a cicada.

We had a great day at the waterfall and headed out around 1:30. Norman was hungry for pizza (naturally because we hadn't eaten since 10:30) so we drove back down the road into town for second lunch (or was that early dinner?) and had pizza at Vita Bella. We told Norman they they had good pizza (we have eaten there several times) but he didn't believe us (he lived in New York City for 21 years and is a bit of a food snob) so we had to go there to prove it. Fortunately Vita Bella passed the Norman test and we all had a lovely meal.

Just another great day with friends in Nicaragua....