Kakabila

December is here... over the past few weeks we have had notably less rain. The waters are getting less murky and the temperatures are rising. This is a beautiful time of year on the Atlantic coast of Nicaragua, though one must adapt to the heat. That being said I remember Bluefields was much hotter around May and June.

Last week before heading out to Haulover we decided to stop for a quick coffee at the bakery, and it turned out to be our most productive call of the day. We weren't exactly preaching in the bakery but we did meet a couple from a village across the lagoon, which is actually very close if you have access to a boat. The name of the community is Kakabila, which is a Miskito word but I really have no idea what it means. After talking to the man for a while we found that he owned a small boat and could take our group to Kakabila for a very small fee. We arranged to go on Wednesday (Today)

So this morning we all met at the wharf instead of the Kingdom hall for service, there were 8 of us in total.
We were all wondering what kind of boat to expect... Marvin (the boat's owner) had told us he has a "skiff". Now, being that I grew up at least 1,000 km from the nearest ocean nautical terms are a mystery to me in the first place. Confounding this mystery is the fact that in Creole many terms have a completely different meaning. In the dictionary a "skiff" is a boat for one person, but he told us his holds 10...

As it turns out his boat was just the right size for our group, and the ride was very smooth. Although it wasn't a fast one, his 15hp engine got us to Kakabila in about an hours time.

As soon as we got close to Kakabila we could hear the reggae music blasting from a house near the wharf. Some locals approached us as we were getting off the boat, a few even formally welcoming us to Kakabila. As usual around here people were happy to take some time to learn about the bible. One woman saw us coming and answered the door with her bible in hand, and then invited us to come in and sit down. The only exception being a few local ministers that did not appear quite so pleased that Jehovah's Witnesses had found their village. In any case Miskito seems to be the local language but out of everyone we talked to we only encountered one person that did not speak English fluently. Next time we will definitely bring more literature in Miskito.

We worked a strip of houses along the shore, there are of course no streets and hardly even sidewalks. The houses are scattered randomly across a clearing in the otherwise dense jungle, so taking addresses would be an exercise in futility. At the edge of town opposite the wharf, we found a gorgeous beach. Soft sand, palm trees and blue sky, appearing like a perfectly planned rest stop at the end of the day. In fact there was even a building that we were told is some kind of hotel or accommodation. We haven't figured out who owns it but I imagine we will quite likely be staying there in the future to work territory and return visits over a few days.

Honorio (a pioneer brother who was assigned here from Mexico) was aware of this beach, as he had brought a change of clothes and swimming trunks. The rest of us had not brought swimming clothes, but that didn't stop us. Myself and others decided that since we were finished for the day there was no harm in going into the water fully clothed. We dried off fast enough on the boat on the way home. We plan to go back next Wednesday

Kingdom News #38... and the pacific ocean

Northernmost point of Pearl Lagoon

It is now the middle of November, and being from Canada I find that hard to wrap my head around. I’m not accustomed to seeing 30+ temperatures and heavy rain this time of year. In any case we have begun the campaign to distribute Kingdom news #38 here in Pearl Lagoon. The first day we started with the northernmost point of Pearl Lagoon and worked our way south. We received very good reception, although people were curious why we were keeping our visits so short. It is not the custom here to simply stop by and leave a tract without visiting for a little while.

After working about one block however it started to rain. Not that that is unusual here, but since we were close to a bakery we decided to stop for coffee and wait for the rain to pass. Its a small wooden house across from the wharf which has a few tables inside. They prepare all sorts of baked goods as well as the best coffee in town. If you’re one of those people doesn't approve of coffee breaks I hope this stumbles you.

Our territory is almost exclusively English speaking, however I still had the opportunity to practice my Spanish this month. I spent the past week visiting some friends in Carazo (Thats the department south of Managua, in the mountains on the pacific side of the country).

Getting there was interesting to say the least. I left Pearl Lagoon at around 5:30AM on Monday, and arrived in Rama 5 hours later. About half way there a large truck was stuck in the middle of the road, thankfully a bulldozer came by and pushed it out of the way... 

Each time I go to Rama I like it a little bit more. This time I came across some nice little restaurants that were also very affordable. After spending the night I left at 3:00AM the next morning on the express bus to Managua. To my delight there was a small stand set up by the bus selling coffee and bread. Once In Managua I took a taxi from the “Gran Mayoreo” terminal to “La Uca” which is the terminal for the buses going to Jinotepe. It took one hour to get from Managua to Jinotepe, and then one more short taxi ride to Dolores where I was staying. By the time I was at my final destination it was 10:30AM Tuesday.

El Rama, RAAS

I made sure to get out in service while there, and the simplicity of the tract made it easy to string together a presentation in Spanish. Our brothers on the Pacific have plenty of territory to work as well, so I got to see some of their more distant territories out in the country.

Cruz Verde, near Sta. Teresa, Carazo

Mountains near Sta. Teresa, Carazo

And of course, there’s always time for recreation. Not far from Jinotepe is a well known beach called La Boquita. The bus ride only costs 19 cordobas(less than $1) per person. The water was warm, with plenty of big waves, Too bad I don’t surf. I still can’t believe that this is November. Here I am sitting on a hot sunny beach enjoying the ocean breeze... when back home its -20. I had to make a lot of sacrifices to come here, but there are plenty of blessings that more than make up for it.

La Boquita

Quesillo - on the bus to Rama

The trip back took 3 buses, 1 taxi, and 2 trucks. It turns out the bus from Rama to Pearl Lagoon only goes in the evening, and since I was going in the morning, I went in the back of a truck from Rama to Kukra Hill, and then another truck to Pearl Lagoon. Don’t worry, I wasn’t hitchhiking. These are actually official public transportation vehicles.

Passenger Trucks in Kukra Hill

Time off

Although I'm definitely not here on vacation... there are times when it almost seems like one. Just off the coast from Pearl Lagoon is a group of small islands known as the Pearl Cays (pronounced Pearl Keys). No one really lives on these Islands, as they are public property no one is allowed to own or build on them. And as the government has not seen fit to promote much tourism in the area the islands are nearly untouched. With the exception of one of them allegedly being the location where one season of Survivor was filmed.

Some local restaurants and guides offer tours of the island, so a group of us from the congregation decided this was something we needed to experience while living in Pearl Lagoon.

Early Monday morning we met at the wharf in Pearl lagoon, and loaded our things into the boat. The price of the tour included a meal as well as drinks. We were slightly delayed by the rain, which didn't take long before it let up.

Before long we were skipping across the waves on our way to the first Island. This one was so small you could stand on the beach, and see the water on the other side, through the trees.

After swimming for a while we were taken to a second island, where the guides cooked some fish they had caught during the morning. This island was bigger, it took maybe 15 minutes to walk from one side to the other. There were some abandoned houses on this island. The story was that someone had purchased the island, not knowing that the person selling it to him did not own the island, nor was it legal to own the island at all. The "owner" had big plans, as they had built a restaurant as well as a nice vacation home with modern conveniences. It was kind of sad to see, but I guess thats what happens when you put your trust in material things. Interestingly if you look on line there are websites still trying to sell the islands.

Alleged filming location of Survivor. Wikipedia disagrees with our tour guide... not sure which one to believe.

The Savannah

Its been a busy month, and I must say I am loving it here in Pearl Lagoon. I wrote another post about my first day in service here but unfortunately due to technical glitches I am unable to access or finish posting it. I will try to remember the details.

It was a Wednesday, and every Wednesday the congregation works territory in a neighboring village called Raitipura. The inhabitants are mostly of Miskito descent, but nearly all of them speak English as well. The Creole English spoken there and here in Pearl Lagoon is not as distinct as others, for example Belize creole. Apparently the locals find conventional English easier to read than Belize creole, and they way they speak, although different, is readily understandable to most native English speakers.

In order to reach Raitipura one must cross what is known as "The Savannah". A flat grassy area with few trees that resembles parts of Africa.

 The difference however is that this Savannah is sopping wet. The reason there are no trees is because it is one gigantic marsh, though that fact is not visible from the path.

There is one concrete path leading across the plane, which at about the halfway point is completely submerged in water all of the time. I don't know how they built the pathway there in the first place, but whatever the case anyone going to Raitipura needs to wade through it. I sloshed through in my normal shoes and threw them on the tin roof in the afternoon to dry them in the afternoon sun. It did the trick but I still had soaked feet the whole morning. Since then I either take my shoes off and go barefoot, or wear rain boots.

The territory was amazingly receptive. I've only been there a couple of times and already have 3 potential bible studies. Frequently when working the territory people approach us and ask us to study with them and their families. One man even offered to build us a kingdom hall on his land.

Awas - Neighboring Raitipura

Ey' Mon

As you can probably tell from the title, I am now living in the caribbean. I regret not posting more in the past few months but I have been very busy with planning and making the move to Nicaragua, also being that we just finished the service year I had some catching up to do.

Just before I left however, there was a big announcement in the congregation in Mérida. The two english congregations, and the west english group are being condensed into one congregation, and any brothers who do not speak english as their first language have been asked to return to their former congregeations.
The direction is that we should be preaching to people in their mother tongue. Formerly most of the calls in the database were mexicans who were learning english. The change makes sense as the territory is worked frequently by the Spanish congregations.

Anyways, time went by quickly and before I knew it I was packing my bags. My flight was at 1:00pm, but the airport in cancun is still4 hours away by bus, so I had to leave early. I left at 4 in the morning so that I would have plenty of time to get to the bus terminal by 6 when it left for Cancun. My plan was to take a taxi, so i had a phone number to call. Unfortunately there was no answer when I called, so I asked a guy working in the 7 eleven accross the street if he knew a number for a taxi. He did not. Then i saw one go by, but he wouldnt stop when i waved at him. Finally i got two more phone numbers from the 24/7 farmacy nearby. I called both numbers 4 times, but no answer. By now it was 5:45 and the bus was leaving at 6:15, so i went and woke up the brother i was staying with to get a ride to the bus depot. (I felt bad because he was quite ill with a sore throat.)

Fast forward 13 hours, a bus and two planes and im in Managua! I missed Nicaragua so much, I don't know why i loved it here so much, but its good to be back. My old friend Dai jun who i travelled with the first time met me at the airport a long with some local friends from Jinotepe. They drove us to Dolores (a small town near Jinotepe) where i spent the week with Dai Jun. There I had the opportunity to go in service in spanish and help with the district convention invitation. It was nice to see old friends from the spanish congregation, and this time be able to communicate easily with them. It was a fun week, we had 3 parties and i got to work away my mexican accent in spanish a little bit.

Monday morning, i had to get up at 4:00am once again. Why is it always 4:00 am when I travel? Why!? Anyways some brothers in Dolores were going to Leon and dropped me off along the way in Managua. There i caught the 7:30 bus to El Rama. Beautiful countryside, green mountains and lots of potholes, for 6-7 hours. There was a brief stop in Juigalpa for bathrooms and street food. I ate a quesillo which are generally safe to eat as they are homemade, and the people selling them use gloves to handle them.

Once in El Rama i got on the new laguna de perlas bus which left at 4:30 in the afternoon. Its an old school bus painted black with roof racks added for luggage. The back half of the bud was loaded up with supplies being shipped into laguna from Rama, since its the only land route into the community. The bus ride was slow and bumpy through the jungle. We arrived at laguna de perlas around 9:45 at night and i was exhausted. A local brother named Byron blake met me at the bus stop and introduced me to the land lord and my new apartment, as well as a nearby restaurant where i can get internet and eat until i get some appliances.

It is very beautiful here, very tropical, palm trees and vibrant flowers everywhere year round. I rested today and walked around town to find some of the shops. It took me all of 3 minutes to find the kingdom hall. Pretty hard to get lost in a small place. Looking forward to service tomorrow and meeting the congregation.

Meanwhile in Mérida

Plans continue to come together for my trip to Laguna de Perlas. As it turns out the Airplane from Managua to Bluefields only leaves twice a day, once in the morning and once in the early afternoon. Since my flight from Cancun arrives in the evening, I would have to spend the night in the airport. However, the bus to El rama leaves later in the evening and travels through then night. So i get to choose between a night in the airport and a night on the bus. Taking the bus it may be possible to make it to Laguna de Perlas in one day. But this is all still months away.

Meanwhile, I am keeping busy here in Mérida. The English pioneer school is under way in Playa del Carmen, and as a result most of the pioneers in the congregation are gone. And since this congregation has so many pioneers weve taken a big hit in attendance, so the few who are left are very busy picking up the slack. I have 3 talks to do this month, as well as many smaller jobs at the meetings.

Those in the school right now are missing out on something else, we have started our metropolitan witnessing program. Now, this is not the special metorpolitan witnessing, where the branch assigns special and regular pioneers to high traffic areas. Rather this is just within our congregations territory. Since we are the Ingles centro congregation, our territory includes the main square of the city which is often crawling with english speaking tourists.

We set up a table with literature in english, primarily bible teach books as well as magazines in other foreign languages that are common here, such as french, german, italian, chinese, japanese, and russian. The first day was a great success, we were set up from 8 am until 12 noon. At least two people came and sat on the bench next to our table and had a bible study out of the teach book right then and there. We noticed that people rarely would simply walk by and take a set of magazines, they usually stopped to talk to us for a while. Evidently that is part of the culture here in the Yucatan.

Passersby also commented that they thought the table was a good idea. Many local people were interested as well, but we did not have any literature in Spanish. Next week we hope to work alongside the Spanish congregation whose territory the central park is in, that way we will have plenty of information for the locals. Our pictures will probably show up elsewhere as well, because many local brothers and sisters stopped to take pictures of us and our table. Some from Spanish, and even some sisters from a Mayan congregation paid a visit. Ironically the table seemed to draw just as much attention from fellow witnesses as from the public, as this had never been done in Mérida before to my knowledge.

Unforseen occurance

Usually when we talk about "Time and unforseen occurance" it has a negative connotation. Just recently something totally unforseen happened to me, but this time its not at all negative. I've been in Mérida just over three months now, and I now know my way around the city pretty well. I've also adjusted well to the climate. In fact this morning i was in Starbucks but I had to leave because the air conditioning was too much for me, I was starting to shiver and get a runny nose. I was really prepared to stay here in Mérida for a full year.

Now to the point, as mentioned in a previous post I wrote a letter to the Mexico branch office of Jehovah's Witnesses, asking for direction as to where I should go to help. Because the letter was sent by regular mail, and the postal system in Latin America is notoriously unreliable, After six months had passed I assumed my letter was lost in the mail. Thus I decided to come here to Mérida on my own.

Just a few weeks ago, I recieved a response from the Mexico branch. Of course, I could just ignore it and stay here... but I would much rather be in a place where the branch had assigned me. The funny thing is that just before the response came I had been seriously considering moving to progreso to assist the new english group forming there. I prayed for help to make the right decision, and then shortly afterward I got a letter addressed to me by name suggesting I move to Central America. Seems like a clear answer to me.

But it gets better. They listed 4 congregations for me to choose from: Copan ruinas (Honduras), San Pedro Sula - ingles (Honduras), Laguna de Perlas (Nicaragua), and Léon - ingles (Nicaragua). Does one of those sound familiar? Thats because one of the posts on this blog is about a trip i made to Laguna de perlas last year where we travelled by boat to reach isolated villages. It was one of the most enriching experiences of my life, and now im being asked to go back. My immediate inclination was to run outside and get a taxi to the airport right then and there. But after giving it some thought i've decided to wait until after the district convention in september.

I like it here in Mérida a lot, but I do miss the simpler lifestyle and slower pace of living on the caribbean side of Nicaragua. I also miss the friends i made while i was there, who became as close as family to me. I look forward to seeing all of them again soon. I've already bought a plane ticket to get from Cancun to Managua, I will take the bus from here to get to the Cancun Airport. The reason i am flying from Cancun instead of directly from Mérida is that for some reason it is much cheaper. I save over $100 flying to Managua, and when coming from Canada I saved around $200 by not going directly to Mérida, and that includes the price of the bus from the airport to Mérida. So if you plan on going anywhere in the Yucatan i recommend flying to Cancun and then taking the bus. When i get to Managua I hope to meet up with some of my old friends there, but if that isn't possible I will go directly to Bluefields, and then Laguna de Perlas.

I'm not sure if I will fly from Managua to Bluefields this time, or take the bus/panga route. The flight is less than an hour, as opposed to 7 hours by land and rivers, but another factor is that the people sometimes view you differently based on how you arrived. For example, if you come into Bluefields on a fancy airplane (its a prop plane, but to them its fancy), they will not think of you in the same way as someone who came on the boat a long with everyone else... what im saying is, if you come on a plane, you're a big shot gringo who can throw money away for the sake of convenience, but if you come in on a panga like all the commoners, you might just be one of them. I've heard many times in conversation when i was in bluefields "so-and-so came to bluefields last week, he came on the plane because he has lots of money". I'd like to avoid that stereotype as much as possible.

I haven't found a place to stay yet, but I know that Jehovah will provide. After all, its his organization that is sending me there.

Progreso

There is a town less than half an hour to the north of Mérida, which is on the norhtern coast of the Yucatan peninsula named Progreso. Just by looking at the map it seems like an appealing place to visit, and as it turns out the english territory there falls partially under Mérida centro ingles congregation. Naturally then i had to go and see it. It didn't take much persuasion to get a group together. The plan was to spend the morning in service and then go for lunch and spend the afternoon at the beach. We found out later however that a couple from Australia and a small group from one of the spanish congregations had been dilligently trying to start a new group.

We made plans to meet up with them near the beach, and then we worked the strip of businesses that were facing the ocean. Progreso is a beautiful town, and the temperature is much milder than that of Mérida thanks to the ocean breeze.

Last week the group had their first public talk and watchtower study, which i had the priviledge of attending, and yesterday i travelled with two brothers from Mérida to work in service in progresso for the day and this morning, as well as go to their meeting where they consider the jeremiah book.

Some local brothers in progresso own a very nice apartment which is currently vacant that they are letting us stay in when we visit progresso. I plan on going again next wednesday along with some others in centro. Its very exciting to see the beginnings of a new group, especially when there has never been one before in that town.

District convention

The trip back to Canada went smoothly. By now i was used to the pangas and the buses. I left the house at 4 in the morning, and arrived in Managua mid afternoon. I was met at the bus by some brothers in the english congregation there who i stayed with until it was time to go to the airport. I couldnt believe how cold it was in the airport, it was like walking into a freezer. Then i remembered how it felt coming into that same airport from canada... it really shows how your body changes to adapt to a different climate. Thankfully it was summertime back in Canada, so it was a fairly smooth transition.

By now it was July, and all of the district conventions i knew of in Canada were over in June. The conventions in Nicaragua (both spanish and english) were not until september. So i made it a matter of prayer to find a convention that i could afford to go to. I asked around to different brothers and the only clues i got were that there was possibly one coming up in Anchorage Alaska. Now, i have no reservations about a bit of travel, but its very expensive to get to alaska, and to stay in a hotel for 3 or 4 nights as well.

Then i heard of a family in a neighbouring congregation who were going to the convention in Mérida, Mexico in September. On top of that, they invited me to go with them and stay with them in a house they were renting. The family was considering moving to Mérida to serve in an english congregation there, so they were going to spend two weeks there in additon to the convention. And as it turns out, it was almost cheaper to fly there and back than to stay at a hotel in calgary for my own congregations district convention.

Mérida is the capital city of the Yucatan state of Mexico, and is located on the peninsula of the same name. Mérida has a reputation of being very clean, and having an abnormally low crime rate. The climate is tropical, having a dry season and a rainy season much like Nicaragua. It is said that the only flaw of Mérida is the heat. It regularly reaches 40 degrees celcius or higher during the day, and its a wet heat. That being said it is a fairly modern city so most buildings have air conditioning, including malls and cafes, so there is always a way to escape the heat if you really need to.

There were 5 of us travelling together, myself and the couple with their two children. The plane landed in Cancun, and we rented a car to make the 3 hour drive west to Mérida. The convention was held at a newly built assembly hall on the outskirts of the city. The program was especially encouraging for us, as there were many need greaters in the english district the program was tailored to that audience. The atmosphere was very upbuilding as well, since most of the people there were brothers who came from all over the world to serve in Mexico and they were all just as excited to be there as we were. Even though this convention was not in our home district, we all agreed that it felt like it was the convention that we were supposed to be at.

After the convention we spent the next two weeks exploring the Yucatan peninsula with the local brothers. We saw many tourist attractions but also a few hidden gems that the local brothers showed us. (Such as where to find the best tacos ive ever had).

After 4 months in Nicaragua i was quite honestly exhausted and was questioning wether i would do it again. But that convention, and being with that family in Mérida helped me to realize that this was my place in Jehovah's organization, at least for now. I belong in the field. When we got back to Canada this time my resolve was strengthened and i was determined to go back. I wrote a letter to the Mexico branch asking where i should go next, and started saving enough to stay in my next assignment for at least one year.

Unfortunately my letter never made it to the branch. I imagine it was lost in the mail, it was sent more than 6 months ago now and still no word. But that didnt matter. I had prayerfully set a date to leave for my next assignment, and was committed. I had my heart set on going back to Nicaragua, but after "calculating the cost" so to speak and considering possibities of making an income to prolong my time there i found that Mérida would be more practical.

So for the next 6 months i worked and did my best not to fall behind on my hours in field service. Working as much as i was and pioneering at the same time was difficult, i really didnt have much time to enjoy many of the things i missed while in Nicaragua, which is a fact that i remind myself of if I ever get homesick while away.

And that brings us to today. June 3rd 2013. I've been in Mérida for just over one month now, updating this blog from a cafe near the central park. The rainy season has just begun although its sunny right now. The family i travelled with in september will be arriving here in August.

Many things are similar here to Nicaragua, such as the heat, but i do miss Bluefields and the brothers there. The Yucatan has many of its own unique things to experience and im looking forward to having some new adventures here. Which of course i will write about on this blog.

The ministry here is great, im already conducting as many bible studies as i had in bluefields and finding the territory very productive. Im not just counting time here, im making time count.