Stuff

Its been a while since the regional convention now, and not really much has happened lately, except that I got married and moved to Corn Island. Getting married in Nicaragua is a little different (so I'm told) from getting married in Canada. I wouldn't know, as I've not been married before but the requirements are quite different and the resulting wedding is significantly different from what I've seen as well.

Firstly, one cannot get married at the Kingdom Hall like most do in Canada. In Nicaragua you need to be married by a Judge at the local "Casa de Justicia" or as they call it in Creole the "Judge house". From what I can tell its a court house as it appears that the Judge did not actually live in that building. Maybe its a place where people can come and be judgemental?

One generally has a talk at the Kingdom hall the following day after the civil ceremony, or later on in the same day. Since the real wedding already took place and the talk at the hall was optional, we had to say the vows in past tense. "I have taken you" instead of "I take you". I had mixed feelings about that but in the end I don't think anyone even noticed. We had also already exchanged the rings by the time of the Kingdom Hall ceremony, but we exchanged them again just for show, and for the sake of photos. Although our photographer was present at the civil ceremony as well.

The documents were not too difficult to find, and did not require that I return to Canada which was quite a relief. The hardest thing to find was a document called a "certificate of singleness" which has to be from my home country, and the Canadian government does not issue any such document. We were told by the embassy that there is one that can be obtained in lieu of that, but I would have to return to Canada in order to get it and have it signed by a Canadian notary. Fortunately that was a lie and the judge in Pearl Lagoon said that a "Marriage search" which can be obtained by my parents without my presence was sufficient. My parents brought all the other documents with them when they came down for the wedding, the rest of which was pretty standard (birth certificate, etc).

And that's something else I never imagined would happen, that my family would come here to Nicaragua! but it did! Right now most of my immediate family are here on Corn Island with us. My parents flew in a few weeks before the wedding, and I came over on the boat to get a place ready for them and show them around before going back to pearl lagoon. Jean and I went to meet them at the bluefields airport a long with my sister and her family the day before the wedding. It was fun to see someone else's reactions to seeing Nicaragua for the first time.

The reception was a huge success as well. We had the party at what is without a doubt the best hotel/restaurant in Pearl Lagoon, Casa Ulrich. We also had Mr. Fred (the owner) cater the reception, which was probably among the best decisions we could have made. Guests had a choice of either chicken or fish, which was served with various sides. Everyone was well fed and as always Fred's cooking exceeded expectations, and at prices comparable to fast food back in Canada.

View from Lighthouse hotel, Little Corn

We spent the first part of our honeymoon at Long Bay on Big Corn Island, and then the rest on Little Corn, and now were settled int our place on Big Corn where we will be serving for the foreseeable future. We don't know how long we will be staying here but we felt it was time for a change, and at the same time there is a need for us. There is only one Spanish congregation here, and a small Creole-english group trying to become a congregation, for which they need more permanent helpers. Lots of visitors come to Corn Island eager to help in the ministry, but they stay only for a short time. When they leave at times the group is left with barely enough people to continue.

The entire group is made up of foreigners like myself trying to learn Creole, and my wife Jean is the first actual creole person in the group, so hopefully we can help in reaching the people here and help others to learn Creole faster.

Dive Shop, Big Corn

Dive shop again

ready for takeoff

Big Corn