March 23rd 2019

Well we finished our move up higher into the mountains, but then found out the situation was quite different than what we had been told. Without going into detail we had to move again in a hurry into an empty house and buy furniture so as not to be sleeping on the floor. Its been a bit of a chaotic few months but things are going well overall and we have had lots of fun. We're still in the same town we had planned on moving to, and serving in a newly formed Spanish language group.

Our three month tourist visa expired so we had to do a visa run, for Jean this was the first time. Because she is Nicaraguan while we were there only I had to leave the country to renew my visa, but in this country since both of us are foreigners we both had to leave the country together. I never appreciated before how easy we Canadians have it. For Nicaraguans everywhere we want to go, Jean needs to fill out forms and sometimes go for an interview in order to get a visa to enter another country. Some countries make it utterly impossible or very expensive so its not even viable for a visa run. We decided on Mexico as there was no fee for the visa, but it was still quite a bit of paperwork.

Thankfully, the visa was approved and we were able to travel together to Mexico. Some old friends of ours that had been serving in Bluefields Nicaragua who were forced to leave Nicaragua for very similar reasons to us are now in Chiapas and they offered us a place to stay and hospitality when we needed it the most. Jean and I got to explore another new country, city, food, and culture together which is an experience I'll never get tired of. We ate so many tacos, drank horchata and micheladas, and even went to a party.

I've come to a new philosophy on street food and being careful with sickness in other countries. When I first left Canada I was told by nearly everyone not to eat street food or drink the local water. I think this was bad advice for several reasons. One being that you miss out on some really amazing things, another is that you will offend the local people. Countless times I've found I was the only foreigner invited to some event because "well Matthew eats cabbage salad so we can invite him too".
No matter what country you go to, the people there are also human beings. If it doesn't kill them, it won't kill you either. It may have "different" bacteria to what your immune system is used to, but once you've been though a few belly aches you won't get sick anymore. I've been eating a lot of street food and I can't remember the last time I got ill from eating something.

The trip to Mexico was refreshing and felt like the vacation we needed. Just as we were leaving we got word back from the Canadian immigration. They are ready for Jean's medical and police certificates which means we won't be waiting much longer. Provided we can get all the documents. The Nicaraguan embassy is not being very helpful with the documents they are supposed to provide, but that isn't new. We ask them for a document that we need from them, and their go-to answer is "no that doesn't exist", when actually it does they just don't feel like doing it.

Just a few more steps though, after this is in all that's left is to wait.