Day: Five

Today was what for Edudeo teams is referred to as a cultural day.  That means taking time to learn some of the geography and the history ofNicaragua.  Edudeo does not allow any “free days off” for their mission teams.  Each day has a distinct, no option focus and today was no exception.

We all loaded into the van and left for a tour of the country outside of Managua.  We headed towards a town called Granada, stopping at a high mountain lookout located in a cooler area where hydrangea shrubs grow, and flowers bright blue because of the acidic soil from the volcanic activity.  We also enjoyed a vista of volcanic mountains in the distance and marvelled at God’s unique design for this part of the world.  We then proceeded to a pottery shop where after a demonstration we had opportunity to divest of our personal dollars to procure various examples of the end result.  Upon arrival in Granada we stopped for lunch at a Nicaraguan version of KFC, after which we did a walking tour including a market. We were particularly impressed by the ladies using swatters over the “fresh” meat lying on the open tables to ward off the flies.  Fly free meat is, no doubt, much more attractive to the local customers.  We are “convinced” that our daily portion of meat at meals, which is always tasty, was procured from a more hygienic source.

We did a boat tour around Lake Nicaraguawith a focus on the 365 islands that had been formed by volcanic activity.  We then drove back to Managua for supper at the local Pizza Hut.

During the whole journey, during which our chauffeur Peter, who with his wife Trudy, highlighted various points of interest along the way, answered questions and shared stories of their Nicaraguan experiences.  All this was a welcome respite for our well-taxed muscles.

Our evening devotions focused on “Understanding why good intentions aren’t enough” from “Helping without Hurting”.