Day 8

Hola Damas y Caballeros (Ladies and Gentlemen)! It's Beugelink takeover night. We, Koenraad and Kiara, are providing the details of our stellar day at Centro de Fe (CdF).

We started our day like every other day with the beautiful, soothing (some say screeching) serenade of Koenraad's melodious voice (some students cried). We sat down for a breakfast of eggs, Gallo Pinto, and fruit. Of note, today was the first day the cooks did not include Papaya with the selection of fruit. Apparently they caught on that most team members don't love the stuff. Perhaps it's the texture? Too bad, as I (Koenraad) love it. And I (Kiara) don't love it much...

We arrived at CdF and Kailyn, Austin and Alex had the opportunity to share their testimonies. Alex and Austin shared an enthusiastic hug after the devotions and Alex's blisters finally burst which gave some relief. Alex truly is a resilient lobster. The testimonies were followed by our team singing "Cornerstone" in Spanglish. If I do say so myself, we sounded pretty decent.

After devotions we got back to painting and laying tiles in the upstairs classrooms. We each took the time to polish up our designs for the mural. It's so cool to be joining our names with a 15-year anthology of past ACS and CdF students that have taken part in this amazing exchange. We learned today that, just like back home at ACS, our CdF friends have been looking forward to this visit since they were in their primary grades.

The whole school was radiating with enthusiasm, uh wait, that was the heat radiating through the school and lots of enthusiasm. The joy of working in the school alongside our CdF friends was what pushed us through the humidity and paint fumes. When we were finished, we were glad that the paint fumes did not negatively affect the straight lines we were trying to paint as a baseboard.

Lunch was full of laughter and joy from the bonds built with the CdF students and staff this past week! Though we were having a blast, the ever present notion that tomorrow is our last day with our new friends was in the back of our minds.

After saying "hasta mañana" to our friends, we drove to the spectacular and crowded Huembes Market. The touristy vendors were happy to take our Cordobas and USD in exchange for the wondrous gifts and trinkets for our loved ones. Allison bought a souvenir bracelet for our driver, Lester, who has lovingly been called Veinti Cuatro (24) as he has been calling that number out at the end of our team count. He may be last in number, but he is by no means least. Lester has the back streets of Managua memorized and whips us too and fro from the Nehemiah Centre and CdF like a rush hour avoiding magician!! This guy uses gas station and store parking lots as short cuts and poof! we have reached our destination. It truly is a Nicaragua driving miracle.

We got back to the Nehemiah Center and chill-axed for a while before we had an amazing dinner - LASAGNA! It was a Nicaraguan spin on a comfort food from home. Pico de Gallo with Lasagna, yum!!

Ruby and Jayla led us in devotions with the topic of the blessing of friendship. (Roy cried)

Thanks for your continued prayers and your amazing comments! We look forward to sharing about our journeys with you when we get home.

This has been a Day 8 blog brought to you by Koenraad and Kiara Beugelink!

P.S: I miss you Ezra, Aleena, Yelissa and Mom. Don't have too much fun without us. Oh, wait! Dad and I bring the fun. Also, I miss Luke and Tianna. - Kiara

P.P.S: I miss you all can't wait to see you soon! - Koenraad

P.P.P.S: Marshall loves that his whole family commented yesterday. #WeLoveTheHieberts!