Back to Life, Back to Reality...

Isn't that how the song goes?  I sure hope it's not a bad song.  That's the only lyrics I have in my head.  (Yes, I'm probably dating myself.)  Well, that's what it is.  Life.  Reality.  It's really not much fun.  Compared to the experiences we had in Nicaragua we lead very dull lives.  However, the routine is good in ways too.

I promised to share more of our pics and experiences with you so, I'm going to try to do just that...

There was a very fun bonfire on the beach.  Caleb, a young brother that was visiting, leaving and planning to return long-term got together the bonfire.  I was very excited to finally get to see the sunset at the beach.  We normally had to take the last bus back while the sun was setting.  I took a ton of pics trying to capture the "best" sunset pic.  I will share a few:

The boys started on the bonfire.  Well, I think Levi was just checking on the progress.

They tossed the volleyball around.

Josie snuggled with Colton & Indita's (sp?) puppy.  (This is the same puppy that Josie is snuggling in an earlier pic.  It's gotten much bigger!)

Of course, the best part of having a get together is the people you're getting together with.  We all brought food to eat and share.  Talked and played.  It was great!  I took more pics with people in them but they turned out all blurry and grainy since it was so dark :-( 

Then, the very next day where did we go?  Back to the beach.  It was Monday, after all.

Here's a glimpse of the food you can get at Playa Roca.

Shrimp tacos with beans & rice.

Whole fish!  (Not ours ;-)  Lee went to another table to take a pic of it!)

Chicken fingers with rice, salad & fried plantains.

And, here's us enjoying the end of beach day.  (Mine is a smoothie btw, it was Josie and my favorite "dessert.")

Here's Levi and I after going on his bible study.  I was just getting better from my cold and we were sweating like crazy that day!  I thought I was being cute when I said "Who's hot and sweaty?" Knowing full well that all my friends were at home, in the cold.  Sorry guys.

A yummy dinner.  Chicken fajitas, mexican rice and black beans.  Super quick and easy.

Here's Levi's lunch the next day.  He was using the leftover mexican rice with his egg burrito.  He ate a lot more eggs in Nicaragua than he normally eats at home.

Here's a pic of Lee and Josie enjoying the pool.  There was a pool next to the covered soccer field we used to play congregation soccer games.  Josie was dying to get in the pool.  There was one time we tried to go after the soccer game but, there were swim lessons being held.  So, one day her loving daddy skipped the game and took her swimming.

Here's a few pics from a Mexican restaurant we tried to go to a couple times but, it was always closed when we went.  We finally went one day after soccer and we were so excited!  It was great food, relatively quick service (not the normal Nicaragua speed,) and the kids had a great time playing dress up afterwards.

Our kids, including Jesslyn, our "adopted" daughter.  She's going to be coming home, to VA from Nicaragua, towards the end of the month.  We had a great time with her.  As you can see.

We made it home!

Just want to let you all know that we are home safe! We will fill you in on the last part of our trip, pics and all.
Much Love,
The Bachman Family
XXXXOOOO

Feb 18th - Week 7

Time is just flying by!

Here's a little of what we've been up to this past week...

I think this pic was from last week.  I just thought it was cute and clever.  The music wasn't working for the first song so, the brothers improvised with someone's phone.  It worked great!

This was one day in service.  We were on the bus heading to a territory in the eastern part of the city, about 20 minutes away when traveling on the bus.  This is the terminal.  There are market stands everywhere.  Also, large and small buses to go pretty much anywhere.  Managua, eastern Nicaragua, Chinandega, etc...  This bus we saw here was loading the luggage to the roof, I think it was headed to Managua. (They usually have the destination(s) printed on the side of the bus.)  We've never shopped here but, it looks like some of the other markets.  It's quite an experience!  Lots of stuff, not a lot of space to move, or walk around, lots of vehicles VERY close to you, and lots of people.  There are people that come on the bus to sell water and fruit while we wait for the passengers to get on, or off, the bus.  They just walk through selling and then they're off to sell some more.  We passed that bus (in the photo below), in the bus we were in, in that little sliver of space to the left.  I could have reached out to touch someone sitting in the other bus we were so close.  I just thought it was a good glimpse of everyday life here in Nicaragua.

Saturday night there was a going away party.  The party was for this couple below.  Their names are Pat & Deb Polden, from Canada.  I have their blog address on the sidebar, it's CrazyParentsinNicaragua.blogspot.com.  You can read about some of their adventures here in Nicaragua.  I haven't read all of it but, from what I did read I thought it had some very helpful information about the area.  If you are thinking of coming here it may be useful to you.  Anyway, they are going away, from Leon at least.  They are headed for the eastern part of Nicaragua, Pearl Lagoon.  Sounds nice, doesn't it?  We look forward to reading their experiences in that area.  I know the congregation here is going to miss them a lot.

At the party some of the boys, playing music and chatting about music.

More of the party crowd enjoying the cooler night air.  It was super HOT inside from all the dancing going on.  I, however, was working on my Spanish with Michelle.  Past and future tenses!  Oh, my poor brain! :-)

A family photo!

And, one with Levi being silly...

This is Rhianna & James Gallagher.  I think that's how you spell their names.  I thought I wrote it down but, I can't find it right now.  Sorry guys!

And, Marcus and Maria Becker.  They're from Sweden.  They plan to stay here at least a year.  They are learning English and Spanish.  And, they are super sweet!

Now, on to Sunday.  We had company over for dinner.  We've been trying to have people over on Sunday nights to get to know everyone.  It's been really nice to spend some time with different couples and families.  Tonight we had fish tacos, rice and black beans, fried plantains, diced tomatoes, avocado and sliced cabbage.  Super yummy again!

Here's a pic of our guests that evening.  Brad and Lydia Ramirez.  They are from California.  I really like them, super sweet, encouraging and positive.  A great combination.  They are also planning to leave Leon in a couple of months.  They were asked to help a congregation in El Salvador.  Another couple the congregation will be sad to see leave.  Even more so since he's the school overseer in the congregation.

Monday was, you guessed it, BEACH DAY!  Here's just a few shots of the beautiful beach that day.

Some of the friends from the congregation were in the background of this shot, waiting for a nice wave to surf.  It was so pretty with the sunlight.

And, Lee's favorite way to end a day at the beach.  Can't you tell he's happy?  He's happy it's not another Tona beer.

Here's the tiniest little lizard that we've seen.  This is when Levi caught it.

And, here it is in Josie's hand.

Friday in service we stopped for a break at Desayunazo.  It was getting close to lunch so, we decided to get some food.  This was the first bacon we had on our trip!  Can you tell that Josie enjoyed it?

Lee had the banana pancakes.  I think he liked them too.

Oh, and here's a pic from our demonstration on Thursday night.  We were talking about our preaching schedule for March.  We are so excited that there is the option to do either the 30 or the 50 hours for auxillary pioneering again. Notice Lee and Levi got new haircuts. They paid 30 Cordoba or about $1.30 each, quite a bargain!

Hmmm.  Well, this is where we stopped for break on Saturday during service.  We honestly do more than just take breaks in service!  I just wanted to take a few photos of places we liked.  We don't have that much more time here so, it's nice to have some photos as reminders of the fun we had.  This is the French bakery, called Pan y Paz.  Everything looks delicious!  We LOVE the bread but, we've had other yummy things there too.

This is a view of their courtyard and seating area.  It's very pretty.

And, this is their mural on the wall.

And, their pretty chandelier up above.

We had another nice week here in Nicaragua.  Lee and Levi both had bible studies this week.  I had a great week in service.  I started a bible study with a young woman I found in the ministry.  We had our first study and she wanted me to bring her a Bible Teach book in Spanish for her mom.  I also had a name given to me by some of the friends in the Spanish congregation.  It was of a young girl that wanted to study the bible in English.  I had the first study on Saturday afternoon.  Her father opened the door for us, gave us a nice rocking chair to sit in and a large glass of ice cold soda to drink.  She's a very smart young person and we had a nice study.  I look forward to seeing both of them again this Saturday.  I've probably forgotten something else I should write about...I'll just have to let you know next time.

We'd love to hear from you.  Tell us how you're doing.  Ask us questions about things here in Nicaragua.  Tell us what you would like to see photos of.  Or, just say hi!

Much love to you all!  Not much longer now before we see some of you... :-)

The Bachman Family

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Feb 11th - Weeks 5 and 6

Remember how I said I got sick?  Well, it seems to be a thing that's going around.  We've heard of lots of people having this illness.  It took a few days before I felt better, by the end of the week I was pretty much recovered.  Then Levi got sick on Sunday.  A few days later Josie got sick.  It's mostly just a sore throat and a fever.  Then it finishes up with a stuffy/runny nose.  Lovely.  We are all currently well.  Hopefully our immunity is strengthened and we won't catch anything else.

Our week was slightly less exciting since we were battling this cold.  We only went out in service on Wednesday and Friday the week of the 28th.  By the time Saturday came, Levi was getting sick.  Then everyone except for Levi was at the meeting on Sunday.

Here's Josie with her buddy Natalie, after the meeting.

The week of February 5th we had our usual beach trip on Monday.  We really like our beach day!

My beach babies.

I had to sit in a little tide pool for a LONG time before I got a pic of this cute little fish.  I think it was worth the wait!

Then we had a little bit of a field trip on Tuesday.  Our friends, M and M, asked us if we would like to join them to go to Managua and Masaya.  First stop was the airport in Managua.  We were picking up a young sister from Virginia.  Her aunt, uncle and cousins were here in Leon when we got here.  There was the going away party for them.  Remember the pic of Levi dancing with Josie?  That was their party.  The sister's name is Jesslyn.  She spent a month in Bluefields on the east coast of Nicaragua.  Now she's here for two months.  We really like her, we may have to be her adopted family while we're here...  Then we were off to the fun stuff.

But before that, a quick stop at the mall.  We hit the bathroom, and the coffee shop. And, Michelle had a quick stop in a kitchen store.  You know, just the important stuff.  This was the entrance to the kid's bathroom.  There were little toilets about a foot high.  Super cute!

Then, off to Masaya.  There are several markets in Masaya.  I think the one we went to was the municipal market.  Our friends said that the other market was more for tourists, and more expensive.  It seems they sell lots of the handcrafted wood and fabric items, there were also paintings and clay items.  However, we were told that it's most famous for hammocks and shoes.  We found lots of little souvenirs for our friends, and a few for ourselves too.  It was a mish-mosh building with untold numbers of little stalls and tables packed with stuff for sale.  There was stuff hanging from the ceiling and walls.  It was also not air conditioned, and about 95 degrees outside.  Hot!  And, not good if you're tall.  However, it was cool to see the variety of items and crafts for sale.  We also got to work on our bartering skills, in Spanish, of course.

After we did our shopping, we were off to the Masaya Volcano.  There are several craters in this location.  We first visited the museum area.  There were some old paintings of the volcano and information about the past and current history of the area.  And, some informational displays about volcanoes in general.

Here's M and M at the museum.  They've seen it before, so they were just hanging out waiting for us.

On the way up the mountain.

A view down the mountain, overlooking the town.

It looks like fog but, it was more of a steam that was coming out of the crater.  When the wind changed it had a weird smell that took our breath away and made us cough.  They said it was from the sulfuric dioxide.  I think that's what the sign said...

Unfortunately we couldn't really see in the crater because of the steam/smoke.

On the way back down the mountain.

Photo shoot!  Lee said Josie was posing like a pirate. :-)

Here's our little pirate.

Here's the crew.  Michelle & Miguel, Jesslyn, and us. (Minus me, of course.)

And, one with me!  Josie's a photographer.

Here's the high point of our week.  Levi's bible study!  This is the young man I told you about before.  Levi has had two bible studies with him already.  When Levi gave him a bible he was so happy.  It's been very encouraging for all of us.

That's it for this week.  We hope you all survived the big snowstorm.

Lots of love,

The Bachman Family

XXXXOOOO