Hey!! Wow, sorry it has been awhile but I feel like maybe their is more anticipation now to read this post?! No? Well either way here it is. January has been great! I have had a chance to travel some more and see more of Nicaragua, spend time with friends and continue to grow.
The beginning of January I had a chance to go to Leon with two of the other SALTers. Leon is famous for some of it´s old churches, and since we went on a Sunday when most of the shops are closed...that´s what we saw...a lot of churches! My Nicaraguan history is failing me right now but I think it was one of the capitals back in the day (the capital city changed depending on which party was in leadership). Pretty much we would see a steeple (i don´t know how to spell that) and walk towards it. And so progressed our day. It was a great chance to get out of the city though and spend some time with the girls.
A friend of mine that volunteered last Oct/Nov came back to volunteer for the month of January (and actually just left today) so work has been great in that aspect. She has a lot of great ideas and energy to carry them through so it was good to change the pace of things. We have started setting up a sensory room for the kids. It´s called a Snoezelen Room and is meant to either stimulate the kids who need it or just be a good chill out time for those who also need that. I also had a chance to talk with an OT who worked at an orphanage in Jamaica and so she has got me thinking about how to best utilize time and space with the kids. The hard thing is following it through and figuring out where to or how to start. I feel at a loss with some of the kiddos because I don´t know where they are at or what their diagnoses is. Which can be really great because I can work with what I see.....but at the same time, I don´t know what´s inhibiting them from progressing. So if you could PRAY for wisdom for me as to how to change/adapt my approach while working with different kids that would be awesome.
At the beginning of January the older kids (who came at the beginning of December) went out to the new Mustard seed Communities home in Diriamba. The house is just getting started and there is a lot of planning and programming that still needs to be done. But I think the place has a lot of potential for providing a home for the kids where they can more actively contribute to day to day life and learn some life skills. So since the older kids are gone, Hogar Belen is a little quieter. BUT we have seen some awesome progress. One of the little guys is now walking independently...and another one is walking independently (with a lot of encouragement, but just the same..walking). My little buddy Elvira who I feed at lunch time is doing well. She is consistently eating an entire bowl of pureed food..and she´s doing it smiling :)
Around mid January I felt like I was getting into a rut. In some ways this rut could be seen as a blessing but let me explain. I want to be intentional about this year. Intentional about meeting people, intentional about learning Spanish, intentional when working with the kids, and intentional about seeking God and growing in my relationship. But I have been here now for six months and I am getting comfortable. I am able to have basic conversations with people (with minimum fake laughing!), I know a few people in church and I have gotten into a good groove at work. Even with God, now that I feel more comfortable and at home here...I am not praying and seeking His presence as much throughout the day. So apart from the God thing, it is a blessing that I have gotten to the comfortable part and feel more at home....but I want to keep going and pushing/challenging myself to continue growing. To continue meeting people and learning spanish and changing my approach with the kids. I don´t want to get home and say ´dang if only i had....´So last week I went to VIVA spanish school in Managua. Just for five days but it was a good chance to refresh some of the things I knew and work on another level of Spanish. Now I just have to practice. So that´s one step I suppose, but definitely want to continue progressing and living each moment to it´s fullest. So if you could PRAY for that one as well...that I would continue to challenge myself rather than just getting through the day.
As for the traveling front. Last weekend a friend of my sister´s who I haven´t seen in about 10 yrs had to do her Visa run from Costa Rica. So she came up for the weekend and we toured around Granada and then went to the Laguna de Apoyo. It is a volcano crater that has now become a lake. The water is 28 degrees and absolutely beautiful! We stayed at a hostel (Crater´s Edge) but it was more of a retreat than anything. We went for a hike up the volcano wall to get a better view and then went for a morning kayak. Probably the most exercise I have had in awhile...but I loved every minute of it! At the top of the volcano wall is a town called Catarina and it has a bit of a market there. While looking in one of the little tiendas I accidently knocked a ceramic butterfly off the wall and it broke. They asked if I could pay 30 cordobas for it which is more than fair and so as I was paying for it I asked if I could at least have the pieces to glue together. They said yes, and as they were putting the pieces in a bag for me..they put another ceramic butterfly in a bag for me as a gift! I don´t understand the logic behind it...but I guess there isn´t any. It was just a gift. It was great to spend time with this friend though..first person from ´back home´which was awesome. And this past weekend my friend Gabbi headed back to Texas but not before we went back out to the Laguna for a break from the sun and a swim in the lake. So it has definitely been a busy month! My host brother has started calling me a vagabond in joking! And with travelling has come a bit of a change in mindset. The more people I meet from around the world....the more I want to travel and continue exploring! Up until around Christmas my mindset was sort of : okay, get through this year, live in every moment....and then go home and settle down (whatever that means). But there is a whole world out there!! An entire world full of amazing people and cultures and traditions and languages! Don´t worry, I definitely plan on coming home and seeing friends and family because now more than ever I appreciate those relationships. But, I definitely want to continue traveling and growing and changing. I dont like ruts.

OH! and the countdown is on because my sister is coming to visit! Huge Surprise! She will be here on the 13th..which means I have a date for Valentines!! I am sooooo excited for her visit. She will be here for a week so hopefully we get to do a little bit of everything!!

Thank you so much for your prayers and support. It means a lot to know that I am not doing this alone and have people supporting and keeping me accountable.

All my love! I hope you are all doing well!
amanda