This time the container really is here.

This past Thursday, after 3 weeks of waiting for the container to get through customs and other "legal" stuff (I put legal is quotation marks because I wouldn't really call it legal - some might call it bribery), we finally unloaded the container at MQV. There were over 900 boxes of food, more than 100 computers, and many boxes of clothes and toys. We had a lot of people come and help us unload. I am very grateful for their help, because it took us all a little over 2 hours. And I have to admit that my arms were a little sore the next day. However, I think it is kind of cool that a Jones was on both ends of the shipping process. Dad was there in Birmingham to load, and I was here in El Crucero to unload. But I bet it took Dad a lot longer, because I don't think he had as much help as we did. Thanks for all the hard work Dad.
I am writing this on my last day here in Nicaragua. It has been a good 5 weeks, but it is always difficult to leave this place. I never feel that I have completely finished all that I can do here, and I will miss all my Nica friends. Though, one cool and interesting fact is that I will be flying to Ft. Lauderdale with Moises (my first Nica friend) and Sarah (his new American wife). We didn't plan it but came to discover that we had scheduled the same flight out of Managua. So, I won't completely leave Nicaragua until we part ways in the States. It's funny, but Moises is very nervous about his trip to the States. He doesn't speak much English and will be completely out of his comfort zone, especially in Kansas where he will see his first snow. But I think he will do just fine. He is very easy-going and fun to be around.

Hasta pronto! See you all soon!

A few things

A few things have happened in the last week that I want to write about. The first was Graduation. The students, parents, and teachers worked for almost a week getting the gym ready for the big day. The night before I stayed up working with a group of them until about midnight, and then I found out the next day that some stayed past 2 o’clock. The funny thing is that the majority of the stuff I was helping with was not even used in the ceremony. Oh well. Nonetheless, I was very impressed with all the decorations. Everything was beautiful, and the students came all dressed up. It was a very important day for them. We had two graduations: one in the morning for primary and one in the afternoon for secondary.
It seemed to me that there were more people for the primary graduation (6th grade) than the secondary (11th grade). I was told that graduating from 6th grade was a very big deal, and that most drop out afterward and never make it to 11th.


Saturday and Sunday, I took a trip to San Juan del Sur with 3 of my Nica friends. Now that school was over and the graduation had passed, we were free to travel a bit. We stayed the first day and night in the city of San Juan del Sur. We played in the waves, and I tried to teach them how to body-surf. They never really caught on, but I think it would have helped if they could swim. That night I taught them how to play “Cornhole” at a restaurant on the beach. I think we played for 3 hours. The place we stayed was only $7 per person. I wish it was that cheap in the States. The next day we met up with Harald and he took us to a more secluded beach about 10 miles south of San Juan. This beach was gorgeous. I almost felt like I was one of the first explorers to find this place, and my ship was anchored in the cove. Unfortunately, I never got the opportunity to surf, but there is always next time. I would have felt bad if I was surfing and my friends were sitting on the beach by themselves.