Football Americano (Nica Style)

This past Saturday the Ave Maria Knights had there first football game of the season. We have been practicing on and off for about 3 weeks now. What I mean by "off" is that you never know who's going to show up each day for practice. So, I believe that we have only had about 4-5 solid practices in those 3 weeks. Nevertheless, Saturday arrives and I am really excited yet nervous, because I have no idea what to expect. I don't know anything about our competition or my own team for that matter. About 20 guys show up (some from around San Marcos and a few from the university), we load up into a microbus which doesn't have enough room for us all, and drive 30 minutes to Managua for the game. There are a total of 4 teams in our league, including us, and the first two are playing when we arrive at 1:30 in the afternoon. I am only able to watch a little bit of the game, because I am busy telling everyone what position they will play, going over a few plays, and practicing snaps with my new center. Of course, these are all things that should have been taken care of weeks ago, but we are doing them one hour before our first game. As the first game starts winding down, we begin our warm-ups. We can see our opponents on the other side of the field doing the same with about 40-50 guys, and all in unison as they count every stretch. We, on the other hand, seem more like the three stooges times six, because we can't count in rhythm, much less do jumping jacks together. I couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time. "We are going to get creamed," I thought. But I tried to keep my spirits high.

It came time for the coin toss, so myself and two other smaller guys from my team walked out to midfield. We were met by the 6 largest guys from the other side. We shook hands, won the toss, deferred to the second half, and returned to our sideline. We sent 11 guys on the field to kick-off, but we still didn't know who was going to kick. But since everyone here in Nicaragua plays soccer, it wasn't hard to find someone to do it. Luckily for us, he kicked a line shot. It hit of the shoulder of a guy from the other team, and we recovered the ball. First and ten, Knights!! I was quarterback and I had 25 seconds to explain to my team the play we were going to run, and I had to do it in Spanish. The first few plays were meant to be pass plays, but I was mostly running for my life. The offensive line didn't do the best job of blocking. I finally got a little time to throw and hit my best receiver (which is really just 1 of 2 that I trust to actually catch the ball) on a corner route for about a 30 yard gain. Now we were in the red zone! The next play we gained another 15 yards for "roughing the passer." Yes, that means I got killed. So, we had first and goal from about the 5 yard line. I just wanted us to run the ball and punch it in the end-zone, but running didn't work at all. So, I tried to pass and had no time. So finally on 4th down, I decided to run it myself. On the snap I took off to the right, had some room, there was only one guy to beat at the 2, he was a little smaller so I thought I could just run him over, but he went low and tripped me up. I fell over him around the one. And that was the closest we got the whole game to the end-zone. Actually, we had two other opportunities. One on a reverse where the receiver was wide open downfield but he slipped and missed the ball, and the other on more roughing the passer penalties that took us close to the end-zone. But, with the amount of guys we had and the lack of practice, the guys just weren't able to block late in the game. So, we got beat 21-0.

Another funny note. There was one guy on the team (#9) that for some reason I thought he spoke English. It wasn't until the 3rd quarter that I realized the truth. Normally, I'd explain the play in the huddle in Spanish, but once we got into formation I'd tell some of the other guys what to do in English. This particular time I told the team we were going to run to the right. I was going to hand the ball to #9. However, once we lined up I noticed that the defense had over-loaded the right side. Therefore, I told #9 that we were going to run to the left. I said it about 3 or 4 times and he kept nodding his head in agreement. Well, I snapped the ball and took off to the left and no one came with me. Needless to say, I got drilled again. The morning after the game my body had no desire to get out of bed. I hope that our next game this Sunday turns out a little better. I'm hoping for a better offensive line and more guys to throw the ball to. I am very busy recruiting this week.

El Dia de la Biblia

A couple of Sundays ago there was a national holiday for the Bible. Most churches had special events planned for that day, and my friends from El Crucero invited me to their church service. Unfortunately, we are in middle of the rainy season, and without fail it was raining that morning. I was told to meet them at kilometer 27 on Carretera del Sur (Southern Highway). Nothing here has an address, so I was already a little anxious about finding the exact place they were going to be. So, I got off the bus from San Marcos at km 27, and of course, I saw nothing. So I started walking hoping to hear some music or see some people. I was wearing a rain jacket, but it wasn't doing much good. I also tried to call my friends but I was out of minutes. (Perfect timing, huh). So I just kept on walking because I knew they had to be close, and I only needed to go over the next hill. Well, many hills later I still hadn't found them so I decided to hop on another bus that was passing by and go to my friends house in El Crucero. At least I would be out of the rain. The bus dropped me off in the heart of El Crucero, which isn't much at all, and I saw a lot of people with umbrellas standing around a long flat-bed trailer. It just happened to be the group I was looking for. My Spanish isn't the best, but I know they didn't tell me it was going to be there. I found out they had decided to move it at the last minute because of the rain. I'm glad I was informed of that, but there is nothing better than walking a few kilometers in the soaking rain on a major highway in a third world country. Not many people get that experience. But I was still impressed with the determination of the church to continue their worship service rain or shine. Nothing was going to stop them from singing praises to our Lord. It might be hard to see, but the picture above is the church group still singing after more than an hour. I have to admit that I went inside my friend's house after a while. It is conveniently located right across the street. It was just one of those experiences I had to share.

Not So Thrifty Thrift Store

I forgot to mention that last Wednesday I went to Managua with Cesar to purchase some play clothes. (Like basketball shorts and shirts). He was going to the Ave Maria campus in Managua for a presentation and was going to drop me off at the mall. We were a little late so we went straight to the campus. I'm glad we did, because the professor that wanted Cesar to present asked me to as well, because it is an English class and the students were practicing giving presentations. So, all I knew to share about in such short notice was K-Wet. I showed two videos from YouTube, which they enjoyed, and shared all about working at camp. Of course I enjoy talking about K-Wet, but the really cool part was that I told them about the nightly tiki talks we give to the campers. How we tell the guys what it really means to be a man; not one of the world but of God. And something similar to the girls about finding their beauty and self-worth in Christ and not things of this world or guys. It was neat to see the expressions of the faces of the students in the class. I could tell they were very interested. It made me really excited about starting some sort of bible study or event in the evenings at Ave Maria in San Marcos.

The short story about the thrift store is that afterwards Cesar took me to a Nicaraguan "Thrift Store." Since it was in Nicaragua and everything else is cheaper here, I expected the clothes to cost next to nothing. I was greatly disappointed. The cheapest shirts were $4 and shorts $7. Maybe I'm a little too thrifty myself though.

A while back I went to visit the land that Cesar had told me was donated for the purpose of some sort of Christian ministry or camp. We walked all over the property for about 2 hours. The land is very beautiful and has a lot of potential, but also needs a lot of work and even more prayer. One interesting part of the land is that there are some old Native-American drawings. I have no idea what indigenous group it could be. But if you look at the photos, it reminds me of an Indiana Jones movie. Maybe there is some ancient treasure hidden deep inside the mountain. If only I could decipher the drawings...

Career Student

Well, I have been taking Spanish classes as a student now for over a week every MWF. It was a little difficult for me to fork over the money for the 4 hour credit class, but I believe it will pay off. I now have full access to the university and can start private tutoring. I have a tutoring session tonight at 8pm. I need to refresh myself on Statistics, though. Here at the university I have already made a ton of friends. Though, of course, I stand out a little bit and everyone wants to know who the new gringo on campus is.

I also sent my resume to the university and sat down with the Dean of Students. As we talked, I shared about my interests and my work in the ministry and at K-Wet, but I said that finding a water sports ministry here in Nicaragua might be hard to do. The dean quickly responded saying that interestingly enough just a week ago the board of directors at Ave Maria had mentioned wanting to start a "group" or "club" that was focused on such excursions like water sports, surfing, kayaking, hiking and mountain climbing. He found that to be quite a coincidence that I arrived in his office just a week after that meeting. So, opportunities are opening up. I just need to keep praying a see which direction God really wants me to go.

I am also helping with the football team both as a coach and quarterback. It is a lot of fun but very difficult to keep the students disciplined. Not everyone shows up at practice everyday. In the States they would be cut from the team immediately, but here we wouldn't have a team if that were the case. We'll really find out how good we are during our first game. We were supposed to have one this past Saturday, but it was cancelled. Rain is constantly falling here. I guess a lot of it is from the tropical storms.

I miss you all.

I decided to at least put some photos on this blog. These are from La Boquita, the closest beach to where I am staying. I went one Sunday afternoon to check it out. There wasn't much to do because the water was so dirty from the tremendous amount of rain we have been having. I didn't have any desire to swim in mud.

Feliz Dia de Independencia

It is amazing how quickly time flies here. I have already been in Nicaragua for a week. Most of this week I have been trying to get access to the university, Ave Maria, whether as a student or a tutor. From talking with Cesar who works here, most likely I will become a student first and then work on becoming a paid tutor. As I was walking around the university, I noticed they were starting football practices (American football that is). So, I thought I would check it out and maybe see if I could help out in any way. I went to the field at the scheduled practice time and no one was there. I spoke with a few students nearby and they said the team was working out in the gym. Therefore, I checked the gym, and there weren't too many guys in there. Not much of a team, I thought. But I asked around and spoke with a guy about the football team. He said that a lot of the guys had graduated and they were starting fresh, but they didn't have a coach. I told them that I might be interested in helping and they seemed pretty excited about it. They even asked if I wanted to play. I guess I still have some eligibility left, right? I'm sure the collegiate league here in Nicaragua is just a little less competitive than the SEC. Maybe, like the WAC. Well, we'll see what happens with that.

This week the country has been celebrating their independence. (I believe some of the celebration is of their independence from the U.S.) So, there have been a lot of parades and activities. On Tuesday, the children of MQV marched with about 10 other schools down the middle of the main road in El Crucero. This road is actually part of the Central American Highway, and it was shut down for about 2 hours because of the parade. I found that humorous. I would hate to have been the first car stopped. You know that guys was killing himself for drinking that extra cup of coffee.

Then on Wednesday they had more activities just at MQV with some skits, dances, and songs. It was very entertaining. I enjoy seeing the kids get all excited to dress up and be a part of something formal. I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Mi Habitacion

Well... I am in San Marcos, Nicaragua. So the blogs are going to start rolling again.

I was a little anxious when I first arrived, because I had no idea where I was going to stay or what my situation was going to be like. My friend Cesar picked me up from the airport. Unfortunately my plane was an hour late because as we were about to take off, the pilot said that we were having trouble with one of the engine's computers. That's not something you want to hear before taking an international flight, but at least they caught it before we were in the air. Once in Nicaragua, I got to visit with my friends at MQV, and so much has changed at the orphan home. They have so many more little children who love to be held. They simply walk up to you and hold their cute little arms up. It is impossible to resist. So every day since I have arrived, I take two buses from San Marcos to El Crucero (about 75 cents and 40 minutes) to spend time with the children. It has been wonderful getting back involved where I have spent so much time in the past.

News from San Marcos: Every night when I return from El Crucero I try to get out and meet some of the students from the university here named Ave Maria. One night as I was sitting at a pizza stand just outside the gates of the university, I met 3 students. We started talking and eventually I found out that they are having trouble with their math classes. So I said, ¨I love math and am looking to start tutoring.¨ Immediately one of the girls said, ¨When can you start.¨ So, all three of them want to be tutored, and we are going to start next Thursday. It was such an answered prayer because just that morning I had asked God to provide opportunity soon, and He did just that.

One of the pictures I provided is of mi habitacion (my room). It is only $100 a month and right across the street from the university. A perfect location! The woman who runs the place is very sweet and already invited me to church with her. We went this past Wednesday.

More to come soon. I miss you all.

Here I Go Again

It's time again to update this blog since I am about to start traveling again. It seems that I can only write on here when I am out of the country.

I am about to leave this Tuesday (Sept. 7th) for my 4th visit to the great land called Nicaragua. This trip will be a little different from the others before since I will not be staying with New Hope, the organization that runs the orphanage and school and opened my eyes to the beautiful people of the country. This time I plan to work mainly with another Nicaraguan friend of mine as we explore the possibility of starting some sort of camp ministry.

This friend, Cesar, whom you read about in a previous blog about driving around in his little VW Bug, says that no such ministry exists in his country. The first time we met he spoke of wanting to start a camp even before he knew my heart and passion for the same ministry. It seems that from the beginning God was leading us to work together. At the beginning of this summer, before I left for K-Wet, he emailed me saying that he had found 36 acres of land and wanted me to come check it out. So, this trip is just that. I am going to check out what might happen and pray and see what God might be doing. I am a little anxious since I don't really know what to expect, but I do know that while I am searching I plan to live in a little town called San Marcos. There is a university on the outskirts, and I want to start working with the college students immediately: leading bible studies and starting worship nights. I am also really excited about working on my Spanish, and hopefully I will become a lot more conversational in the 10 weeks I will be there.