FEAR NOT...

A few weeks ago I was eating lunch at home and watching a rerun of No Te Lo Pongas! (What Not to Wear!) on Discovery Home and Health when a commercial for a new show came on. It’s called El Peor Dia Para Nacer (Translation: The Worst Day to be Born). The commercial starts out with the narrator saying something along the lines of “These families thought they had every detail planned…” and then they go to shots of a woman going in to labour while a hurricane is about to destroy their house (Husband: “I didn’t know what was coming faster, the baby, or the hurricane!”); a woman trying to fight through a contraction while she and her husband are stuck in the middle of a traffic jam on the highway (Woman: “I thought to myself, Im going to give birth on the side of this road!”): or an operating room with doctors performing a c-section with flashlights. The commercial ended and I stared blankly at the tv for about a minute longer with my mouth wide open, then I broke into a nervous laugh. Then I thanked God that my due date is during the dry season in Nicaragua (Mid/March!), so there won’t be any hurricanes sweeping through the country.

My sister-in-law, Ivonne, (David´s older sister) once told me that the WORST time to be due is September/October because of the rain. She knows from experience-her son, Doson, was born on November 3rd, 2007. She told me that about a week before he was born it was raining so hard that water started rushing into their house (they lived on low ground at the time), and when the water was up to her knees she started packing her bags. She simply told her husband Nelson “Im going to my mom´s house” and she left.

I'll admit that I am a bit afraid to have a baby in Nicaragua, it is a developing country after all, but I know a lot of women who have-Nicaraguans and foreigners, and their babies are all fine. I´ve been to all kinds of hospitals, public and private, and seen it all. I know that I´ll be in the best hospital in the country, with doctors that studied in the US or Mexico, so I trust that they know what they´re doing. I can´t control nature, or traffic but I pray about that daily. God´s got it all under control.

There is one thing that really reassures me though.

About 3 weeks ago, just after church ended a woman that we had never spoken to before approached me and David. She said (in Spanish),
“I need to talk to you two. I want to tell you that I had a dream about you, and in the dream you (Julia) were standing here in church holding a baby. I couldn’t tell if it was a boy or a girl. I want to tell you because I don´t know if you know it yet, but soon you will be parents”
Shocked and fighting back tears, I responded, “Actually, we haven´t told anyone yet, but I´m already 10 weeks pregnant.”
“Well now we know that God gave me that dream” she said.

And that was it. David and I walked out of church with huge smiles on our faces. For me, that was God not just saying “You´re pregnant” but, “You´re going to have a baby” which are two very different things. It put my heart at ease.

Now anytime the fear comes boiling up, or I see the commercial for that ridiculous show, I just remember that God told someone to tell me that Im going to have a BABY.

So TAKE THAT, Nature!!

Isaiah 43:1-2:
FEAR NOT, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name, you are mine.
When you pass through the waters I will be with you;
When you pass through the rivers they will not sweep over you.

The worst Blogger Ever

My last post was Jan 30th... its now May 9th. I think that makes me a pretty bad blogger. I READ other peoples blogs all the time, but i never seem to want to write in my own.
Honestly, the only reason I'm writing right now is because I receintly discovered that I can access the internet for free from my Kindle (using Nicaraguas 3G network) and I happen to stumble across my own blog. It is currently pouring rain, and since I have nothing else to do...Kindle Blog! But, seriously I have decided to make a change. I WILL blog more.
Well, I guess a quick summary of the last 4 months is in order. I'm going to point-form it to make it short and sweet.
~Medical Teams: between Jan and March I translated for 5 medical teams that came to the Orphanage (Where David works and I volunteer). My last post was about how much I love working with Med Teams... and its still true. Some are a bit more challenging than others, but they are all great.
~Anniversary: In Feb. David and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary! (Yay us!) We went down to Granada for 2 nights and a great (and very affordable) little hotel appropriately named Casa del Agua (House of Water) because it has a pool right in the middle. We had a fantastic time, with only one bad moment... a flat tire on the way home.
~The end of an Era: I have always prided myself on having a tough stomach. The last time I vomited was around March or April 2003. Until this April. One Sunday night I wasn't feeling too great and I thought I was hungry. I had one small bite of chicken and 15 minutes later I was puking! I spent the next daybetween my bed and the bathroom, and another 3 days recovering before I could eat again. And if it couldn't get any worse I got the stomach flu again just last week. I'm not sure if my body is making up for lost time or what... but I definately dont want to puke anymore!
and finally...Wedding Bells: Meagan and I have been friends for more than 13 years now and on May 21st I was the Maid of Honour in her wedding! I had a fantastic time in Canada, I saw lots of friends and family and had tons of fun with Meg helping her finish off wedding details.
Well thats all I've got for now. Aparently with my Kindle the more write the slower it goes. Im not going to proof read... or I'll be doing it until next Tuesday.

Julia

Winter In Nicaragua

I never thought it could get so cold in Nicaragua!

As I sit and type I am wearing two sweaters, a scarf, and I am wrapped in a blanket. And yes, I am still in Nicaragua!

It is finally team season again, so that means it’s off to Jinotega to translate for medical teams. I LOVE teams. Not only because it means I get paid (I do love being able to buy groceries!), but because I really have fun with them. It’s interesting to see people who have been coming to Nicaragua on short term trips for 6 years or more, and learn about their experiences, and it’s also fun to watch a new group member experience Nicaragua for the first time, and see their reactions to things that I have grown accustomed to (i.e. drinking pop out of a plastic bag, seeing cattle being herded down the middle of the pan—American highway, using latrines etc). Every team is different, some teams are more difficult than others, but every team is also a new experience for me. I get to see parts of Nicaragua that I’ve never seen before, and I get the chance to impact lives.

This past week (Jan 23rd -28th) I was translating for a medical team from Illinois. Saturday they had their tourist day, so we went to the Mombacho volcano to do the zip line, then to buy some pottery, and finally Narome, in Laguna de Apoyo for a late lunch.

Sunday we headed up to Jinotega in the morning, and the team started organizing the mass amounts of medications they brought into the country. I think we spent about 4 hours counting pills and labeling bags. It’s a lot of work, but being organized before the clinic days is really important!

Monday morning we were up super early and out the door by 7:30am heading out to our first clinic. I translated all week for Dr. Becky Hewitt. I had a fantastic time with her! It was my first time translating for a provider, so I was very nervous the first day. I was afraid I wouldn´t know how to say something really important, but, everything went fine! By the end of the week Becky and I had it down, and when someone came in who had an illness that we had already seen a lot, she could just said “tell them what they need to know” and I could give them diet, or home care instructions while Becky listed to hearts or lungs, or did exams. We say so many interesting cases, and I wish I could share them all with you, but Im sure I would bore you to death. So I thought I would highlight one thing that stood out each day for me.

Day one: In the afternoon we had a mother and her baby come in. Her baby boy was 17 days old, and he was just precious!!! On the patient sheet there was no name written down, so I asked what her baby´s name was, and she said he didn’t have a name yet. When I asked why she told me that she hadn’t found a name yet that she thought was really great for him. So Becky examined him, and he was completely healthy. The rash that mom was worried about was just infant acne, which we assured her would clear up soon. We prescribed some infant vitamins for him, and gave mom some vitamins too. And then I got to hold him!! When I took her to the pharmacy I told her that my husband and I really love the name Jeremy for a baby boy, and she seemed to like it too! She asked me to write it down for her, and then asked what middle name we thought went well with it! I personally like Jeremy Alexander, but I Spanish-ed it up a bit and said Jeremy Alejandro. I think she really liked the names! He was such a cute baby boy, and she was a really great, attentive mother! Im kind of excited to think that maybe I´ll go back with another group and see little baby Jeremy!!

Day two wasn’t as memorable. I woke up feeling a bit grumpy that day. I went out to bring in our first patient, and there were having trouble getting the two years olds weight. I told mom to get on the scale with her boy, and then I took him and they weighed her again ([Mom + baby] – [mom] = baby´s weight!), and it wasn´t until I took a good look at him that I realized he had a rash all over his face and hands. The rash turned out to be Scabies, which is incredibly contagious, and also incredibly itchy and painful (I had it last April). It wasn´t a great was to start of the day! The rest of the day seemed to fly by. We had a lot of chronic heart burns, another scabies case, elderly women with sores on their legs, etc. (Note: at the end of the week I took a scabies-prevention medicine, so I shouldn’t get scabies again!)

Wednesday, day 3 was the most memorable. In the early afternoon a women about 45 years old came in with her two grandchildren. Before we could even talk about what they needed she told me that he daughter was at home, and that she was very sick. She hadn´t slept in 5 days, and she was disoriented. She was also violent, and trying to run away. She asked if we could come to her home and see her. I double checked with our team leader, and once we had finished with the kids, we headed out. Becky and I went, plus Kim from the pharmacy, and Oscar, our bus driver. He is a very big man, and honestly, I was bringing him for protection. From what the mom had said about her being violent, I wasn´t sure how she would react to us coming into her house, better safe than sorry!

So, getting to her house was another story. When I asked the mom if she lived close by, she said “Aqui, no mas” which directly translated means “Here, no more” aka close by. I guess Nicaraguans idea of close is very different then the North American version. Because her house was 20 minutes away, and the hike was entirely uphill. We eventually went off the road and had to walk through the jungle to get to the house! Once we got there we could see that there was something seriously wrong with this woman. She is 20 years old, and they said that 10 days earlier she has become disoriented. She was so violent with the family that they had to tie her to the bed. She clearly was psychotic. She was talking about being cloned, and that the people in her house were not her family, but that she had been stolen from the sky, that they were torturing her, etc. We spoke to her mother and told her that we had to take her to the hospital. She couldn’t live the rest of her life tied to the bed, and she needed a psychiatric evaluation. After a lot of convincing, her mom finally said we could take her. So we said we would be back in an hour to pick her up, along with a family member, and we would take them to the hospital in Jinotega where she could be evaluated and medicated. By the time we got back to the clinic it had started raining, and we finished up with the rest of the patients, and then headed back to the house with a few of the men from the team, one of the clinic´s local doctor, and one nurse. We also brought some medicine along to sedate the woman, since she had been so violent before, we didn´t want to take any chances with a bus full of Gringos!! She was sedated, and then taken out of the house, and we brought her down to Jinotega, and checked her into the hospital. When she was checked in, and I got back on the bus I let out a big sigh of relief. We (hopefully) really helped that woman and her family. She will get the help she needs, and hopefully be able to live a relatively normal life if she is medicated!

Day 4 we say a 62 year old woman who didn´t know she had very advanced breast cancer. It had already spread to her lymph nodes, and Becky was worried that it could have already metastasized to her spine, because she was complaining of back pain, but without tests we had no way of knowing. It was very hard for me to have to tell someone that they have breast cancer. It was also harder because she didn´t seem to understand. She kept saying that he breast had gotten swollen before, and it was just because she had a cold, and that the doctor gave her some medicine to make it better. I explained over and over again that she had to go to the hospital in Jinotega for tests to find out if there was anything they could do, and we even had the local nurse write a referral to get her there for free, but honestly, I don´t know if she was really listening. She still left saying that there was a medicine she could take. That was a really hard one for me. I had to tell Becky that I needed to take a minute before we brought in the next patient.

Finally, day 5 was a half-day clinic, because in the afternoon we were heading back down to Managua. A woman came in with her three children, but only had a ticket for one of them (we have a one ticket, one patient rule, that is only broken in certain circumstances) so she was going to go out and wait in line so we could see her other two children. I asked her what was wrong with the other two, (her daughter had been sick and seemed anemic, and her baby boy, who has a heart murmur, has had a cough for a month) so we decided, since it was going to be such a short clinic day, to let them all see the doctor at the same time. Her baby boy who was 14 months old was listened to by our pediatrician, while mom explained that a few months ago he got sick and was admitted to the hospital, they told her that he had a heart murmur, and he had an EKG, and they suggested that she go to Managua for more tests, but they never told her how serious the murmur really was. When Tim or pediatrician listened to his heart and lungs, he said that there is a possibility that he is going into heart failure. It was really important that she get her son to the hospital, and get the documents that are necessary to take him to Managua to get the other tests that he needs. She took that very seriously, and said she would make plans to go to Managua as soon as possible.

That was my week! Friday afternoon we headed back to Managua with the team, went to the market, dropped them off at their hotel, and then finally, FINALLY headed home. I got home at 9pm, and spent a lot of time talking to David until we both fell asleep. Saturday morning I was up early again, re-packing, and at 8am Steph and I packed into the truck again to go pick up the next medical team from their hotel, and head right back up to Jinotega.

So here I am, on Sunday morning, FREEZING cold in Jinotega! We have another 4 days of clinics this week before we head back down to Managua on Friday. I miss my bed, and I miss my husband, but I know that this week we are going to see so many interesting cases, and really make a difference in people’s lives. Bonus: this Wednesday we are going to a community that has never, EVER, had a medical team come. It is going to be very rural, but very rewarding!

House update: Two weeks ago David´s brother, Chico, came out to build our dividing wall, so now we have a real bedroom with a door!! I took pictures, but I forgot my camera down in Managua. I will post the pictures next week. Also, this week David is bringing out an electrician to install our “Widow-maker” which is an electrical shower head that heats the water! I am so happy about having warm water…finally!!!

Thanks for reading, blessings!!
Julia

The long awaited blog update!!

A lot of people mentioned to me that I haven´t updated my blog in a long time (especially my Mom and Dad, sorry!). So finally, here is the update--complete with pictures!! I will try to sum up the last few months without boring you to tears….

Like I mentioned before, Sept/Oct were very slow for people in the translating business (i.e. me). I did not have a single translating job for all of September, October and half of November. It was difficult for us to live off of just one salary (and a Nicaraguan salary at that!), but we managed to survive. We didn´t use the motorcycle for almost all of September because we didn´t have any money for gas!!

September was also the rainiest month I have ever experience in my life! It rained all day every day, and did a lot of damage all over the country. Thousands of Nicaraguans were moved to emergency shelters, and many of those people lost their homes completely. We are so thankful that we bought land on high ground. Although the rain was intense, I was glad to have such a harsh rainy season the first year on our land, at least now we know what to expect in the future.
By mid October we were ready to move into the house, but the rain held us back. We didn´t have glass windows, and the rain was coming in from all sides! We had to wait until November 15th to finally move in, and believe me, David and I were SO excited to finally be living on our land! We didn´t have any windows, and the first few nights we could hardly sleep because of the noise from the wind. We were also freezing cold!! (Sorry, Canadians, I know it only gets down to about 20C, but for me that is pretty cold now!) We even sleep with blankets! I have been told that December/January is always the windiest times of year in Nicaragua. Boy, it IS windy, and because it hasn´t rained since early November, it is also REALLY dusty. I have to sweep my house multiple times a day to keep on top of the dust.

Although the house still has a lot of work, we have been living here for almost two months now! As you can see from the pictures there are a few things missing! We have a list of things we need to finish in this part of the house before we can start building phase two. They are:

• 3 Doors! (bathroom, and two front doors) Doors cost about $100 each.
• Dividing wall. We have most of the materials we need, but David needs some help building it because he doesn´t have a lot of experience with drywall. The wall will separate the bedroom from the rest of the house. Right now you can see in the pictures that we have two wardrobes giving us a bit of division.
• Windows! Thanks to a Christmas present from my grandparents we were able to purchase 4 windows last week! We need one more rectangular window which will cost about $50, and then the three arched windows will probably cost $75 each.
• A ceiling!! Right now you can see in the pictures that we have a roof, but no ceiling. As it gets hotter the ceiling does a lot to keep the heat out of the house, so we are hoping to get a ceiling in the bedroom before March. Along with the windows, a ceiling will make a difference in how much dost can actually enter the house as well.

David also wants to put a small porch on the front of the house so that the lavendero has some shade in the afternoon, and we still need to paint the house!

In early November David and I passed by a World Vision office and I left my business card with them and let them know that I am available to translate. Just a week later they contacted m and I was asked to translate a document. I got Stephanie (my american sis-in-law) to help me because it was a huge document, with a very quick deadline, but we made it! Then the next week they sent me another document to translate. I also translated for a medical team in mid November. It was a blessing to get those jobs when I did, because with the money I made we were able to buy things we needed for Christmas!

Christmas in Nicaragua is definitely a different experience!! There isn´t a big emphasis on presents and Santa Claus, but on family, and celebrating together. Most of the celebration happens on the 24th, which is “Noche Buena” (the good night) a very important part of Noche Buena, is a new outfit which is called your “ropa de estreno” (Premiere Outfit). Everyone buys clothes in the markets in late November/early December, and it’s very important to wear it on the night of the 24th. David´s sister told me that when they were younger and the family didn’t have much money, the kids would rather skip meals to save money for clothes then go out on Christmas Eve with old clothes. It’s really important! So, David and I went to the markets to buy new clothes for Christmas Eve and New Years Eve (you need a second premiere outfit for that night too!). Most people buy everything new, even shoes or sandals, but David and I just stuck to pants and shirts. On Christmas Eve we went to David´s mom’s house in Managua, and on the way we bought a lot of fireworks (another Nicaraguan Christmas tradition). On the 24th everyone is out on the streets until midnight. I struggled to stay up, (because I had woken up at 5:30 am that morning to work with the little boys at the ministry), so I slept from 10pm until 11:45. About 10 minutes before midnight the fireworks start, and for about 40 minutes all you could hear was the crackling and banging of fireworks. It’s a great way to say happy birthday to Jesus!! After 45minutes of fireworks, we headed back inside, and David and I finally went to sleep at about 1:30am. We slept on the living room floor in David’s mom’s house, and at 6am, we were woken up again!!

New Years we decided to spend in our own house, so we headed to David’s moms house early so say happy New Year, and headed home about 9pm. David headed over to play some Wii with the teenage boys at the ministry, and at 11:45 brought the boys over to our house to set off more fireworks!!

This year so far, David has been working hard on the house. We bought a new wardrobe and some windows with Christmas money from my grandparents, and soon he will be building the wall that will divide the bedroom from the living room. I have some translating jobs coming up soon, and this Sunday I am going to Costa Rica to re-new my Visa (I have to leave the country every 6 months).

Since David finished high school he has wanted to study in University, but cannot decide what to study. He didn’t want to spend another year not studying, so he decided that until he figures out what to study in university, he will study English! Classes start this Saturday!

Well, that’s the update!! Don´t forget to scroll down and see the pictures of our house!
Julia

Our new window!! Thanks Mormor and Morfar!

One window with half the slates out.

The bedroom, the wardrobes (on the left) are acting as a wall to seperate.

A shot of the bed in its little nook. You can see how strong the wind is!!

The rest of the bedroom/bathroom, plus Stephanie and Joel´s washer! (they dont have enough room in their house right now, so we have it for now.)

The washer sits infront of the other door, which eventually will become a door inside the house once phase 4 is built.

Out new bathroom mirror, only C$200! ($10US)

A view from outside: our lavendero. This is where the typical nicaraguans would wash their clothes. Luckily we have a washing machine, but we use the lavendero for dishes, because we donlt have an kitchen sink inside.

Our clothes lines. David´s younger brother, Chico, welded this for us.

The back side of our house.

Everyone has that spot in their house where they hide all the junk, unfortunately ours is outside right now....

Our back yard! I am standing at the back corner of our house looking out to the end of the yard. Its a pretty big area! Phase 2 and 3 will take up some of that space, but we will still have a large backyard!

We have planted lots of fruit trees out there: Mango, Papaya, Avocado and Orange.

Our 7 Jocote trees, with our dog house. That is where our dogs live. The are tied up, but they get some run-around time in the afternoons. Dogs are a necessity here for protecting the property. They bark at anything strange, day or night.

Stranding at the front edge of my house and looking toward the front yard We have coconut trees and Almond trees planted in the front yard.

The front door.

Our beautiful arched windows, from the outside. Once we have the glass windows installed we will be able to take down the ugly screens that are on there now.

Back inside the living room/Kitchen. Our motorcycle sleeps inside at night. There is too much risk of it getting stolen to leave it outside.

The "kitchen"

Our living room. Joel and Steph also didn´t have enough room for their couch, so we took it off their hands for a while.

The wardrobes. The one on the right I bought a year ago, on the left is the new one that weboght with Christmas money from my grandparents!

Our Kitchen "cupboards" This piece of furnature is borrowed, and we will be switching it out as soon as we can afford to buy something nicer looking!

Some good news!

Well, we haven´t moved in yet, but its getting closer and closer each day! Last week the water was hooked up (check out the running water in our shower!) And David is working hard this week in the evenings getting the screens on the windows so that we can live in the house without being eaten alive by mosquitos!!


Also great news.... David´s older brother Juan Carlos and his wife Tania had a baby on Monday! Her name is Sol (which mean "sun" in spanish) and she is beautiful!!

Finally, something to post about!

It has been 26 days since my last post, and FINALLY I have something exciting to post about!

We have electricity!

On friday and saturday the guys (David, Joel, Jonathan and te electrcity guy) finished laying the wire, and hooked it up!

Which means....we are moving in at the end of the month!!!

Also good news: I finally (after two months of no work) am going to be translating for a medical team in November! Its only one job, but at least its something!!!

Rainy Update...

Well, September is over, but there is not much I can say about house progress... It has been so rainy that building has slowed down significantly. We learned our lesson though: Don´t start building in the rainy season!! We also had to slow down because we don´t have the funds to finish the last few projects we need to get done before we move in! Unfortunately, along with rain, September and October see very few groups or missions tems in Nicaragua. With-out the extra income, we are making just enough to get by. But, we have faith! We are very hopeful that things will pick up again once we get into November, and especially December!!

Anyway, I though I would post a few picture so you can see whats going on (when its not raining- which doesn´t happen very often!)

David- cutting grass Nica-style!

Our toilet and sink are finally installed, and once we have water, they will work too!!

This is David does his impression of a serial killer...

Actually he was just coming back from work, I think.

Here are the iron bars on the arched windows, they have a little more design then the rest.

They are also painted white now.

I don´t really have any other Estrada Family updates. But I´ll update the N.Americans on Nicaragua´s situation: The rain has been pretty distructive across the country. The level of Lake Managua (the second largest lake in Nicaragua) rose 19cm (yes, centimeter, not millimeters) in one day, and flooding is so bad that some houses are cover up to the roof, or destroyed completely. The water level in lake Managua is now higher then it was after hurricane Mitch, and the worst of the rainy season (October) hasn´t even hit yet. David and I are blessed to own land on high ground! We are praying that the hurricanes stay away from Nicaragua this year, because with all the distruction that has already happened, a hurricane at this point would be devistating.

And after scaring you with that paragraph....Don´t worry, David and I are keeping safe. We don´t go out on the motorcycle in the rain, and if we get caught in a rain storm, we wait until its over to keep going. Like I said before, we live on fairly hight ground, and the worst part of the rain for us is that I have to walk through puddles and mud to wash clothes or use the internet (like today!).

I, personally, hope October will go by quickly! I am looking forward to the dry season!!