Weather and Weekend

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This coming weekend I am traveling with some of the young ministers to San Marcos, to a leadership-training seminar hosted by the UPC of Nicaragua. I feel very fortunate to be invited along to these events and I have tried to economically assist some of the young men who can often barely afford to make these several hour journeys.

Most of the churches in Nicaragua have five services a week, lasting between two and three hours. It’s also not uncommon for them to host special dinners or youth functions on the free nights. The expectation on converts is very high and most of the people I have become familiar with in the churches, completely arrange their lives around church scheduling.

I find it hard to attend more than once or twice a week. Although I find it a great benefit to be connected with the congregation, I also struggle with the length and bewildering speed with which the sermons are preached. I often leave with a pounding headache exhausted and unable to study for my early morning Spanish lessons.

The weather has softened in the last few days constant rains have provided a cloud cover, which is a welcomed barrier from the glaring sun. However, the Nicaraguans are starting to complain; one person told me that the clouds and cool weather is making it hard to dry clothes—drying machines are virtually unheard of. I offered that if it stays cool washing clothes becomes less necessary since one doesn’t drip with sweat from just walking the block. But I have a feeling that I might sweat a bit more than the Nica’s do. My two main complaints mosquitoes and the heat don’t seem to pose much of a problem to the locals. I would be delighted to have just one day of snow, but it’s just slightly less likely than finding an A/C apartment here.