List 40 - A few of the things I want to tell you about Nicaragua . . .

So, friends, hopefully you have noticed that I haven’t had a post in a while.  I’ve been on another ‘trip of a lifetime’ (to Padre Ramos, Nicaragua) and returned earlier this week.  Before I left, I assumed that I would be racing back to put words to the experience; that hasn’t been the case.  Life is always a surprise, huh?

I’ve been remembering all that I saw last week, to be sure; and the faces of those sweet and gentle people have played like a movie in my head.  I just have not yet known what to do with all that I saw and experienced.  As one friend put it, I’m letting things marinate.  

I saw beautiful things and sad things and lived remarkable moments.  I shot hundreds of photos, though I fear they won’t capture what I witnessed.  So . . .  I guess I just need a bit of time to figure out what to do with the experience.  Just like editing photos, I am requiring some time and space to put things into the right light and figure out just how to tell the stories.  What do I leave in?  What do I leave out?  So, I'm thinking. 

I know some things that I want to tell you, for sure, so I believe they will be this Friday’s list.  Here are a few of the things I want to share with you about my trip to Nicaragua (in coming posts) - a bit of a ‘sneak peek’!

I want to tell you about:

1. Working with friends who have little, serving friends who have nothing.
2. Hammocks and ‘Nica’ time.
3. The colors.
4. The challenges and gifts of not carrying along my ‘real’ camera.
5. Learning that humor needs no language.
6. What I learned about trust from those who don’t ‘hold on.’
7. Why I’ve spent a good portion of this week ‘unsubscribing’ from all that I can.
8. Zip-lining and Hannah Montana helmets.
9. The magic of seeing a country from the back of a Toyota truck.
10. The ‘Bread Lady’ and the funny dollar store glasses.
11. How children who live in a dump reaching for an orange have better manners than American children in a fast food restaurant fighting over french fries.
12. That even toddlers can have a servant’s heart.
13. The benefits of being somewhere where the stars have no lights to compete with for stage time.
14. The things that make our world seem so small.
15. Folks who think nothing of a farm animal walking through their conversation.

Thanks for your patience, folks.  I look forward to sharing with you.  I thank you for your prayers, support and questions.  I loved being a traveler again and I can’t wait to tell you about it!