This blog is for the friends and family of Kimberly Cook, RN who want to follow her adventures serving at Nueva Vida Clinic in Ciudad Sandino, Nicaragua. Welcome!

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Acostumbrándome (Accustoming Myself)

I am getting to the part in the adjustment process of beginning to feel more comfortable and familiar with my surroundings and the reality of living in Ciudad Sandino, Managua, Nicaragua. I smiled to myself while swimming in the pool on Thanksgiving, all the while thinking, “It’s late November and I am swimming outside in 80 degree weather!” and praising God. Although living here has not been easy and there are hurdles to jump every day, I thank God often that he brought me to Nicaragua. I consider it a privilege and a blessing to be here.

Although I am becoming more comfortable with living here, I am simultaneously missing home. It is different than the culture shock I experienced when I first got here. One of the phases of culture shock is rejection of the new culture, and I experienced many thoughts and feelings of rejection. Now that I have been here for about 2 and a half months, and in comparison to the excitement I felt when I first arrived, life is becoming more routine. I still encounter new situations, learn new words, meet new people, and am confronted with a culture very different from my own every day. There are some things I am truly looking forward to experiencing when I return in January, such as visiting more parts of Nicaragua, living with a Nicaraguan host family (I’ll go into more detail re. this in the last paragraph), growing in relationships, and continuing to learn the language and culture. Yet I am definitely missing home. Most of all, I miss the people who know my past and know me. I was recently reminded by a wise woman that although I miss the people who know me well, since living in a different country, I am different. I will most likely realize that the people who knew me well before I left will not know me as intimately when I return, because I am changed. I know that this holds truth. I also know that my family and best friends will continue to support me, and will want to learn how my worldview and I have changed by living here. And because I have only been here for two and a half months, they still know me better than anyone other than God. When I am feeling particularly lonely and homesick, I remember that God knows me the best of anyone, and he is always with me. He will always know me intimately, no matter how much I change. This gives me great comfort.

Although I greatly value my relationships with my family and close friends back home, relationships that I am forming here have already begun to change me. My views on poverty and living in poverty have changed in part because of the relationships I have begun here. Instead of viewing poverty as an abstract concept that I have a responsibility to change, I see it as a problem that impacts all areas of life in the country of my friends. I have also come to appreciate that poverty is a concept that integrates social, environmental, and financial areas. Just because a person doesn’t have money themselves to buy extra food and clothing does not mean that they are living in poverty. One of the beautiful things I have observed here is the importance of living together as family and depending upon your family. Oftentimes, the support of family brings individuals through difficult times.

Family is the base component of life here in Nicaragua. Multiple generations of family members often live in the same home, passing time and life together. The grandmother is a natural ‘babysitter’ (although I imagine it is incredibly difficult for older women to spend their whole day watching little kids!). Some Nicaraguan working-aged women have jobs outside the home, although many stay home to tend to the full-time work of maintaining the home, cooking meals, washing clothes, and raising children. Some sell food and other items from their homes or from a stand nearby. The unemployment/underemployment rate in Ciudad Sandino is 80% (meaning that 80% of the working age population has no job or earns less than minimum wage), so a man is blessed if he is able to find a job. Families attend youth group and church together, go to events together, and spend time together most nights and weekends. They do not schedule family dinners or family game nights because it is built into their culture. It is how they live life – as a family.

From left to right: Amalia my host mom, me, Karen my host sister, and a host cousin (she was painting the house and is speckled with paint)

I and many others have been praying for weeks now for a good host family for me to live with when I return to Nicaragua on January 5th. Thanks be to God that he has provided one! I visited the family and the home yesterday, and it seems like it will be a wonderful fit for me. As it is with many Nicaraguan families, it is unclear exactly who lives in the home and who is visiting. I know that I will have a host mom, grandma, sister (she is 23 also!), and 2 teenage host brothers. I think that some aunts, uncles, and cousins of my host siblings also live in the house. More family lives nearby and comes to visit often. I met some of the family members yesterday and saw the house I will be living in. They seem like a wonderful family and the house is nice. I will have my own room with a double bed – I am truly looking forward to sleeping in a nicer bed! I will not have internet access in the home, but there is a ‘cyber’ 2 blocks away, so I will be able to update my blog every 2-3 weeks and answer emails. I have a feeling that I will get along really well with my host sister and that we will become close friends. She is in college, is not married, and has no kids – something very rare for a 23 year old woman in Ciudad Sandino. We already have a lot in common!

I have a lot to look forward to when I come back to Nicaragua in January. For the time being, I am counting down the days until I come home for Christmas (my plane arrives late on December 15th). There is nothing like being with your loved ones over the holidays. After spending a Thanksgiving away from family, I will appreciate all the more being home for Christmas, and will pray for those who are not home. It will be more than worth being cold in Michigan (it’s already 90 degrees during the day here!) to pass the holidays with my family and best friends.

I am including some pictures below of some of my experiences in the past few weeks. I visited the mountain village of El Porvenir for the first time 3 weeks ago, and absolutely loved it. JHC brings medical brigades there to hold medical clinics, because the closest Nicaraguan Ministry of Health Post is a long distance from the village. I assessed and triaged patients during the clinic hours.

A group of girls who had finished their school day and whom I chatted with while we were waiting for the Ambulancia's engine (the old Land Cruiser we drove to El Porvenir) to cool down. A group of boys at El Porvenir posing for a picture on a cart being hauled by cattle.
An El Porvenir sunrise view from my cot on the porch where we slept. It was beautiful but it got very cold at night.
Sunrise at El Porvenir.
Dancing with the 'single ladies' in the clinic: Me, Inja the dentist, Nila the clinic's cleaner and cook, and Leah a volunteer who works in the pharmacy.
Volcán Masaya, an active volcano in Masaya that fumes sulfur. We visit Masaya with brigades that come to JHC from the States.