Questions Answered

Well a number of questions have been asked.

I will try to answer them as best I can. If the answers are wrong the team will let me know.

In terms of wild life it seems to be basically what we have at home. Gus talked about deer being in the area, etc. What we have noticed is Gecko's on the ceiling in our hotel, restuarants and at the home where we had church the other night. The other big difference is that through out the city we see dogs everywhere running free, cows, goats and the occassional host. We have seen no snakes and we are told that while they may be around they are very uncommon.

The homes are simple. Many are made of wood that appears to be nailed to some kind of beam at the top and bottom. The homes are not sealed in any way. Beyond this many of the homes have dirt floors. Yet somehow they manage by and large to have clean clothes, what appears to be clean beds and TV's. It is hard for us to imagine what it is like here in the rainy season. There are also many homes made of block and then stuccoed(may be spelled wrong) over. The interesting thing is that you willl have both extreme poverty and relatively nice homes next to one another.

Someone asked about the descent of the people. I am really unsure about that. But it seems to be a mix of native Nicaraguan(probably some Nicaraguan Indian as well) and some of European descent. You see people who have lighter colored hair who are obviously from here. A quick look on the internet turned up nothing on this. What I do know is that the city was founded in the 16th century and archeological sites have been found in the area. Beyond this the area was the scene of intense fighting during the Somaza revolution and during the contra war of the 80's(remember that whole Iran - Contra thing). :)

Also Adam, your mom has not seen any spiders or snakes that I am aware of and so there has been no cosmic battle between her and a creature that crawls on the ground.

I think I have answered most questions. If not... you can ask when we get home.

We head out tomorrow and arrive at BWI on Saturday night at 11:30. Now I need to work on sermon and a couple of other things. Adios!