Ya i know what yall are thinking. What in the world? Well our neighbors electricity went out but ours didnt. Why, well because her redneck hotwire to the telephone pole came loose. So she got someone to come out and unofficially fix it because its prohibited to climb the poles like that, but, whe hers got fixed, the the other neighbors lights went out. So this guy was fixing it all. haha. his harness was just a little rope around his waist, and his feet were just in some little ropes tied to the pole. One day i went to work with Benito just for the fun of it. Well it was fun, but not easy. We worked about 10 hrs that day in the baking sun. Making cement, with a shovel, carring it in buckets on our shoulders. I love the work, but it will give you a beating. My neck was nearly black till the end of the day. It has been raining quite a bit recently, but it keep things nice and refreshin. In about a week another youth group will be coming down to do some work projects. so we should be pretty busy next week. I think we are going to build a bathroom and a shower for Larry and Julios family. their house situation is not good at all. Well i should post more often...Joel

I might me in Nicargua, but I still get some good southern cookin:)

Heres a loong overdue post..i tried to update a while ago but couldnt because of computer problems...go figure...Well, this past month has been a lively one. The WATER students were here which means that we did a lot of out of the ordinary stuff. Waslala, volcanoes, day trip, and as the americans would say,"hangin out". It was also a lot of fun for me becasue the water guy was from my church. So we had, um like our whole lifes in common which was nice. It still has been raining quite a bit. On an average of every other day i would say. Keeps things nice and green and growing. One day, Ryan,Me, Hosmin, Fidel, and Ronald went biking in the afternoon. We didnt have anything planned for the day, so i thought it would be kind of fun to tour the city on bikes, so we wipt through Fatima(the community behind the church) and got some guys drummed up to go along. We rode probably 3 hrs at least. All over showing Ryan around. We also made it our to the dumpy little zoo and saw some cool things. Mainly the little crocidile. We threw some rocks in on top of it to get him all rowled up. And then we stopped at a little store on the way back and got some sodas. It was a lot of fun.
We also went out to a little village one day to have a service out there and thats where the mudhole picture is from. Also, the redneck picture. Kieths had to go pick some people up and it was raining, and the windshield wipers wouldnt work, so ropes and two people, i guess that works to. The river is in front of our house during a rain. When it rains, and we happen to be in the house, um, we just kind of stay put for the moment, although, i have left the house on the motorcycle when the river was that high, which was kind of fun, since i was already wet. Anyway, got questions, just email me or leave a comment...Joel

Well i guess i could put up a few pictures. Ryan Skrivit is hear for a month on WATER. Its a lot of fun so far. I have been putting him to work pretty good with a lot of much neglected yard work. We have been trimmin trees, and cuttin grass, well weeds, but we like to call it grass. The pictures are what i did last night. This tree was way to big and was putting a lot of shade on our clothes line and lemon tree, so i climbed it and made it bald, but dont worry, it will be big again soon with all the rain. sorry the pictures are backwards, they go from finish to start. Monday we took the WATER students to the volcano so once again that was fun and some good exercise. I have to study a little now for youth class that i have to teach today at church in La Palmerita. I always enjoy interacting with those youth becasue they are the first youth that i got to know when i was down on WATER. Well i should go. got questions? comment....joel

Well jist thought that i would let all yall know that i did make it back to Nicaragua safely and all. When i left for the states, it was hot, very dry, and dusty. I come back 3 weeks later, and it is cooler, very wet, and very green. It is amazing what 3 weeks of rain can do when your gone. It is very comfortable here now and the green defintly looks better than the dust. But i enjoy them both. I had a wonderful time in the states with family and friends. It was kinda shocking to see how much things have grown and changed. Mostly the people. My niece and nephew didnt even know who i was. Well maybe they can remember now. It isgood to be back though. Its amazing to see the difference in the 2 places. Anyway.....Joel