Work done well :)

Saturday-- June 30, 2012  Time: 9:00pm

Hola Amigas!! :) Como estas?
Today our team got to finish the task at hand.. and finish it well!! :) Today was our last day to be working with Felix, Yadar, and Manuel on Aarron's house, specifically his sister, Carmen's room.
We had another great breakfast, yes I know we are enjoying the food ALL TOO WELL. No surprise there for anybody who knows the Raub family well.
We didn't have to pack lunches either today, because we actually went out to lunch as a team which was really cool. Instead we packed up buckets filled with snacks to share with all the little children and family that we were with all week. Last night all of us team members also went through our suitcases and rounded up as many articles of clothing as we could to give to the new friends we have been with all week at Aaron's house. We wanted to make it even so some team members spent some time today on the bus sorting through our stuff and making piles for our new friends to give.
Back home, I had the job of picking out 10 female and 10 male gifts to buy for the people who made our trip go so smoothly. We decided we wanted to give some of those gifts to the floorman and his crew, Yadar, Felix, and Manuel. We also wanted to give some gifts to the women; Carmen, Haycel, and 2 other women of Aaron's family.
Before gift giving and goodbyes though, we got to actually all work as a team to make Nicaraguan cement and lay the floor of the room. We had a few minor set backs, the first being finding out massive red ants had built tunnels underneath the ground. We had to flush them out, killing them by drowning them with the hose going through their tunnels. Next the floor needed to be made level. It was interesting to see how the floorman Yadar, and his crew were able to make sure it was all level by using the water level in a house and pieces of chalk and string to mark on the walls.
The whole floor laying was a process. The first step is making the cement. Most normal sized batches were 5 buckets of sand, 2 1/2 buckets of rock, and one bag of cement. We all learned how to turn the cement dry. This needed to be done twice. It needed to go from looking like an oreo to being a complete blended mixture of one color. Next, you make a big ring with the mixiture so the water has a hole to go in in the middle. Next a few buckets of water are poured in the middle and then team members used shovels to turn the mixture and sprinkle it over the top until you form a volcano. The volcano then eventually errupts, essentially having the water leak out and the rest is history with shovels flying everywhere making sure everything got mixed quickly. We have obviously been making this all week, but today we had to make lots of it and lots of it quick. We worked in teams some of loaded up buckets and making the dry mixture, some mixing with water and making it into cement, and then some loading wheelbarrels and pouring and leveling onto the floor.
The Roswarski family also got to meet Leno's family and talk about sending him to private school and being his sponsor. We heard a very moving and powerful story about the daily struggles of the family and how Leno lives day to day. Leno is a special friend that has been coming help our crew just out of the pure joy and kindness of his heart. We learned alot about what being a servant really means by watching him and interacting with him all week. His smile was truly contagious. I even made a personal handshake up with him as the week progressed. Leno just has a special way about him, putting everybody else's needs in front of his own.
The team also delivered the last of our food bags, going to Lenos house, meeting with two sisters and giving them 2 bags and praying over them, and also giving a few bags to Aaron's family members. We got to go out to lunch today eating at a place called Pupusas. We had a very interesting dish of corn tortillas stuffed with chicken and cheese with a special sauce and slaw to go over top of them. It was delicious. We had a wonderful time laughing and visiting as a team.
After lunch, we headed back to the worksite and finished laying the floor. During this time, we took people one at a time onto the bus to give them our gifts we got them and tell them how much we enjoyed spending the week with them. It truly is a wonderful blessing to be able to give the resources God has provided for us to give. The afternoon was filled with all smiles, laughter, and pure joy.
Leaving was very difficult. Goodbyes are never easy. The week has been so much fun, learning and working through language barriers. Personalities have come out over the course of the week and I felt like everybody was truly coming out and coming together just in the last two days. The last thing we wanted to do was say goodbye. Tears were shed and many hugs were given. I am actually even teary eyed writing this thinking about my new friends. We learned so many wonderful things from these amazing people we worked so closely with all week. Despite the language barrier, we learned how to really listen to each other. We used other avenues to learn and understand one another.
Yes, it would have been easier if we all had spoken the same language, but you know what, I believe we became just as close, or even closer to one another when the week was all said and done. I also truly believe we all would do anything for each other and we were complete strangers just a few days ago. So many acts of kindess were shown by both parties, our team and the Nicaraguans we learned from and grew to honestly love.
I can say God's love poured out from each and every person at the worksite today. We worked together, cried together, we even stunk together. All of us were dripping sweat everyday, but that didn't matter at all. We all hugged on each other everyday, despite our wet t-shirts.
We said tearful goodbyes, took group photos, and loaded the bus to head back to the Quinta. The other Northview team actually had college students come and eat dinner at the Quinta with us. We ate dinner and then all met on the porch to listen to their stories about going to college and being sponsored by either NRN or personal sponsors. We heard about their struggles, their fears, and their testimonies. It was truly wonderful to hear the hearts of these students. One student even made a comment about how sponsors are like Santa Clause to them. Everybody loves Santa, but not everbody sees him! My eyes were teary as they told me what their sponsors meant to them and how blessed they were that God provided for them through their sponsors.
We prayed together for the beautiful, driven group of young University students. :) One student even makes jewelry and brought along some of her work to sell to the ladies staying at the La Quinta and to take back and sell to Northview Carmel members. Some of us bought some things to bring home.
We are so excited to see the work God is doing in Nicaragua and specifically in the people's lives we have personally seen. We also are so blessed to see the work He is doing in our team members lives.
Tomorrow is our last full day in Managua. Excited to post about our fun adventures to the market, Lake Managua, and the volcano!! :)

God bless.. Till tomorrow or Monday depending on when I get to wifi :)