Thanksgiving in Nicaragua

Last Thursday was Thanksgiving day! Although it is not a holiday in Nicaragua and most Nicaraguans are worked on Thursday and Friday, our school celebrates Thanksgiving and we get two days off.

Wednesday was our Thanksgiving Program at NCA. Each class gave a presentation, and Caleb's role was to say, "I'm thankful for God's Word, the Bible." As parents, we were worried that he would get stage fright and not say anything, but he did a great job speaking into the microphone in front of hundreds of people! Great job, Caleb!

Thursday evening we had several other missionary families at our house to celebrate Thanksgiving together with them, although turkey was not on the menu because it is so expensive. Rotisseri chicken was the substitute, along with all of your other traditional Thanksgiving foods.

We already had shared a real turkey dinner last Sunday night at International Christian Fellowship with many other missionary families. The church was full and the pot luck buffet line was long, but most of all, we had a lot to be thankful for!

Christmas Bonuses

In thinking about how life in Nicaragua is different, I thought you might find the following interesting:

• All Nicaraguan workers are legally entitled to a year-end bonus of 1 month salary (aguinaldo).
• There is also a well-founded tradition of employers giving all of their employees a "Christmas basket". In its original essence, this is supposed to be all of the ingredients to prepare a Christmas meal, but it usually ends up growing into a very big gift basket.

Imagine recieving a full month of salary as a Christmas bonus! Anyone thinking about getting a job here in Nicaragua? On the flip side, Nicaragua is the poorest Spanish-speaking country in the world and the minimum wage is only $0.48 per hour ($1,400 per year for a full-time job).

Liam's Recruiting Trip

For the past three years, part of Liam's role as Director at Nicaragua Christian Academy has included traveling to the States to participate in the ACSI International Teacher recruiting fair. The purpose is to connect with potential teacher candidates so that as we have needs for new teachers in upcoming school years, more people will know about our school and be able to apply for openings.

In November, Liam visited six colleges and universities: Dordt College (IA), Wheaton College and Moody Bible Institute (Chicago), Calvin College, Cornerstone University and Hope College (MI). Liam spoke with over 120 potential teachers at these locations and many expressed interest in teaching at NCA in the future.

A Walk in the Woods

One of our favorite family activities is to go for a walk on a dirt road near our house. Many Saturday mornings we will take the short drive out into the "campo", or countryside, to enjoy the cooler fresh air. The kids enjoy seeing chickens, cows, and horses, and the Nicaraguans think it is funny to see us meandering down their road, where they get little or no traffic. We might not have State Parks or National Parks to visit, but God's beauty is always around us if we pause to notice it.