León, Nicaragua - September 3, 2012

So.... here we are six months after moving here to León, Nicaragua. We're a little thinner, browner, healthier and way happier than when we left Canada. Not that our life wasn't good back home - it was - but now we have reached our goal to be Regular Pioneers!

We have had to make a lot of adjustments in the past few months and in some ways have had to change our expectations of ourselves and our situation but we both have to say that moving here has been one of the best decisions we have ever made. We are both so busy in Jehovah's service that we don't have time to be bored. We are together almost 24/7 and that in itself has been one of the biggest adjustments in our lives but has also been very enjoyable.  For anyone who is considering moving to where the need is great we encourage you to take the plunge. Make sure you do your research thoroughly and choose a place that suits you. Also, Skype is an amazing tool to help you keep in touch with your family and friends back home.

Shannon and Desmond

A new couple have joined the congregation - Shannon and Desmond. They are visiting from Maryland and will be staying for six months. They have only just arrived and are quickly getting into the swing of things. We of course had to join them when they were introduced to our favorite pizza place - Antonino's. (our budget is already taking a beating this month....)

At Atonino's

A funny thing happened a the Kingdom Hall last Sunday - an Iguana was found hiding in among the literature. When Sergio tried to grab it by the tail the Iguana "released" part of the tail so that it could get away. This happened twice actually and the poor things tail was quite short when he was finally caught. Good thing that they grow back..... Iggy was released into the yard of the Kingdom Hall and I'm sure he will live to a ripe old age as long as nobody wants Iguana soup!

Sergio and Pat admiring the Iguana

part of the Iguana tail

Remember our garden? Well we are at the point that we will be "harvesting" a couple of peppers. We have another pepper plant that has just flowered and it looks like there are some "babies" growing on it too. Our papaya tree is as tall as Pat and has what appear to be flowers at the top of the tree - this indicates that we have a female tree and should have a crop of fruit in the near future. In the picture with the peppers you will notice a cactus plant. We are hoping this plant will survive and then we will have some homegrown pitahaya.  We are still fighting with the fire ants but have come up with a new strategy - we sprinkled laundry detergent over the whole area. This morning they definitely aren't as active and we didn't get devoured when we hung our laundry. We will repeat the "sprinkling" every few days/weeks until they decide to go somewhere else...... hopefully not into the house.

Interesting snapshots:

Sign on the bus from Casares

Dog on a bike waiting for his master