I've been down sick for the week....which is rotten in this heat & humidity. Seeing Nicaragua from the inside of our four walls is driving me crazy! I count my blessings though that it is simply a flu, our friend who stayed with us last week and left feeling ill; turns out he has Dengue Fever! Not the dangerous form but nasty non the less. They had been in Leon for a wedding the days before they visited us here and apparently there is an outbreak of it there. You would think that with the drought, the mosquito's would be less of a problem but for some reason (perhaps the moisture in the air) they are worse. They don't bother Gary much but Nikki & I must be much tastier so we live with Deet on our bodies. Since the only room in the house that is sealed is our bedroom, it's the only place we can let our guard down.

Our friend Steve, the other Elder in the group, had a motor bike accident yesterday! Poor guy. Gary spent most of the day with him & his wife as they tried to get him sorted out. They think he has broken his arm but the Dr he went to (a private clinic) didn't have the proper sling so they made him a make shift one out of 6 bandages (!!) He was in a great deal of pain last night so if he is not better today they are thinking about renting a car and taking him into the private hospital in Managua. The police are still figuring our fault, which is scary for him. And from the sounds of it, his bike is toast. I had at one point encouraged Gary to get himself a motorbike for while we were here. I'm very grateful he ignored me!

Gary (and by extension me) has been asked to take care of two lunches for pioneer schools that are being held here in Granada. The congregation provides the funds (lunch is their main meal of the day). We need to feed 30. He came and asked me before he agreed and my mind started with all the yummy things we could prepare. Then when his meeting finished he showed me that it was a set menu....of stuff I have no idea how to make, nor do I want to! Carne con Venduras (beef with veg) which is apparently some sort of stew. Served with rice, beans, tortilla and juice. Blah! Nicaragua food is NOT good. They simply cook meat in flavorless sauce. After I explained my inability and unwillingness to prepare gross food, Gary gave up on me :) and called a local Spanish sister who is going to take the lead for us in preparing it.....I'll treat them to some chocolate chip cookies for dessert!

It looks like both Gary & Nikki will be involved separately on the program at the coming English convention. I'll take pictures. I am very proud of them. Last time Nikki was on the convention, she dropped her notes while she was being interviewed and in horror gasped into the microphone then made the rest up as she was too embarrassed to pick them up herself (although a brother who was waiting to be interviewed crawled over, picked them up and handed them to her at which point she whispered "thank you" right into the microphone. I was in the audience dying a thousand deaths!). As soon as she was asked to be on this program her first response was to say that this time she wouldn't drop her notes! Poor kid! She didn't realise that it had made the audience adore her. The applause for her had been thunderous. I think they had been afraid she would cry (I was crying!)

To cool down on Sunday, Debbie & I took Nikki and went to a local hotel and paid to use their pool for a day. It was lovely. Instead of a hot tub, they have a cool jet tub! Only in Central America! The poor men had to go to a meeting at the Branch so we were foot loose and fancy free.....and bored stiff. We didn't stay too long, the sun was very strong and my cold was full force but it was a real treat non the less. Nikki is like a fish and she has finally given up her full face mask (much less humiliating to be seen with her now).

Time to get up and at it......Chau