Chocolate! I did it!

here are the fresh cacao beans

toast them in pan until skins begin to darken and split and your house smells delightful

remove all the papery husks

this is the part you want

I used the coffee grinder. It's gonna take approximately forever.

eventually you'll move past a powder into a creamy product. now's the time to add sugar.

chocolate and imitation shelf stable cream go into tiny ice cream maker. (thanks Sloan!)

Chocolate success!! 

Going Outside

Yesterday, Jill and I got a special treat. We got to go outside!
Now, the architecture of Nicaragua sometimes makes me feel like I am never truly indoors. But what I mean by "go outside" is that we got to leave the city and drive through some of the beautiful parts. Jill is with the Hope for Life group here and we both kept commenting on how wonderful it was to smell some fresh green air and see something we don't see all the time. A treat!

 We went with a group based mainly out of Decatur, TX on a mobile medical clinic. Jill and I went along to do vision screenings. It was great to see the clinic in action, and to hear the perspectives of several first time mission-trippers. It was great to be able to let people know we had a way to help them with their vision, and to feel so connected to people as we listened to their concerns and issues.

Dr. Chad with the ever-popular urine cup/drinking glass

Jill rocking the auto-refractor

Dr. Bismark and Harvy in the dental clinic--wait, Harvy?

But selfishly--it was just super great to go outside. It was so recreating to look across the valley at impossibly steep hills covered in cloud forest. To see ancient giant trees draped in hanging streamers of moss. To hear the birds in the trees, to see bromeliads growing on logs in the middle of the river, to smell the freshness of soil recently planted with crops.

Here's how you know it was beautiful: I took a bunch of (wait, lemme check--yeah, I think the exact number is 16 gajillion) pictures--and not a one of them shows what I saw. Trying to take pictures of big things like mountains and oceans and empty space--just never seems to reflect the bigness you feel when you are standing there. That's what I am so grateful to have experienced yesterday. Bigness and beauty. A special treat.

Malanga

Mmmm....malanga.  I can't decide if it's delicious, or just delicious to say. Come on, it's so fun: "Malanga, malanga, malanga."

I hear people confuse it with taro--which you can also get here, but they are different. Malanga, of course, being superior due to it's awesome pronunciation. If you want to know lots of important sciencey-type facts about malanga, look here. If you want the cliff's notes version: it tastes like a purplish nutty-ish potato. Pretend it's a potato if you want--it'll be fine.

here's what it looks like

check out those purple stripes. 

cut off all the brown hairy part

chop it up--be sure to admire purple stripes again

this weird sticky starchy residue is hard to wash off

amazingly, though it looks tough, it boils faster than potatoes

strain. it will begin to mash itself

whip it up with some butter. thanks Haughts for the awesome whipper!

yum. serve your lavender side dish with chicken of course

And the best part? You get to say "malanga" when somebody asks what's for dinner!

Los Chaguites: the return

We finally went back.

One of the first places I got to travel to this summer was the isolated community of Los Chaguites. This is the place we "drove to" in the army truck but ended up hiking several hours due to roads and distances being vastly different than reported.  Read about it here.

Our goal on this trip was to take the appropriate eye glasses to the people whose vision we screened on our last trip. We also wanted to check on their access to food and water, which has been a serious issue off and on. Porfirio Molino, one of the leaders in the church here, and a honcho around the mission went so he could listen to the needs in the community, and show caring concern.

It was a great trip. We successfully distributed the glasses we brought, talked to families who need additional follow up with doctors in town, shook lots of hands and there were lots of smiles all around. Nothing went wrong at all.

Everything went exactly as planned--but it was hard.

Los Chaguites is a hard place. Hard to get to. Hard to help. Hard to leave knowing I can't make a dent in the difficult life situation of the people here.

There is a lot of good news: one of their wells is operational again, they've blocked off the road and planted a field of beans, they've worked together to repair the road and people are able to get in to Jinotega to sell in the markets and get medical attention.

It's a beautiful place. It's a great adventurous drive, exciting and exotic. The people are warm and pleasant, generous, funny, and friendly.

But it's also mud and tin huts, the smells of unwashed bodies, animal waste, and burning trash. And a certain look behind the eyes that I have no words for.

I kept thinking all day about perspective. This is definitely the most difficult road I have ridden on. In the US it would never be labeled a road. It's barely a trail in some places. The football sized rocks that the community members hauled to fill in the washed out spots would be considered barriers in the states, not a road bed. But compared with walking the road--driving it is a breeze. Perspective.

The town is in deep poverty. I saw open-sided sleeping shelters made of wire and scraps of wood and plastic that didn't seem fit for goats to use. Yet, as we talked to these people, they expressed concern for their neighboring village who they described as poor. Perspective.

I have no pithy lesson to summarize my thoughts on the day. It's a place that brings sharply into focus how big the issue of poverty is--how we all need healing and help that is bigger than any this world has to offer. How beautiful and simple and ugly and hard life on this earth is.

Mobile Phys Ed Class

Today was a blast. We visited 2 schools where we took a load of Stop Hunger Now food relief, along with a crate of baseball equipment. Understand, that schools here generally have what in my teaching days we would have called "NOTHING" in the way of classroom supplies. There are a few government provided texts--and that's it. No library, no "manipulatives" no buckets of crayons or blocks or balls or puzzles or...well any stuff. Certainly no music, art or PE equipment.

So it was a very exciting day when we arrived with 3 adults and enough balls and gloves for everybody to have a turn.


In Santa Inez, the school sits about 30 feet off of the main highway--so playing ball requires lots of vigilance on the part of teachers who yell "Camioneta!" as a truck honks and kids scatter from the road's edge.

In Chimborazo, the challenge is jungle. It's pretty hard to find a flat or an open spot in the mountains around here. So once again, the road is our best bet. Chimborazo differs from Santa Inez in that it is very rural and isolated--so traffic is not an issue at all. Finding the ball when you hit it out into the jungle or into the river, however, is a whole new aspect to the game.

It was fun to watch Harvy and Jonathan teaching kids the fundamentals of catching, throwing, batting, and not getting knocked in the head by a baseball. And how serious and devoted the kids were to taking advantage of this opportunity. One teacher commented as kids paired off to throw and catch. "Listen, they are so quiet." I was impressed with how careful kids were to be sure everyone had their turn, and how honest and just they were with hunting down every single ball lost in muddy, overgrown thickets to return it to the box when it was time for us to go.

It was great to visit with teachers and hear from them what challenges they face, and what types of assistance they'd like. I'm consistently amazed that teachers here never site lack of supplies as an issue. One teacher recently shared that her biggest issue is kids who don't attend regularly due to family struggles.  Another shared she is frustrated when she feels kids are coming just so they can eat.

A really swell day. Wish you were here.  Here's some extra pictures.

oh yeah-- Teacher's a hitter!

now let the big boys show you how it's done

Buy a calendar--pay the rent

We've got about 20 of these nifty calendars left for sale. We wanna sell 'em for fifteen bucks. You should buy one. Here's why:

You remember when you were learning what a budget was, and were told to have an emergency fund? I'm not talking about a big pot set aside for big things like long term care--I just mean that little slush fund labeled "miscellaneous" that covers things like a flat tire, or buying pizza because you set the soup on fire, or those boots that were just too cute...

But what if those drips and drops of unplanned expenses were what swamped you? What if paying a taxi fare to get your sick kids to the clinic was what put you in the hole on your rent--(which is $21 per month) and caused your landlord to evict you on one day's notice? That's Iris' family's story. (top left) Or what if your Dad was away preaching out of town and couldn't get back on the day planned, so you didn't have any food in the house? That's Aaron's story. (bottom left)

Many of you support us financially to be here--and we are so grateful to you! I hope you are tangibly aware of the blessings of this partnership. Imagine the fun in Heaven as we all hear about the harvest brought about by the seeds planted in His service. As we get more and more involved in people's lives, as they truly become our brothers and sisters, it is normal and right to become more involved in the little dramas of their lives. That "miscellaneous" part of our budget gets stretched tighter and tighter. We know we aren't here just to be someone's safety net. But when you see someone falling--isn't it natural to reach out your arms if you can?

I've been reading so much lately about the differences in relative and absolute poverty. I am realizing that many of the "rules of thumb" I've been taught and have shared with others are most applicable in relative poverty. To my mind--absolute poverty prompts this response:

James 2:15 If you know someone who doesn’t have any clothes or food, ¹⁶ you shouldn’t just say, “I hope all goes well for you. I hope you will be warm and have plenty to eat.” What good is it to say this, unless you do something to help?

I hope this doesn't come across like some hard sell guilt trip. That's not what I'm trying to say at all. Becoming more involved in the little bumps in the road of people's lives is such a blessing to us--and I want you to get in on that. That's why I'm hawking these calendars. I know you can't be here, and see all the people we see, and get all the hugs we get, and get all the parasites we get....(oh wait, wrong direction--hee hee). 

That's why you should buy a calendar. On some bleak Tuesday in February when you are in a crummy mood because you feel bad that you just snapped at your husband for no good reason--maybe you'll look at the face of a kid on that calendar and think, "Yeah--I blew it, but God used my $15 to help that kid's family out that time when they were in an unexpected rough patch." And maybe it will make you smile. Or give someone a hug. Or give someone a parasite....(no, wait, that's wrong again).

Anyhow: calendars--parasite free--good feeling--fifteen bucks--email me or comment below if you want some and I'll hook you up.

coachandsheila@gmail.com

Orange-Maracuya Cake (Orange-Passion fruit Cake)

First of all--I will just say: Yum.
Second--you should totally make this because it is delicious.
It's a variation on a crazy cake recipe that is listed about 8 times in whatever fundraiser cookbook you most recently bought. You know, the butter-less, egg-less, milk-less one with vinegar. If you've never made that cake--well, I don't believe you--but here's a recipe for it.

Ok, good. Got it? Now you're ready for crazy cake level maracuya.

cut up and strain your fresh maracuya

squeeze some fresh oranges you just picked off the tree in the garden. add water to make 2 cups 

throw all the peelings in a pot, cover with water, and put on to boil a while 

get together 3C flour, 2C sugar, 2t soda, 1t salt, and some vanilla

add 3/4 C oil (or get close--it'll be fine)

consider adding vinegar, but decide oranges and passion-fruit are acidic enough--so skip it

add 2 cups fruit juice and get ready to mix--you already have the oven lit, right?

stir! quit taking pictures, don't you remember that volcano at the 3rd grade science fair? stir!

nah, you don't need to grease the pan, just pour it in and bake 350 till it's done (like half an hour)

OK. Now for the topping. WHAT! You didn't save any of the fruit juice? You poured it all into the batter? sigh. fine. Good thing you put all the peelings in the pot to boil, huh? That's gonna be some good stuff. 

Strain the peelings and cook down the resulting juice a bit for a delicious glaze. Or, stir in some powdered sugar and whip up for a thin icing. OR you could even whip in cold butter and make a more traditional frosting--(oh great, now it's not vegan anymore--if you're into that kind of thing) but by all means use the juice you boiled outta those skins and seeds, it may be the best part. 

There! Now, I'd show you the finished cake, but people were literally waiting at my window for it to come out of the oven and it was all gone before the pan was cool. That baking maracuya smells like nothing else. 

When you get tired of Maracuya you can do the same song and dance with fresh crushed pineapple and hand grated coconut. YUM. For those of you not blessed with fresh tropical fruits at your immediate disposal, try it with some store bought fruit juice--it's not half bad. This cake is sooo moist  and quick, it's great to have when you need to make a party happen in a hurry. And you definitely need to be throwing more parties--I checked.