Nicaragua 2016 Day 1

I have been writing in journals since my Dad first encouraged me to start at age 14… a brown leather one to start and now an entire shelf of journals. Over the holidays when I was organizing my office and my journals, I did a little light reading from years past. As luck would have it, I came across my first journal entry from my first non-soccer related mission trip to Nicaragua over 10 years ago. The journal entry was comprised entirely of questions like … what will it be like? what will the people be like? will they like us? what will the food be like? … and on and on. I could tell I was very nervous and did not even have a guess of what to expect. The last question of my journal entry was, “Will they want to play soccer with me?” 

Little did I know that, in this first trip, God was planting a seed for an incredible relationship to develop. I suppose you can attribute my nostalgia in this first 2016 blog entry to the fact that the program is about to take an enormous step forward. More on that later… 

Day 1: Saturday, January 2, 2016

6:00am came too soon this morning and although we set out to leave at 6:30am for Dulles airport, we did not get on the road until 7am! Thanks to the lead foot of our driver, Kara and I still made it on time 2 hours before our flight. Kara is a coach for Champions soccer and a friend, of course. She has wanted to travel down on this trip for years and is finally getting her wish! Meeting us at the airport are 2 of my U17 players, Ariel Barbosa and Maya Hohman. This will be Ariel’s second year and after being crowned the “Queen of Camp” last year, she will be able to pass her crown onto the next queen. Maya will be traveling for the first time and will be the first goalkeeper ever to attend any More Than Fútbol trip! Unfortunately, she injured her hand prior to the trip and will have to stick to her field skills. Upon meeting at the airport, everyone seemed very excited and relaxed. I have to admit, I was expecting a little apprehension from the parents or some nerves from the new volunteers, but nothing but chillaxed excitement. Check-in and security were a breeze and we even had time to get some Starbucks!

If you ever fly to Central or South America, I highly recommend a non-American airline. We flew Avianca and had professional service, a very clean plane, a library of movies, USB charger, and a tasty (for plane standards) meal. This has been my experience on Avianca, Taca, and every foreign airline I have traveled… a huge upgrade in experience and comfort. A quick layover in El Salvador and before we knew it we were already in Nicaragua! The girls completed their "What to expect" questionire on the plane and it was so interesting to hear all of their thoughts on what Nicaragua is like. (I will share their stories tomorrow) 

As soon as we walked into the airport to go through customs we were confronted by a woman who said to me, “Do you have a fever and diarrhea?” I gasped and blurted out, “Noooooo!” only realizing in the middle of my “Noo-oooo” that this was part of the airport medical staff checking for people bringing viruses into the country. Whoops :-/

After we made it through customs and obtained our temporary visas we turned the corner into the baggage claim which has a big glass wall into the waiting room. Our Nicaraguan friends did not disappoint… lined up against the other side of the glass, ready to greet us, was a huge group of people waving and smiling! I ran up to the glass waving and smiling back and threw a big hug into the glass. We grabbed our luggage and the gear bags for camp, cleared security, and after a long series of hugs and a little catching up, we loaded the bus. 

Tonight we are staying in homes of people from the church. It is a great cultural experience to stay with the people and it also gave us the opportunity to catch up with some very old friends. I am staying with Sylvia and Carlos, the parents of my dear friends Sergio and Hellen. Sergio and Hellen have left their parents empty nesters and Sergio actually left this morning for a Masters program in Theology in Brazil! I joked with Sylvia that she could not even make it one day without kids in her house, that is why she had us stay here! haha. A wonderful family, I feel very fortunate to stay here this first time, even though it is the only night we will be here.

We had an hour of down time which filled up very fast with good conversation and then we went over to Alex’s mother's small restaurant for dinner! Of all the times I have been here, we have never eaten at Alex’s family’s restaurant so this was a huge treat and a great opportunity to spend time with his family. Family is VERY important here, the most important thing and as Alex was accepted in as an honorary member of my family this past summer during his time in the US, we were very welcomed and accepted into his family tonight. 

After dinner, Alex surprised us with a drive down the central street of Managua that is the BIGGEST Christmas light show you have ever seen. We toured around Managua a bit giving the girls an opportunity to see the city and then went to a historical park that replicates the city before the disasterous earth quake that demolished the city and killed over 10,000 people 30 years ago. Throughout the whole evening the girls sat in the back of the pick up truck and had faces of awe on as they witnessed an entirely new culture for the first time. On my first trip to Nicaragua I was completely shocked by the culture and poverty. To be honest, it was a tough adjustment for me. Now, it has been so many trips down, my spanish has improved and it feels like a second home. Seeing the girls reactions was a good reminder of just the magnitude of difference between Nicaragua and the US.

As the girls sat in the back of the truck taking in the sights, I was catching up with my old friend and one of the Pastor's of the church, Mario in the truck. One of my major concerns for the trip are the mosquitos. Chikungunya and Dengue fever have been occurring throughout Nicaragua in the past few years and both cause you to be violently ill. Mario reassured me that as long as we keep our bug spray on we should be fine. "Did you put your bug spray on?" is quickly becoming the most commonly used expression on the trip. 

Tomorrow all of the youth of Nicaragua attending the camp will bus into the central church and then we will load up the buses and take them to residential camp for the next 4 days. Then the action really begins. I’m very happy for camp and very excited to take some big steps forward with the program this year.

It takes time and consistency to earn the respect and trust of a community, build a relationship and then create a sustainable program. On this trip, we will be hosting our annual soccer camp and I will be working with the leadership in Nicaragua to develop a training program for coaches, a league that spans all 40 church communities for ages 13-18, and a clinic offered to all youth players 5-12 years of age. Alex Garcia is our selected representative in Nicaragua and he completed a 4-week training course with Champions Soccer over the summer. I will spend this week preparing him to do more than coach, but to teach others how to coach, how to oversee a program spanning 40 communities over hundreds of miles, and to prepare all of the logistics (field rentals, uniforms, etc.). Can we get it all finished in a week? Say a prayer for us… The best work in Nicaragua and Belize is completed IN PERSON. This is the best shot at getting this program expansion off the ground. 

Never a dull moment... traveling all day and hitting the ground running upon arrival. I cannot believe that just this morning I was in Baltimore, we have already done so much and spent so much quality time with so many Nicaraguan friends. Take away cell phones, electronics and all of the distractions and the amount you really start to experience is astonishing. We have already lived a week in a day... That being said I’m about 2 words away from falling asleep on the computer and waking up with a keyboard impression on the side of my face. Tomorrow begins camp and my first meeting with Katia about the expansion plans. Wish us luck! The action begins tomorrow! Good night from Nicaragua!