My best friend, Ivonne, and her little girl, Andreita, and me at Cocina de Haydee, my favorite restaraunt in Nicaragua

45 More Days ...

The countdown has begun. Or I should say, the countdown continues since I pretty much started counting down the days till my next trip to Nicaragua the day I after I returned from my most recent trip. I can't wait to get back down there. It's just for two weeks, which isn't long enough, but it's better than not going at all. Hopefully I'll be able to have a longer visit in the near future, maybe even spend Christmas there again. I definitely want to be living there within the next two years.
It's really funny, more than 2 years ago, before I went on my first visit to the orphanage, a few of my friends joked with me (at least I *thought* they were joking) that they knew one day I would end up living in Nicaragua. I just laughed it off at the time. I mean, I couldn't have even told you where Nicaragua is on a map, I didn't speak Spanish, and I didn't have any friends in Nicaragua. Now, two years later, I speak a little more Spanish, can read and write it pretty well, and my two best friends in the entire world are Nicaraguan and work at the orphanage. So basically just about every reason I had for not moving to Nicaragua is now null and void.
I still need to make sure the money thing is going to work. I know my cost of living in Nicaragua will be pretty low, but I want to buy a house there and would like to adopt Isamar, the girl at the orphanage I have bonded with the most. I would also like for her brother and sister to live with me too, so I don't need to split up the family.
My desire to move to Nicaragua is what led me to start my own Arbonne business, and I hope that will be the vehicle which will let me save up enough money to move to Nicaragua, hopefully before May 2007.
Most of my friends tell me they are not surprised at all about this decision, given my passion for Nicaragua and the kids in the orphanage. I really can't explain it but I just feel so strongly that God is leading me to move there. Maybe it will be permanently, maybe not, but I am open to His will and I know that when I am in Nicaragua I feel like I am where I belong, despite the language difference.