final day in Nicaragua

Yesterday was our last operational day for the mission. I spent the day on shore on a COMREL project. I hadn't been to shore since we got to Nicaragua a week and a half ago because the ceremonies were all combined into one mega media blitz on board. So it was extra fantastic to get off The Comfort and see the country.
We had an hour and a half drive so I got to see plenty of country side and all the random cool things about this place like plentiful free roaming horses on the side of the road like the stray dogs, the actively smoking volcano and gorgeous, never ending fields of soft yellow flowering bushes.


The kids were the absolute best part of my day. The original plan for the COMREL was for our group to clean up the ball field that was going to be used as an HLZ {helo landing zone} so we could play softball with the Ambassador and a local team. Only it wasn't used as a landing zone so instead of cleaning we played with the kids who came from who knows where almost as soon as we showed up. I saw a couple of them pop up on the outfield fence as we were eating lunch. By the time we finished there was a handful of them ready to hang out until we left after the local team beat our socks off.

I sat down along a wall with one little guy who flinched if anyone got near him. I gave him pulled up weeds {true sign of friendship right?} and took a picture of his friend who walked by to show him to see if he would smile. He didn't just yet, but soon all the kids wanted their pictures taken so they could see the image on the screen. Except one little guy, who was even more shy than this first lil amigo.

It became a game and soon all the other kids were conspiring against him with me to get him to let his photo be taken. {He is the toothless angel above. The one in front is the first friend who seemed to carry a heavy weight on his little shoulders.}

I have loads of pictures of beautiful faces, but the feet were touching me heart this morning as I sorted through my pictures.

We stopped at an engineering site the Seabees have been working on and played around for awhile. I like traveling with Chaps because we aren't rushed or on a tight agenda. It was great to run around and play soccer with the kids. One of my teammates name was Macaraina {like the popular dance song from the 90's} so whenever he'd score I'd call out his name with the first couple moves to the dance and they'd all laugh.

Would the day be complete without local food? I don't know, but I'd rather not find out! This little bundle of heaven was corn in a mushed up gritty form that was nothing less than delightful. Sweet and served hot from a basket on top of a girl's head. She was selling them for something like 10 cents each. I bought as many as my spare change would stretch.

Chaps brought stickers with him and was mobbed by the kids who wanted as many stickers as possible stuck all over their bodies.

I don't like the idea of saying goodbye to my ship mates. Bobby is one of those people who I'll miss. Long ago he stopped helping me in and out of the boats, calling me 'too salty' to need assistance. He has been on back to back deployments for 2 years and is looking forward to his 6 weeks off when he gets home so he can jump on his hog and camp his way through the parks. We've had fun shooting the breeze and working along side each other in Bozn's locker - him on his Adirondack chairs he makes out of spare wood, and me on my painting projects that keep my creative demons satisfied.
The RHIB {rigid hull inflatable boat} ride back to the ship yesterday afternoon was the perfect ending to this mission for me. There are still days to go before we get to Panama, but yesterday ended the actual humanitarian mission. It was choppy and I rode up front where no one rides because there is a chance of bouncing right out. Best seat available!