What? Coca Cola is good for you?

So apparently Coca Cola in Nicaragua is trying to market itself as a healthy drink. Here's a label that I cut off a bottle of Coke the other day. Here's the translation on the left-hand side:

'Wellbeing Movement - Commited drop to drop'

And now the four drops on the right (left to right):

- only (!) 100 calories, or 5% of your daily diet

- contains thousands of smiles

- a good source of hydration

- a drink low in sodium

And across the bottome, in black letters:

'Walking 30 minutes every day and smiling is part of your wellbeing.'

So go ahead! Drink Coke! It's healthy! Never mind that your smiles will be toothless.

For a truer picture of the effects of soda on a person's body (and fast food in general), we recommend the movie "Supersize Me". I'm not sure where Coca Cola gets its statistics, but this marketing campaign seems like a stretch and would never fly in the U.S.

Sights from the Window

So we've found this great little coffee shop here in Managua - El Coche Cafe. I can get a huge cup of coffee for about $0.75. And it's really good coffee, too.

I spent the morning at El Coche, and here are a few things I saw out the window:
- 2 guys selling Spider Man kites
- a stray dog trotting by
- an old woman tottering off a public bus
- a steady stream of new cars & SUVs pulling into Managua's only bulk retailer (across the parking lot from El Coche)
- a 2-wheeled cart pulled by a scrawny horse laden with lumber
- a hand-me-down ambulance from a European country
- kids with matted hair begging for spare change
- an old man selling paintings
- a bicycle balancing 4 huge baskets

A typical morning in Managua.
--Alan

more pics from Honduras

Here are several photos, taken by our friend Rob Cahill (MCC Guatemala), of the amazing underwater world that we saw while snorkeling. Check it out.

Ministry of Presence

We just sent Andrew (my brother) back to the States. We had a great time with him and were encouraged by the presence of a friend/family member who was willing to involve himself in our lives here.

I´ve been reflecting a bit more today about my continuing desire to be involved in the lives of those around me. Sometimes, when there is a language barrier, you feel like you´re just watching people through a window, not really involved in their world or their conversations. But here people don´t watch anything from behind windows. They are in their doorway or on the porch, ready to scoot a chair over to the neighbor´s to hold the baby or jump out into the street to join the conversation, soccer game, or airplane contest (though I haven´t seen too many of the over-20 crowd doing this). When cars pass, people reluctantly move to the side for the brief intrusion, then return to the business of community.

Even though I like my MCC work of connections and education for more adult-ish people, I am loving my afternoon/evening/weekend work of being an involved adult in the lives of the kids in our neighborhood. I think it´s important for people of all ages to have several people around them who are willing to listen to their thoughts, hear them tell/read stories they like, and play games with them.
-Elizabet

Happy Birthday, Beth!

¡Felicidades! Today is Beth's 26th birthday!

Honduras Retreat

We just got back from 10 days on the north coast of Honduras where we had an MCC mesoamerica retreat. We stayed in a great hotel right on the beach, and after the retreat we spent several days vacationing on several islands off the coast. It was our several days on 'Tropical Island Paradise', as we called it. We snorkeled (Alan for the first time), ate freshly caught fish, kayaked to a deserted beach, and coated ourselves in sunscreen.

Here are some pictures from the Tropical Island Paradises of Cayos Cuchinos & Utila. We'll post more pictures from the snorkeling later.

Finding the perfect donut

So I've had this silly 'quest' for a long time. I ate this white cream-filled donut as a kid, at Dunkin' Donuts and a local donut shop, that I just loved. In recent years, however, I have been foiled in my attempts to find this yummy donut. I visited donut shops in the northeast (didn't make it to a Dunkin' Donuts on my last trip to NY). I visited donut shops in the midwest (the Dunkin' Donuts I tried in Chicago left me disappointed). Even in Los Angeles, where there's a donut shop on practically every corner, this white cream-filled wonder was not to be found.

Imagine my surprise, then, passing through Tegucigalpa, Honduras, en route to an MCC retreat, to find a Dunkin' Donuts shop. What the hey, I thought. There might be a chance this place has the donut of my dreams. And so I went in. And stepped to the counter. And looked at the racks of donuts. And blinked twice. And there it was, a perfectly round, powdered sugar-covered beauty, with white vanilla cream bursting from the side. I immediately bought one (globalization in action right there) and enjoyed every second of it.

I also bought one for breakfast the next day. Who knows when I'll get to eat another of these, my favorite donuts? And we had our picture taken in the shop, as documentation of the end of my quest (for now). I'm also planning my next trip to Honduras...

--Alan