The tiny town of San Jose de Cusmapa sticks its head out of the clouds, proudly sitting at the highest altitude in all of Nicaragua. As the rainy season has come upon us, sun has become a rare commodity but we can thank God for the blessing of rain that so many areas of this world are without.

The past few weeks have been very busy, but very life-enriching for many of the kids here at the same time. We had the opportunity to bring many of the kids down to Managua to see and listen to the South Florida Youth Symphony, and for many of them that come from some of the surrounding communities of Cusmapa it was their first time out of the small pueblo where they have grown up. Eyes widened at the sight of many cars, big buildings, the large Lake Managua, and not to mention so many people. Bringing a new, unknown life to these kids, showing them the possiblities in front of them, gave them a new hope for the future, even if it may be small.

May 30th is El Dia de la Madre here, or Mother's Day. On this day we held a concert at the oratorio, sending out special invitations to all the mother's in the community. This was not only a concert for the mother's though. May 30th also completed 40 days since the passing of one of our own, Manuelito, and was the first time we have performed since he joined Christ in heaven. We sang this concert in his name, and I know he was right there singing with us.

This past weekend we had the oppourtunity to take the middle-school choir and some of the girls involved in dance to present at a celebration for Mother's Day, Father's Day, and Children's Day. In total there were 55 of us, and at 7:30 in the morning we packed into two trucks in the pouring rain to travel roughly 2 hours to take part in the celebration. Luckily the rain stopped after about an hour. These kids set out to perform for the first time in their lives outside of Cusmapa, and were very well received when all was said and done.

UNTIL NEXT TIME...

As one of our own dies and passes on from this life to the next, God never ceases to amaze me by creating a new life here among us. From death always comes new life...

Returning here to Cusmapa after my trip to the US was not easy. Tuesday I held choir for the first time, and it was the first time for me without our friend and brother Manuel with us. It wasn't easy holding back the tears. While I was taking attendance I ran across his name and wasn't really sure what to do, if I should cross it off or what. "Profe," said Roberta, a 14 year-old in choir, "you have to put a "P" by his name as he is always present with us." How true are those words from such a young soul. After having been a member of this choir for nearly 5 years even though he is no longer physically present with us, he will be with us each time we come together, each time we laugh together, each time we cry together, each time we eat together, and each time we sing together. He lives on through the voices of Coro Fabrettino.

As I said since his death we have already welcomed a new life into our community. On Tuesday morning a 17 year-old girl named Frania who was also a part of the choir for many years gave birth to a baby boy. His name is Jose Gabriel, and oh how tiny and precious he is. Once he is able to talk he'll be able to sing too, and once he's old enought he'll be part of the choir. I think he's almost ready for us to put a guitar in his hands too!

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"Pelon" they say. My new haircut (or lack of hair) has also given me a new name by which they know me by here in Cusmapa. Tack "Pelon" onto the list that includes "Patricio", "Patri", "Pato", "Profe", "Copetin", "Esteven", "Chele", "Gringo", the list never seems to end. I think that it's a good sign that they've given me a bunch of different names, and now I turn my head at almost anything!

Exhausted. That is how I must describe how I feel after this past month. Work has given way to little relaxation, and last week when I actually had a few days to relax down in Managua I only return here feeling more tired than before.

March 18th the high school choir was invited by the old priest here to a town called Quilali to perform. This was to be the first time I have directed in front of a large group of people, and I must say it went well. Although I still feel a bit weird about waving my arms around, I'm starting to get used to it.

On March 22nd we celebrated the 16th anniversary of the death of Fr. Rafael Maria Fabretto, the Salesian priest who started these centers here in Nicaragua so many years ago as a refuge for children. The evening of the 21st we performed a concert for this event and the people of Cusmapa, ending with all 3 of the choirs, nearly 100 kids, singing "Padre Fabretto Tu Vives Siempre", or "Fr. Fabretto You Live Forever". How beautiful to see so many kids between the ages of 6-20 singing for this man that impacted all of their lives. The morning of the 22nd we woke up and met at 4am to sing in the streets of Cusmapa, something Fr. Fabretto did quite often with the kids when he lived here. A beautiful experience to be a part of.

Finally able to rest a bit after all of this, the next month passed rather tranquilo. La Semana Santa (Holy Week) was very hot and it's tradition for everyone to head down to the river for a swim. It's the only time of year they do so.

This past Friday I left Nicaragua to head to Gonzaga for a few days and then to Seattle for Mike and Shannon's wedding. A week that was supposed to be happy and fun with reunions and the joining of two lives has now changed for me. Friday evening after I landed in Seattle and was preparing for my overnight bus to Spokane, I received word that Manuel, one of my students in the high school choir, passed away Thursday afternoon. This came as a complete shock to me, his family, and all of the community. Nobody knows for sure still what happened. He woke up just fine on Thursday morning. Sometime later he told him mother he had a headache and started to vomit, even vomiting blood. They left for the hospital at 3:15pm and he passed away at 4pm. A smart, driven, kind young man in his last year of high school, his life was taken away from him way too early. He was the hope for this family to break through the mold. He will be missed, but never forgotten. Please pray for him and his family.

UNTIL NEXT TIME.....

Is it already March? Where does the time go? I realize that I haven't been as well as before keeping this blog up, but better late than never right?

Over New Year's I went to Vegas and had a little reunion with some of the GU crew, oh was that a blast! Then I spent a nice relaxing month at home in Denver, gorging myself with some of the great food that is very hard to come by in the campo in Nicaragua. I returned to Nicaragua on Jan. 24th to begin my new assignment here working in the music program, and whew has it been crazy!

We have 3 choirs here in Cusmapa - Coro Chiguinazo for 1st-4th graders, Coro Salesiano for 5th-7th graders, and Coro Fabrettino our high school choir. I work with the little kids in Chiguinazo as well as Fabrettino. It has been extremely fun, challenging, frustrating, rewarding, not to mention it keeps me plenty busy. I love it though, and has brought me much more joy than teaching English did. We also offer classes in percussion, guitar, flute, violin, trumpet, saxophone that many of the kids who were part of the program and have since graduated and are in college teach to the kids.

One of the first days working with the little kids I was handing out the music for "El Burrito Enfermo" or the Sick Little Donkey. One of the girls in 1st grade, Karla, looked up at me with the cutest little eyes and said, "But Profe, I'm only in 1st grade. I can't read." All I could do was smile and say "That's okay Karla, you can look at the pictures." It's fun working with these kids as they always come running in when I call them for choir practice with smiles on their faces and ready to sing. For them it's all fun.

The high school choir has been a bit different. We had about 50 come out for auditions, and reducing it down to 35 was not easy. I've come to know the town of Cusmapa much better after going to nearly 50 houses to let them know who was going to continue in the choir and who wasn't. I've also began giving voice lessons to about 10 of the new members in the choir.

Aside from this we've also resurrected the band. Right now we are working on the the songs "La Bamba", "Mi Linda Nicaragua", and "Noviembre Sin Ti". The last song is a popular one on the radio right now. I've also been working hard on pulling out another song "La Locura Automatica", half romantica and half reggaeton. For those of you who don't know what reggaeton is, it's similar to hip hop, and every song has the exact same rhythm. It' s fun and the kids like it. We are preparing for a performance on March 22, the day Fr. Rafael Maria Fabretto died. Fr. Fabretto started these oratorios all over the country of Nicaragua for kids, and basically made the town of Cusmapa I live in. A great way to commemorate him.

All of this has left me exhausted at the end of the day. Sometimes my days begin at 8 in the morning and don't end until 8 at night. Long days, but great days, busy, filled with much joy, sometimes headaches with kids banging on the drums all day long (we have since moved all the percussion to my house so we don't have to listen to them all day at the oratorio), and I return home only to find more kids at my house ready to play cards, listen to music, whatever. There's a group of about 6 or 7 of the neighbor kids, ranging from pre-school to 5th grade, who love to come by and hang out. How can I say no? They're too fun and cute.

It's great living here in Cusmapa. Every day as I walk to and from work I never fail to hear at least 1 kid yelling "Adios Patricio!" as I pass by their house. The people have welcomed me as one of their own. Needless to say I am not ready to leave. Although I had the possibility of returning in June, I know I'll be here at least until the end of the year. After that.....who knows? Whatever God wills for me. Until He tells me differently, I'll be here living it up.

I do miss and love you all though! If you get a chance drop me a line and I promise to respond, although it may take a little while. Take care and God bless!

UNTIL NEXT TIME.........

Well it's nearing Christmas now, but I must say it doesn't feel a whole lot like Christmas down here in the Cus'! That might have to do with the fact that it's sunny everyday and I'm struttin' around in a t-shirt and flip flops all the time! No snow, no coldness, and the only decorations are some miniature-sized Christmas trees in some of the houses with a few lights. It's nice but not quite the same.

Shortly after my last post my classes at the oratorio stopped as the kids stopped showing up as their vacation began. Therefore for the past 3 weeks or so I've only been giving my English class to adults in the evenings, and that has actually been a lot of fun. Other than that life has been pretty tranquilo. A couple weeks ago I went to the nearby town of Somoto (by nearby I mean at least 1 hour by truck and 2 1/2 hours by bus, and if I'm lucky I get to take a truck and ride in the back!) Although Somoto is only something like 33 kilometers from here, or a little over 20 miles, without having a paved road for the majority of the way that's just the way it is. In Somoto they had what they call "Carnaval" which is a big annual street with at least 5 bands and some DJ's that, that lasted all night long! After some pretty good music and dancing, we decided to call it a night at 3:30 in the morning even though it didn't end until 6am. After 2 hours of sleep we hopped back on the bus to make it back for Mass that morning.

Although I will not be spending Christmas at home in Denver this year, I will be home shortly after on Dec. 29th. The very next day I will be hopping on another plane to spend New Year's in VEGAS with a bunch of friends from Gonzaga! That should be exciting! Then I will fly back home on Jan. 1, spend my birthday on the 4th and most of the month of January in Denver. I will head back down here to Nica on Jan. 24th.

When I return, I will no longer be teaching English at the oratorio, although if I can continue my evening classes with adults I would like to. I have recently been asked to take over the music program here and become the new director, and I have accepted! I know some of you might be thinking that sounds crazy, but I do have some musical background and skills!!! It will definitely be a huge challenge, but I am excited about it and the possibilities there are to pick the music program back up from where my friend Brian Gonzales left off a year ago and send it once again in the right direction.

Other than that, the beans and rice are still treating me well, although I continue to hear comments of how skinny I'm getting! I'm excited to be back in the States to fatten me up a bit and eat like I used to! BBT can appreciate that I know! For those of you who will be in Denver while I'm home I'd love to see you and catch up if we get a chance! Drop me a line! God bless!

UNTIL NEXT TIME.....................

Here are some more pics of Nica.

Here are a couple of pics from the oratorio where I work.