Sidetracked

A number of years ago my wife Andy and I were ministering in the central American country of Nicaragua, before the days of Google maps on smartphones. We had hired a car and were making our own way around this very poor and war torn country. There were no road signs and the only map we could get hold of was a pictorial map of Managua the capital city where we were staying. The city has a few major traffic circles, each with specific statutes in the centre. 

These became the landmarks by which we would navigate. Often we would end up going around a circle a few times before figuring out which of the exits we needed to take.

Of course, one time, the inevitable happened. We took a wrong turn and found ourselves completely lost in a fairly dangerous city. Driving around, trying to find our way became a bit tense.  

At one point, we saw two ladies sitting on their rocking chairs outside their home and we decided to take a chance and stopped to ask them for directions. With our very limited Spanish and their (very) broken English, the “conversation” that ensued must have been quite the sight. Following many hand signals, confusion and much frustration, the only thing that was eventually communicated was that Andy needed to hide her necklace,