We have been very busy over the past few days in out last working country. We had a performance at the US Ambassador’s house on July 10th. It first seemed like it was going to be very awkward because we were set up in a very small space on his patio. There were chairs set up for him, his wife and their guest’s right in front of us. I kept hoping that things would be less uncomfortable than I had formulated it to be in my head. The Ambassador shared a cigar and some conversation with some of the band members while the jazz combo played while everyone else socialized and mingled. I made my way from place to place throughout the evening. I went over to the large parrot they had housed in a cage large enough for dozens of birds. It was so pretty! Its feathers were a unique mixture of bright red, blue, yellow and a small spattering of green. I kept wanting it to answer me when I said ‘Hola’ to it…but it just sat there on its perch and looked at me like I was crazy…so I left it alone…if I’d kept it up, he probably would have tried to peck me on the forehead so I’d get away. So after about an hour, then we began our 45 minutes set. It was a rousing success! They really got into it and loved it…especially when I sang the Juanes and Gloria Trevi Spanish songs. People are always so shocked to hear Español coming out of my mouth… I think it just adds to the whole ‘show/wow-em’ factor. The Ambassador and his lovely wife were very appreciative and enjoyed our music and my previous worry of whether or not it would go well went right out the door. It was great.

The next day we left out early and headed for Leon, Nicaragua. This turned out to be a very special day for us. You see, the performance was for children who are in foster care because they were removed from abusive homes. On the compound, or the ranch called “El Ayudante” which translated means “The Help” is run by an American couple who moved to Nicaragua a couple years ago because they fell in love with the country and its people. They started out just doing mission work prior to moving to Nicaragua, and they were so taken by the country, that they sold everything in the US and moved way south to start a new life serving people. There are 37 children who actually live at the compound, but there were probably 350 kids plus more adults there for the performance. And we weren’t the only ones performing. We were treated to some local dance demonstrations…and some of us were even pulled up to dance as another musician played and sang his songs. It was a beautiful day and the children, whom we were there for, thoroughly enjoyed all of the presentations. As did we. After teardown and what seemed to be about 1000 photos later, we were treated to a lovely lunch prepared by the staff. It was delish! It was a coconut milk based chicken, rice and some fruit. It was a lovely day and a perfect setting to say ‘That’s a wrap!’ being that it was my last off-ship performance. Go here if you would like to check out what Bill and Theresa Cox have been doing for abused children in Leon, Nicaragua. Monday, I went out with the Brass Quintet just to get off the ship one last time. They had their last performance at the Chinandega Boys Orphanage. The set was about 45 minutes long and the dental team came along once again to provide dental hygiene information to the children and the staff. “Toothy” whom you met in a previous post, was there in rare form. When he came out, the children squeaked and whispers quickly turned into a roar. He began dancing and shucking and jiving and the kids loved it! They were very appreciative of the music. Before we left, the dental team busted out their oral hygiene kits and I got to fluoride some teeth. I know that when I go to the dentist, I hate the fluoride tray! So I can’t imagine what they were thinking as I painted the fluoride on their teeth. It was probably disgusting. Sorry kiddos for the taste, but it will help prevent cavities!