nica nica nica

[one of the many FSLN flags i saw in nicaragua]

i am home again, in costa rica, safe & sound! nicaragua was probably the most intense, challenging, and eye-opening educational experience i have ever had and it is hard to put into words all of the different things i felt, experienced, and learned in this country.

my first reactions upon entering managua, nicaragua were that politics was ALIVE in this country. i could feel the political energy with the FSLN flags, Sandino posters, red & black, pink & yellow, protesters, graffitti...while it was exciting to see this energy and hype, it was very sad to see the results of political corruption, revolutions, and war that has left nicaragua with little employment opportunities or resources to make a better life.

our first two days in managua were jam-packed with lectures about US-Nicaraguan relations, the Sandinista Revolution, Contra War, and liberation theology. we also heard from a group of protesters who worked in the agriculture business of a multi-national corporation and got sick from the use of pesticides, walked around a church with many murals expressing liberation theology, and heard from a former political officer. we also got to visit a fair-trade t-shirt factory that was started by a group of women fighting against the injustices that occur in many multi-national corporations (they were SO inspiring!) it was overwhelming, but full of important and useful information.

the next part of our trip was the homestay experience...all LASP students were placed in different communities in groups of 5 and a pastor from each community took us to their town and pointed us to a host family. we left at 3 am on thursday morning for la palma, a small town about 4 hours from managua. while in la palma, our group spent a majority of the time at the church - i think this might have been because our community thought we were missionaries, or they just wanted us to be all together at the church..i'm not entirely sure.

the days in la palma were filled with laughter, frustrating moments, and lots of interesting and engaging conversations. i talked to many people who worked in the united states, leaving their families for 4 years to work from 5am-11pm six days/week. i talked with people who have a completely different faith perspective, and who did not see how i could be a christian and study political science. i talked with an 18 year old who stopped going to school when he was young after his parents divorced and he had to support the family. i talked with people who told me their perspective on the tense relationships between nicaragua and costa rica.

life is so different in nicaragua and i see my reality as a north american woman, college student, as something that is world apart from the typical nicaraguan life. this country is in so much need of hope, especially in education and employment which was shockingly non-existent or lacks resources to succeed. i realized in nicaragua how much education has played a role in my life and influences the way i think and see the world. to try to understand nicaragua, i have to place myself outside of the bubble of education and opportunity, into a society where this doesn't exist - and see how this reality affects society and the majority's standard of living.

our last few days in nicaragua were spent in the colonial city of granada. we had a short time de-briefing our experiences in process groups and did some fun activities like a boat ride around lake nicaragua (the second largest lake in latin america i am pretty sure!) it was a little hard coming back as a big group since all of us had very different experiences and had various emotions and reactions. after talking with my friends, i was reminded again of the lesson i continue to learn every day -- to not compare myself to to others because not only does is this wrong and unhealthy, but it takes away the value of the tremendous experience i had and all of the things i saw and learned!

tomorrow i am off for a spring break trip to manuel antonio park with some friends. i am excited to have some time relaxing before starting classes again on tuesday! thank you for your prayers during my trip -- i was so blessed and learned so much. i hope i can talk and write more about this trip in the weeks to come! hopefully some pictures will help show a bit of my experience...

[managua: this was where the somoza torture chambers were, but it was sort of like a museum with all kinds of posters and pictures of nicaraguan history. the FSLN political party used to have the colors red & black, but they changed to pink and yellow to be more friendly-looking, so most of their posters all over nica were bright pink!]

[mango loving at the church we hung out at in la palma. thank goodness we had floss after indulging in these delicious fruits]

[granada: we finished our nica trip in granada, former capital of nica. it was a very beautiful, colonial looking city which was a manifestation of the complexity of nica - great poverty and wealth at the same time]