nicaragua, a smattering of memories

6.14.11


so, as fate would have it (or my laziness, one of the two) i never got around to another nicaragua post. however, the three weeks ended well. we visited jinotepe, selva negra ("a full-service ecolodge, organic farm, and bird-friendly coffee estate in the Highlands of Northern Nicaragua"), san ramón, matagalpa, and granada, before finally returning to managua and heading home. during those two weeks we visited a couple of dumps (including "la chureca," the managua municipal dump), an immaculately tended cemetery, some organic coffee farms of various sizes growing shade grown coffee, a few churches, and a few museums. we got to drink coffee made from beans grown on property, enjoyed plantains in such a delightful variety of forms, zip-lined through the jungle canopy, saw how pre-columbus traditional pottery was made in san juan de oriente (& got to mess around with the potter's kick wheel), caught some beautiful views of laguna de apoyo, shopped in bustling open air markets, went out dancing, and hiked through jungle coffee estates. we saw howler monkeys, parrots, and even sloths. we picked star fruit and tasted the sweet white fruit that encases each individual cocoa bean. we helped construct and install an improved stove (or hung out with the kids and helped with lunch) in a family's home. some of us got to try our hand at making seed jewelry.


in granada, we stayed in hotel con corazón, a boutique hotel that invests 100% of the profits back into promoting local education efforts. on the streets of granada, we passed countless huelepegas, or "glue sniffers" - often boys and young men who carried around glue to sniff to get high and thereby escape their current situation. we watched cafe chavalos, a documentary about a lady who took in some huelepegas from the streets and helped them open a restaurant. we then got to meet some of the guys from that movie. it was so interesting to see how they were in their life on the streets in the film and then the transformation that had taken place over the years of working in the restaurant and having a sense of stable, healthy community.


on one outing, we took a boat out on lake nicaragua to an island for lunch. we passed a mini-monkey island on the way. on the island, there were two talking parrots that sounded just like two little hispanic girls talking to each other and giggling-- precious. we also went to a high school one day to (try to) speak english with the students. andrea, luke, and i made some friends who invited us to hang out with them later in the day (resulting in our being late for our class meeting, but it was worth it). our group was sad to leave granada and our new friends.


in managua we made a last run to the local coffee shop and all had a nice final dinner out at a yummy, healthy, organic restaurant (ola verde) together.


saying goodbye to nicaragua not knowing when, if ever, i would return was difficult. i will not forget the horror of dirty, malnourished children scrounging through trash at the dump; the despair i sensed upon encountering the huelepegas in the street, who, in actuality, were not really present anywhere; and the confining, oppressive feel of the jacket maquiladora (factory) we visited. these memories make me yearn for justice, for freedom, for wholeness, for the kingdom of heaven on earth.


i hope to return someday, but if i never encounter that opportunity in my future, i will continue to cherish the memories of that trip and of the sweet, smiling, generous people with whom we crossed paths.