La Costa Atlántica

My mother is coming tomorrow
I've got every place we will go planned
She'll be here barely a week so I want to make every day count

Of my family here:
Don Antonio (the husband of my host mother Marina who had previously been away in Spain) is a fascinating person to watch. His Spanish is incredibly difficult for me to understand; nevertheless, we manage to have a few conversations about what is going on in the world.

Baby Emily lights up the house. The energy of everyone is emboldened by her always cheerful presence. She literally is always smiling.

My little sister Maete I rarely see. While I'm at home she is at school and I leave the house to travel almost every weekend. This weekend was a rare exception. I decided to stay at home, eat lunch with her, and shoot the breeze. For that reason, on Saturday I met more family members: Janet’s two teenage daughters. I cannot remember their names only that they were 18 and 19 years old and that our conversation showed me how much I still have to learn about this country.

As we conversed in general we inevitable began to discuss poverty. I told what I had seen here in Managua: young children begging in the streets, the metal shacks, the old folk sleeping on the sidewalk. The 19 year old looked at me, shook her head and said,"claro, pero La Costa Atlántica es peor."

The Atlantic Coast is a part of Nicaragua that is very different culturally. The majority of the residents are black also called Afro-Nicaraguans and speak English Creole. The land there is much harder to work, there are fewer schools, and it rains nearly ten months out of the year.

She talks about the cyclical nature of the poverty there, the lack of good universities like those of Managua and Leon. She tells me about the young girls who bear children at the age of nine and ten.

This is the hardest thing to hear. "What if their health is in danger?" I cannot help but ask. It doesn't matter. All forms of abortion are illegal here in Nicaragua. If you become pregnant young or by rape it doesn't make a difference. You literally will go to jail if you attempt to have the procedure.

This I find hard to swallow, so I ask her if it has always been this way. The lack of abortion even if the mother’s life is in danger.

"Ortega" she simply says, glaring.

There is political turmoil here as it is in many parts of Latin America. Daniel Ortega is the current president of Nicaragua. During my stay here there have been protests against him, as the public believes he cheated his way into office. Although abortion has been illegal here for a long time, it was Ortega who supported the move to make emergency abortions punishable by a six-year prison term.

***

I used to be incredibly pessimistic about the state of the world. I would constantly say to myself, nothing we do is going to produce wide spread change; everything will always be how it will be. People will always be cruel and hurt one another.

I’ve begun to realize it doesn’t matter if that is true or not. I think of how much I value my own life and how even if I can’t help every single person in the world whoever I can help will be all the better off. That one life would be better. For that person the world would be different.

Learning about the situations of those young girls, who are in even harsher conditions than what I have seen here truly moved something in me. I know that if I had been born in different place or time my life could have easily been theirs.

For those who are fortunate there is more that can be done than just being thankful.
At least for me I feel my purpose is becoming clearer by the day.

home

So as I've said close to a million times by now
time is flying
this has become more apparent of course as I look for a summer job in the US
the economy
that's all I have to say about that

everything has been going well, i haven't hit too many bumps in the road yet

however

there are three wonderful things that are about to happen:
1. my mother is coming to visit me in less than 10 days
2. I'm traveling to the beautiful country of Costa Rica for spring break
3. i will turn the wonderfully youthful, exciting, revolutionary age of 21 while in Costa Rica

what is the greatest of the three?
my mom coming of course, which seems incredibly cheesy I'm sure
but it's true

the entire time I've been here I can't think of one time I have legitimately missed and wanted to return to the United States. All I can think of is how much I want to stay here and see every country in latin america. This fact I took as a sign that I am strong enough and have spirit to be a backpacking, adventurous traveler when I get the chance, or rather when I make the chance for myself

despite this overwhelming feeling of freedom, I have never stopped missing my family and friends. It's quite a different feeling being so far away from home. the way you miss someone is entirely different when you know you're not a hop and skip away

not that my hometown of Detroit and Boston are close together, but somehow knowing you reside in the same country, watch the same shows, can go eat at some of the same places maintains a sense of comfort

but here I am in another world
and now a huge part of the world I know is entering the world I'm in now

i imagine my mom's visit will be like reliving my first days here. my first meal, first view of the city, first bus ride through the country

all relived for me, through my mother's eyes

i cannot wait

my home is coming to me

The good and the bad

first off i apologize for the hiatus
honestly i've been caught up in fervor that is Nica
but alas I am alive and kicking

in the past few weeks I've visited many cities and islands in Nicaragua every weekend. Ometepe a beautiful island, created by a volcano, the beautiful city of Granada (again and again), Laguna de Apoyo, and other places. There are tons of volcanos here. Gretchen and I went to Mombacho, a volcano near the city of Granada. It was an interesting experience to say the least.

Here's how it went

We took a bus to Granada (an hour and a half ride). From Granada the only way to the volcano is by cab. When we finally found a cab with a decent price (here there are no meters you just bargain) we took a half hour ride to a rest stop near the volcano. When we arrived we were informed that the next bus going to the viewing point for the volcano would leave in an hour which meant we had time to kill in the middle of nowhere. We walked around aimlessly and eventually found a little coffee place. Time flew by and before we knew it we were in danger of missing the bus. We hustled back to the rest stop, barely making it.

Then there was the bus ride. 45 minutes on an unpaved road. At first it feels like you're on a rollercoaster which isn't so bad, but then it starts to feel like well..... you're driving on an unpaved road.

Then there was the rain. Two scattered down pours. Soaked from head to foot. Here, there is a rainy season that starts in May, so usally the rain takes its time and shows up halfway through the year. But every once in awhile nature surprises you.

Here was the other surprise. The frigid cold. Of course cold is relative, but the higher up you go the cooler and cleaner the air. I admit I should have expected that, but it's hard to think about bringing a jacket and wearing long pants when you're in 90 degree weather everyday.

And finally the view of the volcano. Or rather the lack there of. The rain and cool air left a stark white fog that obscured the view. You could not see a single thing. It was a strange sensation actually, knowing that this massive part of nature was there, but completely invisible.

We waited another hour for the bus back the warmth of Granada.
Road another 45 minutes and made our slow journey back to the city of Managua.

So it was a trying experience. It's terribly cliche but you need the good and the bad . How else could I appreciate the absolutely perfect days I have here. One thing though. Nextime i'll check the weather report.