Lucha por la justicia

much has come to pass in a week I must say, I've met five other exchange students: one from Mexico, another from El Salvador, two from Austria and the last from the good ole' United States (Oregon specifically) All five are wonderful people and I look forward to beginning official classes and meeting more Nicaraguenses here in the city

though I have much to tell, specifically today I got the shock of my life. Up to this point I have seen the strict class divides present in this city. While out with friends, driving through the streets, I've have seen children as young four or five knocking at car windows for coins, offering food and goods to sell.

However, it was not until my trip to Mercado Oriental, a well-known market that I truly saw poverty in its ugliest form. On the ride towards the market we pass through one of the poorest neighborhoods. The streets are strewn with garbage, stray dogs run wild along the sidewalk. The elderly are literally sleeping on sidewalks, their heads resting on a thin mats or cloth. In the market I'm pressed from all sides with people pleading for me to buy their homemade goods. Those who do not have booths sell all kinds of foods: candies, bread, ice, water, everything. Further into the market there are more children sleeping on the ground outside. A woman with two babies in one arm and a cup in the other begs for money. Another woman pushing a young girl who is mentally disabled in a wheelchair, pushes through the crowd, a cup in hand.

Could you imagine shopping for goods here all the time? My friend asks me. For many people of Nicaragua there is no choice in the matter. The prices in the grocery store are what the rich and middle class can afford. For many the markets are their resource for their daily bread.

As I take in the sights and sounds of the market I cannot help but feel guilty. All I have to do if I'm hungry or thirsty in my hometown is walk to the store and buy food with ease, or to my refrigerator, my cafeteria, a restaurant, whatever it may be. Our place in the world is but an accident of birth. It's so easy to forget that until you see those who are less fortunate. What can you do but try to change the world around you. This experience marks the beginning of my journey on that path.