Well, we just returned from a 12 day trip to the beautiful country of Nicaragua. As usual, it has opened my eyes anew to love and hospitality. In Nicaragua, food = love. Well, maybe it's more accurate to say that food is a Nicaraguan love language. They show us their love and hospitality with plates filled with gallo pinto, eggs, and the infamously salty strong-smelling Nicaraguan cheese. They sit and watch us eat, as we smile and shove the food down our already-full throats, our stomaches literally expanding minute by minute. They kill one of their chickens, just to feed us chicken. They run to the pulperia for Coke, just so we can drink it. Nicaraguan food is not just sustenense, it's a labor of love for the visitor; a hallmark of great Nicaraguan hospitality.
We were welcomed into this world of hospitality for one week during our Nicaraguan trip, when we all lived near/around the capital city of Managua with different host families. I lived with a pastor and his wife outside of the city of Masaya, sharing time with them and their 5 year old daughter Genesis. It was a week of being: sitting in a chair with a fan pointed on me (more hospitality) while my host sister and I colored and drew pictures. A week of sharing with my host mom, when she was less shy and talked to me more, a week of riding in the back of pickups, a week of drinking more Coke than I have in the last 4 years (literally) and loving it, a week of processing and thinking about what life looks like here. I had a great time sharing with my family and learning from them, as well as learning from the other students in my group and their families.
One girl lived with a family who makes hammocks and sells them for a living. Basically the whole family works together to make hammocks/bracelets, and they make a total of about 10 hammocks a month. When we were at the border I saw people selling hammocks for $5 each. So, if this family sells theirs for $5 each, and they actually sell all 10, that would be $50. For a large family. For a month. Yeah. They were just the sweetest, most awesome people ever. So happy, always laughing and smiling, and always happy to share with us. Hermana Marta (the woman who makes the hammocks) even was paid by our host families to make one for each of us. How awesome is that, to have a hammock from the woman I know made it? And how challenging to look at it everyday and realize the reality that her family lives in. Now that's a gift.
This is the Nicaraguan adventure: sharing with people, making comparisons, trying not to rush to judgements about culture/poverty/etc, feeling lost, frustrated, and confused. And at the same time, feeling loved in ways we never imagined we would feel. This is why we do it, this is why we love it: Nicaragua.
On a side note that isn't so deeply reflective, I also celebrated my 23 birthday in Nicaragua! So that was really exciting! We were in Granada, and on my birthday we took a tour of the little islands that are along the shore in Lake Nicaragua (one of the largest freshwater lakes in the entire world, where a canal was originally supposed to have been built instead of in Panama, but that's another story entirely) and it was GORGEOUS and so fun! :) I had a great time just relaxing with the students as we all worked to process our week in Nicaragua, and just enjoyed living life together in a new place. We had some awesome lunch on an island, had a monkey commandeer our boat, and ended the night with some great pizza and cheesecake! (I know, I could hardly believe it either!) :)
All in all, it was a great 12 days that I wouldn't trade for anything. Glory to God for all the relationships formed and lessons only begun to be learned from this trip. What a blessing we all have been given through these opportunities. :)
Amor to you all. I miss you mucho mucho. :)
PS: If you don't have facebook and would like to see fotos, check out this link:
It's supposedly supposed to allow you to see pictures on facebook even if you don't have facebook. test it out and let me know. :) LOVE!
happy birthday dear laura! im glad you have made such great friends and was able to enjoy your day! it also sounds like you have so many opportunites over there! that is so humbling to have one of your host's hammocks.
ReplyDeleteAwesome Laura! It sounds like you had a great time, I'm not surprised! I wish we could sell their hammocks here!
ReplyDeleteThanks guys. :) It was a great time, not surprisingly. I wish we could sell their hammocks in the states too! It would be awesome to find some way for that to work....
ReplyDelete