Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Getting Prepared for the Return Home


 San Juan De Limay
  The beach in Leon is beautiful. The landscape and social context here are very different from the rest of the places I visited on this trip. It is nice to reflect on my time here and have the ability to be alone, but it is also alienating in a strange way. The hotel is not super busy, but the feeling I get from this place is odd. All Art of Solidarity participants are seen as North American tourists and nothing more. We are not part of anything; we are annoying guests who always have bills to large that need to be changed into smaller bills.  In Limay we were greeted every morning on the street by friendly faces curious about our classes for youth. Or we would be asked what time to be at the preschool to work on the mural. We ate breakfast and lunch cooked by Dona Nidia, an amazing award winning cook in her small restaurant in her living room. Relationships were formed and things such as Facebook and email make it possible to retain those relationships. We worked hand in hand with each other. We were simply people, we were not North Americans or Nicaraguan, just people. Life was different and hard. I will not over romanticize Limay because the truth is the town has problems, but in Limay someone was always there for you if you needed help. Many times you didn’t even have to ask, our friends were often intuitive enough to see when we were in distress. It’s often hard to articulate my experiences in Nicaragua to others.  I just know coming here always seems to balance and center me. It gives me the strength to pursue the difficult and often draining nonprofit work I do in Baltimore, another beautifully flawed city. 
Suyapa Beach Leon

No comments: