First Impressions

                         My first impression of Nicaragua started before the wheels of the plane that carried me there ever even touched the ground. When booking my flight online I had the opportunity to upgrade my seat for free so that I may be closer to the front of the aircraft. Of course I accepted the opportunity and changed my seating arrangement, this change proved to be a turn of fate. On the airplane I sat next to a woman who was a native born Nicaraguan who was returning with her young son to visit family. At first I assumed the position of the unassuming quite passenger but soon she asked me my name and I asked hers and we began a conversation that lasted every minute of the two hour flight. She was an entrancing soul. She was very religious and well mannered, she began to tell me about how all though her life she had experienced trials and turmoil but still god had carried her through all of it safely as a reward for her unwavering faith. After about an hour or so I became comfortable enough to ask her if she had experienced any of the violence of the revolution. She then told me how she had fled the country with her family at the age of 4 to avoid the destruction of war. She said she could still hear the sound of the aircraft machine guns and the artillery shells if she though hard enough. Her brothers had fled to Honduras to avoid being drafted as a guardsman for the Somoza dictatorship. They had been caught sever times in Honduras and been tortured under the assumption that they where working for the Sandinistas as spies. As we talked I felt a flutter in my heart for the suffering this woman and her family had felt. I felt as though I was living inside Stephen Kinzer's novel Blood of Brothers. We talked and she told me her story and we shared our lives with each other and after she was done she still praised god for her blessing such as her son and the safety of her family and the moderate wealth she was able to accumulate in her life in the United States. When she spoke of god I feel as though I was experiencing her faith through her passion in the way she spoke. Something supernatural was occurring thats to be sure. The experience was truly life changing, and this was all before I even arrived so I had very high expectations for how the rest of my experience in Nicaragua would impact me. After we landed we shared our goodbyes and I went on to write down the experience in my notebook that I brought for the trip so I would never forget it. We then pilled in a bus and drove until arrived at the hotel that we would be staying at for the next few days which was perched upon the lip of an ancient dead volcano that had since filled with rain water and looked a little something like this.

The country is amazing and filled with loving, kind, passionate beautiful people. I am in love with everything about it. I have enjoyed every second of being here and I imagine I will until the day I leave.  Well thats all for now, more to come soon.