I haven’t written in quite some time due to all my extra energy going
towards Graduate School Applications and GMAT studying. The Volcano Evacuation really threw off
my study plan and I returned back home to a bunch of unfinished business. Any who I wanted to take the time and
write a blog post about my past weekend because it has touched me in many
ways. I was so thankful to return
to my home in Chinandega after not being allowed home for 10 days and it made me realize how great my life really is
here in Nicaragua. Granted I get
lonely, a lot, but there are some things that make it worth it. This past weekend I was offered a ride
out to the rural beach community where I help out, by a nice couple Mark and
Kay. The also offered to put me up
in there beachfront house so I didn’t have to commute back and forth to
Chinandega with the rain and all the hassles that come along with it. What a treat! I got to go on a beach run during the sunset Friday evening
and then do a little yoga on the rocks over looking the ocean. I settled in to watch a movie with them
in a rocking chair and then fall asleep to the sounds of the waves
crashing. I woke up the next
morning to another beach run with the Coco Loco dogs Ocita and Rocco. I spent the majority of the day working
with the Artesenia del Mar jewelry small business, getting them ready to export their
jewelry to the States. These women are always a joy to be around and really appreciate my efforts to help them improve their business skills. I may have
mentioned in a previous post that its turtle season and Waves of Hope has a
turtle conservation project where they pay locals to bring in turtle eggs where
they protect them until they hatch and then release them in to the wild. Well Friday night about 30 eggs hatched
and we let them loose Saturday afternoon as the tide was going out. This was my first encounter with a baby
sea turtle and they are adorable as they flap about trying to make their way to to the ocean. My jewelry ladies
and Coco Loco friends took pictures and tried to smooth the sand in their path
so they didn’t get stuck. It was a
really neat experience, but also heart wrenching to know that only 1 in 100 sea
turtles actually make it to adulthood.
After a sunset dip that night I walked the beach under a full moon with
a Nicaraguan friend and Coco Loco employee who is in charge of the turtles eggs
by keeping track of when they come in and when they should be hatching. Jaime is his name. I wanted to see a momma turtle come lay
her eggs so we went walking and talking to try our luck. As we walked we started to talk about
the moon and how it affects the tides and before you know we are talking about
how the sun and moon are correlated and how that effects the time that you are
born until all of a sudden I realize we are talking about astrology. Eventually the conversation turns to evolution versus religion and what came
first the chicken or the egg! I
was absolutely blown away by his views, he’s not one religion, but views
himself as accepting of all religions.
We started talking about energy and karma and how there is no good or
evil, it is just what is. Jaime is
from this rural community and can barely write in Spanish, but he is an
extremely progressive and intelligent individual. We chatted about our views on life and how we feel about our
work in the community. He told me
that it doesn’t matter to him what people think about him, just about how he
values himself and if the work he is doing is helping his community. He takes a tremendous amount of pride
in helping Waves of Hope protect baby sea turtles and strolling the beaches at
night to make sure he gets to the eggs before the poachers. We continued to talk about the
different types of people that coexist like those that value philanthropy and
those that only want money. I’ve
seen Jaime’s living conditions, its him, his wife, and two daughters in a 10 by
10 room with a stove top outside.
This person is living to give back. An hour and a half later my
appreciation for this individual has multiplied times 10 and I want to hug him
for reminding me that even when I get frustrated with the culture that not all is lost in this country.
