A little goes a long way

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.

The next day I went horse back riding with Holly to break in her new horses that she bought to use during the woman’s surf camps that she hosts.  We ran the youngins up and down the beach as they shyed away form the water's edge, not too sure what to make of it.  I ate lunch at the Montealegre’s house and finally headed back to the city to work on grad school application essays an study GMAT.  The Montealegre's are beautiful people that live down the beach from Coco Loco.  They are Nicarguan, but raised their sons(my age and up) in the states before coming back to settle in Chinandega.  They are extremely supportive of my projects and treat me as though I am part of the family.  I look back at my weekend and feel very fortunate that there are  people that recognize that life isn't always easy as a volunteer.  Their little bit of charity goes a long way in just helping me feel good while I'm here.