Remembering

So here I am in the ciber on my last full day here in Chagüitillo. I was on buses almost all day yesterday travling around to get a documentary to show tonight, and I had a lot of time to think about things I´ve learned and things I´ve seen here. I came up with the idea for this entry yesterday. This is a short collection of some thoughts and memories that are flowing in my mind now.

- I´ll remember the little girl with a shirt that was too small and a skirt that was too big walking shoeless up to the car after being in Nicaragua for 10 minutes. She wiped a small portion of the car with a dirty rag, and then walked up to the window and begged for some change either for some bread or so her parents could drink another beer tonight. I´ll never forget the look on her face.

- I´ll remember the biggest, fattest tortillas fresh cooked sitting on my plate. Always eaten with cuahada.

- I´ll remember the perpetual small of burnt diesel fuel and constant roar of buses powerfully limping through the streets in Managua.

- I´ll remember the ever present smile of the man who lives in the house made of plastic bags.

- I´ll remember being safe and comfortable on the bus headed north to my home with a roof while passing one of the countless piles of plastic bags, glass bottles, and rotting food where birds, dogs, and people searched for a single bite to eat.

- I´ll remember feeling uncomfortable every time I sat down to eat a hearty meal of platanos, tortillas, cuahada, chicken, rice, and fresco and thinking of my countless brothers living near by who did not have food that night.

- I´ll remember feeling helpless when seeing people begging for money.

- I´ll remember the countless nights spent hanging out in the streets with Nicaraguans and laughing until we couldn´t breathe.

- I´ll remember jumping over the river (that only appeard if it rained) that separated my house from town.

- I´ll remember the high schoolers playfully taking advantage of my ignorance of Nicaraguan slang to get a laugh.

I´ll remember countless other things. There are so many things I can put here. I want to write more and more, but alas...I have a few documentaries to show this afternoon and a short bus ride back to my community. I´ll write them later, back in the states. I want to share one more thing. After nearly completing my second abroad experience, I have found one thing that makes a trip like this very successful. Often times, we set out on these trips looking for answers about ourselves, the world, or God or whatever. What makes experiences like this successful, is leaving with more questions than answers. And I come back to the States in that exact state of mind.

-Joel