The students in Nicaragua did not have any computers or electronics with them on the trip therefore these blog entries were written in the group notebook and typed and entered here later. Enjoy!
Monday Jan 9
Tonight, the group went over our “rose and thorns” of the day. My rose was getting to go to the village and meeting everyone we would be working with. The awkward silence turned into playful bantering as everybody, workers and Hillel, got to know one another. My thorn, however, is one I will never forget. Considering my small stature, I was happy with my digging progress so far. The trench seemed to be growing! However, my shovel kept getting taken away in order to hasten the process. I was given a pickaxe, go figure, me with a pickaxe. Cuidado,” be careful, Atruro told me. Not three minutes later, I had managed to cut a tube, with water running through it, in half. Water rapidly hit me in the face as I the community began to laugh. Trying to cover it with soil did nothing to help the cause. I was so embarrassed, I will never pick axe again!...until tomorrow! Great experience. Can’t wait for another wonderful day here in Nicaragua.
-Sydney Sarfan
Tuesday Jan 10
Today I continued to work on digging the trenched so the community can have running water. The first half was uncomfortable because the locals who I was near weren’t very friendly. They would not talk much or smile. After our break I moved to be near people closer in age to me who were much nicer. I tried speaking to them in Spanish that Lom taught me. They were very nice and willing to try to communicate with me. Raphael, who is one of the other workers, told me he is studying to be a maestro, or foreman. Manuel said he is not in school. They were also very curious how much money Andrew made and how much his gloves cost. After lunch we are walking 30 minutes to a hibiscus distribution plant.
-Abby S.
Wednesday Jan 11
This place is hit with poverty that causes sadness, but then if you step back you can see the beauty. During the day, there is a spectacular view of the volcano and lively conversation with friends. At night, a light breeze flows through the place accompanied by the gentle hum of insects. This is the beauty of the place. It lies in the spirit of the people and the land they inhabit. It is amazing to hear the young children talk about their aspirations, fun to laugh with people my own age, and humbling to converse with adults about how they work for survival.
But about today, we saw the well that serves the entire community. On the way there from the work site, we saw he length of trench yet to be accomplished. I can’t believe how much farther the pipe needs to go. It will take months before the community can use the well as a resource. It is sad to see a community without the things I take for granted at home, but I am happy to see that these troubles have not diminished the fight of the human spirit.
-Robin Roston
Wednesday Jan 11
Today was my first experience walking through the markets and the town square. Here was a variety of fruits, vegetables, and other products available for sale as we went on our scavenger hunt. I took several photos and enjoyed the local architecture. One particular example was the church we (me, Sydney, Izzy, and Liana) walked through that was built in the 1800’s in a colonial Spanish manner. Our third day at the digging site was far more enjoyable as well. My back did not hurt as much as before and my ability with a pickaxe has developed. His experience in Nicaragua has been enjoyable, and I look forward to further trip with Hillel.
-Max G.
Thursday Jan 12
Today has probably been our busiest day, but we saw a lot in the community so it was worth it. After a couple more tough, but conversation-filled hours of digging, we split into two groups to venture deeper into the community. We saw the well that currently provides water for the 200 or so families in Los Castillos and is powered by a pair of oxen. It was eye opening to see the amount of work that went into producing just one bucket of water, and how one liter of water costs a family 2 Cordoba, which can really add up when you think about how much water a family of 5 or 6 uses. It really made me stop and think about how much water I use at home and how accessible it is. I will definitely remember this experience the next time I want to take a really long shower.
In the afternoon we visited a nearby medical clinic in Nandaime. I thought it was really interesting how the public clinic offered all of its services, including immunizations, a pharmacy, and a maternity ward, to the community for free because it really shows that they are trying to make health care accessible to people who don’t have enough money to go to a private clinic. It was a little awkward walking through the clinic and seeing sick people in their rooms, but overall, I really enjoyed the experience.
-Liana
Thursday Jan 12
This morning we worked on the trench again. Sue and I worked with a man names Portfil and learned that he has a brother who lives in LA and owns his own rental car company. Portfil knows a little English and he plans to leave for the United States in a couple of years. This afternoon we visited the homes of people within a community and it was surprising to see how little these people live with. We also got to see the baca pulled apparatus for lifting water from the well.
Tonight we had a discussion about the reason why we are here and why AJWS organizes these trips. I learned that the trips are not necessarily for the communities but for us to learn about the culture and bring the information back in order to cause change. This makes me want to go back and work towards creating products that will serve a purpose in communities like Los Castillos.
-Robin Roston
Friday Jan 13
Friday. 5:18PM. The challah is braiding and baking in the oven. We will light the candles when the sun does down in a few minutes.
It was our last day of work in Los Castillos. We dug 344 m and there are 282 m left. The mayor promised to bring in a machine to finish the digging because the land is getting hard and dry.
Around noon we joined the community for a closing ceremony they had planned for us. We each prepared a few sentences to share in Spanish. The community members presented us with gifts. The first was a doll made of sugarcane base, crafted by hand. As we stood to accept the dolls, I began to feel incredibly uncomfortable. I was taking a gift from people who do not even have half of the things I do. It was so thoughtful of them, but I could feel myself sweating even more. As unnecessary as the dolls were, the community members went on to present us with beans, lentils, rice, corn, dried, hibiscus, sugarcane, sweet lemons, and a few other pieces of food. The hardest part of this tri was accepting this gift basket…I had a conversation with an 83-year-old man earlier today about how so many people are starving. So the follow up of taking food was really difficult. Of course, not to accept it is even worse. Being in this situation motivates me to be much more conscience of the resources I use to avoid wasting anything. I also want to make better consumer choices, such as buying organic products. This week has taken our group far out of our comfort zones and what we’ve learned from it will help us to be better people in the future.
-Izzy Shockit
Saturday Jan 14
Today was a rather relaxed day. It was good to be able to slow down and appreciate all of the work we have accomplished this week. It has been grueling, but nonetheless, looking back, it was worth it. We went to the marker and to a peaceful garden. We saw natural medicine plants and learned about a series of useful plants and how they are essential for the peoples’ daily lives here. The walk was hot and long, but well worth the effort. Since it is our last day, it is important to look back and reflect on our experience both to see how we were impacted and how we impacted the community. While it is going to be sad to leave, Nicaragua holds a special place in our hearts.
-Sydney Sarfan and David Umansky
Saturday Jan 14
Last night we celebrated the Shabbat. We spent part of the day each preparing something such as decorating the room or baking challah. We invited all of the people who work at Nochari to come and celebrate Shabbat with us. We all said the prayers over the wine and bread together, then enjoyed dinner side by side. The employees told us that whenever a Jewish group comes to stay here they always know to expect something special on Friday night. We spent the night talking over dinner, dancing to Nicaraguan music, and playing piñata. It meant a lot to me that we were able to share something from our culture and traditions with them. This whole week they have been so open in sharing their culture and welcoming us into their community, it was special to share ours with them. It was great to be able to bring all of us together and celebrate Shabbat as one.
-Amy
Sunday Jan 15
We sleep on thin mattresses on the floor. We bathe under a cold trickle of water. We eat bland food we’re not used to. We struggle to communicate with people those who do not speak our language. We are caked in dirt, we smell, we sweat. There are no cells, laptops, movie theatres. We can’t drink the water. We are not comfortable. But what is comfort anyway? It is the safe. The known. The familiar. The constant. But where does comfort move us? It keeps us one place, the same, assured of the status quo. It is easy, too easy to be comfortable. The hard part is to be comfortable in discomfort. But what is discomfort? It is the scary, the unknown, the insecure. It can be unpredictable and strange. But discomfort exposes us to new things. It moves us in directions we never though we could go. It is productive. Discomfort makes us grow as human beings. It allows us to reflect upon what we can and cannot do, and most of the time, it surprises us. I challenge everyone to put themselves into discomfort as often as possible and to realize the good that it can accomplish. Because before we know it, the thin mattresses will become beds, thin trickles showers, bland food feasts, Spanish understandable, and the technology we once had, an afterthought. And then, we’ll be comfortable again.
-Andrew
Sunday Jan 15
Today is the last day of the trip. We woke up this morning slightly earlier than normal, to eat breakfast at 6:15am so we would have time to say good-bye to the staff at Nochari and have enough time to visit an artisanal market and volcano national park. Our breakfast was simple and yummy; yogurt, fruit, and bread (plus some untouched rice and beans!). We had an emotional good-bye to the kitchen staff Marion and Adela, who we have grown close to over the week. I definitely felt most connected with Cecilia and Lola, plus Lola’s young son Christian.
After a bus ride, we arrived at the marked to find just the kind of souvenir we had been looking for: crafty. I bought a bracelet, a leather bound journal, a woven coin purse and a decorated wooden “R,” for my middle name. Others got t-shirts, musical instruments, wooden carved boxes, wooden figurines, and other objects. We only had thirty minutes before hopping back on the bus to the national park to see the volcano. The volcano park smelled strongly of brimstone, and was so steep, that we had to turn off the A/C in order for the bus to make it up. Once we got to the top we all exited the bus to climb stairs that were cut into the volcano to take us up even higher. At the top, we could see for miles while our hair was whipped in the strong winds. It was an incredible last stop of the journey to get to appreciate the natural beauty of Nicaragua. It is sad to me that because the entrance fee to the park is five U.S. dollars per person, many locals can probably not afford to visit, since it would be 1.5 days wages cutting cane just to enter. II hope they have some days when it free to visit, because natural resources belong to us all.
After that we all hopped back onto the bus one last time to hear to the airport. We arrived with 3.5 hours until our flight and we all immediately ran to the food court to buy meat. Amy, Liana and I all got subway, which had a few more veggie options than we are used to at home. There were also more gift/souvenir shops at the airport that we all got stuff at to use up the rest of our Cordoba. I bought a bottle of water and another of ice tea, which I saves for the flight but were then confiscated prior to boarding in a surprise security check, weird and really annoying. Our first flight was relatively smooth, we all felt good until we landed in Atlanta and no gates were open so we had to sit on the tarmac waiting. And waiting. When we finally got in we had forty five minutes until boarding time on the next flight. Very luckily, customs was very smooth, no one confiscated my sugar lady, and we had time to buy food. The flight we were supposed to be boarding was late arriving form Cabo San Lucas which gave us time to wolf down our food sitting on the floor of the Atlanta airport. Too soon it was time to say goodbye to Andrew (We love you!) and get on the flight.
Now I am sitting here, watching the golden globes on our personal TV. screen and excited to be going home tonight. I am really glad that I was able to do this program, I feel extremely grateful for my life at home and at school. I really do want to be part of a positive change in the world and I feel ready to contribute and take initiative.
Thank you to Sue, Andrew, Lon and all the other VT students for sharing this journey with me. We are all bonded for life in a special way now.
-Abby S.
