Nicaragua, day twelve

Going home… It’s interesting how quickly Costa Rica felt like home after being in Nicaragua, where I didn’t know my way around at all. We got up early for the long bus ride home and proceeded to drive for many hours till the border. At the border we changed money and got something the drink and then hopped back on the bus for the other border. This one took quite a while longer, since they had to check our luggage for entry. It was pretty easy, though. Then back on the bus for more traveling and lunch and then more traveling…

Reflecting back on my time there, I realize a few things. First of all, it’s not that scary to travel to other countries. You basically just have to figure out transportation, how to communicate blessings to people and how to keep relatively safe. It’s not that bad. I think I feel a lot more sure about going to any other Latin American country now.

Another thing I realized is that perhaps there doesn’t need to be a solution to poverty – perhaps poverty isn’t so horrible. I’m not saying that there shouldn’t be food to eat and a house to live in – those things seem to be essential for survival. But if you have food, water, a house and some clothes, you can figure out all the rest of the stuff, obviously. Not that it’s easy and not that this creates an excuse to say that poverty is just the way it is and we should leave it. I just don’t think that being poor is all that horrible – I think that with a couple more pairs of jeans and a few more shirts, I could be perfectly content living in those conditions in that community. It’d be just fine, I think. Maybe we have a lot more to learn from them than they have to learn from us. I feel like we tend to always approach poor countries in a way that can best fix their poverty. Maybe we should try to approach them in a way that understands their culture, understands their basic needs and preserves both of those while learns to implement the good things they have to teach us in our own culture.

When I was telling my sisters about how awesome Nicaragua was and how I think they’re best people on the planet (my family here is also Nicaraguan), they started crying because no one had ever told them that. Everyone has always told them how horrible Nicaragua was and how awful and badly behaved Nicaraguans are. Not in Christian circles, of course, but in the vast majority, there seems to be racism among Costa Ricans towards Nicaraguans. When I was talking with my Uncle Javier, he told me about how he lived in Costa Rica for 7 years in many different parts and that he was constantly battling racism here. I have no idea what that looks like, but I imagine that it would be horrendous – especially since you can’t hide it very well. I can’t imagine ever judging a whole group of people negatively. I don’t mind making generally good statements, but generally bad only causes damage. Maybe something loving and wise that I can do with my life is constantly be affirming the good in people in order to battle racism and unhappiness…

This trip has blessed me incredibly and I hope that I can use all the many things I’ve learned about culture, family, love and poverty to mix into my life in a way that honors and glorifies God through loving His people and Him.