I'm home! My two weeks in Managua, Nicaragua, and San Jose, Costa Rica went very well, and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. It's hard to recap all that happened, and honestly that's probably too much to expect. Nevertheless, may you find this post to be both educational and encouraging.
Nicaragua is the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. It is a land torn by war, natural disasters, and conflict. Typical food is gallopinto = rice & red beans. Similar to my experiences in Mexico, I couldn't drink the water or flush toilet paper. Nicaraguan's drop there 's' in speech, and the accent was an adjustment.
The weekend I was there, we put on a medical clinic in a nearby town called Diriamba. Volunteers were each assigned roles for the one-day clinic. Two local doctors volunteered their days to see the patients who then were given the medications prescribed to treat their illness.
I spent the day in the pharmacy trying to read messy doctor writing for drugs written in Spanish that are foreign to me in the English language as well! We saw over 100 patients and were exhausted by days-end.
My flight from Managua to San Jose led me to Panama City due to huge storms in San Jose. I was hoping to have to spend the night and catch a glance of the city, but another flight was made for just a couple hours later. I didn't even get to leave the airport, but I have been to Panama now, too!
San Jose is beautiful! I felt like I was back in the states in a lot of ways - drinkable water, smoother roads, lush vegetation. Temperatures were much cooler since it is rainy season and San Jose is up in the mountains. Costa Ricans have virtually no accent and I loved the ease of understanding (overall - I'm always working on bettering my Spanish!)
Costa Ricans are called "Ticos" and have a lighter skin tone than Nicaraguans. Their typical food is also gallopinto = rice & black beans. Costa Rica has 4 million people, 3 million of whom live in the capital city of San Jose. Out of these 4 million, about 1 million are Nicaraguan immigrants.
The part of the city I spent most my time was called "Carpio" and is made-up of primarily poor Nicaraguans.I joined a team of college girls from Nebraska working at a school in Carpio during the bulk of m y time in San Jose. The children were adorable, and we had a lot of fun. At night, I stayed with a host family (definitely the highlight of my time). I had a 10-year-old brother, Adrian, 12-year-old sister, Gaby, and 14-year-old brother, Gerald, in addition to two parents : ) From the very first moment I met them, they really and truly felt like family. It was a blessing to get to share a week of our lives together, and I know I'll be calling them up if/when I return to San Jose.
In addition to pre-school, I visited Renacer, a rehabilitation center up in the mountains for girls. I went to the streets Wednesday and fed the poor and homeless. I also trekked out to the coast for a day and was delighted to see the jungle, complete with crocodiles. The ocean water felt like a heated pool and palm trees framed the chocolate-colored sand as far as I could see.
My flight home was delayed, causing me to miss my connections, just as my flights from the USA had been. However, everything worked out fine. I love Latin culture and language. Other than my frequent cockroach encounters, the last couple weeks didn't feel like a hardship - I loved them. I feel humbled to have opportunity to visit and interpret and encourage and learn from my travels.
