And I'm Back
Twenty-two hours ago, I awoke in Leon, Nicaragua after a restless three hours of sleep, took a cold shower (warm water is extremely rare, although at least slightly more tolerable given the year-round hot weather), and headed to the airport. In two hours, I'll go to sleep at home, in California. I always find it jarring to wake up in one country and fall asleep in another. The psychological distance between Nicaragua and California is infinitely greater than the actual relatively short 2500 miles flying distance.
I left for Nicaragua a week ago after having immersed myself in reading about the country's history in the preceding two weeks. Having previously been only minimally familiar with events leading up to, including, and following the Sandinista revolution in 1979, I felt that I had arrived at a reasonably accurate expectation of what I'd find. In the end, I wasn't completely wrong, but the story painted by books and internet sources turned out to do a dismal job of describing the much more intangible feeling of this amazing country. It took a week of travelling and talking with Nicaraguans to gain the most basic understanding of what drives the average Nicaraguan psyche, how they view themselves and the rest of the world, and what their hopes and fears are.
Over the next week, I'm going to attempt to relate my experiences there, hopefully not defaulting to rote recitations of my day-to-day schedule, but instead focusing more on capturing the most important elements and, above all, the essence of this simultaneously breathtakingly beautiful and depressingly ugly country.
For now though, suffice it to say that I had an absolutely incredible time and didn't feel ready to return home this morning. However, I am going to love the long, hot shower I plan to take tomorrow morning.
Oh yeah, and, god bless fast internet access.
I left for Nicaragua a week ago after having immersed myself in reading about the country's history in the preceding two weeks. Having previously been only minimally familiar with events leading up to, including, and following the Sandinista revolution in 1979, I felt that I had arrived at a reasonably accurate expectation of what I'd find. In the end, I wasn't completely wrong, but the story painted by books and internet sources turned out to do a dismal job of describing the much more intangible feeling of this amazing country. It took a week of travelling and talking with Nicaraguans to gain the most basic understanding of what drives the average Nicaraguan psyche, how they view themselves and the rest of the world, and what their hopes and fears are.
Over the next week, I'm going to attempt to relate my experiences there, hopefully not defaulting to rote recitations of my day-to-day schedule, but instead focusing more on capturing the most important elements and, above all, the essence of this simultaneously breathtakingly beautiful and depressingly ugly country.
For now though, suffice it to say that I had an absolutely incredible time and didn't feel ready to return home this morning. However, I am going to love the long, hot shower I plan to take tomorrow morning.
Oh yeah, and, god bless fast internet access.
posted by GregP at 9:45 PM
1 Comments:
So am I!
Yeah, um, no, uh, really, it's coming. I promise.
Post a Comment
<< Home