I stood in the pouring Nicaraguan rain the other night with Sarah C. It was the most relaxing and freeing experience. It was spiritual and healing. I felt like the rain was washing me of all the unimportant things I dwell on back at home. I was just standing in the dark in the clean rain of nature. I’ve noticed that about this place though, I feel free of the constraints and rules of society. I have no cell phone, no T.V, very limited internet and I absolutely love it! I’m completely free to just be who I am, no restrictions. Being here in the night, outside with no sounds of the world I normally live in is spiritual, beautiful and wonderful. I feel like I don’t miss my material processions at all, expect for maybe cold water and a softer bed!! JI can see things in a clearer, less shallow way here. Life is different and slower, things just happen as they happen; it’s a natural, easy flow.
And it’s just the same in the barrios. These people who have nothing go with the flow; they have no choice but to. They live in dirty and rundown conditions. It’s really quite difficult to describe what it’s like to walk through the barrios. Most of the streets are filthy – trash, waste animal poop and bugs. It is very unsanitary. The houses are little more than shacks. Some are made of cement, others of scrap metal, plastic bags, some a mixture of all of these. Some of the houses don’t even have floors, they live on the ground. They cook and wash outside and their bathrooms are holes in the ground. They have fences made of trees and barbwire or even scrap metal again. There are children playing in the dirt and dogs starving. However, there are some people who have much nicer houses and they stand out quite a bit. It’s amazing though how happy some they are even with the little they have. They are kind and giving and very polite.
