Impressions of Nicaragua by Tony Albrecht

Tony is currently in Nicaragua and sent this to a friend and gave me permission to share. -- Mark

below you will find a photo of me in a hammock taken 4 minutes ago. it's hanging up in what i guess would be the front courtyard. the one with the banana trees. the back one has the clothes line, spinach, herbs, tomatoes, etc. aside from the fact that there are bugs all over the place (due to all the rooms being open to the outdoors in some way), you'd absolutely love it here. for as much as you didn't want to leave haiti, i have the sense that you will get down here (guatemala will be fairly similar, from what i understand) and actually not leave. and i would love to see you in this environment. so much so that i've had the impulse to fly you down here and marry you on the spot. :-b. i'm not sure why i've had that impulse. i think it's b/c i love your energy and dedication, and this is a place where you'd be free to let those things rip unencumbered. 

masaya is a relatively big town. people everywhere (on bikes, on feet, stuff on their heads, sitting on stoops), not many people speak english, and there's a lot to be done in terms of helping people. we ate at a fritanga last night (fritanga is a little outdoor restaurant?), and the food was very good (marinated beef, gallopinto, plantain chips). there's a tremendous amount of life here, which is a huge part of the allure, right? i asked josh whether he plans on returning to the us anytime soon (he doesn't) and why not. among other reasons, he used the word sterile to describe life in america. and it's so true. we've talked about that. this life here is anything but sterile. it seems like there are next to no rules. stuff doesn't necessarily work, nor is it expected to (we blew a tire within 10 minutes of leaving the airport last night. i pushed the taxi to jump start it--in reverse haha). the chaotic streets are almost dripping with a vivacious energy unlike anything i've ever seen before. 

that being said, christie and i did some more touristy stuff today, i guess, since it is sunday. we went to a volcano and hiked around but couldn't see a whole lot due to fog. then we went to a town on a big lake called grenada (white people apparently retire there in large numbers now). it's about a half hour from masaya. we went on a touristy (kind of) boat ride around part of a humongous lake that has all these little islands in it from the last time this volcano erupted. something like 350 little islands in this lake. a bunch are privately owned with crazy beautiful houses on them. one island se vende ahora for $120,000 if you're in the market. 

i told christie that today was all the touristy stuff i care to do from here on out. we wandered the streets this evening. that was a preferable speed. it's obvious that these people don't have a whole lot of stuff. although i've been struck by how often i see someone staring at the phone the way i do all too often. lot of cell phones here. lot of tv's. not sure what to make of all that at this point. 

i am very uneasy with how rich i am. not in the sense that i don't want the guilt and discomfort of having people look at me and ask me for stuff. but in the sense that i can't reconcile the fact that i have so much much much more than one person needs when these people struggle to have enough. and those two things are connected. these people struggle to have enough b/c i, as a rich american, have so much. on a material level, i can have so much b/c so much of the stuff i have gets made cheaply by people like the people of masaya. and on a psychological and spiritual level, our extravagance and consumerist culture teach people that more more more is better. so people are constantly wanting more, no matter how much they have. that mentality is destructive no matter how rich the person is who lives that way. but for poor people, i have to imagine that seeing people who have the more more more must be painful. i don't know that i expressed that very clearly. 

how bad i am at spanish has been frustrating today. but i have made progress on my R's. i can say nicaragua like a person who speaks spanish. so there's something. we get to work on stuff tomorrow. josh and elliott have a hell of a setup here. they specifically chose masaya as a place where they could blend in (relatively speaking, as opposed to standing out as a tourist constantly) and be of service in a number of ways. as opposed to having one project they devote all their time to, it sounds like they have a number of places they keep in touch with and visit on a weekly basis and do what they can to support the nicaraguans. so it seems to be a low-key, behind-the-scenes approach to volunteering in a developing country. i'm sure i'll have more thoughts on this once i've actually seen it in action. but from talking to the two guys, i can say they're kindred spirits. not down here to save the world, just trying to contribute to a community in a meaningful way and not do harm. i have to say, so far i'm really impressed with what they're doing. i have yet to see any major compromises on their part. 

ok. enough jabbering for now. keep up the good work.