Nicaragua... Pt. 2

*Continued from part 1... We asked the people of the the new resettlement community what they want painted on the walls. Basically the idea of hope and love told through bright colors and children's eyes. I chose to paint the egrets because during my first trip, there was a mass amount of vultures in a low lying area but then these large white egrets would fly in and change the entire landscape. I found it pretty amazing to see this in person.

 Besides the large scale walls I also was asked to paint a new building wall. Club Hope, a place were kids can learn, play, activities are held, etc. This wall was mainly painted by the kids. Using fingerprints and hand prints to make flowers. I did add a large goofy monkey on the wall with the little paint we had left. The kids had fun and thats what matters. (I didn't get a final image of the wall)

 Besides the murals there was several other amazing activities going on. Dance classes were held. (my sister helped teach some of those), a drum class was held, a soccer camp was held, face painting, etc. All of which was put together into one big final great performance for us all to watch. 

It was great to see the kids really get into it.

 One of the places that I felt the most connected to was the safe house. An amazing home for kids. I knew several of the kids from trips before. I girl in particular I connected with a lot. Running around eating mangos, playing music, climbing trees, and being a kid again definitely made me not want to leave.

 There is always random funny things that happen on these trips. Here's just a few(see below). One night I ran around the streets & put eyeballs on certain objects. / A random horse came up to me while I was painting one of the murals. He was left there for quite a while and I was freaked out by him, especially since he got close enough to force me against the wall. / Also this little pill saved me several times from some major stomach pains. Thank you Jesse!

 Our final day was held at the beach. A long off-road drive but a great day.

Just surfing, relaxing, & enjoying the amazing views.

I know I left out a lot. But again it's hard to capture all the overwhelming experiences into words.  I look forward to future trips again.

Nicaragua... Pt.1

I've been putting this write-up off for awhile. A write up about my experience once again in Nicaragua. I always feel these trips to different parts of the world are so hard to explain. They are like an amazing sunset, they can't exactly be captured the same way our own eyes can view it in person. The visuals, the smells, the feeling, & surroundings all play a part in the overwhelming experience.

 This trip I decided to be 'present' often. I turned on my phone only one time and only took about eight photos. I felt more present as if I lived there full time. So 95% of the images posted here were taken by friends. 

 Having some amazing & inspiring close friends to me on this trip made it more marvelous. Friends from various locations gathered together once again in Nicaragua to combine talents for other Nicaraguan friends. Getting together again and sharing insane laughter, heartfelt stories, late-night pranks, difficult times, tears, moments of silence, etc. All experiences that mean so much to me. Experiences that cannot be captured in writing.

 This trip I was able to run around more freely and laugh more. I never felt uneasy or fearful. There were times where I even painted alone for several hours in the street and never felt fearful. I felt like I was in the states but with more of the spanish language added in. And even that never stopped me from saying ridiculous things to people and making them laugh. Laughter is universal and I embraced that more. All of this was new and refreshing to feel.

^above: Panoramic view of old to new.

 The murals... I have said it before but painting in Nicaragua is one of the most difficult places to paint. Mainly due to the extreme temperatures and unforgiving brutal sun. You want to paint something amazing and over the top but the heat bears down on you non-stop through out the day. Still the people loved it and wanted more paintings around the community.

I have to give thanks to the men who prepped the walls. They were there chiseling down, smoothing out, adding concrete, watering, smoothing again. All just for us to paint on. That seemed pretty labor intensive and I thank them for that. --- More to come...