Culture shock is supposed to hit hard upon arriving to a new country and seeing the vast differences in people, business, food and lifestyle. Yet, stepping onto the pineapple farm in Ticuantepe, Nicaragua felt nothing short of home. I did not feel overwhelmed with the unfamiliar stares of locals as I rode up and down the dirt road filled with pot holes so big I could swim in. Rather I felt the genuineness of curious eyes that for one reason or another in the U.S. we try to hide. (I admit it can be rather strange to have all eyes on you- but a friendly kind of strange). I did not feel overwhelmed by the lack of electricity or the lack of hot showers. Rather, it was humbling and eye opening to experience firsthand the reality of millions of people’s lives. Sadly, I did not feel “shocked” by the inequality in our world that allows a whole community to survive off of one small “waterfall” and another community to use that same amount of water for just one family. One week in Nicaragua did not shock me; it confirmed on a deeper level that this world is full of inequality and injustice paired side-by-side to beauty, hope and joy.

Megan