Ah, Nicaragua....

I went to Nicaragua in 1995 with some Jesuits priests and other college students. We lived with Sandinistas for a month, it was my first exposure to poverty, to hunger...the struggle between the Contras and the Sandinistas was fading (somewhat) but lingered like a very fresh, pink scar. One of my most vivid memories was when we were all driving back from the beach (San Juan del Sur) and we got pulled over. We were 3 gringos...white American females...in a beat up truck of probably 10 other Nicaraguan Sandinistas. The soldiers held their guns at us, me and my friend Sarah. We had been asleep, so it was very surreal, under a beautiful starry night. I never felt fear looking into that teenage soldier's face. But I felt the very humble beginnings of understanding their struggle. In the end, it all passed with a few dollars exchanging hands.

Anyway, these days, ten years later, Nicaragua is one of the (if not the) safest countries in Central America. It is stunningly beautiful.