Simple Thoughts

A month ago I left Marietta for Managua with just 2 bags for 2 years. Not only was I embarking on the greatest adventure of my life, but I was also committing myself to living out the 4 values of JVI: faith, community, social justice, and simple living. In my mind, only bringing those 2 bags was my first step towards living simply. When I arrived to the house I was going to be living, I honestly was a little relieved to find that despite the slightly cramped space, it was very comfortable…I had my own room with a fan, the fridge was full of food, we had a red velvet covered couch…what more could I want?

Because I won’t start working until January 15^th, I had time this past week to leave Managua and stay with a family in the small, rural community of El Viejo, and while I was there, I not only learned how to clean, gut, and fry a fish (and literally eat the entire thing), I discovered something far more important: By no stretch of my imagination was I even close to living simply. Sure I made the conscious effort to leave my laptop at home, have taken only cold showers, hand washed all my clothes, don’t have great access to internet or television, and have eaten my share of rice and beans, but after seeing the conditions that many Nicaraguans face everyday (and have faced everyday for many years), I can’t even begin to pretend to call my life “simple.”

When I arrived to Doña Marta’s home in El Viejo, although we had just met, I was immediately welcomed and treated as family. We spent the afternoon meeting her family (sons, daughters, grandchildren, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles…etc) who lived in the surrounding houses. I played with the small children running around the house and yard, watched as Doña Marta seasoned and fried the pork fat that was the main course for dinner, and helped wash the dishes in the outdoor sink. I was amazed by the genuine simplicity of their lives: No indoor plumbing (which means no indoor toilet or shower), no refrigerator, no mattresses on beds, dirt floor, roofs made of dried palm leaves, curtains that functioned as doors, and very inconsistent electricity. I immediately noticed how all these things truly made their lives more difficult. The women especially worked so hard. Just an example- I awoke in morning at 4:15am. The house and the neighbors were all awake, Doña Marta was on her way to buy the milk for breakfast, someone was banging a block of ice against the house…although I really wanted to get out of bed to help with the morning routine, I shut my eyes and went back to sleep for a few hours.

After a delightful visit of just 4 days, a warm hug, and goodbye, I returned back to Managua still thinking and reflecting on the experience. The next day, I was invited over by two friends who work for a free trade organization to the house that they had been house-sitting for the last two weeks. The house was owned by a woman who worked for the World Bank, and I am convinced was the nicest house in all of Managua. There was an open-aired courtyard, a pool, beautiful furniture, and wireless internet. We sat on the patio eating a wonderful lunch consisting of some serious comfort foods from home: turkey and cheese sandwiches, macaroni and cheese, ice cream, and pistachios. It was hard to believe that just 24 hours before I was in a town where some people have never seen the world outside of the town where they were born, many probably will never step foot into a like house I did that day.

As the afternoon progressed, the shock of the two worlds I was living in weighed on me. I was instantly aware of my privilege as an American living in this country.

Although I had the options of checking my email, swimming in the pool or playing with the many musical instruments in the house, the only thing that appealed to me was to stretch out on the hammock and read…although the words of my book were the farthest thing from my mind… I thought about my life up until this day. I thought about all the wonderful blessing in my life. I struggled trying to understand the huge differences in our world. Will I ever be able to understand why some people are more privileged than others or share in their struggles? Is it even possible to make changes in my life now to be mindful of the opportunities others don’t have? Will I ever understand what it means to live simply?