Timed Writing 3/6/13

        An event in my life that i would say changed me as a person was my trip to Nicaragua. It was emotional in many ways that i can think of.  Getting homesick, seeing poverty in real life instead of on a TV commercial,  and living the nicaraguan life for a whole month. When i first stepped out the airport, the heatwave hit me really badly and it hit me that i was really far away from home.  I knew that i did this to get to know the country where my parents came from, and to do what i can to help out a community in Nicaragua. 
       The first busride you can see street vendors and little kids asking for coins, the mentors told us that this was daily for nicaraguans.  It was sad, i hated seeing that, i always felt bad for them everytime that i saw that because it was way different than the homeless people in america because they are mostly the little kids in america.  I also saw stray dogs and it was like no one cared for them, there wasnt a type of SPCA type of program there so if the dog is lost then it will stay lost.  My family has 5 dogs and to see that was heartbreaking.  Poverty is a huge thing in Nicaragua.  There are many families that live under a dollar a day and only eat this dish called Gallo Pinto which is basically rice and beans.
       An experience that i had was going into a community called 'La Isla' where the kids lived in these small huts and had a little school there as well.  These kids are in a rural area that is outside of Leon which is the city that we mainly stayed in.  The kids had a soccer team with a space of a field with no goal posts to practice with.  So what we did in our community service projects was build goal posts on both sides of the field so that the kids can legitamently practice.  The kids were really excited when they saw their new goal posts and it is still there to do so we can say that our project was a success as being sustainable.
      This trip changed me as a person and how i view the world.  I feel now that i have it lucky where i am because i know for sure that i wouldnt want to live in a place like that.  We were consideed rich kids when we visited nicaragua because 20 dollars american money is alot of nicaraguan money if you exchange it.  I came back to America realizing that i need to appreciate the things that i have and the things that i may receive in the future because others out in the world don't have it as easy as others do.  Experiencing real life poverty for yourself can really change your views, it changed mine.