Contrast

The good thing about delegations coming through and staying with the JHC is that Sarah and I get to go along on their adventures. Yesterday the delegation had a cita with Ambassador Trivelli, the US Ambassador here in Nicaragua. Seeing how I never want to have to go to the US Embassy on official business, I thought this would be a good chance to check it out. As you might expect, the US Embassy is a hassle. We gave them our passports, were screened and checked and led down a corridor and into a room. Trivelli would be joining us shortly. Bucknell had aleady planned questions and whatnot so Sarah, Emily and I sat in the back to observe. Once Trivelli came in (you stand when an Ambassador enters the room) the show went downhill. I imagine both sides (because somehow there were sides) left the meeting feeling proud to stand for what they believed in and frustrated with the other group. I think there were some really good questions asked of Ambassador Trivelli (like what does he think about the Ortega-Chavez relationship) and some really off questions as well. I think the meeting could have been a little more productive if the respective guards would have been let down a little.
TODAY we took a glorious trip to the city dump. En serio. Managua's dump is ridiculously huge and I was shocked to find out that there are 1500 people living in the dump, often in the "green areas" surounding the dump. We heard heartbreaking stories of sleeping babies being crushed by the dump trucks while their mothers are scavenging for food. We spoke to the boys of Los Quinchos about their struggle with street life and glue sniffing. It was seriously absolutely heart breaking.