Day 5

Poneloya beach. After the always powerful and challenging experience in Nuevo, we arrived yesterday afternoon at this beautiful black sand beach on the Pacific. Ate some hearty meals and reflected together last night, trying to process our thoughts about poverty and how it affects people, including those who have privilege and witness the poverty. How do we respond? Good night's sleep. Sitting in front of the ocean now, listening to the rhythmic roar of the white caps coming in, feeling the salty air breeze past me, looking at the stream of thoughts pass through my mind, all adding up to...it's to nice be here right now.

One of our most interesting activities is spending the night with a Sonador family. This year, I was grateful to join Diana, her parents Genaro and Claudia, big sister Massiel, and little sister Haley. The family welcomed me warmly. I spent most of the evening talking with the parents about politics, work, and contrasts between Nicaragua and the US, but we found some rich common ground around the ways we're working to support Diana's education. In the morning, I sat outside on the porch as parents and kids got ready for school and work, and a glorious golden sunrise filtered through the trees and bathed the landscape.