|
The Coffee Farm , Karaoke and the Journey Home
Friday- Sunday
Friday morning began with the rooster chorus as usual, and also a return trip to the hospital, this time to make sure
Michelle had not contracted a serious disease (later that afternoon we found out that all tests were negative). By Friday
we were all quite tired, but still enjoyed our tour of the coffee farm. We were surprised by a visit of the Nicaraguan
Police, complete with machine guns. They just hung out at the coffee farm and we never really found out why they were
there. Coffee farming is extremely labor intensive and even with "fair trade" prices it is difficult for the
farmers to provide for themselves and their families. Friday evening the English students performed Karaoke for us.
They sing English songs as a fun way to practice their skills. As a group we sang a few songs for the students.
The students also sang a song in Spanish for us. It was a beautiful song with a beautiful message. Translated
(imperfectly) and summarized the lyrics said, " We sing and lift our voices for the whole world to hear, when we
sing the sun shines and the truth is shown, we sing and live in peace, for those who suffer hurt, we lift our voices for those
who cannot sing." The trip home was uneventful, we drove back to Managua on Saturday and then flew out of Managua
very early on Sunday morning. We had a long layover in Houston and returned to Michigan very early on Monday morning.
It was a trip full of life changing and eye opening experiences for each of us. We will not forget the people we met
there and the lives that touched ours.
|
