Home is where the heart is. And there are pieces of my heart scattered all over the world. Ive left pieces of my heart in different countries, different states, different towns and with different people. So I guess you could say that I have many homes. Currently I am in one of those homes, Nicaragua. The beauty of the people and the culture and the sights are just overwhelming. They fill me with joy and excitement. Its actually a crazy feeling, to feel more at home when i’m not at home. Today I was greeted at the airport by my Nica brothers and sisters and we loaded up the back of a truck with all the luggage. We didn’t want any of the luggage to fall out so me and a friend on the trip both sat in the back of the truck on the top of the luggage. I was filled with adrenaline, and turned to my friend and just said “I love that this is legal here.” He laughed and we continued to ride “home” to La Quinta.
We met with some good friends of ours, Pastor Wilbur, his wife, Maritsa and his two sons Marcus and Christian. I learned very quickly that while in Nicaragua you only need to know three words. “Solo la cabesa!” meaning, “Only use your head!” Marcus, christian and I played some soccer together after dinner. It was awesome to be able to see them again.
On a different note this summer has been one that I will always remember. For starters I turned the big two one. On an even more exciting note I spent the majority of my summer in Nicaragua and Africa. Africa was gorgeous. I have committed myself to fully immersing myself into the cultures that I am in. And in Africa I kinda fit in. It was there winter and I was defiantly chilly most days. I have my nose pierced so that helped me blend in?? And I also got the oh so great opportunity to eat the delicacy know as, Ox balls. Yes Ox balls. I wont go into detail about what happened to me after I took the first bite.
Something I have come to notice in both cultures, Nicaraguan and African is that they know they are beautiful. They don’t have mirrors to look in every day. They don’t have people to take their pictures and cameras to take way to many selfies with. You take a picture of them and every single reaction you get is a smile and a “wow! beautiful.” It made me realize how much stress and pressure we put on ourselves and how out of anyone out there its ourselves that put our own self confidence down. I realized that the pictures I was in I constantly wanted to redo it or delete it. I felt convicted. God has made each one of us differently, and beautiful and unique. Like snow flakes. So from now on when I look in the mirror I am going to lift myself up, I am going to smile and say, “Thank you God, for making me beautiful.” Will I fail at this sometimes? Of course. Its part of being human but I am for sure going to be making an effort to lift myself up.
In conclusion, this summer has been filled with new friendships, new adventures, new “foods”, long plane rides, beautiful animals, amazing people, diverse cultures, open mindedness, and having a free spirit. It feels so great to hand over the reigns to God and let him take control of my life and the path that i have recently chosen to go down. I can not wait until I can add to my long list of crazy things i’ve done. I know that a piece of my heart will soon be in even more places in the world, with even more people and my “home” will soon be carried on my back. Home is where the heart is.
From Nicaragua with love,
Madison
