Christmas trees and mustard seeds in Nicaragua

I returned to Costa Rica from Nicaragua a week and a half ago, and while I’m hoping to write something publication-worthy later on, I thought I’d share a few observations and reflections from the trip.

The first thing I noticed upon arriving in Managua last Sunday night was that there were big illuminated Christmas trees in all the traffic roundabouts. This struck me as odd, since it was March.

The next morning I mentioned these trees to my taxi driver, who told me it’s political propaganda - a way of saying that with the Sandinistas in power, it’s Christmas year-round. That’s debatable, I suppose, but one of the other things that struck me about Managua was the ubiquitous graffiti. It was everywhere. And remarkably, everywhere the graffiti said the same thing: Viva Daniel! Viva La Revolucion!

Welcome to Nicaragua.

My three days in the country were mostly spent visiting different ministries. Monday I visited a home for abandoned kids with disabilities. Tuesday I went to the Managua garbage dump, La Chureca, with a pastor who was on a first name basis with many slum residents.

Wednesday I headed down to Diriamba, about 40 kilometers to the south, where a friend of a friend is helping to start the first free public library in the region.

What I saw and experienced can be easily overlooked by many who live and travel in Nicaragua: the orphanage is outside of Managua, down a quiet dirt road; the garbage dump, is, well, a garbage dump; and the folks making the library happen struck me as humble, genuine and fairly unassuming. Yet this is what the coming Kingdom looks like, I think: mustard seeds sprouting up where you wouldn’t necessarily think to look.

So, what do I make of Nicaragua? Well, oddly enough, I was surprised at how much it reminded me of Cambodia, of all places. Not Costa Rica, but Cambodia. It probably had to do with being hot and flat, with a lot of tuktuks and palm trees and remnants of civil wars in the form of dilapidated buildings.

Of course, Nicaragua is a large country, and the parts I saw were not representative. Tourists apparently do whatever they can to stay out of Managua, making a beeline instead for places like Granada and Leon and Lake Nicaragua and San Juan del Sur and even Bluefields. Perhaps one day I’ll be able to see some of them for myself. But in the meantime I’m grateful for these glimpses of the Kingdom - sneak peaks the beach-goers might not be privy to.