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Our first dinner at Selva Negra was an experience. We sat down amidst a sea of gringos. Turns out that half of the Nicaragua contingent (25 out of 50) of the Peace Corps was also at Selva Negra for a little R & R between their language & culture training and the 2 year commitment. Kelly had a friend from Colorado whose girlfriend was in the Corps here. After we determined they were the Peace Corps, we asked if there were any Coloradans and there were 2 (a woman & man), neither of which were this specific woman.

As we were about to play the name game, I recognized the woman as someone I went to elementary school with! We hadn’t seen each other since then, and Herzl was a small school (maybe 180 at the time), but I totally could visualize what this woman looked like 15 years ago. Very odd that I, who forgets your name seemingly before I hear it, would have figured it out. We truly live in a tiny world, so much so that it scares the shit out of me. It also shot down my up-until-then theory that Kevin was the only Jew in this whole country. It was funny: before we met, they had noticed my Team Teledu t-shirt and were some of the few people who even knew what telemark skiing is in Nicaragua.

Brenna and her husband were in-country to teach environmental studies to both the children and teachers in an effort to promote sustainable living; a key to building a strong nation out of this fledgling third world country. We then played the name game about elementary school cronies to great success.

It was also extremely interesting to hear about the Peace Corps from someone just about to embark on 2 years of it. Brenna and Mason were very optimistic that they could teach their pupils about sustainable living (there are also people who teach about agriculture in depth, as well). They weren’t very jaded about future failures, or obstacles they would have to overcome in the future.

I really appreciated their commitment to the program and to the people of Nicaragua. I’m unsure that I would work for our government (under any circumstances), but it made me think about places I could go to live where I could make a substantial difference and could improve the lives of humans. Ultimately it’s not just about the people in your country of origin in that matter. We need to take an ownership role in this world of ours and should try to help those who need it most!