Continued from Finding A Daydream

Sitting around a wooden table made out of the base of a tree trunk with another tree growing through the middle, I listened to Ramon as he explained three pressing issues involving life on the island. There was the problem with the swamp, the drop in lobster prices and the most damaging of all; the rights to drill for oil off the coasts of the Corn Islands which had been sold by the Nicaraguan government to an American oil company.

Prior to my trip I had informed Ramon that I was interested in filming on Little Corn. I was not exactly sure what I was going to film or if there was even going to be anything worth telling a story about. I told him that I was just going to focus on some basic things and I was sure that all the details would fall into place as the trip progressed. He mentioned he had some projects in mind for the community that perhaps I could help him with and proposed that we exchange thoughts and maybe help each other out. Basically, he suggested I put together a little piece for the benefit of the community. I was instantly on board with the idea.

I decided that I would gather as much footage that surrounded the issues he wanted to highlight and while doing so get the insider's perspective of life on Little Corn giving me the story I wanted for myself. At the end of the day my contribution to this "Communal Movement" as it has been called, would be an informational video piece with the purpose of informing the community of the issues which were surrounding them and hopefully inspire some of them into action.

Realistically I knew that a couple days of filming was nowhere near enough time to cover all three issues, so instead we did what we could. With the help of Nina Faust (a member of the communal movement) and Ramon, we got some great footage and I came home with enough material to edit together the Swamp Piece which I have posted below.

I never thought that this particular trip was going to be so fulfilling. Sitting here now, writing about it, I don't think I have ever felt so involved with something this amazing. It has completely shifted a lot of my perceptions of life and travel for the better and I am pretty sure my filming, editing and overall story telling style has changed with it. At the moment I am putting together my personal video piece for my trip to Nicaragua. I am taking my time with this one just because I want to loose myself in the feeling of being there again. Expressing myself through my work has been inhibited significantly by what I produce for the Travel Channel. Which, needless to say follows a stricter format. This time around I want to try my own style and see what happens.

Coming back from that little island in the Caribbean and straight into the insanity of Washington life was not a smooth transition. After leaving Little Corn we were stuck in Managua airport for 12 hours because our flight had been canceled. We did not leave until 24hrs later than when we should have. What this meant was that things were really hectic back in the work place and jumping from paradise into the office was rough to say the least.

I didn't get what I thought I was expecting while on the island. Didn't snorkel much - though I tried, got a sun tan but that was because I was in the sun a lot not because I was out tanning. The traditional idea of getting away and relaxing was out the window, and I am so happy for that. What I got instead was the best type of experience; it was not physical and it is not something that can be taken away - only expressed.

I got a chance to know the people on the island and I embraced the opportunity. Even if it was just for a very little while, the amount that we experienced is absolutely amazing. In Ramon and Nina we found kindred spirits. In all of the smiling faces that we met we saw acceptance. From that little island we found a little bit of home - which is pretty hard for two people who do not really have one.