Nicaragua - Some small facts of life
A culture is not found in a book but in the homes and streets of its people.
I’ve been living in Nicaragua for several years. Riding out the pandemic. Writing poems on this mountain I live on - putting together that book these days. Chinese epigrams.
I’ll be leaving the country in a few months. Time to go, move on. I’m a traveling man and also a moral man. So got to leave.
That given, I’d like to list some of the small stuff about Nicaragua that you won’t find in the travel books and from the week or two tourists returning home.
Deodorant. The stores have aisles of this stuff! Must be the most per capita user of this on the planet.
Beauty shops. Lots of them. So many. Wow. Women here love their nails. Poor or rich, they all have nails to the nines. Haircuts for men - really never had a bad one. So many talented barbers - Nicas pay attention to their looks.
Honking horns at any and everything. Just a toot about so many things. It’s its own language. Honking and flicking lights.
Men and aftershave. You can smell it a block away. They wear a lot.
Shorts. Nicas don’t wear them. Pants only. You might catch a young boy or early teenager in them but after that forbidden by some invisible cultural law. Only the gringos wear ‘em.
General friendliness. Nicas will wave, say hi on the street and make eye contact (like most of C.America). They smile and are happy - a wonder given the level of poverty and how hard life can be here.
Red lights aren't written in stone. If later in the day or early, just check and go through. If no traffic. Just look and treat it like a stop sign.
If you buy in bulk you’ll pay more. Yes, you will. Seems Nicas think if you can afford to buy a big bag of something, you can afford to pay more. Milk, rice, dog food, everything follows this logic. And I guess there is some logic to it.
Services are just so cheap. I had some plastic around my car’s wheel well fixed. Some new screws put in, some silicone. Took the guy 40 or so minutes. Charge? 17 cordobas or .50 cents. Same with any service person, repairman, anyone that works with their skill, will. Here is a story about my yard workers.
Paper. Photocopies. If you have to do anything with the government, it will be cheap but you’ll need LOTS of time and especially lots of copies of everything. It is like a time warp here - nothing too computerized and the bureaucracy will try anyone’s patience. But there are many photocopy spots!
Used goods. I bet where I live, 40% of the stores are “pacas” - used goods from the States, washed up, cleaned up and then resold. I’ve written about them here. It’s fascinating. Also, where I live, in coffee, farming country - 40% of the other stores are hardware shops.
Speaking of the good old USA, despite every reason TO, Nicas don’t hate Americans and are fascinated with all things American. Says something about them, given the war and death they experienced by US financed terror.
“Adios”. Here it isn’t just to say good-bye. You can also use it to say hello. A formal greeting. Most people on the street just greet casually with a kind of grunt, “hoy”.
Roads. I’ve been all over Central and Latin America. Everywhere, the roads are the worst except Nicaragua. Many built by “Samoza” bricks. All laid by hand for 100s of miles - I kid you not. Rumor has it that the old dictator Samoza owned all the brick factories and thus, made all the $.
Cowboys. Nicaragua no matter where you go, has a frontier, horse and cow and cowboy feel. Rodeos all over the place. Mexican “ranchero” music rules. Nicas love their horses and they are the best fed and healthiest I’ve seen in Latin America.
Vistas. Nicaragua has mountains but they aren’t so huge. Every corner, you get these beautiful, wide-open vistas, views of rolling country and clouds.
Poetry. Nicaragua has a tradition of poetry and it is valued and treasured. You’ll find books of it in most houses and it is part of school curriculum. There is a revolutionary, poetic soul here - it hasn’t been tamed by modern life (yet).
No Homeless. There are no homeless. And not just because of the weather (Nicaragua gets more days of sun than 99% of the countries on earth). Here, you can chop down a few small trees, throw some sheets of tin up and at least, you got a place that is yours, your own.
Poor people. There are many. It’s a hard life for most. Rice and beans. Rice and beans. Rice and beans. Rice and beans. Some chicken. Rice and beans. Rice and beans … Of course, there are the rich with fancy cars and shiny things but for the most part people live hand to mouth. Where do you find the poor people? Well, contrary to our Western ways, you just have to climb any hill. The higher you go, the poorer the people will be.
Houses. So much sunshine but a typical Nica house has few windows. It’s dark inside. A house is used to sleep or cook in, that’s all. Kind of different than what most us “cheles” (white folk) would build for a house.
Nicknames. Here, everyone’s formal name is long, very long! Don Carlos Luis Juan Gonzales Jr. So everyone has a nickname. And many don’t sound too pretty but nobody minds. Your friend is chubby - his nickname is “Gordito” - Fat Guy. Nicas love their diminutives and just run with it.
Baseball. Most of C. America is football mad. Not Nicaragua. Go deep into the hinterland here and you’ll suddenly come upon teams in uniform playing ball. Kids grow up with a ball, a mitt, a bat.
Trees. I have never seen so many HUGE trees. Some you could just set up house under and that would be that - a great house.
Noise. Everyone makes it. At all hours of the day and night. Nobody seems to mind. Live and let live.
It’s been a great time and I’m going to enjoy my final few months. Then, more journeys. Subscribe, follow as I embrace the world. A little poetry, a little culture, a little probing into the unknown … Naked & Alive.
Spring Morning
The cock crows thrice.
Coffee’s on.
Each day
I ask myself
to stay a little longer.
Outside
the smoldering ashes
of last night’s fire.
Mangos fall off
forgotten trees
to die on the ground.
Wow. Thanks for your descriptions.
I'd love to visit this country some day but living in it is a completely different matter for me.