First Week Observations

We have been in Nicaragua for a week now.  There are a few observations I have made.

1.       Kids are kids.  Whether they live in an affluent neighborhood in New Jersey or in the poorest area in Granada, all kids are the same.  My site is Sor Maria Romero. It is an afterschool program for kids 5 to 13 years old.  The little girls love to color and draw, the older girls love to dance and the boys can play soccer and basketball until the sun goes down.  Just like the kids in Trenton, the kids down here are full of energy, excited to play with us and love to tell us stories.  Also, one of the best parts about being with the kids is that my Spanish skills do not matter with them.  They don’t care if I have conjugated my verbs correctly because I know Aqui! Aqui! Aqui! means pass the ball and that is about all I need to know to play soccer with them. Plus they give the best hugs.

2.       There is a middle class in Nicaragua.  Prior to this trip, of course I knew a middle class existed however I did not know what to expect.  In class we talked about the upper class, who can send their children to the US or other countries to study at a University, and the lower socioeconomic class, who live with no running water and barefoot kids, but we never dove into the middle class.  Now, living in Granada with a middle class family has allowed me to gain a better understanding of Nicaragua as a whole.

3.       Stereotypes and racism are unfortunately everywhere.  Coming from the US where people from all ethnic backgrounds bring a lot of blatant diversity to our country.  When I first arrived, I noticed the majority of Nicaraguans have dark hair and darker skin tones; I can easily be picked out of a crowd with my light skin and blonde hair. However, after speaking with a very intelligent 13 year old girl, I learned people here pay a lot of attention to the skin tone as well as eye color.  In the US, we have 4 eye colors, brown, blue, green and hazel, but here she said they specify how light or dark the eye color is.  She then proceeded to tell us what our eye color was when originally the 4 of us had all described our eyes as brown.  Also, the lighter skin tone you have, the more beautiful you automatically are called. 

Overall, so far I have had an amazing time in Nicaragua.  I have really enjoyed learning about the culture, the history, the food, improving my Spanish and meeting new people.  I can’t wait to see what our next week in Nicaragua brings.