You asked... Nicas y Chelas
A lot of people have been wondering about how the Nicas view us chelas volunteering here in Nicaragua. Considering how we feel Americans are viewed and how America has really bullied Nicaragua in the past (can we say Contra War, embargos and threats?) one would think the Nicas would not like to see Sarah or I. But really, it has been quite different. I would guess that due to its tumult political past (Samoza, Ortega, Aleman…) the Nicas can differentiate between the people of a country and the government of a country. We are not faulted for the Contra War, we are not blamed for Bush’s threats on the citizens of Nica if they should elect Ortega again, we are not called stupid, lazy Americans. In fact, the people here are very excited to see us, they practice their English on us (“Heeeey Chela, I Loooooove you.” “Gringa! Nice face!”) In terms of the JHC-CDCA and the Nicaraguans, as far as I can see, the relationship is very positive. The clinic employs all Nicaraguans, two doctors, one lab technician, a nurse/doctors assistant, and pharmacy workers. The construction crew are all Nicas, the sewing cooperative are all Nicas, the security staff is a Nica cooperative… the list goes on and on. If it can be done by a Nica, it will be done by a Nica.
Right now our interactions with Nicas are liimited to the people who work at JHC. And even then our scared eyes and nervous voices only lend us a short converstaion of “Buenos dias… como esta uds?” We are still living on site at the dorm and our dinners are still with the community. A lot of english is spoken around us. Soon we will go into a family homestay and we will be forced to listen, speak and think in spanish. Our dinners will be with our family and we will be eating gallopinto all the time. At the clinic I am surrounded with spanish speakers. Although yuesterday was the FIRST time I was all alone with spanish speakers only. It was a strange sense of abandonment/foreigness when I realized there was no one for me to turn to and say What? or How do you say…? Once we get integrated a bit more into Nica life, we will expand our converstation skills and get better taxi fares.Labels: You asked...
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