Six Months of Living Like A Nica

FYI and his wife wrote a book called “Living Like A Nica”. Many of us here at NicaLiving.Com have bought, downloaded, printed and most importantly, read. This book was designed to give the average person interested in Nicaragua the ability to relate to life in Nicaragua. It was an invaluable resource to me, and I suspect others as well. With FYI’s permission, (I did not ask for permission, but I figure if he does not want to give me permission he can withdraw this content from the web site.) I would like to make an online addendum to their book. This addendum will be simple and I hope others will create their own as well. I want to express what I have encountered while living in Matagalpa for the past 6 months. I moved her permanently in December 2008 and I have had some interesting realizations since living here. I have categorized them into 2 different subjects: Surprises, and disappointments.

Disappointments:

1. Within a week after receiving my household goods, my house was broken into and a computer and flat screen monitor was stolen. I am a Systems Engineer by trade, and my computer was a quad core 3Ghz Pentium with 4 GB of Ram. It was probably the best computer in Matagalpa. The lesson I learned here was to not only lock my front door when I leave the house, but I must also lock the steel security door. I also got a German Sheppard for additional security. Unfortunately I believe one of my neighbors was the culprit, as I was only out of the house for 2 hours.

2. Managua: I know Nicaragua is poor and a lot of the people are uneducated, but why does this seem to translate to filth? While growing up, my Mother would tell me, “Just because someone is poor does not mean they have to be dirty”. Agreed, she said this in the USA and the level of poverty does not compare to Nicaragua, but I have also live in the Bahamas and other countries where the level of trash and litter in the city streets does not come close to what I find in Managua. Other cities I have visited in Nicaragua do not seem to have this problem either. Estelli, Matagalpa and WiWilli do not have this problem. I have been to Jinotega as well, but cannot make an honest judgment as I was there for only a few hours.

3. Bureaucracy: I knew coming to Nicaragua I would find a lot of bureaucracy, but I never realized just how much mindlessness was associated with it. I am used to the bureaucracy of the USA. This can be frustrating in itself, but typically there is room for an explanation. I think this developed due to the Government in the USA viewing the citizens not as more work, but as clients and customers. Customers have value to businesses and Government as well, but there is no value to people who show up with additional work for me to do. “My schedule is full enough why do I need more work.” This is my impression when I deal with Immigration. Do not misunderstand me I have met people in Immigration who have been very helpful, but there is at least one who is more interested in paper work administration then he\she is interested in communicating with the customer. I actually had to get the US Embassy to explain to me what was needed as all Immigration would say is my paper work was missing a seal. My criminal history paper work had aged more than six months from the time I received it to the time I submitted it to immigration, so I needed a new criminal history report. I went online to the Washington State Access to Criminal History web site and printed out the form. I then went to the US Embassy and received a sworn statement declaring the form was accurate. INTUR accepted this form without issue, but since I am only 42 now, I did not qualify for INTUR assistance, so they suggested I try immigration. The exact same form one of the arms of Government accepted, immigration would not because there was no seal on the criminal background report. The US embassy told me I needed to get an appostille for the form. This made sense to me as I also need this for the other paperwork I submitted. Lucky, the WATCH website has a procedure for just such a need. A couple of phone calls later, and appostille is in the mail. I expect to be a legal resident within 2 months. This is nice, because I do live like a Nica on a very small budget. I live off of about $600.00 a month and just do not want to pay the expense of going to Costa Rica every 3 months to renew my tourist visa. If anyone needs help with their immigration paper work, just stop by my house in Matagalpa and I will give my free advice. Although, Paul Tiffer is probably a better source of information, my experience should be of help as well.

Surprises:

1. The people of Matagalpa are very open and friendly. I routinely explain how bad my Spanish is, but everyone seems very patient and willing to listen. I took a 2 week Spanish class at Matagalpa Tours, here in Matagalpa, back in August of 2008. I was a NON-Spanish speaker prior to this and have picked up the rest of my Spanish along the way. I suspect if I went back to school my Spanish would develop quicker, but then again, I am living like a Nica.

2. Fox News: Yes, I am an evil conservative. In fact I am even worse than an evil conservative; I am a Libertarian who also happens to be a hawk. I like to say I follow in the footsteps of Neil Boortz. In case you do not know Mr. Boortz he is part of conservative talk radio out of Georgia. Back to Fox News. There are no commercials on this channel here in Matagalpa. Instead there are “Fox news Extras” which are short segment that highlight interesting tid-bits, facts of life and even small businesses. I actually saw an old friend in one of these segments highlighting his water purification system and was able to send him an email and reestablish this friendship. Do you think water purifiers would sell here in Nicaragua, or would they be considered too much of a luxury for the average person? He has offered me a position to sell his systems here in Nicaragua, but I am unsure if there is a market or not. Let me know what you think.

3. Doctors and pharmacies: Medical care here is not what it is in the USA, but I knew that when I came here. What I did not know is that Doctors make house calls in Matagalpa. My Neighbor is a Doctor and he comes to me. Agreed it is not a long trip for him, but still he only charges me $200.00 Cordobas ($10.00 Dollars) per visit. A lot of the time a Doctor is not even needed because I do not need a prescription to buy the medicine I need. There might be a medicine that needs a prescription, but I have not run into one yet. Just tell the Pharmacist what you want and he will sell it to you. This, to me, is a BIG freedom the USA just doesn’t have.

4. Fireworks: I am writing this on the 4th of July and I wanted fireworks to help me celebrate and stay connected to my roots. I went in search of fireworks, and because of my bad Spanish, I did not know what to ask for. Could fireworks be a universal name or maybe they are called Trabajos fuego in Spanish? I was a little surprised to find out they are called Bombas. After I saw one it became crystal clear why they are called bombas. They are BOMBS! These things are HUGE! Think of a toilet paper roll core. Now, fill it with gun powder and wrap it up in newspaper. That is the size of the fireworks here. A single firework literally fits into my hand and extends out from the top and bottom of my palm. I cannot wait to go deaf hearing it explode. 5. Lucha Libre: World Wrestling Entertainment has regular pay per view events in the USA. I never paid to watch one because I was just to cheap to do so when I lived in the USA. Here they are aired on cable for free. I think they are delayed by a few days, but it just doesn’t matter as I am seeing it the same time everyone else here is seeing it. Too cool.

While I have experience some disappointments here in Nicaragua, overall I am glad I made the move to Matagalpa. My standard of living is about the same, and even though the “things” here are not as plush or as fancy as in the USA, they are comparable. I would like to thank FYI and Nicaliving.com for being my primary resource on Nicaragua. I think the web site is fulfilling its’ mission in a great way and will continue to help others. The stress in my life has been reduced considerably and I am content. Once I finally get my residency I plan to start another business, possible a water purification business, but I am going to need some pointers from others. Please feel free to give me any advice you have on how to make money in Nicaragua.