Strange Animal

I spend most of my time chatting with Nicaraguan friends, both current and future, as I wander around this beautiful country. These last couple weeks (since my trip to Huehuete) I have spent all of my time in Managua.

Certain common themes have started to become apparent to me the more I talk with people down here. One of those I call the "Animal Raro" effect. Basically it boils down to a mix of racism and disrespect.

Light conversation about the weather and what someone does for a living or what a person might be studying doesn´t unsurface this effect, so it took me awhile to realize how most of the people down here really see me.

The reality is that I am not seen as an equal, but rather as an interesting oddity. I am not seen as "one of us"; I am seen as "one of them". This exclusive mentality becomes apparent as I attempt to teach or assist or argue with the people that I assumed respected me because I thought we were friends.

For example, I know first aid; my eagle project was a seminar on first aid. When I attempted to offer me expertise to help someone who had sprained an ankle the family scoffed at my advise and ignored me. The didn´t even do me the courtesy of argueing the point.

Later on I attempted to help support this same person´s weight by having her drap her arm over my shoulders while I put an arm around her, as this is the most effective way to distribute her weight and help her. She refused to let me help her in this way. Instead she wanted me to try to dead lift her by grabbing both of her arms.

Obviously this didn´t work out so well as she is an older women who easily weighs more than I do. I took me over 15 minutes to convince her to allow me to help her as I was patently ignored whenever I offered help, if it was that I wasn´t mocked for my stupid suggestions.

These are not isolated experiences. I have had a hard time finding people who trust me sufficiently to even allow me to help them.

A much more commonplace example is the expression of any opinion involving politics that goes against what someone might believe. As talking politics is a national past time I have found myself in this situation many times. It plays out something like this:

Nicaraguan woman, "The United States sucks because they don´t help us like Hugo Chavez did when he sent the oil, all they do is interfere in our politics."

Me, "Actually the United States gives more money to Nicaragua each year than any other country; Nicaragua is just upset that they give more money to other countries than they give to Nicaragua."

Nicaragua woman, "Listen to the Gringo trying to defend his country. Ha ha ha."

Nicaragua man, "Actually I heard they the US actually does give a lot of money to Nicaragua."

Nicaraguan woman, "Really? Oh, well that still doesn´t excuse. . ."

In other words if a fellow Nicaragua expresses an opinion it is given merit and is discussed even if they end up disagreeing with each other. But, if I express an opinion is is discarded without giving it a second thought because I don´t matter to them; I am not respected.

I think the easiest way to express how this feels is to compare it to pets. People care for their pets, but they rarely see them as equals. It is like most Nicaraguas see me as a big white dog. They tolerate my presence and can even develope affection for me, but they don´t consider me to be one of them.

Honestly I enjoy a good discussion/arguement. I enjoy talking with strong minded people, and I really don´t mind differences in opinion. In fact it´s these differences that make the conversation interesting. What does bother me is coming to the realization that nothing that I saw will be taken seriously. They don´t consider what I say even merit an arguement, because ater all he´s just a gringo.

Obviously not all Nicaraguas see me this way. Still, it seems like a great many of them do, enough so that I feel it is likely that others who come to Nicaragua will also have this experience. So, the question is, "How does one overcome this prejudice and develope relationships of equality and respect?"

I am a person who likes to help people. If I spend too much time not helping someone I start to feel run down; it like bringing joy or relief to another person charges my batteries somehow. When people see me as an animal raro it makes it harder to help. Still, in some cases I have pushed through the prejudice to help anyway, and the people that I have helped have begun opening up to me.

I´m trying hard not to fall into the default, "Well then screw you too!" mentality as I´m sure that this won´t build any bridges. My belief is that with a bit of patience and a lot of biting my tongue, over time I will be able to forge true friendships of trust and respect with the Nicaraguan people (or at least some of them).

I guess my point is: While those visiting Nicaragua will find the majority of Nicaraguans to be hospitable and friendly, you will have to struggle in order to find acceptance and respect. So, be prepared and practice counting to ten. It´s the only way I´ve found to push past the racism. If others have experiences on how to move from the "one of them" into the "one of us" catagory please share.

Saludos!