After spending the five months of second semester last year from January to May hearing from everyone who had done a similar experience, “Don’t worry you are going to love it,” “the language will come to you, you will pick it up,” I must admit they were right. I listened then, but I didn’t believe my friends, so for 3 months or so before I left I worked desperately to improve my Spanish, and leading up to the trip I thoroughly challenged myself to get my brain in the right place. Now that I’m home, I couldn’t agree more with my friends. While I used to have the fear that I would be the one college student who traveled abroad and just couldn’t progress with the language, now I know that hard work and dedication to learn will allow anyone to pick up the language in a foreign country. The process of improving my Spanish was difficult, but I enjoyed the ride. Working tirelessly with my “libretita (small notepad)” to remember vocab and phrases, and always asking about grammar when the setting was right, certainly paid off. I am definitely not fluent, but I would classify myself as beyond intermediate, proficient perhaps? Regardless, speaking another language is a goal in my life that I was never sure I would accomplish. Having made an enormous step towards my goal, I feel inclined to say, speaking another language has to be one of the most rewarding things in life. The feeling of bridging barriers of communication with entire continents of people is indescribably satisfying. Through my last day in Nicaragua, having fluid, dynamic, and complex conversations in Spanish nearly always put me in an incredible mood. In the past when I would have just smiled at the cab driver, given him my destination, and sat there, I can now see how his day is going, learn a little about his family, or most often in my case, I can figure out his political views.
My work to learn the language has opened a new door within the US for me as well, in that I will be able to better communicate with the millions of Spanish-speaking people in the United States. The humbling process of learning a language should be experienced by everyone with the time and financial means to do so. I will never forget the frustration and the feeling of stupidity as I stumbled through conversations for so long. Growing up I used to subconsciously judge the intelligence of Spanish speakers with poor English. It was natural for me to judge bad English having grown up in US society and never having made the sacrifice to commit to learning another language. Now I have a new outlook. I know what it feels like to be trapped in your own brain trying to let the words flow out with a lot of difficulty.
I spent 2 weeks my freshman year in China at the Special Olympics World Games interacting with people from all over the world. I found that the people from the U.S. were the ONLY ones who didn't speak at least a little of another language. Since second semester freshman year I have taken Spanish every semester except one. I realized by not learning another language I was telling people in different parts of the world that I expected them to do all the work if we were going to communicate. Today I couldn't be happier that I have taken the time to learn a new language. It has brought me to a new level of understanding of the world, and created many friendships. Going forward with my interest in politics in the United States I want to use the language to do everything I can to better reach out and engage Spanish-speaking populations in the United States more in the political system.
Cultural Learning through Soccer
During June and the beginning of July, it was rare to have a conversation with a student and not talk about the World Cup. Everyone was anxious to talk about the US team with me, and comment on how much they have improved. I was surprised at how the more and more people I talked to, the more people I met that were supporting the US in the US games. Generally, I discovered Nicaraguans cheer for winners, meaning the divide for favorite team was usually between Argentina or Brazil. However, I consistently found people cheering for the US, when I asked why I almost always got the same response. Well I cheer for “the American teams.” What seemed like a “duh of course I cheer for the American teams” statement to the friends who I asked, it blew me away. I have lived my whole life, like most people from the US I assume, feeling completely divided from the rest of the Americas. Central and South America were a place as different to me as East Asia, or Africa. The truth is that we are connected by land and increasingly connected by culture to Latin America, especially Central America.
Regardless of the fact that Nicaragua is one of the most tragic chapters in the history of US imperialism and interventionist foreign policy, I didn’t feel that Nicaraguans held any sort of grudge against the country. Political discussions often led to the new law in Arizona, but instead of hatred or frustration, Nicaraguans approached the law with confusion. Why does a nation of immigrants, founded as a home for the oppressed and the poor, seek such drastic measures against Latinos? Why are they dividing families of hardworking people contributing to the US economy and infringing on the rights of Latino US citizens in order to punish the small percentage of undocumented criminals? The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were very unpopular as well, since Nicaraguans have had first hand experience of the US supporting “freedom and liberty” in their country by installing politicians and killing civilians. However, if you were to ask me do Nicaraguans generally have positive feelings towards the US, I would say yes without hesitation. It is still seen as a land of opportunity.
I challenge you to think of the United States OF America as a part of the Americas instead of America. While we can be a leader, an investor, and a good example for the rest of the Americas, as the most successful economy in the world (in GDP per capita), it would make the world a better place for the US to accept and understand our neighbors as allies and members of our community, instead of subordinates.
People in Nicaragua would ask me how much people know about Nicaragua in the United States and I was ashamed to say that probably less than 1 percent of the population would know the President of Nicaragua, and maybe less than 10 percent (probably closer to 1 percent), could put it on a map. How have we allowed this to happen? In middle and high school I was subjected to learning about the history of Europe, especially Britain and France, but I cannot remember learning more about Central and South America than about the ruins at Machu Picchu, and maybe a little bit about the genius of the Aztecs and that they predicted the world to end in 2012, or their habits of human sacrifice. The utter ignorance of the average person in the United States towards Latin America is largely a result of an educational system designed to ignore it. Maybe that’s why there is so much fear and paranoia as the culture becomes a stronger and stronger influence in the United States. People are generally afraid of what they do not know and what they do not understand.
So each time someone asks me how my time in Africa or South America was(knowing I was in Nicaragua) I won’t be mad at the person, I will just hope the next generation of Americans will have a better understanding of America.
Take a second to familiarize yourself :) Nicaragua is only a two hour flight from Miami, shouldn't everyone be able to put it on a map??
My favorite part of Nicaragua?
The people! Nicaragua packs in more natural beauty per square mile than any other country I have visited in my entire life, but the real treasure of the country is the culture and the people. The Nicaraguans who I spent time with and observed can be defined as a people that make the most of everything they have. They are abundantly talented at finding happiness in difficult places. Hospitality and self sacrifice for others seem instinctual amongst the population. I've mentioned it in a previous post, but the expression "a la orden," really defines an element to their culture. The expression is an elegant way of saying at your service, its not only said at the markets, but is probably the most common response I got to thanking someone. From day one as a teacher at Masinfa, I was welcomed into friend circles, invited to hang out with the teachers or my technical students after class and on weekends, and above all always made to feel comfortable.
Dance lessons after class
A very typical weekend afternoon sitting around in a circle with music, family, and friends
With the English teachers celebrating a great summer!
Traveling with a group of students
One of my last nights, at the Thursday night cultural show in the artisan market in MasayaIn my final weekend I took a bus to Costa Rica. I really wanted to see the differences between the two countries so even though it was a short trip, walking around San Jose for an entire day was worth it. On the bus I was with mainly Nicaraguans. During a three hour stop at the border on the way down I started talking with a young guy who was an engineer from northern Nicaragua. After about two hours of good conversation, he gave me all of his information on a piece of paper and told me that the next time I am in Nicaragua that I need to visit his family's coffee farm in the north and that they would give me a place to stay and free tours of their operation etc. On the way home two days later, I started talking with a woman in the bus station after she asked to use my pen and found out she was a police officer who in her extra time was starting an environmental non-profit with a group of her friends. I chatted with her during the various stops at the border crossings as well and she gave me her contact info and offered me a place to stay in Managua with her family for when I come back. And I kid you not, I talked with the woman sitting next to me on the bus for awhile on the way home and we exchanged emails as well and I got another invitation for a place to stay or for a dinner with her family.
You see what I mean?? There is something incredible going on in Nicaragua. I know I'm painting Nicaragua in the best of lights, so don't misunderstand me, it is far from utopia. But nowhere on Earth will be perfect, the best we can do is make the most of what we have, and I will be the first to say Nicaraguans are much better at doing that than their American brothers and sisters that live in the United States.
Masaya, where I lived, is known as the party city of Nicaragua. I swear I didn't go a full week without having fireworks shot off somewhere near my house celebrating the day of a certain saint, a particular battle or important day from the revolution, or a public holiday. While Masaya may have been more enthusiastic than other cities, the desire to celebrate and be festive seemed omnipresent in Nicaragua. You never know when a dance party will break out (all it takes is a cellphone with a couple of mp3s on it).
Fireworks during a parade celebrating the revolution
A speech at about 1:30 AM to finish off an all day and night celebration.One of my more memorable experiences was waiting to hear the President speak at a political rally in a nearby city to Masaya. For 3 hours (8-11pm or so), I was amongst a full out dance club of Nicaraguans celebrating the revolution. Everything from Reggaeton to Bachata to socialist revolutionary songs were blasted from speakers, while hundreds of people danced without stopping. Going out dancing without taking a sip of alcohol and enjoying every minute of it is another great memory. Don't get me wrong Nicaraguans like to drink, but many don't and they still go out and enjoy themselves. I certainly got caught up in how little it takes for people to have a great time, being exposed to such strong examples of the human spirit will leave a lasting impression on my outlook on life.
I'm a Soccer Fan!
One concrete change in my life after this summer is that I have become a fan of soccer. I was enthralled in the madness of the World Cup and believe I have been converted to a “football” fan. I supported the US enthusiastically, after their loss I was cheering for Spain and Ghana (or supporting whatever team hadn’t won the Cup in the past).
Watching the finale in a bar in Matagalpa, a full out band with a tuba, trumpet, clarinet, drums etc. played before the game, during half, and afterwardYou should all know I have selected a European club team which I will support for the rest of my life, FC Barcelona! Any of you that want to tell me I am jumping on a bandwagon, go ahead. I am doing it with pleasure and will enjoy it as much as possible because after the last ten years with my two favorite sports teams Notre Dame football and the Chicago Cubs I think I have earned the right to choose a winner. Most Nicaraguans support a team in La Liga, generally meaning Real Madrid or Barcelona. Obviously, I was inclined to make a popular choice for my team during my time there, but what really drove me to choosing Barcelona is their unprecedented partnership with UNICEF.
Celebrating a victory over La Liga rival, Real MadridI saw many people walking around with soccer jerseys on that had UNICEF on the front and I eventually asked which team had those jerseys. I made my selection immediately after finding out, only later discovering that they are likely the best team in the world today. Barcelona has given UNICEF the rights to their jerseys for free, and the soccer club spends millions of dollars every year advertising for the organization and funding programs to help children around the world.
I have purchased my first pair of soccer cleats in 6 or 7 years and am ready to pick up the habit of playing when I get back to school. Also, if everything goes as planned, soccer will be the primary focus of the Special Olympics St. Joesph’s County in the fall. So hopefully I will be coaching a team and using soccer as a way to recruit new groups of students to volunteer with Special Olympics in South Bend, and be a part of the new Special Olympics Club that should finally become a reality this year at ND.
What happened to my politics?
It would be uncharacteristic of me to reflect on a major experience of my life without mentioning the effect of the experience on my politics. After spending a summer in a country deemed socialist by its president, I have moved a little bit to the right. I remain in the center left of international politics, but my faith in capitalism has been solidified. Do not misunderstand that statement as me swearing my allegiance to the Republican Party, the reality couldn’t be farther from that. The perception of the values of the left in US politics have been so effectively skewed in recent years, that many today would probably say that Democrats aren’t capitalists. By international standards that idea is a complete farce, because most US Democrats are firmly in the middle of the international political spectrum on economic issues.
So what I am saying is, I have returned to the US having most of my beliefs further solidified, but I now say with confidence that the values of capitalism are the best way to get people out of poverty (I really like this list of “Lessons Learned” in development from a cutting edge anti-poverty organization in Kenya). Therefore, I am firmly a capitalist, but continue to be grounded in my belief that government and business should have a tough, but fair relationship. After all, capitalism is a system designed to create an upper and lower class. Capitalism without a leash is dangerous because it creates a ruthless race to the bottom that doesn't always reward the hardest working and most entrepreneurial members of an economy. To have a just capitalistic society protection of the honest and morally sound businessman is just as important as the protection of the poor through government policies. It is the responsibility of the government to ensure every citizen has an opportunity to lead a healthy and successful life. I don't believe in complete economic equality, but I do believe in equality of economic opportunity. This includes investing in all people to give them that opportunity through free or affordable education and health care, as well as rewarding a lifetime of hard work and contribution to society by taking care of the older population through social security. Protecting the environment is also an essential responsibility of the government, even when it requires asking people and businesses to make large sacrifices to do so, because future generations will be forever limited if we continue to decimate our planet.
Therefore, the success of business is not an end in itself. The goal is the health and well being of a population. A healthy business environment is an essential step towards accomplishing the goal of a well functioning and just society. I believe in capitalism and the ability of the market to be the most effective foundation for an economy. However, the market must be in partnership with government in order to most effectively serve a society of people.
In Nicaragua I took nearly every opportunity I had to learn more about what people felt about politics and who they supported. One of my students was an activist for a political party MRS (Movimiento Renovador Sandinista). I found a political home in that party after attending one of their meetings and reading all of their literature. To be clear, I am not informed about their current leadership politically, but I support their party platform to improve Nicaragua.
MRS Website
The party is rooted in the belief that the Sandinista government of President Ortega has lost sight of the ideals of the revolution in 1979. It is a social democratic party that is firmly in opposition to the anti-democratic Sandinistan government currently in power of the Presidency, National Assembly, and a majority of the mayors' offices.
Economic Development
Like I just mentioned I really like “Lessons Learned” as a description of where development dollars need to go in order to be more successful. One very important lesson I learned this summer is that the appropriate reaction to seeing severe poverty is not to demonize the wealthy. If I had gone to Nicaragua for a week, seen the poverty and problems, then returned it would have been easy to fall right back into my old habits of blaming the wealthy for living comfortably while there is so much suffering. However, after spending a summer there and spending a lot of time thinking about the morality of wealth in a world with such hardship and suffering I have a different perspective. The reality is that there are so many people willing to work hard, and so many people with the entrepreneurial spirit in poor countries like Nicaragua. The problem is there just aren't enough people effectively connecting wealth to the poor people who want to do something to change their lives and the lives of people in their communities.
Business minds, and people with money in developed countries will not spend their whole lives donating money to give food to people. Guilt can only go so far as a motivator to donate. In my opinion, the key to getting donations is showing how money will make long term sustainable change. However, to achieve sustainable change basic needs sometimes have to be met, for example if you give a child who only eats once a day a scholarship to go to school he won't perform because he is suffering from malnutrition. Programs like Brazil's Zero Hunger initiative are the best of both worlds. The Zero Hunger Initiative is an attempt to end severe hunger in Brazil. Poor mothers are given money for food on a sliding scale to purchase food from markets that are almost entirely Brazilian grown food, if they prove that their children are in school and the one of the parents is either employed or in job training classes. While feeding the population and promoting education, the money is being invested right back into Brazil by buying Brazilian food. This program shows a model that immediate needs must be neutralized in coordination with aggressive development efforts. Outside of direct aid to refugees from a natural disaster or a conflict, aid should be focused on how to empower the poor to change their lives. I don't have any breakthrough ideas at this point, but I know going forward to distribute more money to developing countries, and poor areas in the United States, I will always be thinking about how to appeal to the good in people instead of demonizing those with money that "don't do enough." Any endeavor I pursue in the future abroad or in the US to aid those in need will be done to pass the test of a fierce business mind. One only has to look at what has happened with the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation (its really incredible, 40 US billionaires have pledged to give away half of their wealth) to see the enormous untapped potential of selling doing good with a business approach.
Religion
Those of you that know me well understand that I call myself Catholic, but I often struggle with decisions made by the Catholic Church as well as certain premises of Christianity like "the only way to get to heaven is to know Jesus." While some people tell me I cannot be a Catholic if I don't pass an authenticity test of believing enthusiastically in a long list of Christian and Catholic laws, I disagree with them because of my belief in a Church with open arms. Service is my connection to Jesus and I have long believed that if I continue to live a life of service to others that eventually I will find a stronger faith. I worked hard in Nicaragua to strengthen my faith and become closer to God, and I believe I made progress. Every city I traveled to I visited beautiful churches, in each one I would say a prayer (usually in Spanish which was an interesting sensation). It became a habit that I really enjoyed.
Traveling alone provides copious time to reflect and think deeply. While I didn't have any major breakthroughs I began to understand the importance of faith. Seeing the world and understanding how small of a role my life plays in the greater picture was a very humbling experience. It made me think how its not that crazy to believe that time on Earth is just part of the plan. What moved me the most was connecting with so many people in a different place. There is a moral code deep within people all over the world, even if many choose to defy it wherever you go. I was exposed to many people of faith consistently whether it was students at Masinfa, different families I met, or even missionaries I talked with at hostels. The whole experience shined new light on religion and Christianity for me. I still believe that the most important part of Christianity is its call to service, but I have gotten a better understanding of why it is so important to have faith as well. I will continue on my spiritual journey for the rest of my life, but my time in Nicaragua certainly brought me closer to God. I am inexpressibly grateful to have had such an opportunity.
A Suggestion to All
YOU NEED TO TRAVEL TO NICARAGUA (especially if you speak any level of Spanish)
Buy a guidebook (http://www.lonelyplanet.com/nicaragua)
Buy a plane ticket to Managua and go explore.
I cannot explain how many beautiful places I saw and unforgettable experiences I had during my time in Nicaragua. The country is so unbelievably inexpensive that for less than 100 dollars a week (taking public buses and staying in private rooms with public bathrooms in hostels) you could eat, sleep, and travel all over the country seeing exotic nature reserves, climbing volcanoes, relaxing on the beach, you name it! Don't get me wrong you need to have some desire for adventure, because its tourism industry is still in the developing stages, but if you are responsible and intelligent you can travel safely and have an incredible time. Especially if you are interested in ecotourism or voluntourism you must go. During my whole time traveling the only time I felt at all uncomfortable or unsafe (I was never in a dangerous position) was in Managua (the capital city), but you only have to be in Managua to take buses to other areas so its not a problem.
“The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.” -Saint Augustine
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