Okay, okay so I know that Nicaragua is a tropical country,
but I was not prepared for Nueva Segovia. Nicaragua has mountains? I was much
more focused on the famous beaches and volcanic islands of Nicaragua to consider
that my site would be a little more north. That was my first flaw, if I have
learned anything from Peace Corps, you’ve got to be flexible. Creating
expectations only allows them to be broken, and doing Peace Corps to learn how
to surf isn’t exactly what it’s about. The job of a Peace Corps Volunteer is to
do what you can, where you are and with what you have. Ok, so lesson learned,
but I was still cold. The days in San Fernando would actually get pretty hot
with the sun overhead, but it was the mornings and the nights that got to me. I
would wake up in the middle of the night under my borrowed blanket and wish I’d
packed more than my Miami bikinis (ha, kidding about that but I do wish I’d
brought more layers). The worst thing was the shower. The family I live with
has an outside shower, and like all showers in Nicaragua homes, there are two
temperatures, cold and cold. Everyday of site visit I would come home after a
day dropping vitamin A drops into the mouths of screaming Nicaraguan babies to
a moral dilemma, to shower or not to shower. The thought of the cold icy water
hitting my vulnerably body made me question how much I really needed a shower
that day, or that week, but then I remembered PC telling us during training
Nicaraguans’ appreciation for hygiene, not showering for a day could only
further contribute to the “grungy American hippie” image than PC volunteers had
acquired. Therefore, I showered, but I was not happy about it. So one day I
came back, a little discouraged and dreading the shower ahead. I was in my
bathrobe walking outside to the shower when Yesley, my first friend of San
Fernando, popped up and asked what I was doing.
“Quiero banarme pero tengo frio!” (I want to bath but I'm cold!)
“Pues,
porque no hierve el agua?” (Well, why don't
Boil the water? Why hadn’t I thought of that? The idea was
so new and foreign to me. In the States, I would not occupy my time with
boiling water for bathing, I’ve got a wonderful shower that does it for me.
However, when you do not have a shower with multiple temperatures, if you want
a hot (or lukewarm) shower, you’ve got to create it. Yesley and I lit the wood
burning stove stuck a pot of water over the fire. A few pots later I had my
shower bucket filled, and the result was delicious. While taking that shower, I
remember thinking that this could easily be the best shower of my life and that
there was hope for me yet. Since returning to site for service, I have been
getting tougher and have not had to boil water again, but knowing that I have
that ability warms my soul when I think about the colder months of November,
December, or January.
Before coming to Nicaragua, I had heard rumors about their
diet of all carbs and no proteins, a body builder’s nightmare. I talked to
current volunteers who warned to “savor my last moments with vegetables and
food that was not fried and covered in salt.” I heard that peanut butter is a
strictly American thing, so smuggled in two jars of crunchy- one of which is still
half full (or empty depending on how you look at it). So, what did I find when
I got here? Gallo pinto, which is rice and red beans in salt and oil, cooked
together and served with breakfast, lunch, and dinner, sometimes as a side and
sometimes as the main course. All kinds of meat, such as mondongo, which is cow
stomach and is white with a disturbingly undulating texture (my host family in
Corazo had given me this is few times before my friend Natalie told me what is
was), hidago (liver, which is actually just ate yesterday, a little salty but
not too bad) and some of the best chicken I’ve ever tasted. All the carbs you
could ever want in rice and corn tortillas galore. And sweets. One thing that I
have got to bring back with me to the States is the deliciousness that is known
as the “chocobanano.” For 2 or 3 cords you (10 or 15 cents) I can buy a frozen
bananas wrapped in cold crunchy chocolate. It’s delightful. It is very
ingrained in the culture here to shun vegetables and gravitate towards simple
sugars. Here in Nueva Segovia is some of the best coffee in the world, and I’m
that girl that likes her “café amargo,” or without sugar. Families here have
huge thermoses filled with steaming coffee for guests and family, prepared with
about 5 cups of sugar per liter of thermos. With this hot, sugary coffee
Nicaraguans eat “pan” which means bread but is a form of cookie, pound cake, or
sweet bread glazed with sugar over it, which they then dip into the coffee. I
do enjoy this custom and I have made it my own by joining my family or friends
with freshly brewed ginger tea and “rosquillas” (which are little crunchy sweet
cracker/cookie things that are meant to be dipped in hot liquids and I think
are quite delicious, another thing that I’ve got to bring back).
The point I want to make with all of this is that despite
their not ideal diet of too much sugar-the majority of people in my town have
large silver caps on their teeth- and not a good balance of nutritious
carbohydrates/proteins to simple carbs/fats, there are not many obese
Nicaraguans. Of course, a diet of tortillas and cheese paired with a dislike for running (most Nicaraguans do not “workout,” although this is
changing one powerwalking woman at a time) does not give you a killer body, and
many Nicaraguans I had not given this matter much thought until my neighbors
had some American relatives visit, and they were big. By “big” I mean both
stature and weight, these siblings towered over their Nicaraguan family
members, as well as consumed enough gallo pinto for a small family. It just
reiterates the statistics,we are big in America, in our size and in our
consumption. We can have all of the gyms in the world and still be just as
unhealthy as a developing country if we fill our bodies with large amounts of
processed foods. Which is better, eating rice and beans followed by sugary
coffee and cookies or eating some form of fast food that is wrongly labeled as
healthy and then eating too much of it? Neither is that great, there is
definitely room for improvement on both sides. The whole realization just made
me step back and remember that even the United States, the most developed
nation in the world, has its room for improvement and Nicaragua, even with it’s
dislike for vegetables or love for sweets, the people are still holding in
there. Although as someone who studied nutrition, worked as a personal trainer,
and is now a health volunteer, I’m hoping to change the mindset of a few
willing Nicaraguans -I’m not sure how long I can live without some vegetables
and protein (“where’s my protein Ma?!!?)
