What is the culture of Nicaragua?

Nicaragua, wich means “here united with water”, is a sovereign state whose people love freedom and Independence. The merging of different cultures within Nicaragua has caused the dawn of a creative, lively and blissful culture.  Nicaraguans are appreciated for their natural warmth, hospitality and wisdom.

 

The country is known as the land of poets, and Nicaraguan poet Ruben Dario is the father of Spanish-American literary movement,...

Nicaragua, wich means “here united with water”, is a sovereign state whose people love freedom and Independence. The merging of different cultures within Nicaragua has caused the dawn of a creative, lively and blissful culture.  Nicaraguans are appreciated for their natural warmth, hospitality and wisdom.

 

The country is known as the land of poets, and Nicaraguan poet Ruben Dario is the father of Spanish-American literary movement, Modernism.  The rhythmic marimbas and folkloric dances give vibrancy to our fiestas across the country and the beautiful work of our skilled artists spreads and understanding of our history and nature. 

I just finished a book on North American Indians and their whole concept of stealing is completely different from ours. It was interesting to see how the white man in the 1800s dealt with the Indian mentality of this situation:

 

“You left your horse in the field, you weren’t using the horse, and I needed a horse so I took it. I have not brought it back yet because I still need it.”

 

“You stole my...

I just finished a book on North American Indians and their whole concept of stealing is completely different from ours. It was interesting to see how the white man in the 1800s dealt with the Indian mentality of this situation:

 

“You left your horse in the field, you weren’t using the horse, and I needed a horse so I took it. I have not brought it back yet because I still need it.”

 

“You stole my horse.”

 

“No, I didn’t. I took it but you weren’t using it.”

 

It is the same here in Nicaragua. If there is an open plot of land and you are not using it, someone is going to move on to it. If you are not using your truck for a week or two and the bed has been empty, you will find someone using the bed of your truck to store their vegetables.

 

It does not only happen that way here in Nicaragua. It also happens that way in Egypt, Turkey, and with the North American Indians. The concept of lying, cheating, and stealing is completely different. So you should not get angry if someone uses your truck that you are not using because that is the culture here. If you have a vacant lot and you are not using it, someone can use it, and as long as he does not damage it, it is fine. He may put a vegetable stand there or he may build a shack and live on it for ten or twenty years.

 

The sense of space is different, too. We have talked about that in our culture class many times. If two persons are having an argument whether it be between husband and wife or two men in the gym and they say “Respect my space”, “Give me my space”, or ‘You’re too close to me when you’re talking to me”, if you were in American, you will back up and give the other person his or her space. It is not like that here in Nicaragua. Here, everyone has so little space that we are elbow to elbow or butt to cheek.

 

Another perfect example is my pick-up truck. In the US, try having ten or twenty kids jump into the bed of a truck someone has parked at a fair. Then wait for the owner to come back and watch what the owner does. He will go ballistic when he sees the kids standing up on his pick-up truck looking down on an event. It is not the same here in Nicaragua. One time, I was parked on the street and there was a religious procession going down that street. Fifteen kids jumped in the back of my pick-up truck so they could get a better vantage point. My immediate reaction was, “That’s private property. You have touched my truck. Get out of my truck!” Then I realized, they are not doing any damage to my truck and to them, it is open space. So, here, I would just say, “Hey kids, I am driving away now. Will you jump out of my truck?” They will say, “Oh, okay. I’m sorry.” Then they will jump out of my truck, I will get in, start the truck, and drive away.

 

So, the sense of space, the sense of use, and the sense of ownership is different here in Nicaragua.

 

The Nicaraguan culture is very family oriented. Every culture will say that they are family oriented but here in Nicaragua, they put rhetoric into practice. The family is not only all-important but the family also takes care of each other. Therefore, it is not unusual to see two, three, or four generations of families living in the same household. It is not unusual for an ageing mother or an ageing aunt to still live at home. They take care of the mentally challenged. There are not too many schools or hospitals that will take on mentally challenged patients, so the family is responsible for taking care of them. It is actually very warming to see that.

 

In my own personal experience, right now, my mother is eighty-two, she is starting to suffer from mild dementia, and we were talking about putting her in assisted living. That kind of conversation would never take place in this culture and my mother, at eighty-two would not be living alone. Chances are, she would have one or two children living with her and one of those children would probably have a wife with children living with her. My mother’s house would be full with two or three generations of the family. That is how the culture is here in Nicaragua. It is actually very comforting and it is very nice to see multi-generational families still living together. It is something that I think has been lost in the American culture for a couple of generations or more.

 

Another cultural thing I learned about Nicaragua is that you cannot point to someone using your fingers. That is rude. They point with their lips. They purse their lips as if they are going to kiss you and they move the pursed lips left or right towards the direction they are pointing. It is funny and somewhat unusual but it is very Nicaraguan.