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As I wrap up my time in Nicaragua, and the fact that soon I won't be living here really sets in, I started thinking about here and there. To give you an idea of the difference, here are 5 Things I Miss From The States:


1. Constant Caffeine Access: This seems unintuitive since I'm living in a major coffee producing economy, but the coffee just isn't there. maybe it has to do with my inability to locate it, maybe it has to do with the fact that college towns cater to caffeine addicts like me with several coffee shops open to obscene hours. I want coffee on demand and I don't have it... yet

2. Food Variety: I eat the same thing ever day (Gallo Pinto, or fried beans and rice), because that's what they do here. Sometimes they ask me "what's a typical (breakfast, lunch or dinner) in the states?" and they look for me to say: I eat pancakes for breakfast. Every day. Because 'typical' meals exist here, as in they often eat the same thing.

3. Ease of Communication: It takes a strong constant mental effort to communicate. It's a consistent mental load that never goes away; I'm imagining a huge weight being lifted from my shoulders as I get back to the states, and my brain letting out a big sigh for one less thing to think about. I'll walk up to the cashier and open my mouth, and exactly what I want will quickly fly out without me even thinking about it, and into his or her ear and he or she will know exactly what it is. And I will smile.

4. Hot Water: I've found it pretty easy to accommodate myself to lack of modern conveniences (although I have it easy living in a big city, compared to the other students living in the countryside). After awhile we humans just come to accept what we're used to... except for cold showers. I'm not a morning person, and a sudden douse of cold water is a rude awakening.

5. Beer. We Americans know beer. There are two beers here, there is no choice between light, dark, ale, lager, draught, bottle, there's just beer #1 and beer #2. Both are mediocre-at-best lagers, both made by the same company. It's like having nothing but Bud heavy and MGD in the states, in every bar and restaurant ever. Think about it... it's a nightmare. Some places have imported beer, but the only ones I've seen are Heineken, Corona, and... only once... MGD. None of which I would call representative of the quality of beer elsewhere (read: I hate Corona).


And of course, this list wouldn't be complete without 5 Thins I Will Miss From Nicaagua:

1. Gallo pinto: Okay I said I don't like the variety, but Gallo Pinto is delicious and an icon of Nicaragua. It's also probably not great for you (if you eat it twice a day) so I won't miss it that much... however I look forward to the day, 5, maybe 6, maybe 20 months later when I finally cook it or eat it and a flood of Nicaraguan memories and images resurface.

2. Mexican Nuns: The two Mexican nuns living down the road are two of the nicest people I have ever met, and I'll miss them. See the hot sauce articles.

3. Speaking Spanish: I know, I know... this is a contradiction from #4 above, but in reality I want to speak two languages with the ease that I am able to speak one, and being here is the best way to do it. It will be infinitely harder and my progress infinitely slower learning Spanish in the states.

4. Sense of Reality.This is the big one. This is the moral of the ethos program; the reason we came; how we're supposed to feel after we return. After living here, the built environment in (parts of) the states seems surreal. In contrast, it is very apparent here how people interact with the world and its resources. In the US, water is hot, garbage disappears, lights turn on, food appears in the fridge, all by... magic; without thought, without consequence. Here, the flaws and kinks in the system remind you where and how all that stuff gets there. In Nicaragua power goes out, house wiring fails, garbage is very visible in the streets because of the lack of a well placed disposal system and in the campo garbage has to be burned. Electricity is expensive. At night, if you have no money, you have no way to see... your world is pitch black by 7. As a result of all this, it's easier to be mindful of one's own interaction with resources. In the US, it's so easy to forget because everything is so effortless; nobody considers where these things come from or go to. I'm not saying it's bad, although maybe it is. It's an inevitable byproduct of development. Its social implications and environmental effects and the corresponding solutions is a whole other discussion that I won't get into here, even though I have opinions :). The point is, when I get home, it'll all feel fake, like I'm being fooled, and like the world is bending over backwards for my convenience even though I don't need it or deserve it. Where does garbage go? Why can we afford to buy a $200 vacuum? Air conditioning on full blast, drive 3 hours in a car for the hell of it, leave the lights on at night... who cares? The plane ride back alone is more than most people we have worked with will ever afford, and why do we deserve it? I know because when I spent a weekend in Disney world, that's exactly how everything felt. I'm guessing after a month or two the poison will have set in and I'll throw away styrofoam lunch trays and take 20 minute hot showers without thinking about it. After that my ETHOS experience will turn into a line on my resume and a story to tell in bars, and the moral lessons will be slowly eroded by the American Dream--having more than everyone else. Time will change a sense of ugliness into complacency and there's nothing I can do... is there? I'd love for somebody to post a comment and tell me how wrong I am. But nobody will. Because all of us ethos students will in one months time drive cars, take hot showers, buy coffee and bananas imported from thousands of miles away because goddamnit we like bananas.

5. On a lighter note... Rum. These people know rum. The same company that makes the only two beers, also makes the only rum. What they lack in selection, they make up in quality. The rum is super cheap, and super good. I never liked rum in the states, but this stuff is wonderful. I'll bring some home for you.


That's all for today,
Chente


P.S. Sorry for the cynicism and sarcastic self-defamation and big words in #4, I've been reading alot of Dave Eggers lately. The good news is I'll fit in just fine at Berkeley.