Running Head: Exploring

Exploring Cultural Essay Draft

Kelsie Jutz
University of Kentucky
CIS 110
Ana de la Serna
University of Kentucky

Running Head: Exploring

This past summer (summer of 2014) I went out of the country for the first time in my life.
The day I left I had butterflies in my stomach from being so nervous about going to this country
that I hadnt even heard of until I was about sixteen. The mere thought that I was crossing part of
the Atlantic ocean and entering a completely different country where I would have to go through
customs and speak in a different language was nerve-wracking and yet completely exciting at the
same time. I was going to spend the next two weeks in Nicaragua. I spent the three hour plane
ride speaking Spanish to myself with a Nicaraguan woman next to me who was reassuring me I
didnt sound too awful and helping me with some pronunciations. My first encounter with a
person from the country I was to spend two weeks in. Great. I think Im ready. Just kidding,
nope.
When I arrived in Nicaragua, my immediate thought was, I want to go home. Now. I was
scared of going through customs, feeling stupid speaking Spanish to native speakers, and
standing out because I was considerably paler than those around me. As I got on the bus to
endure an hour long ride to the hotel in Managua, where we were staying, I was tired and just
wanted sleep. But, as soon as we left the airport and got on the road, my eyes were wide open
and my thoughts running. I observed and took in everything around me. The smells of how some
parts we passed through smelled like Lysol and lemon with many tall buildings and American
restaurants, four people riding on a tiny Suzuki motorbike. I was in awe of how similar and
modern this different culture was to the American culture (the one I grew up and constantly
compared others too) and then how it switched to the poorer parts of the country with stick
houses with aluminum roofs and dirt roads; many stray dogs walking around and cattle tied to
fences that lined the roads belonging to the farmers. I was in a completely different culture than
my own and I was about to experience major culture shock. I was already accustomed to the no

Running Head: Exploring

toilet paper in the toilets, but rather throwing it away in the convenient trash cans due to the poor
plumbing. I would soon learn that the food is ten times healthier while the water is a million
times more deadly to North Americans if you drink it; many Nicaraguans know enough English
to communicate; Nicaraguan men cat-call women and you just have to grin and bear it and
continue with your day; and also that bartering in a Spanish speaking market is considered polite
yet considerably difficult with Spanish being a second language and no bartering skills. The
biggest culture shock: people under the poverty line are content with where they are and not a
single soul I met was neither rude nor impolite in any way. The culture, as I spent two weeks
immersing myself in it - or trying as hard as I could with speaking the language,eating the food
and learning cultural facts) was completely different and completely beautiful.
Even though I had spent two weeks in the country of Nicaragua, spending time with the
natives, speaking Spanish - no matter how badly it sounded sometimes, eating the local
cuisine, I still had known little about the specific customs of Nicaraguans. I didnt know about
specific holidays, the history or even simple statistics like population. That is why I decided to
learn more and I did. Making friends with someone of a different culture is possibly the greatest
thing I ever have done. Not only do I get to practice speaking Spanish with the friend, but also
asking many questions to learn about the culture from aspects such as holidays and food, to
education and careers. The differences between Nicaraguan culture and American culture has
many similarities, but also many differences.
The Pacific coast of Nicaragua was settled as a Spanish colony from Panama in the early
16th century. Independence from Spain was declared in 1821 and the country became an
independent republic in 1838 (CIA). Many people opposed to government and the system of
corruption which led to the first civil war, and the uprising of the Marxist Sandinistas, more so

Running Head: Exploring

corrupt than the original European controlled government. Although losing three elections
before, Daniel Ortega was elected president of Nicaragua in 2006 and re-elected in 2011.
With the demise of Ortegas administration and the recent occurrence of Hurricane Mitch
in 1998, Nicaragua and the majority of its inhabitants struggle financially with living on less than
twenty six hundred Cordobas (Nicaraguas national currency), or one hundred U.S. Dollars
(USD) a year and forty two and a half percent below the poverty line (CIA).
Along with the suffering economy comes the struggle with literacy rates. Seventy eight
percent of the population is literate, with the life expectancy in education of eleven years,
meaning that people will only go through school until they are eleven years of age and then drop
up to become part of the work force. Men usually do the labor work, working in agriculture or in
textiles, while the women are the childbearers and caregivers for the family (Mario). Often times
now, men and women both do laborious work to provide food and shelter for the family. Men
often lay carpet or work in construction while women may run a home business selling food
(usually tortillas) or creating jewelry or bags to sell at the local marketplace and usually earn
monies bartering with tourists to reach an agreement about a bag or knife - two of the more
popular items.
Apart from the impoverished and the struggling education system, the country of
Nicaragua is a geographically beautiful country with one of the largest lakes in Central America
and active volcanoes. Nicaragua is situated with Honduras to the North, Costa Rica to the South,
the Pacific Ocean to the West and the Caribbean to the East and the largest lake, Lake Managua
central to the country and just North of the capital. The best part, the Crater Lake in Catarina
(Mario).

Running Head: Exploring

Active volcanoes such as Volcan Masaya are active tourist sites and are great sites for
taking pictures.
While tourists are looking for great heights to snap pictures, they are also looking for a
great place to eat. Nicaraguan cuisine is typical Central American cuisine with peppers, chicken.
rice and corn tortillas a main staple. Pollo con arroz (chicken and rice) as well as Nacatamal are
more of the popular selections among tourists and especially natives. Nacatamal begins with
masa or dough with the filling usually consists of annatto-seasoned pork meat, rice, slices of
potatoes, bell peppers, tomatoes, and onions; olives, spearmint sprigs, and chile congo, a very
small, egg-shaped chile found in Nicaragua.
Holidays are generally celebrated the same with the most popular being Christmas.
Opposed to singing Christmas carols, Nicaraguans if religious attend a mass, and join in the
celebration of gift giving with a generally big feast of Nicaraguan food with a touch of American
in roasting a turkey.
As I interviewed with Mario and Orlando, two friends from Nicaragua, I imagined myself
again in the country, them swinging next to me in hammocks, eating mangoes. Or out in the dirt

Running Head: Exploring

street playing a game of soccer and them yelling things in Spanish that only they and other
Nicaraguans can understand due to the slang and speed in which they speak. I take my place at
my table in the outside dining area, eating once again beans and rice, deliciously infused spicy
meat with the fruit juice of the day, my favorite being papaya. I imagine the little kids following
me around shouting, Gringo, Gringo because thats how they know to look at us and see white
people. but the excitement in their eyes because we speak Spanish to them. I see the culture for
what the culture is, not what I was expecting it to be. I can imagine those same scenes of the
cattle along the road, the long winding pathway up the volcanoes, the view of Lake Catarina and
the blueness of the water. I not only imagine myself back in the country I so quickly got attached
to, but now of the knowledge I have about the education system and the literacy rates, just as
well as basic history of this beautiful country and the people who live there.

Running Head: Exploring

Works Cited
1.

Nacatamales Recipe (Honduran, Nicaraguan meat and vegetable-filled tamales). (2009,

January 1). Retrieved October 13, 2014.

2.

Mario Interview. Retrieved October 8 2014.

3.

Orlando Interview. Retrieved October 8 2014.

4.

CIA Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency.Nicaragua. (2013, February 14). Retrieved

October 15, 2014.

5.

Lake Catarina. Visit Nicaragua. (2007). Retrieved October 14, 2014.

6.

Masaya Volcano. NewSong Foursquare. (2014, July 11.) Retrieved October 12, 2014.