Blog Week 8

When speaking with my host family about Nicaraguans, I could tell they were all a little uncomfortable and thrown off guard by the question. Immediately, my sister reacted by squirming and said “oh, touchy subject”. The conversation was extremely interesting though. My eighteen year old sister and her boyfriend answered first. Just as I expected, they answered that Costa Rican’s, as a whole, have a very negative view on Nicaraguans. It is not uncommon to discriminate against them, because of their race. My sister discussed that many immigrants come to Costa Rica illegally to make a better life for themselves. My sister was upset that they take advantage of jobs, the school system, and health care system without even being a citizen. Costa Rica’s population has been increasing at an overwhelming rate because of Nicaraguan immigration. My favorite comment was when my sister said “the population increase is because Nicaraguans make babies like rabbits and they need work to feed all of those mouths. They won’t find work in Nicaragua, so they come here.” Her boyfriend cut in though, and explained that Nicaraguans are extremely hard workers and take the jobs that Costa Ricans do not want. They work in the fields, hand pick coffee, and have domestic jobs. He explained that Costa Rican’s are lazy and would never do the work that Nicaraguans did. I found it extremely interesting that even though Costa Ricans complain about Nicaraguans coming to their country looking for jobs, the work Nicaraguans do is “below them”. I wanted to know if the opinion on Nicaragua’s depended on the generation, so I next asked my grandmother. Her answers were similar to my sister’s, except that she made a comment about Colombia. She said that it Costa Rica is not only having problems with illegal immigrants from Nicaragua, but also immigrants from Colombia. It was obvious that my Tica family’s views were conflicted. On one hand, Nicaraguan’s are illegally coming into their country and taking public health care, using the school systems, and gaining benefits without paying taxes. Nicaraguan’s are also helping the economy, by completing domestic and physical labor jobs that Costa Ricans would not want to do.

I was amazed by the differences between Costa Rica and Nicaragua. The first thing I noticed driving through Granada, was the actually city. Granada was a beautiful and historical city, full of colonial buildings with a Spanish influence. Unlike San Jose, Granada was clean! I did not see any piles of trash laying in the middle of the road and the air did not seem as polluted. There were also sidewalks for pedestrians, and cars did not drive on the main street. The other important difference, were the beggars. As soon as our bus pulled up to the hotel, we were bombarded with Nicaraguans pleading for money and food. The first beggar I noticed was a woman carrying a baby, who tapped the bus window looking for food. My heart immediately broke. When we walked off the bus to retrieve our luggage, children were trying to sell hammocks, flowers, and other small trinkets. Beggars were literally everywhere. Even at dinner, children were constantly wandering up to the table asking for money and food. The poverty in Nicaragua is evident, unlike Costa Rica. My Spanish professor made an interesting comment once, that Costa Rica also has poverty but hides it extremely well. I believe this statement to be true, because I have never been asked for money or food in San Jose. I would be completely shocked and thrown of guard if I was in San Jose and a child asked for my leftovers. Costa Rica might have poverty as well, but the country works hard to hide it. Just as in Costa Rica, I thought that Nicaraguans were extremely friendly and welcoming. I could not tell a physical difference between Costa Ricans and Nicaraguans, except that some Nicaraguans has a darker complexion. I did not take any photos of fruit in Nicaragua because I felt the selection was limited. The only time I ate fruit on the entire trip was for breakfast. Even then, the fruit did not seem as fresh and flavorful as Costa Rica’s. I was disappointed with the fruit served in Nicaragua, which made me believe that fruit is not as important to the economy in Nicaragua. Everywhere in Costa Rica is full small fruit shops, where vendors sell various fruits. I did not see any of these fruit stands in Nicaragua, which was surprising. Overall, I really enjoyed Granada and how different it was from San Jose.