La Chispa, Matagalpa

So I ended up in this unique lovely little town in Nicaragua called Matagalpa. I wanted to immersed in Spanish, in a cheap place to live. My rent is $75 a month! So far I skipped (well other than the corn islands) all the tourist destinations, because I'd rather see something real than just touristy, boy have I seen that!

The streets of la chispa 

The incredibly steep hill going from la chispa to the town centre in matagalpa 

A ranchero band member

Larry's kitchen, he wants to get a cooker. I want to buy him one to say thanks for his generosity, or a bed(as he doesn't have one)

The tiny gym in la chispa, the running machine had no electricity, so you have to push it with your legs!

The roads in La Chispa near the  school

The gym in La Chispa, only 50 cents a day

Larry, a computer teacher from the centre in La Chispa (a poor area in Matagalpa) earns $188 a month. Half of that now goes to his ex wife. I never really understood the term trapped in poverty until now, but I have now. It's like I can get up and go whenever I want. This is just an experience to me, it's not real life. I have the resources to go where I want, but for a huge amount of people they just don't. They can't just leave. Their education is so poor they can't get a good enough job to give them the money to leave. Their whole lives are so bad I can imagine they barely have the mental energy to strive to get themselves out of poverty. They are totally trapped. Larry wants to get out get a job in London. But no way he could ever afford the flight. I was actually just thinking about buying him a flight to London! He offered his house to me for free. It is basically one big room with a tin roof, totally exposed to the outside. At night I saw a huge rat run along the rafters, and god knows what else is crawling around on the roof. We have no sink or cooker, no running fresh water, apart from some taps in the back garden. Generally the water and electric go off every day here for an undefined amount of time, and the water is hardly drinkable. The bathroom is a slab of concrete out the back with a pipe for a shower and a toilet. The shower curtain, so the rest of the world cannot see you, is a worn out rug. You can't flush the toilet. Two scrawny dogs live out the back in the dust and the dirt, who bark at you every time you go out there, especially in the night! He used to live there with his wife and 4 kids...Although I am not up for living here long term (although I do actually like living with Larry) I decided I would stay with him for 3 days, as a room in the centre was not available till the Saturday. It is a real experience living in La Chispa. Although to anyone not from this area or a tourist it seems run down and dangerous on the surface, actually everyone who lives here is really nice. I met so many nice people, everyone is so friendly and welcoming it makes me kind of want to just stay here, even though I am basically living in poverty. You see maybe you don’t need much in life to be happy. Perhaps all the things we have in the west are just luxuries. All you need is people around you. That is why the poorer people are the more generous they are, because all they have is each other so if they are shit to each other then they literally have nothing. Larry is no exception to this rule. He has given me his bed, paid for food, brought me breakfast in the morning, been patient in teaching me Spanish, got my clothes washed, helped me find a house and even paid for my bus fare here one day. Of course I try and give him back as much as I can, but sometimes he just won’t accept money. I decided to thank him for his generosity, despite clearly not having anything himself I will see if I can buy him a nice comfortable bed. He used to live in this tiny house with his wife and family, but since they left he has no bed. I think that is the least I could give him (he also needs a kitchen, but I am not sure I will get that too). 

So this is where I stay, again, for a bit. Didn’t think I would end up as a computer programming teacher in a poor school for young people in Matagalpa in a really poor district, but here I am. It felt right to stay, I felt I had something I could offer so I will try my best, I am pretty sure I will learn a lot of Spanish if I try hard enough. It will be (it already is) an experience I am sure, and this is why I came away to have experiences I can’t have back home. I mean I would never see or have the chance to live in poverty like this in England. Even the poorest of the poor in England have running clean water and a kitchen and enough rooms for everyone. Being really poor totally sucks, maybe just maybe if I can teach these people tech skills I can to east give them a glimmer of hope to get out of poverty.

Computers in matagalpa, this will be my classroom

The streets near party's house in La Chispa