"Extreme citizenship is marked by extreme sacrifice."

The above is a quote from this week´s visiting professor in our Nicaraguan history class, María Teresa Blandón. At first, this quote may seem like it came straight out of a book on terrorism, but here in Nicaragua and other Latin American countries that have suffered at the hands of dictators, this is something admirable.

The Somoza dictatorship of the 20th century in Nicaragua has been described as possibly the worst in Latin American history, and sadly much of this is the fault of the United States. As María Teresa described it, "Central America was an incredibly important laboratory for the United States," and Nicaragua is no exception. The United States gave the first Somoza his power by giving him control of la Guardia Nacional, or National Guard, which they imposed on the country. For the next 45 years, the Somoza family and la Guardia Nacional committed outrageous human rights abuses and stole millions of dollars from the people. It is said that in the 1970´s, Nicaragua was even worse off than El Salvador in the 1980´s. In a country of 3.5 million people, more than 50,000 people died, to the point where tires were burnt in the streets to mask the smell of the rotting corpses. I can´t even begin to imagine the trauma that something as terrible as this could inspire. As a result, there is still animosity towards the US and fear that our military will return. For example, we are urged not to attend political rallies because people may think we were sent by the CIA. For similar reasons, we were told not to bring any camoflauge or military khaki colored clothing for the semester.

Still today as we walk down the streets we see people without limbs as a result of Nicaragua´s past. Yesterday, we talked to one of our Spanish professors, Ramón, about his time as a Sandinista revolutionary. He told us that he was put in jail five times by la Guardia Nacional and was tortured and beaten so much that he spent six months recovering in the hospital after his last jail term; however, opening up like this is rare - most people here choose to disguise their pains though their scars may be plainly visible.

As a psych major, this is something in which I am incredibly interested. In the United States, one finds outstanding numbers of people who participated in war with PTSD, and an even greater portion of the population use psychosomatic drugs for a range of emotional issues. Here, there is very little talk about psychological health. Though the field of psychology may be growing, the demand for therapy and psychiatric assistance seems unusually low. Aynn and I discussed this issue a few days ago when I met with her to discuss my Independent Study Project (ISP). In many countries, people "rip off the bandaid" and handle their grief by dealing with it directly, but in Nicaragua, they keep their wounds covered, believing if they pack it away and leave it behind, they can relieve themselves of their emotional pains. Some argue that Nicaragua has taken such an emotional toll over the years that it is time we rip off the bandaid, that Nicaraguans need to confront these issues to relieve themselves of the pressures of the pains of their history. But what effects would this have on the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere? If these issues were recognized and care was necessary, it could have grave economic effects from which Nicaragua would probably never recover.

It is for reasons like these that I want to focus on issues of psychological health for my ISP next month. I will spend this weekend developing my proposal and hopefully will be able to learn more about these issues by focusing on a specific theme.

Otherwise, I am doing well down here - Yom Kippur finished last night and my mom made me a fabulous chicken salad and bought some delicious fruit bread for me to break my fast. It may not be bagels, lox, quiche, or kugel, but it was still darn tasty! This weekend I will be working like crazy on two papers, a book presentation, and the IRB proposal for my ISP, taking a few breaks to go with my mom to buy fabric to make a traditional Nicaraguan dress and learn some typical dance.

Thanks again for reading my thoughts, and hopefully my next entry will be a little more uplifiting. To all, have a wonderful day and know that I am smiling thinking of all of you!

Love,
Nicole