Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Lifestyle
Nicaragua is a country in motion. One in five Nicas live outside the country, most in the
USA, Costa Rica and Honduras. Waves of migration to the cities, which began in the
1950s, have left more than 55% of the population urban. Most internal immigrants are
young women, and most go to Managua; men tend to follow the harvest into rural areas
and the surrounding countries. Regular jobs are difficult to find, and more than half of em-
ployed Nicaraguans are in the 'informal sector' - street vendors, maids, artisans - without
benefits or job security.
Despite the country's Catholic background, couples often live together and have children
without being married, especially in larger cities. Nicaraguans are generally fairly accept-
ing of the GLBT community, although the community is still fighting for full legal recogni-
tion.
Wealth is distributed unequally, with the moneyed elite living much as they would in
Miami or elsewhere. For the vast majority of Nicaraguans, however, just putting food on
the table is a daily struggle, with 46% living below the poverty line and perhaps a third of
the country subsisting on two meals or fewer per day; almost one-fifth of children are at
risk of problems relating to malnutrition, while in the Atlantic regions it is more than 30%.
However, when hitting the streets, even the poorest Nicaraguans will generally always
appear in clean, freshly pressed clothes, which is why they find 'wealthy' backpackers in
smelly rags so amusing.
Many of Managua's retired old school buses have been converted into
bus pelones
(bald buses)
- open-air party buses that give residents without vehicles the chance to cruise the streets
of the city in the evening.
