Photography and Political Stability in Nicaragua
•
Photography review: Nicaragua. Richard Leonardi charges five hundred dollars for the first day of shooting, but only half price each additional day.
If you are considering the question "is Nicaragua's negative image justified" you mighe explore Leonardi's footprint guide. But you'll have to decide for yourself whether that is propaganda or not: the State Department doesn't comment on things like that, they just give the facts: http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_985.html
Political stability. For all th e nois e and h oopla, Nicaragua h as
be en a
functioning m ulti-party dem ocracy for ove r 20 years . W h ile it doe
sn't h ave th e 50
plus year track record of Costa Rica and ce rtainly isn't anoth e r New
Z ealand, it
ain't too bad. I pe rsonally w ould trust Danny [Pre s ident Daniel O rtega]
ove r
Je s s ie , Te ddy, and H illary any day of th e w e e k . And I don´t
particularly lik e
Danny!
• Am e ricans are not particularly dislik e d h e re or s ingle d out for
abus e or
discrim ination. You w ill probably tak e m ore guff for be ing an Am e
rican in Los
Angele s th an you w ill in Nicaragua.
• Econom ic opportunity. Th is ain't no w ork e rs ' paradis e unde r any
regim e or
party or h alf-bak e d opportunist coalition, but if you are th e entrepreneurial
type
(in reality, not just in your pipe dream s) th e re are opportunitie s
h e re . Noth ing is
nece s sarily going to be q uick or eas y, but startup costs are le s s
and th e regulatory
environm ent is gene rally bette r, too. Your ne st-egg th at w ouldn't
buy into a
decent cate ring truck in th e state s s h ould buy you into som eth ing
th at w ill
include a h ous e to live in.
• You h ave th e oth e r advantage of s e e ing th ings th e locals h ave
neve r really h eard
of or neve r h ad th e w h e rew ith al to export, from laundrom ats to
furniture export,
to m ode rn tourism . H ow ´s th is for an idea for north e rn Nicaragua:
a store w ith
good coffe e , good pastry, and a com fortable place to s it, all in th
e sam e place at
th e sam e tim e . Som e pleasant back ground m us ic w ouldn't h urt,
e ith e r. Th row in
a ligh t sandw ich or food m enu and I th ink you h ave a w inne r. Nobody
in th e
Segovias h as figure d th is out yet!
• A slow e r pace of life , cold turk ey on th e junk food, don´t live
your live th rough
th e TV, don´t com m ute , ignore (don´t read) th e ¨new s¨, w alk a lot
and ch at w ith
w h oeve r you can. Find a h obby, get a life , grow a garden, do volunte
e r w ork . No,
its not your obligation as an Am e rican to w aste th e w orld´s petroleum
, w orry
about w h ateve r th e gove rnm ent w ants you to w orry about today, be
fat and
stre s s e d out and too ¨bus y¨ for your friends , fam ily, and h ealth
. Sin loy, m anoy,
you don´t h ave to rais e your k ids to be cannon fodde r.
• It´s h ard to s e e all th is in th e State s; eas ie r h e re . If all
els e fails , you can w atch
th e zinc rust. Probably h ealth ie r th an th e afte rnoon com m ute .
• Refuge e s . Life in th e Ch ine s e Century is going to be diffe rent
for all Am e ricans
th an life in th e Am e rican Century. Can you find bette r els ew h e
re th an your native
land? If you are a w h ite w ork ing m an in h is fiftie s , you s h ould
probably h ave
realize d long ago th at you are th e New Nigge r of Am e rica.
You may also want to investigate Peter
Christopher Philippines and Nicaragua
Living other site.