Country Article / Postcards
Moving the Family to Nicaragua
Date: 06/07/2007Learn more about Nicaragua in International Living Postcards-- your daily escape
Friday, June 8, 2007
Managua, Nicaragua
In 1997 my husband and I made a huge decision: to move to Nicaragua with our three children (a 5-, 7-, and 14-year-old).
In the States, we felt as though we spent more and more time working and less time with our children. Saturday and Sunday had become work days instead of family days. Being a practicing physician was less rewarding each day, as I found myself caught in the middle of my patients' insurance policies to justify and deliver the care they required.
I immediately felt welcome in Nicaragua. The people here are warm and friendly. Our clinic in Managua flourished from the start. Patients here have names, not numbers.
Back then, most businesses were closed weekends, although the supermarkets opened a half-day on Saturday. There was no mall (which I thought might be a deal breaker with the kids). The movie theatre charged $1.75 for the same movies (in English) that were showing in the States.
Today Managua boasts several large malls and bigger supermarkets--open seven days a week. The cinemas are more expensive--admission is now $2.50. Other changes: restaurants of all types, huge new theater complexes, nightclubs, new businesses of all kinds, several new hospitals with many specialists fluent in English. New schools (in English) and new universities offering classes in English, affiliated with major American universities.
In Nicaragua, families spend weekends at the quinta (a beach or farm retreat). That's "family" in a general sense--friends, cousins, aunts…everybody! We quickly adapted and picked out our quinta on the beach, for family and new friends to enjoy. A place at the beach….and a house with a pool that can be used year-round--easy to see why the kids didn't mind so much that there was no mall in those early years.
Don't get me wrong, this isn't a permanent vacation. I worked 12-hour days at the clinic. But thanks to the availability of household help, when I'm not working I can relax with my family. I don't have to cook…I don't clean, do laundry, worry about my garden, or wash my car.
Nicaragua is growing by leaps and bounds, but remains the same warm, friendly county I came to love 10 years ago. This is my family home and I can't imagine living anywhere else.
Lori Estrada
For International Living
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