May. 19th, 2010 [mouseworks]

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Here in in The Atlantic.

The comments are also interesting.

Still getting ready to go to Nicaragua, two more meds to pick up (anti-malarial and an antibiotic for bacterial dysentery) and a copy of my Synthroid prescription. I've been dithering over which pack to use, will probably use the RedWing since it actually can be cinched down and since word in the forums is that American Airlines isn't ferociously strict about stuff. I can carry the small camera bag as a purse, then transfer it to appropriate storage in the pack when I don't need to have the pack be nine inches flat or less.

One of the things about Nicaragua is that what I've been reading do make things seem more complex than the usual sound-bites. I think the distinguishing thing about conspiracy theories is that they try to make humans far more consistent than they prove to be if one is researching out a period in history or a contemporary place. One Nicaragua forum has been discussing why gringos get taken advantage of when they try to help others -- and it's that helping people feels so good (my cynical remark would be that helping also makes people feel so superior), yet the people being helped can see the help as a sign of naivete or condescension (or both), and excuse themselves for ripping off the helpers as much as possible. One person made the comment that extreme poverty corrupts as much as extreme power.

Nicaraguan saying: "each mind is a world of its own." "Shake with the hands and fuck with the elbows" is another.

A couple of Nicaraguans on the forum have made two points. One, Nicaraguan politics are not the business of ex-pats. Second, as people with sufficient pensions to be allowed into the country (over $600 a month), we're all on the wrong side of the class struggle.

I don't know if I can make a life in Nicaragua or not. But I don't think I'm going to have any illusions about fixing the place.

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July