“Aqui viene la egoïsta.” (Here comes the egoist)
That’s what I heard from a man sitting on the side of the street today as I left the school on the way to a teacher’s house this afternoon.
This man is typically walking around drunk all day, and generally asks me in broken English “what time is it?” or says “I love you.” Sometimes I respond to him with humor, and sometimes I don’t feel like it. The men who were sitting alongside him today and who laughed as he said that generally hiss or say “Adiosssssssss muchacha” in a suggestive (and to me, repulsive) way. I always ignore them and keep walking.
So I had just left the school at which I volunteer, and where I had spent the morning making decorations for tomorrow’s Mother’s Day celebration. I choose to walk to work or to do my errands and not to acknowledge people when they speak to me in a vulgar manner.
On the other hand, this man is apparently offended because a person that he does not know and has never tried to engage in a respectful way doesn’t acknowledge his daily harassment as they’re going about their business.
Oh. Sorry about that. You’re right. I am the one with the big ego.
This was just a little incident that happened today, but street harassment is a HUGE problem here in Nicaragua and many other places. Every time someone says something vulgar or degrading in tone to you, it feels like they’re throwing their words at you. So what do you do? You put on invisible armor. At the end of my service I will have only been in Nicaragua for a little over 2 years, but so many people live with this every day of their life. Can you imagine what that does to a girl or woman’s self-esteem? Growing up feeling like (or knowing) that some men see you as something to be evaluated and talked at. Oh, and you better like it.
On the other hand, there are so many people that don’t engage in this abusive and disrespectful behavior and I just love to see them every day. There is an older man who lives near the school whose humble home I pass by almost daily. He always says “Buenos dias” “mucho gusto professora” or something equally charming and respectful. I have never met him formally, but he always gets a smile and a wave from me. What a lovely man.
Ok, I needed to get that out.
Love from Nicaragua,
M x
Mariel's Adventure Blog! 
Glad you got that out! I don’t know what people like that expect you to do. Thank them?
Writing about it truly helps. And I understand what you are talking about, it’s not easy and there is no proper way to deal with it but you sound like a wonderful woman who is handling herself very well. Machismo is a hard thing for us to deal with as North Americans. Bless you and continue doing what you’re doing.