ABSTRACT
The chubby, young woman with the short, dark hair gave me a tired smile and invited me inside her very simple home. It was situated on a large mound of dirt heaved up by the earthquake in 1972 and surrounded by broken remnants of what was once a street or sidewalk. As I maneuvered my way past the large pig that guarded the door, I was reminded again of the bizarre nature of this capital city, in which a jeep and the ability to interpret directions such as “three blocks to the left and one alley down from where the statue used to be” are basic requirements and vivid reminders that the earthquake is a continuing presence.
Nubia Gomez and her husband are both educators. They, like many other Nicaraguans, each hold down two jobs in an attempt to make ends meet. They are overworked and stressed, for which they hold the government responsible. They also blame the Sandinistas for the extreme scarcity of educational materials, and they flatly oppose the ideological content of the new curriculum. Still, they are surviving within a system that is not of their choosing.
Currently working as principal of a private elementary school in the mornings, and as teacher in a public elementary school in the afternoons, this experienced educator offers some interesting observations on the two 300types of schools. Further, she has taught in both the old and the new systems, and is well-qualified to make comparisons between the past and the present. At home on maternity leave, Nubia G6mez welcomed the opportunity to share her views on education in the revolution and on the frantic pace of life for working families clinging tightly to the lower rungs of the middle class.
