Reread this poem by Peace Corp volunteer Samantha Austin.

Question

Nicaraguita
Oh Nicaragua, Nicaraguita!
That girl at the bar said you have no culture,

but I know
culture is not something you see in colorful cloth or folk dances

but something you taste, like the dust that lines your mouth
in April before the rains start,
like the ash baked into tortillas
and those small strawberries that come down
from the mountain once a year.

And culture is something you smell
like the elote blackening in the street,
the red and black paint drying on telephone poles
and the trash burning outside.

It's something you hear
like the cars with the speakers tied on top, announcing a funeral,
the sound of a plump mango falling from the tree
and every adios as you walk by.

It's something you feel
like the warm hand of a stranger, inviting you in,
the bumps on the road, as you pass by the mountains
and the ache of your heart, once you've left.

What is the point of this poem? (What did its author want you to understand about her host country?)

You have to live somewhere to appreciate its culture fully.

Nicaragua has very little culture other than costumes and folk dances.

You can understand a country's culture just by looking around you.

Nicaragua's culture is too strange for most visitors to appreciate.

Answer 1

The point of the poem is that you have to live somewhere to appreciate its culture fully. Samantha Austin emphasizes that culture is experienced through various senses and everyday experiences, rather than merely being defined by visual elements like costumes or folk dances. She illustrates how the tastes, smells, sounds, and feelings associated with life in Nicaragua contribute to a deeper understanding of its culture, which can often be overlooked by outsiders.