Week 8-Out and About

Now that I'm settling in to my life here, I'm really trying to get out and explore as much as I can (and as much as my very limited budget will allow). Luckily I was afforded this opportunity this past weekend thanks to our good friend Fabri. We spent the day visiting historical parts of downtown Managua and walking along the lake in an area that I can only describe as a boardwalk.

I had actually visited some of these places during my time in Nicaragua last year (thank you Dr. Shaw!) but the history nerd in me was still more than willing to revisit them. Nicaragua has an incredibly interesting and treacherous history which both fascinates and saddens me. I'll include some links after this post for those interested in reading up, but if I start talking about it now I'll never stop.

The first sight we visited was Tiscapa, the place where Augusto Sandino (click here and here for more info on Sandino and his legacy) ate his last supper and was later assassinated. This sight contains a lot of significance for the people of Nicaragua. Aside from being a place where a revolutionary was assassinated, it later became a place where dictators tortured citizens using tactics as cruel as putting them in cages with panthers. After the fall of the Somoza dictatorship, this area became a commemoration to Sandino and the horrific acts that occurred at the site, to be remembered but not repeated. Further, this hill divides Managua into the side that was demolished in the 1972 earthquake, and the side that was rebuilt following the catastrophe. We visited a small exhibition dedicated to Sandino and his legacy which was contrasted with information about the horrific crimes to follow his assassination at Tiscapa. We walked around this site, soaking up all it had to offer in the present and all it had to do with a past we could study but maybe never quite understand as outsiders.

Our next stop was La Plaza de la Revolucion in downtown Managua. This historic plaza has seen many protests, conflicts, and victories but most recently it commemorates the victorious Sandinista Revolution (click here for an article on the revolution). The plaza contains the graves of various national heroes, the original cathedral built in Managua in 1930 and La Palacia Nacional. After wandering around the plaza for a bit, we headed to our last stop, Puerto Salvador Allende.

Right along Lago de Managua, Puerto Salvador Allende is reminiscent of a boardwalk but with a much more tropical feel. There are historic and cultural portions and a separate area of just restaurants and bars right along the water. It was a nice place to walk around, watch the sunset and soak up everything I'd seen either for the first or second time.

There is a rich and captivating history here in Nicaragua and I can't help but wonder a lot about it. However, it is much more personal for the people here. As much as I want to ask endless questions, many people still remember the years of the revolution and losing loved ones in the war. It's a country that's still healing. And I won't pretend to know everything about it, as I haven't lived through the history of Nicaragua like it's people have. But the history makes up another piece of the beautiful, passionate, and conflicted puzzle that is Nicaragua, my new home.

P.S. Extra shoutout to Fabri for showing us around (you should really considering launching Tours by Fabri)