Pedro: Thursday was a
relaxing/travel day to Managua. We
lounged around all morning writing a couple days worth of blogs and then went
to lunch at La Casita. I figured this would be your favorite
restaurant out of the bunch, was it?
Madre: Claro! Anyplace with organic foods, yogurt and chai
tea will always be high on my list.
Plus, the fact that it was in a lush rainforest setting sealed it –
definitely a favorite.
Pedro: Glad you liked
it. Afterwards we drove in the rain back
to Managua. Dad did a good job weaving our
rental car throughout the crazy Pan-American highway traffic didn’t he?
Madre: Crazy traffic
is an understatement. Since not many
people in the northern part of Nicaragua seem to own cars or motorcycles there
was a fascinating assortment of traffic on the highway and along its narrow
edges. We saw, of course, lots of people
getting to their destinations by simply walking along the road, but they also
used every other imaginable type of transportation, including bicycles
(sometimes with multiple people balancing on the bike), 3-wheeled cycles,
horses, donkeys and ox carts. Of course,
your father also had to watch out for dogs, horses, cows and chickens along the
road that could potentially wander in front of our car. And the side roads in the towns were
frequently just dirt with enough bumps, holes, mud or standing water to make
driving on them a real challenge.
Pedro: But we arrived
safe and sound in Managua and returned our rental car without any penalties for
scratches, dents or over-used shock absorbers.
We spent the night (again) in the hotel eating and drinking free items
in the fancy pants “Executive Lounge”. Then
Friday morning I went to the airport to pick up Michelle and we all traveled to
Leon. How’s it been so far?
Madre: Traveling with
the locals by “micro-bus” and then by taxi from the rundown area of town to get
to our hotel in Leon was like being in an episode of a cable television travel
show. However, we were pleased to see
that our lovely hotel here in Leon, which I’m assuming is the nicest one in
town, is a beautifully restored convent with manicured gardens in the
center. It also comes with 24-hour
security guards at the door and imposing Nica-style walls and fences
surrounding it to keep us tourists safe.
The restaurants that we went to for lunch (a French-style bakery) and
dinner (a tapas restaurant) to celebrate Michelle’s birthday were both great. I especially liked that Chef Gustavo at the
restaurant came out of the kitchen to greet us and to talk to us since he lived
for a while in the US and could speak English quite well.
Pedro: What did you think
about our activities in Leon?
Madre: The Nica version of museums was certainly
eye-opening. It was interesting to learn
about Nica history at the “Museo de la Revolucion” but I would have thought
they could have come up with more than a few photos and a dog-eared cardboard
poster board with newspaper articles taped to it, especially since their
revolution didn’t take place all that many years ago. But our guide certainly tried to make up for
the lackluster, non-air conditioned museum conditions by giving us the grand
tour, including taking us up on the rusted metal roof of the rundown building
for good views of Leon (another one of those “this would never be allowed in
the US moments”). And going to the beach
so we could sit in a primitive tiki hut with festive beverages, swim and walk
in the sand along the Pacific Ocean was memorable, too. Thanks so much for planning such a wide
variety of things for us to do!
 |
| Mom and Pedro in front of the cathedral |
Pedro:
You’re
welcome.
It was great to have you
here.
Any final thoughts about your trip
to Nicaragua?
Madre: This may sound
harsh but it’s easy to see that this is a very poor country. The cathedral in Leon, which is the largest
in Central America, looks absolutely awful from the outside, though it is still
reasonably nice inside. When traveling abroad
(or even in the US) I am used to seeing some poor neighborhoods, but here
almost every neighborhood looks poor. I’d
go as far as saying that 90% of the buildings here look like they should be razed
with a bulldozer and the rest almost all need a power wash, some paint and
repairs. There are children begging on the streets and
people at every large intersection in Managua trying to sell things to people
in cars to attempt to support themselves.
Your father and I have even more respect for the improvements that you
and other volunteers are trying to bring about here. Keep up the good work, eat more and please
stay healthy (sorry, the mom in me couldn’t help adding that last part)!
