El Primer Dia en Managua

We’ve finally arrived! As soon as the plane touched down, we were off and running. Our first stop was to a little café that served pupusas, and for many of us it was our first time trying pupusas which is surprisingly a food native to El Salvador. After lunch, we headed off for a tour around Managua, stopping first at the Plaza de la Revolución or what can now be considered, ‘old Managua’. There we saw the Old Cathedral of Managua and learned about its use in the country’s revolution. We stopped by El Palacio Nacional, the country’s national museum and learned about some of the historical figures who had a profound impact on the history of Managua, and at one point occupied the Palace. We also saw the tomb of Carlos Fonseca located in the country’s central park. Fonseca was a former commander of the Sandinistas, who fought against the US funded “Contras” in the country’s decades long Contra war. Afterwards, we visited an amusement park that housed miniature replicas of the country’s historic landmarks.

Later on, we head to the home of the late Ben Linder, an engineer who in his free time dressed as a clown while riding a unicycle in order to persuade children to receive their vaccinations as part of the vaccine campaign during the Revolution. The home housed murals painted by various artist who were supporters of the work that Linder did, as well as the Revolution. One of the muralist by the name of Gerardo Hernandez Arias invited us to his home and spoke with us about the hardships he faced as a youth growing up in Nicaragua. Our meeting with Gerardo was rather insightful and allowed us to obtain a deeper understanding of what life is like in Nicaragua. For us meeting and interacting with the people here was the highlight of our day, and we are looking forward to connecting with the citizens of Nicaragua more in the days to come.

Hi Mom!