Leon... and hearts of lions...

07July Got a taxi to the bus station and met this Managuan who had lived in Ireland. Small world. He was recruiting for the bus to Leon.
Arrived in Leon about 10.30. Got a taxi to a Nicaraguan hostel called El Albergue. Nice. But there was no water til 9 or 10pm. So no shower... It is something that I have become used to.
Wandered around town. What a difference. Poverty is much more evident here. Leon is much less gringofied but the better for it. More real and I really like it. Whereas Granada and San Juan have lots of Gringos buying property and businesses, especially hostels and restaurants, Here the locals are doing it for themselves and have the wherewithall to do so. There are many horse and carts here too. But not the sort that carry passengers/tourists like in Granada, These earn their living carrying allsorts. You can see the difference between the cathedral opposite compared to that in Granada.

Leon is the intellectual capital. Here many of the FSLN leaders were born. There is much FSLN/Revolution graffiti to attest to this.
I went to the Galeria de Heroes y Martires, a museum created and run by the mothers of many of those that died for the revolution. It has many fotos of those killed whilst protesting as students or in various attacks by or on Samozas Guardia Nacional. Sometimes there are a pair of shoes or a piece of clothing or a little story about the person. Leon was a spearheader in the revolution, infact most of the town came out and fought on behalf of the Sandanistas.

A brief history a la Sandra:

In the 30s Sandino, a rebel fought against the Samoza senior. He. was invited to dinner to discuss peace talks but was killed by the Guardia nacional, funded by the US. In fact in 54, Nicaragua was used as a launch pad by the CIA to overthrow the guatemalan leader and the 1961 invastion of Cuba. During the 50s the FSLN was created by Carlos Fonseca etc. Otherwise known as Sandinistas. This gained strenght especially in 1972 due to the earthquake. In 79, the FSLN won the revolution. The FSLN had much support from international goverments including many Latin Americans.
However, before they had time to settle in and create a democracy, the US were funding the Contras, which were made up of Samozas Guardia Nacional and business interests who were afraid the FSLN were too left etc. Under Reagan, with his left over ideas from McCarthyism, was on a mission to destroy communisim and anyone seen as slightly left was suspect. Nicaragua was a key target. Fighting against the contras crippled the Nicaraguan economy, especially with embargos inposed against Nicaragua because democracy was not introduced fast enough etc.. Meanwhile the US were throwing billions of dollars to the El Salvadorean Dictator who made Saddam Hussein look like a kindly relative... in order to stop the guerillas there from winning. Even today, elections are still being meddled with by US funding. This is a very brief synopsis but it gives a gist of the situation. The US foreign policy disgusts me to the core.
To wander around here and see what could have been but was not really ever allowed. There were so many internationlistas who came to help in the 80s because they believed in the FSLN and their social polices of reform, including many Americans. but it had limited impact because of the US govt.

Even today, water cuts happen from 7am to 7pm in Granada. Electricity is stopped sometimes for a whole day. This is normal here. The price of oil is going up and the present president has requested OPEC, to lower the price of oil for the poorest countries. Think that is going to happen?????? People live on $40 a week. And they can be the lucky ones. Some dont have anything. However, others are driving around in huge 4x4s. The inequalities are not being reduced if anything they are increasing.

09 Jul. I had to move hostels. I am now in Casona Colonial. It is not cheap but it was around the corner and it is only for 1 night. I have my own room and bathrooom. I just need the luxury to have a shower for one night, just to get clean and sleep. I have a 4 poster bed that I have to climb up onto. It is such a cool place.

Wandered around town and bumped into Jeremiah, whom I had sailed with from Colombia to Panama. He was still plying his jewellry. I then bumped into Hagay, from Isreal that I had accidently hit with my surfboard in San Juan.

As the heat was saporific, I went into the museum of Art. The museum is quite spacious. But there were few visiting. Before I entered a room, the guards would rush to turn on the lights and fans. I told them not to bother. Electricity and water conservation is a necesity not an ecological ideology here.

A Nicaraguan artist Armando Morales has a section here. His paintings are beautiful haunting images and really capture your eye. I then went to the home of Ruben Dario. Nicaraguas most famous poet and perhaps one of Latin Americas. Nicaragua loves her poets. And poets have often been key in the revolution and intellectual life of the country. It was the poet/journalist Rigoberto Lopez Perez who killed Samoza senior whilst dressed as a waiter in 1956. I went to see his house too.
I read an autobiography called "The Country under my skin". It was written by Giaconda Belli, a poet and a woman that was heavily involved throughout the 70s and 80s in the upper eschelons of the FSLN leadership. A phenomenal person. The autobiography was very informative, especially as it was written from her perspective as a woman, lover, mother and guerilla.
10Jul. Had to leave the hostel for another. I thougth I would be on a volcano tour but no. I am now in Bigfoot a really gringo Aussie owned hostel. but hey its fun. I really tried to stay at local run hostels but kept getting kicked out. First person I run into is Thomas from San Juan. It was fab to see him. He had got a few injuries from the volcano boarding he had just returned from but nothing serious and it wasnt his face ha ha...

I wandered some more around town to photgraph some graffitti. I stopped off at the Benjamin Linder Cafe. Non profit making enterprise. Ben Linder was an American who contibuted a lot to Nicaragua. He was killed by the Contras in 87 whilst building a hydroelectric dam. The US govt, when asked why they were still contributing money to forces that killed Americans, answered U.S. citizens working in Nicaragua had "put themselves in harm's way" saying that Linder should have known better than to be in a combat zone. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Linder
I returned to Bigfoot, only to meet the 6 Irish girls from Dublin, along with Martina (London) and Kim (US), I had met in the Bearded Monkey. Spent the evening with them, as it was Ruths 21st birthdays. The girls had bought Ruth, these hideous knckers for her and her boyfriend. So we had to take fotos. Thomas even tried on the underpants, much to the girls delight. Some of the girls asked me if Thomas knew how hot he was. I said I thought he was aware but not as much as he could be. He really is a sweetie behind all the letchery.
11Jul.
Went from Breakfast in Via Via, and bumped into Hagay again. Blasted the poor boy with my politics. Oh dear was on my soapbox. Booked on to the overnight trip to Telica, another active volcano.

Managua and what feels like ground zero.

6th July

It was bizarre in the Bearded Monkey. There were so many girls, many travelling by themselves. Since I have arrived in Nicaragua, I have met a lot of single female travellers but not in many other places. Not sure why Nicaragua has more than other places but no complaints here.

I wandered around Granada for one last time, went to the Museum, Casa De los Leones. Some amazing fotos there of Nicaraguans. An artist brought me to his workshop within the museum. His work and that of his colleagues was fabulous and so cheap, but I had already bought some paintings in Masaya.

Naomi and I took the bus to Managua and got a taxi to the Tica office where Naomi had a hotel booked. I left my stuff in Naomis room. Outside, the first guy we met told us not to walk down to the left and guided me to this other hotel. It was ok but I took the one across the road. The owner there also told us where not to walk. So we took a taxi to the central area of Managua after getting some lunch. It was deserted. This area had been devastated during the 1972 Earthquake. Much foreign aid came in but never made it to the people that needed it. Tents etc were kept by the reigning dictators (Samoza) family and cohorts. Other items were sold off instead of benefitting the needy. In fact the earthquake was a key factor in bringing a lot of the well to do into the revoloution and was the beginning of the end of Samoza's regime...

We walked around what would have been the heart of colonial Managua. Because of the earthquake, it is now deserted except for the many shanty towns around the central park. Many of the inhabitants are in their elder years and have probably been there since 1972, residing in plastic covered wooden frames with little else. It is appaling what these poor souls have to live in and with. The cathedral (opposite) still stands but in a state of disrepair. Apparently any visiting heads of state are brought here in the hope they might write a cheque for its repair. Needless to say...

It is a sad place.

It is also not the safest. However, there are some monuments to the revolution and the museum (pictured here) is in everyday use, and more return to the cities heart. But we picked the one day the museum () was closed. We felt very uncomfortable walking around, as the only gringas in the place.

So we got a taxi on to the Huellas de Acahualinca. Again the taxi driver told us not to move from the musuem but to wait until a taxi came by. It was relatively poor but most were just children playing. But there was also a sence of danger. We asked him to return in 20 minutes.

Huellas de Acahualinca is a tiny museum, housing ancient footprints (see opposite) of about 10 men, women and children. They are 6000 to 7000 years old and were buried some 4m deep under volcanic material. They were discovered back in 1874 by some workers. They pace in one direction as if in immigration...
Naomi and I were optimistic in asking for 20 minutes but lucky for us our taxi came early. We decided on a shopping mall, as we had exhausted the cultural activities. We went to see Super Agent 86 in Spanish and didnt understand a word but who cares, we were able to while away a few hours.

When we got back to Naomis hotel, the taxi was really reticent on letting us out. Everything was closed up and there was a bunch of guys loitering around. However one of them pointed out where the door was and we got into the hotel. I was literally 2 minutes walk from my hotel but I had all my stuff and was nervous enough to ask one of the bus drivers, to walk me to my door. A first for me. I said good bye to Naomi, as she was heading back to her teaching job in Honduras.

Granada, Monkeys of a different sort

2nd July
Jesse and I saw this amazing photographic exhibition in the central park based on globalisation. Some of the best fotos I have seen for a long time. It was superb and sad and thougth provoking. The catherdral (opposite) in Granada and Granada in general is clean and well kept. A lot of restoration has taken place. Jesse took me to this Cigar factory. The owner there is famous throughout the world as a purveryor of fine cigars. Apparently the quality of cigars in Nicaragua is as good as Cuba due to the volcanic soils but Cuba has the reputation due to scarcity of the cigars in the US due to the US embargo against Cuban products. There was a huge photo of Arnold Swarzenegger and the owner on the wall.

We went off to Masaya for a few hours, to see the markets there. Masaya is a town, famous for its artisans. It has probably 2 of the biggest markets in Latin America. The new market, is more local and rough and ready but still has many handicrafts like hammocks and rocking chairs. Jesse and I so wanted to buy some rocking chairs like we had at Elizabeths. I bought 2 paintings that were a bit surrealist.
We then went off to the old market which has now been done up. The market is enclosed by these old walls with turrets and arches and is very gothic outside. Inside it is clean and touristy and the prices reflect this. However, the quality of items is high and there are some lovely paintings, wooden carvings and of course the ubiquitous hammocks. If I was on holiday here and owned my own home...................

3rd July.
The bearded monkey is a great hostel. It has an inner courtyard with trees which gives shade and cool air. It has great food and a lot of poeple stay here. It dominates the social scene in Granada.
They have another hostel on the banks of Lake Apuyo. I went for a day trip there. It has got to be one of the most peaceful places I have been at. The waters of this giant lake created in the crater of an extinct volcano are tranquil and pristine. The lake has many houses and hostels but they are hidden behind the many trees lining the lake. I took a kayak out and explored the shoreline. The rest of the time I sunbathed and swam and chatted to 2 girls Naomi (Aussie) and Shay (Cristal Palace, UK). There is something regal about her, she looks like she stepped out of an Egyptian hieroglyphic. She is such an African queen. It was such a relaxing, peaeful day.

On my return to the bearded monkey, I heard my name being shouted across the garden… It was Sarah and Christen back from Ometepe. I was sooo happy to see them. Bang goes peace and quiet. But who cares…
We met up with a few more guys from the US, Mike, Nicholas. We had mexican on the main tourist strip then some Flor de Cana in this gazebo in the central park, then off to the Café Nuit for salsa.

Next day, I went with Niamh and Monica to a café and we had a wander around town and the stalls.
Later, I stayed around the gazebo to watch a FSLN Parade and I took some fotos. IT was a shame it rained as it dampened some of the enthuasism. At one point, this teenager came along holding a live chicken by the legs, its neck had a chunk cut out of and the boy was wiping the chicken and its blood off those who would accept. None I think. Pretty Barbaric...

The US gang from last night went out to celebrate 4th of July. We ended up in the El club for dinner, with an Aussie girl and another American. There was a lot of laughter and pee taking. And of course it was off to the Gazebo again, where we saw a local fiesta and then it was Cafe Nuit. Creatures of habit…
The next day was a wipe out. I just stayed in the hostel and read. I hung out with Martina, Niamh and Jonny all from London and Naomi. We were all knackered as had all been in Cafe Nuit. There was lots of conversations.
It was so nice to not do anything or go anywhere.

San Juan, Fiesta in so many ways. And Adieu

Fiesta, Tuesday 24 June
It is the feast of San Juan. Strangely coinciding with Summer solstice and the fiesta here seemed more in tune with a pagan festival than the religious feast of a catholic saint.
The whole month of june has been a lead up to this week. The rodeos were part of it and this week was the culmination.
I went to Maderas beach to do a bit of surfing. Hmm not so good I missed all the shenanigans of the day. That evening I went to the central park by myself, as the boys were coming later. I missed the pig, duck and pole games.
The pig game involved a bunch of grown men, chasing and throwing themselves on a poor greased little piglet. The one who got to catch the pig and retain it until they got to some point, won.
The duck game involved this poor unfortunate live duck tied to a pole. The guys had to grab the duck, and run with it. Again the retainer won. The duck, of course died.
The greasy pole didn´t involve animals thank god. Just whoever got to the top of this greasy pole, won $100.
This was all told to me by Ryan,(US) and his friend Silvio (Switzerland), who came up to me. Ryan was still avoiding this girl, he had a one night stand with, a month ago. She wanted him to call her so they could talk. Oops.

Then Sarah came, chatted and dissapeared again with her volleyball team. A German girl, Katharina, I had met in the bar with Garreth, started chatting and we bemoaned the lack of single female travellers.

Edward the Irish guy from limerick joined me, with a few of his friends. Had a really good laugh with them. They were very witty and sarcastic. He was a lot more friendly than when I met him the first time. He is off to Ireland tomorrow. He said he was mising San Juan already. He has been living here 2 years. I didnt realise I had got to know so many people here. I was only alone for about 3 minutes over several hours. Mad.

Thomas and Aidan then came along and as Edward had not been very friendly to Aidan in the bar the other night, Aidan chose not to be friendly with Edward. A shame but… So I joined the boys, as I have spent most time with them. We watched the celebrations. There was a big stand with the statue of San Juan surrounded by beautiful arrangements of fruit. This was about 100 metres from the church. One group of locals, mostly male, carried this big statue above their heads. Another group, mostly female, carried a smaller statue. The 2 groups chased each other making it looked more like a mating ritual rather than anythign else. Later 3 bands took it in turns to play at different points around the central park. It was mad but brilliant. At the end it was just myself and Aidan, along with hundreds of locals. Everyone else had dissapeared. The dancing was frenetic. It was lovely to see grandsons dancing with grandmothers and aunts with nieces etc.

Wednesday.
Pelican eyes tonight. oh dear. Going to be late one. I had a Macua. This is a coctail of Flor de Cana, guava and orange juice. Nicaragua is making it their national drink. So now I have ticked another off my list of coctails from around the world.
Later at the iguana, we met Luis, the salsa dancer extradinaire. He has a degree in dancing and is a total charmer. Fun guy. Aidan remembered it was his birthday tomorrow as he hadnt realised the date. So we gave him a few drinks after midnight. Then went on to the late night bar L´mche, til 3am.

Friday night, which of course means Pelican eyes night. Aoiffe has nicknamed us Team Irish. Today Aidan found out that the guy we hang out with was the key witness in the murder trial. In fact was the person who pinned the murder on Eric Volz. He apparently could have been an accessory to the murder, as he had scratch marks on him allegedly. He seems a nice chap but doesnt hang out with that many locals here, except gringos but then again he is allowed hang out at our hostel and does errands for people and Elizabeth the owner is running for mayoress. so he appears to be accepted here. It is a very strange situation. Aidan also realised this morning that we will be learning salso with Luis, in the very house the girl was murdered. It turned my stomach a bit. Aidan wasnt too happy either. Bizarre.

In the Mercado, whilst breakfasting with Aoiffe, we saw the old lady from the restuarant next to ours, chase this guy and whack him over his back etc. with a big plank of wood. She was furious, shouting and really going for him. We couldn´t figure out what he did but she chased him out onto the street, with the locals gawping on. This guy goes around town topless with one flipflop. His trousers are too big and he is always holding the trousers about 4 inches from his waist. He seems to keep looking down to make sure nothign is missing... He seems to have obsessive compulsive disorder and he often passes by our place, turns around, then goes back and forth a few times. Jesse told me, her teacher says that the odd time he hits gringas.

I was lounging around in the Gato Negro, chatting to Katharina and Garreth, when the lady with the monkey came. The monkey was climbing all over these swinging chairs like he was back in the jungle. It was sooooo sweet. She fed it from her plate of fruit. He had his nappy on too. She seemed a nice lady and said she only takes care of the monkey but it lives in the Pelican Eyes hotel. So not completely cuckoo...

Our group has grown phenomenally. Two girls from S. California, Sarah and Christen have joined Team Elizabeth. They are total party girls. Sarah comes out with the most irreverant things and Christen says less but when she does it usually is a quote to remember. They are hilarious and fit nicely into the gang. Two English guys big into surfing, Leon and Jack rock with us on the rocking chairs as does Jesse from Montana, whom moved in a few days ago. She is such a doll and fits in like a bug in a rug.

My last Saturday night, we all went to the Iguana and then the sunset after. Sarah and Christen met up with 12 Norweigens and the rest of us just entered the mayhem of the Iguana. It was the maddest night there since I arrived. People were dancing on tables and were even trying to dance on the bar, until the bar staff turned the music off to calm things down.

At the sunset, it was busy and I met with Sylvio and Maxime from our hostel. I danced with them and the others. Maxime and I were the last of the gang to leave. We got to Elizabeths and then I heard Aidans voice. So we waited for them to catch up. I couldnt believe my eyes. Aidan was just in his boxers, with his hat on and his boots in his hands. The Dutch girl he was with Marlous was just in her tshirt and flipflops. They had decided to go for a midnight swim in the sea. Whilst they were swimming, someone came along and stole their clothes. Oh how we laughed. Poor old Aidan, tho lost his favourite tshirt and his money belt which was not so funny. Amazingly though he didnt loose his hat. Maxime got a foto of the 3 of us. So I have to chase that.

Sunday
A gang of us went to the last rodeo. It was uneventful, although a few got trampled but got up to walk away. Luckily!
Sarah and Christen, moved into the appartment in Elizabeths. As they had a kitchen, we cooked fajitas. As well as the 2 girls, Aidan, Thomas, Aoiffe, Sinead, Brandon and Esther came along too. We had a great evening and the food wasnt too bad either.

Brandon, a Canadian, is here to set up a diving shop in Pelican Eyes. He is such a sweety. Aidan got to know him one evening. Poor old Brandon hobbled along to our impromptu dinner party, on his new crutches. He had a rather bad motorbike accident a few days ago. The skin was shreded on his knee, ankle and elbow. He could barely walk and is in a lot of pain. Esther, another canadian that I had met a few weeks ago, has been of such an angel to him, even though they have only know each other a few weeks. She is quite a cool girl. Brandon had been given a zimmerframe. Not good for this oh so cool dude. Nor helpful. Esther being the angel she is, went on the hunt for crutches. She tried the clinic, they recommended the pharmacy. The pharmacy was out but recommended the priest. So the priest told her he would ask at mass the next day. However, she found out about this lady who has stuff for rent and lo and behold, she had a pair of crutches. This is how it works in Nicaragua. Amazing!!!!

Sunday, we all went to the Republik bar. There I met the bar girl there called Angel, whom I had spoken to before. This local lady started talking to me and I had no clue how she knew me. However, she told me she owns L´mche, in fact that is her name . She recognised me from when we were in her bar a few weeks ago when I complained how expensive the chips were and got stuck watching this bizarre horror movie on the tv. Oh dear. I was laughing tho… I had a great chat with her. A cool lady and I wish I could go back to her bar, I really liked it…
It was Aidans last night, so we had to celebrate. It is sad to see him go. He is such a ringleader and an amazing social being. I will miss his quick wit and our long conversations.

For the first time, I have a few pople to surf with. So I have to stay a bit longer...
Sarah and Sinead came with me one day. That was the best day. I got to stand up again a few times. The waves were out just far enough to get a good run. However the other days I tried, it was too difficult, as the tide was in and I didnt want to get trundled on the stones. The same was the case, when we went to Romanzo beach but it was a lovely beach and day.

It is the first of July. Canada day. So we all went to help Esther and Brandon celebrate. Esther, the sweetie gave us all Canadian flag pins. Then it was off to the Iguana. Oh dear another late one.

02 July. Today I have been in San Juan del Sur for 1 month. I only came of r 3 days.I only came for 3 days. Oh my god. What a month. I have loved every minute of it and it will I think go down as the most memorable of my trip. I have met some fabulous people both local and gringos. San Juan Rocks.

Jesse and I got up early, packed and said our goodbyes to who ever was still around. It was soooooooooooo hard to leave. Elizabeth and Orlando both gave me a hug. I will so miss them. They are such a lovely couple. I will definitly come back I just have to. I have had such a lovely time here.
We got the 9am bus to Rivas and were on board the 10.30am to Grenada before we knew it. We got a private room in the Bearded Monkey. We needed some peace and quiet, as were knackered. Jesse left the next day. I am now alone. It feels good to be on the road again though. I miss moving around. I wandered around Granada, then ate at the bearded monkey that night. I was a bit wary of going out by myself after Aoiffe had been stabbed here. Walking around here you would never believe it could have happened but it did.