Center-less City

Some of the things I have seen on my commute to the library:
-the back of a pickup truck filled with pineapples
-a horse grazing by the side of the road
-huge clouds over green mountains
-three kids riding a horse with no saddle
-a Bluebird school bus with a picture of a naked lady painted on the back window

Things are going well, Monday I went to the library, Tuesday Karla and I went searching for data, and Wednesday I went on a tour of Managua with Jac (the guy who used to live in Philadelphia.) It turns out that after the 1971 earthquake, the center of Managua was never rebuilt (a really interesting story that relates to the history of Nicaragua.) The result is a spread out city (full of trees) with no center, which some people say is the Los Angeles of the third world. Jac and his son and I walked around looking at some new affordable housing projects that have been built by the current government. I’ve been reading a lot about the history of the city and Jac is going to try to get me a meeting with the office that is building the housing. I’m hoping to write something about what I learn, perhaps drawing a parallel between U.S. cities and Managua.

Wednesday night Blanca and I went to a capoeira class in Managua. It was really fun (and kind of kicked my ass!) Maybe I’ll have a new hobby… Yesterday I went to the library and Karla and I finally managed to track down some data from the Ministry of Education, although I’m not sure how useful it will be. Today I’m trying to focus on the grant proposal and looking forward to an evening in Masaya (some kind of cultural event) and a weekend in Leon with Blanca. We may even go volcano surfing (I’ll explain later if we do it.) I’ve started my first round of postcards, but if you think I may not have your address, email it to me and you can get one too. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Here are some photos from the center of Managua:

one of the housing developments in central Managua


a very green capital city (a positive outcome of under development?)


a destroyed building left from the earthquake, inhabited by squatters


I have many more photos including an abandoned movie theater, empty lots, and the ruins of the cathedral where there could be a plaza. It would be really interesting to see whether this area revitalizes in the next 10 years..