I had a very satisfying day today. I really didn’t do anything except revisit places I remembered from my first trip here but I ran into my old self on multiple occasions and was pleased with how it all turned out.
I was here for the May 1st celebration in 1982 and it was a very heady experience at the time. Three years after the revolution, ten years after the earthquake and things were militant, rough and raw. The downtown was still in ruins, mostly block after block of empty space or piles of rubble and the people very much in a war frame of mind. Now it’s busy and bustling, the FSLN is institutionalized and almost everyone I met on the street had been born in the interval. That last part was just plain weird.
But key landmarks remained identical to my memories and that gave me anchor points for deep reflection. I’m very glad I came.
Panorama of central Managua looking east. This is a remarkable view. The last time I saw this it was completely barren, mostly empty space and few trees. The tall building is the former Bank of America tower, one of the few buildings to not collapse in the 1972 earthquake. It’s now part of the National Assembly campus
The cathedral was damaged beyond repair in the earthquake. I watched the May Day demonstration from the steps, but was not allowed to climb them today. I have a picture from then of a tree growing out of the rubble in front of the altar
The Palacio Nacional where Edén Pastora (Comandante Cero) kidnapped the senate and Somoza’s brother, securing the release of Daniel Ortega and Tomas Borge from prison
A sad scene, mom and child performing simple tricks at the stop light for pennies. Revolutions don’t seem to trickle down very well. In Nicaragua I’ve seen the first homeless people sleeping rough since San Diego. But that may also be because I’m rarely out at night
