Grab a Window Seat

I always grab a window seat in the van if I can, and try to lose myself in the scenery flashing by us as we go from destination to destination. Every glimpse of daily life in Nicaragua is, for me, a piece of the overall picture of what it's like to live and have lived here--a picture that will for us remain always incomplete, but that we can hope to understand still as much as we can. From class, we've learned the history that produced the society we're exploring this week, and here are just some observations I've made of what little I saw of this society on our first day, from my comfy, air-conditioned window seat.

- As we traveled from the airport to the first destination on our journey, a rehabilitation and reintegration center for troubled youth, we drove by countless building of varying modernity. Along the same road, we passed small "pulperias" (convenience stores, not octopus vendors), large factories, and cardboard communities of homeless people. Most noteworthy among all the buildings was the biggest, most aesthetic factory we had seen in the first several hours in Nicaragua: a tobacco factory.

- There are tons of Nicaraguan flags everywhere. On any random building, in any given car. Also, Central American flags. And images of Daniel Ortega is in excessive supply. Ortega is painted on the walls of churches and schools. A giant light fixture of his profile illuminates the side of a tall skyscraper. His name is written in graffiti seemingly everywhere. There is clearly a lot of loyalty still for a man that one of our first speakers, Maria Lopez Vigil, juxtaposed with Oscar Romero as an example of a negative change in ideology, as Ortega has become "a huge neoliberal."

- Alright, there's another building that's more beautiful than the tobacco factory we first passed by: the Presidential Palace. Typical.

- Inflatable pool vendors are common, great way to counter this heat and humidity. But is it even the hottest part of the season yet? Because I saw plenty of people walking around comfortably in long-sleeves while I was sweating through my light t-shirt.

- Developed, more modern areas tend to be patrolled by officers. 

- Jaywalking is the norm. There aren't really any crosswalks anywhere, and there's enough street vendors in between the lanes to keep drivers constantly aware of pedestrians.

- Horse-drawn carts (not in the romantic American style, but like, for actual transportation).

- The so-called "trees of life" that turn on at night are cool. I don't really get the point of them as anything other than pretty light fixtures for tourists to take pictures of for Instagram, and I think that money could have been much much better spent on the actual needs of Nicaraguans. But they're cool to look at I guess.

- TVs are prevalent even in poor areas. As we drove back to the hotel at night, and by some of the same neighborhoods we had seen earlier composed of houses with more roofing than walls, the distinctive glow of TV screens was unmistakable.

By Raúl Hasbún Avalos