Where was I?

I came across this kid while taking pictures of his residence, one of the tallest apartment buildings in all of Nicaragua at about 4 stories. The building's size and style caught my eye as I blurred by on the bus. It is a vestige from before the great quake of 1972, which leveled almost all structures of significant height in the capital. 250,000 of Managua's 400,000 inhabitants were left homeless from the quake and its aftershocks. Made entirely of concrete and embellished with some wood for windows, the building is a massive shell. The front of the building have many open walls through which one can observe mothers and their children completing chores and watching the stream of traffic swing through the busy avenue below. Eyes pierce only a couple of feet into the windows and entrances, beyond which sunlight is stifled and meager incandescent bulbs take over. I thought the building was quite beautiful, full of simple people hoping for more. In that building people make tortillas, beans, wash clothes with their ever-laboring hands, and make jokes. The sun must send golden lines across the walls and floor as the sun strikes in past the boarding. And all day the roaring breath of the traffic below bombard the walls and plumes into the windows mixing with the wood smoke in their kitchens, though there is a slight chance they have gas stoves, though I doubt it.
Surely, the child is as curious as I am of him. During the several minutes in which I took pictures of his side of the building he never took his gaze off of me. This is typical of the children I encountered in Nicaragua. They must wonder, why I am there, so curious, taking pictures of the place they live day in and day out. Maybe he wonders how luxurious my live must be and how much my camera cost. Or why I where my hair like a girl. Or why I am walking around alone taking pictures of buildings instead of people.

Everything is Suffering

I bought a bike about a month ago, and the first week was a ton of fun. I was just destroying Managua, unstoppalbe, as I flew throgh the rotundas and weaved amongst the clusters of taxis and schoool buses. I could finally explore Managua at my liesure while avoiding the oppressing bustle of the buses, which are probably the closest the human experience comes to being packed like sardines in a crushed tin box (olfactory included). La Rotunda Periodista is a nice spot along my commute

The barrels of fun aspect mostly desribes my 4 mile commute to the denser Managua which is entirely downhill. This section is a busy highway and I usually keep pace with traffic (I say again, it makes me smile and laugh). Once my ruts were established on the fareways of Southern Managua, the forces of the Managua began to bear in on me. The mamouth buses and semis zoom witihin inches of my bars as I navigate the cracks and potholes of my gutter track. Between sunrise (5am) and midday the sun has plenty of time to heat Managua to a toasty 33 degrees C (early 90s F). The rain comes everyday and converts the dustry streets to grime, which is inevitably flug from all ways onto on sides of my body. And the sweat pushes back against the mud and heat, rendering my clothes a tight and sticky skin pulling back at my every movement. And, of course, gravity always makes one pay for several minutes of fun with at least an hour of arduous work. (This is true for all activities except for jumping on trampolines.) This part, the arduous work part, is hardest part to keep a cool head. The hill is slower and therefore hotter, the exhaust is more potent here and lingers longer, the pride I built up zooming by cars on my way down is deflating as quickly and as the truck roar by me. Here´s the everything is suffering part. But don´t fret. I have learned that riding my bike part time keeps it exciting and raises my tolerance. Also focusing on my breathing helps. Peace out friends.

For you Geopolitical buffs

So, I been surfing Wikipedia today and leaned a few interesting things about Nicaragua.

• Nicaragua´s export economy is based on agriculture, which accounts for 60% of the country´s exports. These exports yeild approximately $300 million anually. However, Nicaragua recieved over twice this much in 2006 in the form of remittances from Nicas living abroad.
• Lake Nicaragua (right), once considered as a potential Carribean-Pacific canal site, was used as a link in the 18th century to transport easterners in the US to the West for the gold rush.
• I saw a beautiful tropical bird, called guardbarranco, outside my window today (below).
• According to the UN the poverty rate is about 28%
• Nicaragua is the poorest coutry in Central America.