land of lakes and volcanoes

The bells of the massive white Leon cathedral (the largest in Central America) rang out, mingling somehow with the little bells of ice-cream sellers in the central park plaza in front.  I was taking advantage of the recent introduction of free wifi in all such plazas in towns across the country - the ruling Sandanista party trying to make technology available to the masses.

The sky darkened suddenly.  Along with everyone else in the plaza I rushed towards home.  Lightning flashed around, but what with the drums of the school marching band and the bangs of fireworks going off I couldn't tell whether there was thunder.  Then big fat raindrops started to fall - just as I got to the front door.

The storm continued for three hours, until water was rushing down the streets in torrents.  The third day of rain in my three days here.  Badly needed rain for Leon where they get very little, but I rather wished it could have waited another few days until after my departure.

I took a risk on the unusual weather and booked myself on a trip to Telica Volcano, where it was apparently possible to see magma inside the crater.  Four of us hiked up the volcano with our guide, under a miraculously clear sky, but we still did not get to see any magma as the lack of wind meant that the volcanic gases were sitting in the crater blocking the view.  Still it was a lovely trip with nice views of other nearby volcanoes too.

A few days later I went to see another volcano, at Masaya.  Here I knew that no magma would be visible but again there were lovely views of the crater and the sulphurous smell of the gases.  We also went deep into a lava tube, and watched bats streaming out of a cave beside the volcano.  Nicaragua is referred to (by their tourist board, I think) as 'the land of lakes and volcanoes' and it is an accurate description although they shouldn't forget about the beautiful colonial cities of Leon and Granada.

I felt that Granada was somewhere I could seriously consider retiring when the time comes, with its stunning old colonial houses - not much to look at on the outside but with great character inside, a forest of wooden pillars surrounding wonderful courtyards, some with swimming pools and most with some of the living space (even the kitchens) effectively outdoors as they are located under the eaves but open to the central courtyard.  It is hot all year and has few mosquitoes so a semi-outdoor home would be perfect.  I had thought that Leon would appeal more with its socialist and intellectual character, rather than the more genteel, bourgeois Granada, but if I'm honest then Granada would be the easier place to live ... I can just imagine my collection of African masks hanging on the old adobe walls.

Spanish lessons and religion in Leon

The first of my three weeks' leave in Nicaragua was in the old colonial city - and former capital - of León. I'd arranged a week with a Spanish school, staying with a local family so as to get a better feel for the place as well as more opportunities to practice my Spanish. The lessons went reasonably well although the teacher was more keen to teach me grammar than to give me the conversation practice I wanted.  On the fourth day she was settling down to teach me how to conjugate the pluperfect subjunctive when I rebelled, and just refused to listen!  Perhaps it is an important tense in Spanish, but as I can´t yet communicate in simple terms what I did yesterday, I felt that this was just going too far!

Outside of the lessons, I spent a lot of time just wandering around the city.  León played a major role in the Sandinista revolution, and something about its characterisation as a place of left-wing revolutionary intellectuals appealed to me.  The Sandinista side of its history was certainly evident, from the murals (and graffiti) around the city to the Revolutionary War Museum.  What presented itself even more strongly however was the religious fervour of the place.  The city contains many beautiful churches, and its cathedral is the largest in Central America.  There always seemed to be church services going on and they were always full of people.

The end of my stay coincided with a local festival, the 'Chiquita Gritería'.  This commemorates the time when a local volcano was erupting and covering the city with ash, and a local priest decide to cry out to the Virgin Mary to make it stop, which miraculously (or coincidentally), it did.  There is a mass in the cathedral and a loud cry to Mary, followed by the whirling of some papier mache giant figures in the central square.  Then the townspeople, plus many peasants bussed in from the surrounding countryside for the occasion, tour the city collecting free sweets from houses and businesses who have decided to participate.  You can tell these because each has prepared a tableau in their front room with a statuette of the Virgin Mary with the blue Nicaraguan flag draped around her, and music will be blaring out from the property.



The photo here is one of the more impressive ones, which even includes an erupting volcano.  The people touring the city go up to each such house and ask through the open door/window, "Quien causa tanta alegría?" (who is causing such happiness?), to which the answer comes back, "La asunción de Maria!" and sweets are duly handed out.  Although I found the tableaux pretty tasteless, in some ways this seemed like a nice, social custom that got everyone out greeting their neighbours, but I did notice that some of the peasants looked suspiciously and sadly like this was the only time they would have the luxury of sweets, as they filled carrier bags with as many as they could get their hands on.  Despite the opulence on show in some of the churches, Nicaragua is still a very poor country.