*Unfortunately my roommate, Carmen, had some technical problems with the blog...so she is going to post through my account today! Here it is:
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Today was officially our first full day in Nicaragua. We spent the day in Managua doing lots of touring, eating delicious foods, and listening to the stories of various business owners.
First we ate breakfast at the hotel restaurant where we were able to choose from a variety of foods at the buffet. There was French toast, lots of fresh fruits, bacon, cereal, and an omelet stand, just to name a few. The buffet also included a stand where a lady dressed in traditional Nicaraguan clothing served tortillas. Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to try them, but definitely plan to do so before we leave. After breakfast, we gathered our cameras and water bottles and headed into town to visit Codice: Galeria de Arte Contemporaneo y Artesania Nacional.
Riding through town heading to the gallery gave us a chance to see the people of Nicaragua in their daily routines about the streets. There were men pushing carts filled with various goods, people standing on the curbs waiting for the bus, and many families busy at work in the front rooms of their homes. It was amazing to see the number of people who run businesses out of their homes, in particular grocery stores.
Upon our arrival to the gallery, we met Juanita who thoroughly explained to us how she started the gallery and keeps it running on the day to day basis. She works very closely with local contemporary artists as well as Artisans to fill her gallery with their works of art, which range from paintings, to pottery, to baskets, etc. Her story of how she became interested in starting the gallery is interesting as she wanted to give the local artists a chance to display their work. Once we left the gallery we headed to the mall to take a quick look at the style of the Nicaraguan mall and then headed off to lunch.
While the mall was quite similar to the malls in the U.S., the restaurant where we had lunch, Ola Verde, was new to me. It is a vegetarian restaurant which was founded by the owner to inform Nicaraguans on how to eat healthier by including more fruits and vegetables in their diets. The owner was very passionate about the topic of nutrition and continuously uses her restaurant as a way to promote healthy eating habits in Nicaragua. In addition to the nutritious menu, which does include meat, the restaurant offers cooking classes to teach those in the community how to prepare healthier meals. Once we finished lunch we visited the traditional Nicaraguan markets.
Many of the stores in the markets were similar to one another in that they either sold pottery, souvenirs, or groceries. This too gave us more exposure to the Nicaraguan culture because we were able to see how some families rely on tourists to make a living and keep their businesses up and running. There is the young man who wants you to buy the beautiful rose that he made out of a palm tree leaf or the young lady that wants you to buy some gum both continuously circling the market trying to make a few sales. Once we finished touring the markets and getting a few souvenirs we made a quick ice-cream stop and then visited Susan’s bookstore Libreria: Frontera Books.
At the book store we got a chance to walk around and see the various books that were available to the locals both in English and Spanish. Susan was also kind enough to give us a short lecture on how she ended up in Nicaragua and her experiences as a business owner in Nicaragua. We also were able to get the scoop on politics in Nicaragua considering that there are a few visitors coming to town Tuesday. After our visit at the bookstore we walked over to Pane E Vino, an Italian restaurant, where we enjoyed dinner. We ate flat bread with cheese, vegetables, pasta, pizza, and delicious desserts. This was a great time for us to bond and reflect as a group on our first day in Nicaragua. Now, everyone is winding down and preparing for the day ahead. Breakfast at 8 A.M. Don’t be late!
