Nicaragua: First Impressions

We flew into Managua, the capital of Nicaragua, last Friday May 15. A FIMRC driver picked us up at the airport and took us to Granada, a historic city on the shores of Lake Nicaragua (the big one you can see on a world map; it’s the 8^th largest lake in the world.) We spent two nights at a little hotel there as they transitioned our host families to be ready for us (I’m working with another Notre Dame student, Amanda). We explored the city a little bit, but we were both so exhausted from the heat (around 90 and extremely humid) that we didn’t get to see everything, although I’m sure we’ll go back there at some point while we’re here.

It reminded me of Mexico in lots of ways. There is a central square where the cathedral is located, and lots of older churches. All the buildings are painted bright yellows, reds, greens, and pinks. There is also a main pedestrian street lined with restaurants and bars that comes alive at night. Because we’re so close to the equator here, there are almost exactly 12 hours of daylight all year long. Everyone gets up with the sun around 6am, and then once it cools down after the sun sets at 6pm, people visit each other and go out.

The cathedral was a beautiful but pretty simple as far as Spanish architecture goes. Inside, we found a replica of the Grotto at Lourdes with Mary and Bernadette. It was pretty cool to find something that reminded us of the Grotto at Notre Dame so quickly. We also visited a church that one of the locals told us was the oldest in Nicaragua (he may have also said in the Americas, but I think that needs a fact check.) It turned out to also be a Franciscan convent. The church was built in the 1520s, but had been burned down by pirates (!!!) in the 1850s and then rebuilt.

We also took a boat tour of the isletas in Lake Nicaragua. These tiny islands are close to the shore of Granada. Many of them had houses or even hotels on them. There was also a ton of wildlife: lots of birds, fields of lily pads, fruit trees, and even one island with a colony of monkeys. The city and lake are shadowed by the Mombache Volcano.

We had our first few Nicaraguan meals as well. I had my first gallopinto, which is rice and beans mixed together and (probably) fried. I’ve had it probably once a day since then. I also tried tostones, which are fried plantain chips that are delicious. Mango season is ending, and avocado season is beginning, so those are both in plentiful supply. There’s also papaya, guanabana (my host family has a tree in their year), guayaba, and cantaloupe, which they call melon. Rice and plantains are staples here.

Sunday we came to La Virgen Morena, the town where we’re living for the next eight weeks, and got settled with our host families. More about that next time!