Managua
In September of 2013, I visited Central America for the first time and stayed in Managua. The Universidad Centroamericana hosted the Human Development & Capabilities Association meeting, which I presented at with my co-author, Liz. I took six years of Spanish from grade six through eleven, and even though I brushed up with some Rosetta Stone, I didn't expect to be able to converse very easily. Wow, what people say is right--it all comes flooding back! I was able to have conversations about the construction of buildings, the food, wine that had gone bad, and lots of other things. The State Department posted warnings about Nicaragua, especially Managua. They make it sound like taxis are death traps, and touring the area is inviting all sorts of crime. And apparently travel books are full of terrible advice. For example, many books/sites recommend sledding down (inactive) volcanoes, but a number of Americans just in the past year have died from doing that... so yeah, bad idea. Liz and I were really cautious as a result. The HDCA conference was the largest international event that Managua had hosted for many years, so they brought out all the stops to make us feel welcomed. And they succeeded. Managua has such a troubled history--earthquakes, political upheaval, more earthquakes. But Liz and I had a really wonderful time. No complaints, no adverse events, no drama. The area is beyond beautiful (except for some emaciated animals and waters that need to be cleaned up), and the people were friendly and accommodating.
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Gallery
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