This morning I went on a tour of Leon's oldest and most impressive landmarks, the Cathedral. As in most colonial cities, the Cathedral in Leon is in the very center and it is the tallest building in la ciudad; thus from its rooftop you can see the rest of the city laid out in every direction. It took a hike up some very narrow and dimly lit staircases to reach the top, but wow, was it worth it. A sea of red tile rooftops, churches, and street activity is visible from every side, as well as the Parque Central and the volcanoes that arc around the northwestern side of the city.
Back on the ground level, I saw this plaque on the wall (photo at left) with selected quotes from Nicaraguan writer (and possibly priest—I don't know) Alfonso Cortes (1893-1969). A rough translation:
“Time is hunger and space is cold;
Pray, pray, that only submission may fill the anxiety of emptiness.”
“The dream is a lonely rock
where the soul rests
Let it ring out within each day of life”
“O, the dead who have never lived!
O, the living who will not die!”
Violence in Managua
One of the subplots of life in Nicaragua is the ongoing tension between the college students and the police in Managua. Students here have been upset for weeks about a number of things, including the cost of transportation as well as the dearth of health care (though it appears the doctors who were on strike are no longer) available. The other day I was in Managua for the day and found myself with a few blocks of an area where students and police were in the middle of a violence exchange of gunfire. Thankfully the roads were blocked off and I was never in any serious danger, but one of my friends here had a bomb explode within a few feet of her car while she was out driving that same day. Things appear to be getting worse, not better. Newspapers and TV reporters here have covered almost daily the students in different areas of town who are burning buses and attacking police in the city. The headline Thursday was “Managua Bajo de Asedio”, or “Managua Under Siege”.
Dios, por favor tengas misercordia en este lugar y traigas Tu paz aqui...Amen.
5 comments:
I'd almost have preferred:
“O, the dead who are really alive!
O, the living who are in fact dead”
i like your couplet better, i think. but i don´t know cortes´writing so i don´t know the rest of the poem that quote comes from.
how has internet service been in general? cafes? ¿ O...?
Stay safe. I hope the conflict is resolved soon
pablo,
the internet service in the city is generally reliable. here in leon there are 3 cafes within 5 minutes of my cuarto, all with DSL service and up-to-date features like USB ports so I can write blog entries on my laptop and then bring them here to post. in addition, the cafes charge a pittance for their services...$8C per hour, which is about 50 cents. thus, my frequent use. : )
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