Managua!

I just arrived in Managua yesterday afternoon. I settled into my room in the barrio Walter Ferrety, which is in the South-east section of Managua. My room is huge! I'm living with Ana, who is 28 and has 3 kids- Cesar (8), Leddys (4) and Itsia (3). I already feel like I'm at home. We hung out at the house chatting and watching reggaeton videos from a bootleg DVD (sold really cheaply at the markets). Later in the evening, we went to the supermarket (Cesar ran around the market with his sisters in the cart while Ana and got some chicken from the deli counter). We cooked dinner together (gallo pinto, fried sweet plantains, cheese and broccoli!) and then went to Esmeralda's house. Esmeralda is the Executive Director of AMUCOBU and lives right around the corner. She's a fiery woman who has strong opinions about everything. We discussed the elections, and what might happen when Daniel takes power. She then told me that today, Nov. 8th, is the anniversary of Carlos Fonseca's death (the leader of the Sandinista revolution in the '70's who was killed in the war). Traditionally, people visit the memorial dedicated to him in central Managua and put flowers on it. We're going there later, and I'm excited to see central Managua for the first time!! (hopefully pictures are to come...)