Potpourri

As my time winds down (only two more weeks in Sabana Grande and one of those will be Semana Santa, when little will happen in the way of travel or work), there are a number of (hopefully) interesting observations and experiences that have not fit into any of the topic areas of my posts.  So this will be a catch-all post with little coherence from a literary perspective, but hopefully coherent enough to be enjoyable.  Some of the topics have pictures to go with them, but if I was unable to get appropriate photos, then the topic will be just the written word, so on the whole, this post will not be quite as visual.  In keeping with the hodge-podge spirit, there will be no particular order.

Nights

Living in a place without street lights, one rediscovers the beauty of the sky at night and how much we lose by lighting not only streets, but parking lots, billboards, etc.  Light in the night sky really is pollution after you see what it’s really like.  I recall in Platteville when the new gas station was built in Belmont.  That one, relatively small facility 6 miles away made a significant impact in the night sky to the east.  Here, the nearest street lighting is about 4 miles away on the other side of a ridge, so the effects are not too bad.  One of the nice things about having a latrine instead of indoor plumbing is that when you step out you are greeted by Orion, or Mars, or Jupiter or the Milky Way—it really takes your breath away.  I wish my camera could capture the night sky, but I don’t have that technology, but you can simulate what I’m seeing by driving way out in the country and taking a look up.

Also, because I’m here in the winter, I get to see constellations that I don’t normally see because I spend very little time in the winter just gazing up at the sky.  I’m usually trying to get back inside as quickly as possible to warm up and don’t take the time to even briefly look up (but even if I did, I would not see as much as here!).  At this time of year, the handle of the big dipper extends below the horizon and only the handle of the little dipper is visible.  The north star is only about 13° above the horizon (about the same as the latitude.

Another joy of the night comes thanks to the temperate climate with open building construction, allowing many sounds to come in.  You feel almost like you’re a participant in the night rather than closed up in a cocoon.  At first, the noises disturbed my sleep, but now I hardly notice.  There are roosters and chickens galore that seem to mysteriously feel the need to crow or cackle at virtually any hour; there are the brief, but intense, dog scuffles; at this time of year, there is a drone of insect noises that sound a lot like our cicadas, but much louder and a higher frequency; there is the early morning (4 am or so) sound of horse or cattle hooves going past on the gravel.  While I find these comforting here, I’d probably be complaining if I had the same disturbances at home.   In fact, in the US we are probably MUCH too sensitive with respect to our neighbors’ activities—Nicas would probably find our myriad ordinances and rules about this and that rather amusing.

Cleaning:  showers and laundry

My kids will tell you that I’ve never been a fan of cold showers (and am still not a fan), but I’ve come to enjoy the showers here.  This is because you can stand outside and look up at the trees and sky, hear the bird, dogs and chickens, and feel the sun shining down, all while soaping or rinsing.  My shower facilities (as I think I’ve mentioned) are actually quite luxurious as we have an elevated tank, so I have running water and don’t have to be distracted by panning water over me to get wet or rinse.  And I must confess that about 4 in the afternoon is my favorite time for showers because 1)  I can get the day’s grit off before going to bed and 2)  the air is warmest, the water has been warmed slightly by being in the sun all day and the block walls are radiating the stored heat of the day, all mitigating the negative effects of cold water.  Some of this you can simulate backpacking, but having a solid surface to stand on and a showerhead with a valve is really nice!  The only weird thing is that you are essentially showering in the middle of a living space and life is going on right outside even as you’re showering.

Laundry is a much more personally-engaging experience here than the automatic washing machine at home.  Washing, scrubbing, rinsing, wringing, hanging are all hand operations.  It’s better than rocks in the river, but the technology (with the exception of a running water faucet) is roughly the same.  The sinks are made of concrete with two scrub boards molded in and a water reservoir in the middle.  Water fills the reservoir (in my house by spigot, but in most by water carried from the well) and is dipped for washing hands, dishes or clothes.  To conserve water, a bucket or basin is filled for rinsing clothes (instead of filling the entire sink).  Laundry soap comes in a large, cylindrical bar that is rubbed on the clothes to apply.  Scrubbing is then done on the washboard surface and finally the clothes are rinsed.  Because I personally observe the water at each stage, I can fully appreciate how dirty the clothes actually get here (lots of dust in the air in the dry season).  Scrubbing on a board also takes its toll on clothes, so wear and holes appear much faster, especially compared to our front-loading machine at home.  On the bright side, the extra wear means I can dump more of my clothes here and won’t have to schlep so many on the bus as I head to Oaxaca in a couple of weeks!

Picture of my shower facilities--you can look up and see banana leaves, mangoes, palms, etc.  The drain actually just goes to the back of the yard on the ground where it’s a little bit lower.

Picture of the sink for washing clothes, dishes, hands and even kids on occasion.  The basin is typcial for clothes washing.

Aesthetic differences

One thing that I’ve observed is what I perceive as a difference in the aesthetic sensibility of Nicaraguans compared with North Americans.  I’ll leave it to someone more artistic to evaluate if either aesthetic has more merit, but I’ll mention three areas in particular where I identify differences.

The first has to do with the ground itself in locations where people use it on a regular basis (such as yards, gardens, parks, church yards, etc.).  In the Midwest and much of the rest of the country, the preferred ground cover would likely be grass, and if not grass, it would be green.  In California and more arid areas, it might have more rock and gravel, but would still have considerable green and maybe even some grass or other ground cover if water is not being rationed.  In the true dessert, the greenery might be exclusively cacti, but there would still be rocks to cover the bare dirt.  We seem to be repelled by bare dirt (except in bean and corn fields where we like to use a lot of Round Up!).  Nicas, on the other hand, seem to really like completely bare dirt and don’t seem to like really thick, lush plant growth.  In the dry season, it makes good sense to not require irrigation, especially if you are carrying water from a well.  On the other hand, in the rainy season dirt doesn’t seem such a good choice, but from last May I know that the dirt here does not turn to sticky mud when it gets wet and stays relatively firm, so there are perhaps good, practical reasons for the choice of bare dirt.  As you walk around here, yards are all exclusively dirt and they will be literally swept once or twice per week, perhaps with coarse twig-bristle brooms, but often with the same broom that sweeps interior floors.  For the opening of the solar restaurant, we spent several days clearing away native grasses and groundcover with shovels and picks so the ground could be bare for the grand opening.

A couple of photos showing manicured dirt.  The top is the yard at my house and the bottom is actually the street and area around a common well.  The well area is often swept when I go by in the morning, but I’m not sure who actually does it.

The second aesthetic difference is somewhat intertwined with the previous one and has to do with leaves versus litter.  As mentioned, considerable time is spent sweeping the yard (and interiors are swept every day) to get rid of all of the leaves (these are often burned, at least this time of year) and to achieve the nice, “dirt look.”  However, snack bags, beer bottles, plastic bags, etc., remain caught in trees, shrubs and fences or even in flower gardens in the yard, and no effort is expended to pick up any of this litter.  It’s almost as if the litter is considered decoration and the leaves as trash, although to my eye, the leaves seems much more pleasing.  This attitude towards litter is also evident on buses as people routinely throw snack packaging and bottles out the window.  (I must remember, however, that it was only about 45 years ago when Lady Bird Johnson started the highway beautification program that US citizens started to develop a litter-free ethic, so Nicaragua probably just needs some time [and a place to put the trash they pick up!].)

Another picture from my yard, but in one of the flower areas.  You can see a beer bottle, a Pepsi bottle, a shoe, a snack wrapper, some miscellaneous paper and a bucket.

The third thing I’ve noticed is how formal portraits, particularly of children, are made.  While in the US we often get the kids dressed up and put them with some kind of prop, the pictures are more or less printed as taken (with generally minor touch-ups like red eye removal).  Here, they seem to do the same dressing up (although little girls are REALLY dressed up) and the pictures then seem to be taken with a plain background so that the kids can be superimposed on whatever background in desired.  So on walls of homes you may see pictures of kids standing in what looks like the grass of a suburban back yard or in the formal living room of a fancy house—more accurately, I should say they look like they are hovering over the yard or in the living room because the Photo Shopping is not very subtle.  And the scenes don’t look at all like anything that belongs here in Nicaragua.

Here are some portraits of the two kids who live at my house (grandkids of the owners).  Tahiris is on top and she seems to be floating above a plush carpet in a house that looks more typical for Dubuque (or perhaps in some telenovela).  Asbel is below and he is also floating above the grass.  I think the horse was actually a prop in the studio.  Interestingly, the pyramid of cans behind him on the left is made of Nestle baby formula cans.

Privatization—Nica style                                                                                          

Governments at all levels all over the US have been rushing to privatize as many services as possible to save taxpayer dollars.  Simultaneously, the US has been sharply critical of the Sandinista government here as socialistic and unfriendly to private enterprise.  However, I have discovered at least one area in which Nicaragua is showing us the way to more creative privatization:  road signs!  Here you find sponsorships on signs ranging from stop signs to directional signs.  I can see it now:  the Harley-Davidson Welcome to Wisconsin sign, the Steve’s Pizza Take the next right to Dubuque sign.  As Donald Trump might say, “This could be HUGE!”

Not only is Budget Rent-a-Car sponsoring the sign telling you that it’s 226 km to Managua, it appears that Managua has been renamed as BUDGET Managua (with BUDGET all uppercase no less).  We could try AVISTA Platteville or KOCH BROS. Madison.  At the right is a stop sign brought to you courtesy of Xiam cyber café.  I wonder if the sign would be there if Xiam were not courteous enough to provide it?

Riding in trucks and other things that OSHA, NTSB, etc., wouldn’t tolerate

I’ve shown a photo of Susan and me riding in the back of a truck (which she would never DREAM of in the US!), but our trip was the model of safety:  we were sitting down, the tailgate was up and there were bars around the sides.  Workers are routinely transported in the backs of trucks.  Some in pick-ups (SRO) to commute to coffee plantation jobs and some just in the back of truck hauling wood, rock, concrete blocks, etc.  On the larger trucks, they are often resting or napping.  Sometimes it’s just kids riding in the back of pick-ups with the parents up front;  I’ve even seen kids riding on the top of the cab.  And don’t forget the colectores on the buses (earlier post) who may be walking on the top or climbing down the side at highway speed (admittedly “highway speed” is much slower for a local bus, but it could still hurt to fall off the top even at only 40 or 50 km/hr.).

Examples of people-transport by truck.  The top shows a woman traveling by pick-up.  She may be related to the driver, but may also just be a friend or even have hitched the ride at a bus stop to speed up the trip.  In the middle is a group of workers heading to the job.  These probably aren’t coffee workers since there is equipment in the truck (and there would likely be twice as many people for coffee picking).  The bottom shows a typical material-delivery truck.  Unloading (even for rock, sand, etc.) is manual by shovel—no dump trucks that I’ve seen.  So helpers typically ride along to speed up the unloading process.

Highway habits are just one example of many in which the sense of what is and is not safe/acceptable is much different here than in the US.  I’ve shown some photos of the rats’ nests that are called electrical wiring here, plumbing connections are sometimes plastic bags for gaskets sealed by a stretched bicycle inner tube and safety equipment (guards, shut-offs, helmets, etc.) is often non-existent.

One more electrical example at my house.  They were doing some welding across the street (off the grid), so patched in to my house.  It is not a matter of plugging in an extension cord, but directly wrapping the extension wire (not extension cord, but individual wires) around the main wires and stringing the wire across the road.  You can even see some taped patches on the wire heading to the welder towards the bottom.

Baseball

I like baseball and Nicaragua is a great place to go for baseball.  There are professional leagues, semi-professional leagues, amateur leagues, kids’ leagues…  In fact, baseball is more popular than football (soccer), whose quality is not very high here.  There are currently several Nicas in major league spring training camps and their successes/failures are followed closely by the local papers and TV sports reports.  Dennis Martinez (former major league pitcher) is something of a national hero and the stadium in Managua is named after him.  Unfortunately, I’ve not been able to take in a professional game, but I’ve seen a few on TV and have watched the local amateurs play.

Apparently a game like baseball (maybe rounders or cricket) was introduced to the Caribbean coast in the mid 1800s (where the British had dominion), but baseball’s popularity ironically traces back to the very unpopular occupation by US Marines for well over 20 years.  Apparently when the Marines needed more players, they recruited locals who picked up the game and it spread.

Professionally, I’ve only watched on TV, so must comment based on limited data.  Stadium are small by US standards, appearing to hold in the 20,000 range or so, and were packed for the games I saw.  The crowds were also very animated and loud, more so than in the US.  Level of play is hard to judge from just a few games on TV, but there were certainly individual plays that were equivalent to what is expected at the major league level.  What I could see was that the mannerisms of the players are exactly the same as those in the US. :  the same stretches, spits, trots after walks or home runs, the same everything.  (This contrasts somewhat with Japanese baseball, which I saw some of about 30 years ago.  The Japanese had courtesies and mannerisms that distinguished them somewhat from US baseball.)

The only area that was distinctly sub-par by US measures was the camera work:  not as many cameras, not as many angles, not as much replay (although when they did have a replay, we got to see it MANY times!) and more missed plays.  I think stadium lighting was also below US levels.

On the amateur side, I’ve seen some live games in Sabana Grande.  Sometimes the beer gets in the way of quality play, but it seems to be as much for pure enjoyment as for winning.  They play nearby communities, usually within bicycling distance since there is not team bus!  The field has been nicely leveled and is about a standard size, but the surface has a lot of rocks (along with some broken glass) and no grass (especially now in the dry season).  There is a backstop, covered stands for about 150 spectators, foul poles about 1.5 m high with a rag tied at the top, one dugout on the third base side (where the visiting team sits, because it’s hotter than under the tree down the first base line) baselines limes about once per season and no fence—just a steep bank at the edge of the outfield.  The most “outstanding” feature to me, however, is the series of DEEP gullies (close to 2 m deep in places) near the first base line, with some extending across the line.  Pop fouls could be very hazardous to catchers and first basemen.  There is a hired umpire (calls everything from beyond the pitcher’s mound) and some kind of manager or player in charge for each team.  Most players have at least some fragments of uniforms, but most don’t match their team mates.  What perhaps draws the crowds, however, is that there is a bar (with carry-out) strategically placed about 50 m down the right field line.

A view to left field and a view to right field.  In the left field view you can see the visitor’s dugout and get a view of some of the smaller gullies in the foreground.  The view to right shows the indentation from the gulley about 3/4 of the way to first base.  You can also see some of the rocks on the field in the foreground.

A view of the home team “dugout” in the shade and it also shows some of the gullies better.  Below is a view of the stands with the bar in the background.

Auto hotels

Last, but not least, auto hotels are one of the stranger (to me, anyway) institutions that I’ve come across in Nicaragua.  Not to be confused with a “motel” in the states, which is what one would first think of with the term “auto hotel,” an auto hotel rents by the hour, is specifically designed for discrete trysts and  often has a rather suggestive name.  The use could include illicit affairs, but also could be impatient courting couples who may have a hard time finding privacy elsewhere.  The information I read indicates that for your money, you’ll get clean towels, clean sheets and a condom.  The “auto” in the name refers to the ability to hide your automobile behind curtains or doors so no one can identify who’s there (although there is usually a high wall around the entire complex, as well, so once you are inside, it’s very clandestine). 

I had not noticed any of these hotels for my orientation in May and for the first several weeks here, but after reading about them, I suddenly started to see them all over (many of which I passed by several times previously but didn’t notice).  They seem to be typically located on the outskirts of larger towns/cities, but can also be found in the city or the countryside.

It is apparently a “given” in Nicaraguan culture that men will cheat and it’s tolerated as long as it’s done discretely.  Women do not have the same perquisite, but one has to wonder where all the partners come from if virtually all the men are indulging? 

The first auto hotel that I saw up close was walking along the highway in Estelí to La Casita restaurant.  There was a gravel road that cut-off some distance from the highway, so I was following that and realized that the business was one of the auto hotels.  Pulling out my camera to record this, I saw that there was a couple getting out of a cab at that very time, so I quickly hid the camera and backed off to where I wouldn’t be recording anyone inside. 

On the left is a sign for one of the auto hotels, aptly named the “Passion,” along the Pan-Am highway in Estelí.  The right shows the hotel that I walked right past on the way to the restaurant.  You can see the large sliding doors behind which cars can hide.  From what I’ve seen, there appears to be tendency towards pink, lavender and other pastels in the color schemes.

Religion

When one thinks about religion in Latin America, Roman Catholicism most certainly comes to mind first.  There were, of course, indigenous religions throughout the region, but the conquistadores and the priests that accompanied them eradicated them as much as possible, although there are often elements of pagan traditions/superstitions mixed with Catholicism in many places.  In Nicaragua, there are fewer of these elements because indigenous culture was even more decimated here than in many other locations. 
Up until 1939, Roman Catholicism was not only the dominant religion, it was the official state religion.  Even after secularizing the state, however, the church continued to wield enormous clout and always tended to be much more conservative in Nicaragua than in some of the neighboring countries where liberation theology was more prominent.  Although the Catholic Church was generally supportive of the revolution against the Somoza regime (but not universally), it was generally not supportive of the Sandinista government after the revolution. 

Today, with the second coming of the Sandinistas after about 15 years of rule by more conservative parties, Daniel Ortega has found religion and has conspicuously aligned himself with Christianity and the Catholic Church in particular.  Whether out of true belief or political opportunism is open to debate…

Statistically, I find various numbers for percentage of adherents to various beliefs, perhaps because of differences in how questions are asked, but it appears that somewhere around 75% of the population is at least nominally Catholic and about 15% members of some protestant sect, with Evangelicals (principally charismatic Evangelicals) being the fastest growing and most obvious non-Catholic presence.  These Evangelical churches can be found in most towns (including Sabana Grande) and range from buildings under construction to old storefronts to full-fledged churches that look like a church.  Although small in the entire country, there are a good number of Episcopalians along the Caribbean Coast (where the English ruled for many years).  There are also few percent of Mormons, Jews, Muslims and other non-Christian groups as well.  From adding up the percentages, it seems clear that Nicaragua is a rather religious country on the whole.

In various other posts, there are photos of numerous big, Catholic churches and cathedrals, so I won’t post any more of those, though the architecture and artwork are often quite interesting and impressive.  However, there is one thing that I’ve noticed in Catholic churches is that I don’t recall seeing a picture of the current Pope.  The posters I’ve seen are all of John Paul.  Also, the Archbishop of Managua is not going to see the Pope when he is in Mexico because of “personal and internal reasons.”   Although the Catholic Church in Nicaragua has traditionally been rather conservative, it appears that there is at least some friction between the local church and Rome. 

A couple of posters posted in Catholic Churches showing not the current Pope, but the previous one.  In part, it may be due to the visit to Nicaragua by John Paul, but I’m not sure if that’s all there is.

What I will show of churches here are a number of examples of some of the Evangelical churches, showing some of the range of building styles as well as an indication of the wealth of the churches.

A composite of 6 different Evangelical churches in various locations.  Clockwise from upper left:  the church in Sabana Grande still under construction, but currently used in spite of its unfinished condition;  Estelí;  Ocotal;  Condega;  Palacagüina;  Totogalpa.

One topic I find interesting is how religion manifests itself in the everyday life of people here, sometimes quite consciously and other times seemingly unconsciously.  First, like in the US and as alluded to before, religion and politics always seem to be mixed up.  There are still many election posters up (mostly Sandinista in my part of the country) from the last election and many of them have overtly religious references, some even featuring the picture of a former Archbishop of Managua.  Although not political in the sense of party politics, towns and cities certainly commit resources to religious themes with statues being very common in parks and intersections.  Also, more towns have patron saints with annual celebrations and some also have secondary religiously-oriented festivals as well.  Public schools are often named after saints (e.g., San Miguel Arcángel and Divino Niño Jesus are the closest public schools to me).  These are things it would be hard to imagine, at least in most places in the US.

FSLN campaign poster from the last election.  Emeritus Archbishop of Managua, Miguel Obando y Bravo, is prominently displayed on the poster.  Its main message is “With all and for the good of all”  (sort of a paraphrase of the 3 musketeers’ theme), but at the bottom, it also states “ Christian, Socialist, Solidarity.”

Here are a couple of religious statues displayed by municipalities and not churches.  I’ve seen some from buses that are much larger and more elaborate but couldn’t get good pictures.

Another way that religion is apparent in everyday life is in the names of businesses.  For the most part, I presume businesses are named out of some true belief, but there are times it seems a bit mercenary and simply fishing for an edge to attract a few more customers.  Businesses that are completely unrelated to religion and, in fact, may be selling things that many religions might frown on, are more than happy to use religious imagery and themes in their names.  There are also private secondary schools and universities with religious sponsorship, but this is not much different than in the US.

Here are a couple of examples of businesses whose names reflect an overtly religious theme.  Religious names appear to be especially common with pharmacies, which I suppose does have a logical connection because of a desire for healing by some means.  I don´t really see the connection of the Divine Child to a variety store, however.

Here is a sign on a bus stop with an ad for Martin Luther University, not much different than what you might see in the US.  What struck me was that it is not a Lutheran school, but of the Assemblies of God.  The other interesting thing here is the address.  As I’ve mentioned before, there are no street numbers and seldom street names, so addresses are relative to landmarks (which you’ve got to know somehow?!).  This university is 2 1/2 blocks east of the fire station.

One thing that I find interesting are the more personal expressions of faith posted at small businesses on their push cart, their store front, their bus or their truck.  Almost every bus has at least one sticker with something to the effect of:  “Bless this bus and its passengers,” but many will have pictures of Jesus or other, larger signs as well.  Many trucks have a large percentage of the windshield covered with a religious message of some sort.  Perhaps these expressions are so common on vehicles because of the relative peril on Nicaragua’s highways (and the condition of their tires!  This common, personal expression of faith in a place of business is generally not found much in the US.  Expressions are also inherent in the language as you´ll often hear comments like ¨if it is God´s will.¨ 

Here is a sign posted on a street vendor’s stand that parallels the often-seen signs on buses.  It says “God bless this business and the customers who visit us.

The top truck (with a LOT of windshield covered with signs!) declares “Only God saves” and the bottom one is a “gift of God.”

Here a few of the messages posted on buses.  From top to bottom on the left and then left to right, they say:  “Only God is great,”  “I can do everything in Christ who strengthens me,” “If God is with me, who can be against me” and “God is love.”  Direct biblical quotes with citations aren’t very common—mostly there are either quotes without citation or common, pithy sayings or expressions.

Not exactly work-place related, but this personal expression of faith extends to sports as well.  Any of you who watch baseball are familiar with Latin American players crossing themselves before batting, but here they often have religious expressions on their uniforms.  (Although this is an amateur;  I’ve not seen professionals with similar statements.)

As alluded to earlier, there are two different churches in Sabana Grande:  the Catholic Church and a smaller Evangelical church whose building is only partly completed.  In addition, one often hears religious messages and/or music on loudspeakers (remember, Nicas love their loudspeakers!) coming from individual homes where a meeting is being held.  It may even be a birthday party for someone, the church is invited and the party becomes something of a revival meeting.  Quite often, one also hears music coming from the two church buildings for services, practices, etc., but I don’t know if that indicates that there are more church gatherings here than in the US or simply that the churches are all completely open so you hear it every time there is anything going on.  I assume it is for Lent, but the Catholics also have had a procession carrying a cross every Friday afternoon for the past several weeks.  It is also common in or on private homes to find religious signs, pictures, etc.  Sometimes there are also shrine areas, either in the home or in the yard.

A local procession carrying the cross through Sabana Grande on a Friday afternoon.  I posted a picture of a similar (though much more elaborate) procession in my Granada post.

On the left are a couple of examples of outdoor shrines, though certainly not typical, as these are very elaborate and are done by wealthy people.  More typical in a home here would be a plastic backdrop sheet with religious pictures or scripture with a table and candles.  On the right are signs seen on doors of homes.  At the top is a hand written sign that says (if I can make out the letters) “Immaculate mother, pray (or beg?) for us” and at the bottom a sign handed out by a church “Christ:  Your teaching is the way, truth and life.”

My Spanish is not good enough to pick up all the nuances, but it appears that at least here, people from the different churches seem to get along well, though there may be some aloofness or conscious separation from the “other” group.  In fact, as I think I’ve mentioned in another post (It’s getting hard for me to remember what I’ve posted and what I’ve only thought about posting!) that the government has a public relations campaign promoting tolerance of religious and other differences.  However, I remember in Mexico that a protestant pastor made references to Catholicism as a sort of cult and not quite truly Christian, and there are probably some of those attitudes here as well (on both sides).  One interesting thing that I’ve been told is that in Sabana Grande you can tell whether a woman is Catholic or Protestant by the length of her skirt:  if the skirt is at the knee or higher = Catholic;  if mid-calf or lower = Evangelical (It seems there may be a couple of inches of overlap where its uncertain!).

Update of my project--or how I’ve been spending my time when not blogging

I’ve not written much about my day to day activities at the Solar Center, so before (hopefully) getting back to some posts of a more editorial (and perhaps more interesting) nature, I’ll update my work here.

My primary project has been working on a portable, collapsible version of a solar cooker, similar in concept, but different in construction, to the cookers they are currently making here.  The concept was introduced the first week I was here during the Solar Energy course.  Dr. Richard Komp, one of the instructors in the course and one of the integral components in the development of the Center as it is today, had a general concept sketched out and introduced it to course participants.  On parallel tracks, he and I designed our own versions of the concept.  I built my design, and am also helping the women here construct a prototype with the sketches supplied by Dr. Komp.  In addition, a student group from Cornell (NY) is here this week with two of their own conceptual prototypes. 

One thing that has been reinforced for me is that (in the immortal words of those salesmen on the train in the Music Man) “You’ve got to know the territory!”  From an engineering perspective, this means that you’ve got to know the customer and his/her needs.  However, in this case, the customer is a bit nebulous as there is no real customer with a checkbook, but the customer is what each of us imagined him/her to be (i.e., who would want a portable cooker?).  Unsurprisingly, the designs pursued by Cornell and those here were a bit divergent.  Cornell interpreted the requirements to be a cooker that would be delivered in compact form and assembled by the user (sort of an IKEA approach).  I was interpreting the requirement of “portable” in the sense of being not only easily assembled, but also easily broken down again for moving (sort of a Coleman camping equipment approach).  Another difference in approach (which is actually a bit funny when I think about it) is that I, in Nicaragua have taken the approach of extending the technology and using items that may not be available here, at least yet (Susan’s trip was my means to obtain items that are still exotic here, e.g., polyisocyanurate) , while the Cornell group, with all the resources at their fingertips in Ithaca, tried to build within the constraints of what is currently available in Nicaragua.  Both strategies, of course, have merit, and this difference was really a conscious choice instead of a lack of communication.

In discussing the options for merging designs this week, the students decided to break into smaller teams and pursue one of each:  a “kit” that would be assembled one time only, or at most a few times, and a collapsible portable that could be assembled/disassembled quickly and multiple time.  The idea is to take ideas/concepts from all the prototypes and merge them into something better.  Theoretically, this is a good idea, but we’ll see if in the very tight time frame (only about 5 days of total design/build), if there is much synthesis.  I’m curious to see if we’ll really see a merger of ideas or simply a resizing/refinement of one of the original concepts.

Another interesting aspect of the Cornell group is that they are being filmed for a short documentary, so there is usually someone with a camera and someone with a mike at most times.  It feels a bit like reality TV, but fortunately, nothing so dramatic (at least yet).  Hopefully I’ll be kept in the loop and be able to find out how the film turns out.

The film crew as the Cornell group opened their boxes to reveal their designs.

My Design

(If you’re not an engineer [for example, my kids], you might want to sign out and wait for my next, (hopefully) more interesting post lest your eyes glaze over!  I’m lifting this description from a report that I’m writing for their records here, so I doubt that this will keep anyone on the edge of his/her seat.)

The cooker design uses a simple, wooden frame with glued and nailed lap joints at the corners.  All wood in the frame is nominally 1” x 1.25” and is the standard green pine commonly available locally.  “Nominal” in Nicaragua really means “very approximate” as the wood delivered is all ripped by hand and planed by hand with no jointer or surface planer to give a tight tolerance on dimensions.

Photo showing the frame construction with temporary strut to ensure frame squareness.  The insert is a close-up of the lap joint.  Excess adhesive can be removed with a utility knife after drying.

The skin, both inside and outside, is entirely made of thin, aluminum printing laminate (which is readily available here as scrap), with the exception of the protective cap, which is made of stronger galvanized steel.  The printing laminate is attached only by adhesive with no nails or screws.  Construction adhesive is used on the outside and silicone on the inside, where temperatures will be higher.  This is accomplished by pressing parts together while the adhesive dries.  The galvanized cap is attached by adhesive and by screws, like the current design. 

A view of the laminate after fixing to the frame.  You can still read some of what was printed on the back of the laminate.

Pressure applied to the laminate and frame while adhesive is setting.  When available, I also used 5-gal bottles of purified water for weight.  This general method is also used for attaching the Mylar to the frame (discussed later)

To toughen the outside skin, the rigid foam insulation (polyisocyanurate) is bonded directly to the aluminum.  The insulation has a thickness of .75”, so there is nominally a .25” air gap between the reflective surface of the insulation and the printing laminate on the inside of the oven.   The exception to the air gap is on the oven base, where a sheet of .25” plywood is installed to support the weight of the pot.  This plywood is bonded both to the printing laminate and to the insulation.  In spite of the thin insulation, the R-value is about 5, equivalent to about twice the thickness of fiberglass.

(left)  A view of the polyisocyanurate being cut with the reflective side out.  (right)  The insulation installed in the frames showing the 1/4" gat between the insulation and the internal surface of the cooker.

Both the reflector and glazing use Mylar, something that is new here.  The reflector uses a .002” silvered Mylar that happened to be in-stock in the Solar Center from some previous group and the glazing is .005” Mylar that Susan delivered.  Attachment to the frame is the same for both types.  The Mylar is stretched and attached to a plywood base sheet, then silicone is applied to the frame, the frame is then set carefully on the Mylar and wiggled a bit to ensure good adhesion and finally weights are piled on the frame while the silicone cures.  After cure, the excess Mylar and adhesive are trimmed with a utility knife.  For the reflector, only one sheet is required, but the clear Mylar is applied to both sides to give double-glazing.

(left) A view of the reflective mylar being attached to the frame.  The Mylar is stapled to the plywood to keep it taut.  (right)  A view of the mylar reflector from the back after trimming.  Press-fit braces were glued into the fram to stretch the mylar and produce as flat a reflective surface as possible.  The galvanized sheet metal cap is applied on this side.

The sides, back and door are all permanently attached to the base with hinges:  standard 2” hinges for the sides and “sash hinges” for the back and door.  Sash hinges are extra long on one side which allows the back and door to be folded back onto itself (against the exterior of the base) in the collapsed mode.  These hinges also allow the door to open without the need to elevate the oven above the surface upon which it is sitting.  (Longer, strap hinges can also be used to accomplish the same thing as the sash hinges at about one-half the cost based on US prices)  The sides are attached so they simply fold inward onto the oven floor.  The reflector and window panels are also attached with standard hinges along the back edge.

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Figure 6  (left)  Standard hinges for the sides are shown on top and the door is already attached with sash hinges and folded under the base.  (right)  The sides are now attached and can fold inward.  The door is in open (but not folded) position.

After the hinges are all attached, there are two separate assemblies:  1)  the base with attached sides, door and back and 2)  the glazing-reflector assembly (plus the black bottom plate, which must be separate).  These two assemblies are connected with both dowel pins for positioning and hooks-eyes for secure latching.  All protrusions are positioned on edges of the panels to allow everything to fold flat in the collapsed position.  There are two dowels in the back of the sides that insert into matching holes in the back;  this positions the sides properly.  In addition, there are four dowels in the top edges that are inserted into matching holes in the window, one each on the sides near the door and two on the back near the corners.

A view of one of the pegs on the side with mating hole in the back.  Also seen are two different types of gaskets.

Positioning pegs in the back (2 of the 4 pins that fit into the glazing frame) and a close-up of a peg and one type of gasket material.

Before the hooks are attached, the gasket material is applied.  Like the dowels and hooks/eyes, the gasket material is always applied to an edge rather than a face so the cooker will fold as flat as possible.   For testing purposes, there were three different gasket materials tried:  1)  a 3/16” silicone sponge rubber that was attached with silicone, 2)  a tubular, flexible, silicone  gasket that was attached with silicone and 3)  a plastic V-strip gasket that was attached with both silicone an staples.  These are other products that may or may not be available in Nicaragua.  The gasket material is applied to all four edges of the sides, to the top edge of the back, to the front and back edges of the base and to the front edge of the window frame.

Front view of cooker with the door gasket shown.  All gaskets are located on an edge and all shown here are high temperature silicone foam.

With the gaskets applied, the hooks/eyes are attached to the window frame is attached to the edges of the back panel and the edges of the door panel.  The hooks to the back are only to hold the window/reflector assembly down because the dowel pins prevent the back from opening.  On the door, however, the hooks both hold the top parts down and hold the door closed.  So to open the door, the front hooks must be unfastened.

Side view showing front (left) and back (right) hooks.  The back hooks are heavier and longer because when the door is open, these are th only thing preveting the front of the glazing frame from lifting.

Finally, the reflector support/adjustment rod is sized and fabricated.  It is made so the angle of the reflector relative to the glass (i.e.,  Mylar) can be varied from about 60° to 120° and additionally, in the closed position, it does not protrude beyond the frame.  This is to avoid parts protruding beyond the envelope of the collapsed cooker.

Top shows the reflector support folded and the bottom shows the reflector supported in the open position.

As another experiment to try other technologies, a black Teflon sheet designed to line the bottom of ovens was purchased.  While expensive, it is lightweight, very compact and will not break or bend. 

With the components all described, the cooker can be assembled.  It takes less than one minute to either assemble or disassemble the cooker.

Photo of the finished cooker assembled.

View of the finished cooker in the collapsed position.

Reflections on the Design and Areas for Improvement

While the design went together reasonably well, nothing is ever perfect and there were a number of things that came up during construction or during testing that might be improved upon.  Additionally, there are a number of items that have both positive and negative aspects so trade-offs must be evaluated.

1)      Tolerances on wood parts—
Because a collapsible cooker generally requires a better fit than a standard cooker so that swinging or sliding components will reliably function, the tolerances on parts is more important.  The wood generally available, however, is ripped rather than surface planed, so thickness is not controlled very well.  Additionally, the wood received is green (not dried) and tends to warp after machining.  With current technologies available in Sabana Grande, there is really no solution for this problem, but some strategies to mitigate difficulties are:

a.       Let the wood dry for several days or weeks prior to  building cookers then hand-select pieces for straightness and consistency

b.      Use jigs/stop blocks when cutting pieces to ensure consistency

c.       Make frames slightly oversized with the intent of planning each side to a straight, square condition.  This requires a plane in good condition, some level of skill in using a plane and a good woodworking vice (the vice at the Solar Center is a metal-working vice).  Alternatively, plane each piece flat before assembly.  A relatively cheap tool that could achieve some of these results is a hand belt sander with coarse (60-80 grit) sandpaper.  Again, this requires some practice to successful use.

2)      Moisture in the wood and windows--
When first placed in the sun, moisture immediately started to condense on the upper (cooler) pane of Mylar.  As mentioned above, the wood is green and therefore naturally contains moisture that will be trapped once the Mylar is sealed to the frame.  The liquid drops may have a negative impact on the cooker’s performance.  A vent hole might alleviate the condensation problem by letting moisture escape more easily, but would also be subject to moisture entering during the rainy season and insects/dirt entering at any time.  Experimentation here might determine if the frame can be initially dried with a vent hole then permanently sealed with silicone.  There may also be materials that would block liquids, dirt and insects, but allow vapor to escape.

Photo showing some of the moisture trapped between the panes of Mylar.

3)      Limited adjustment positions with rod due to short length--
This is a tradeoff issue because the goal to keep the reflector support short enough to be within the envelope of the folded oven means that the increments of angle adjustment are not very fine.

4)      Corner sealing--
Corners where strips of gasket material meet tend to have holes, meaning that the oven is not completely sealed.  Care and precision of making parts can help this and perhaps one could wrap the gasket material around the corners.  The danger here is that the material at the corner becomes so compressed by the bend that it still fails to seal.  With square corners, this is often an issue.

5)      Durability of gaskets--
Another sealing issue is the durability of the various gasket materials.  This will have to be determined by use and experience.  It will also depend on how often the oven is designed to be assembled and collapsed.  If more durability is needed, the currently-used method of molding silicone to the gap might be better, however, it will be challenging to get all the seals made simultaneously because there are so many (12 different surfaces need a gasket with the current design).  They should all be done together because the gap at every location is a function of how cooker is fastened together.  Another consideration with silicone is that it doesn’t have as much compliance (“squishyness”) as some of the other materials.  If the wood should warp after manufacture, the silicone will stop sealing whereas a more compliant material may still be able to maintain a seal.

6)      Location of dowels--
For the prototype, the dowels were placed at approximately the center point of the edges.  However, when gasket materials were applied, they sometimes had to be trimmed, so it would be better to place the dowels closer to the outside surface of the cooker to give as much room as possible on the edge for the gasket.

7)      Gap control--
It is desired to maintain enough gap between mating parts such that there is room for the gasket material to compress.  If the surfaces are touching before the gasket is applied, the hinged part may not be able to reach its desired “closed” position.  When hinges are fitted to the various parts, it may be advisable to use a fixed spacer to maintain the desired compression on the gasket.  (This also relates to the issues of tolerance, squareness, etc., in number 1 above.)

8)      Spacing of Mylar glazing and protection of the lower Mylar sheet when collapsed--
Because this design used a standard-sized wood for all the frame pieces, including the glazing, the spacing of the two sheets of Mylar is 1 inch.  From a heat transfer perspective, this is probably a bit too wide as free convection currents may be present in the space, reducing its effectiveness as an insulating layer.  Additionally, the Mylar flush with the frame is more susceptible to damage from hitting other parts.  A possible solution here is to make the window frame to an optimum thickness for spacing the two sheets, then add a thin strip on the bottom surface so the bottom Mylar sheet is recessed slightly into the frame.

9)      Mylar gluing--
For the current cooker, the Mylar was on a surface and the frame placed on top of it followed by weights.  With this method, one cannot actually see how well the silicone has sealed and filled the gaps.  An alternate that may be worth trying is to put the frame on the ground (or table) with the silicone adhesive up.  Then lay the Mylar on the frame and stretch until taut.  Then a finger of small stick can be rubbed on the bonded surface and the silicone guided so it makes a 100% bond between the Mylar and the frame.  The long-term durability of the silicone-Mylar bond needs to be watched as well.

10)   Assembly with adhesive only--
The method of attaching the printing lamina and Mylar without fasteners appears to be satisfactory.  It has the advantage of fewer penetrations through the protective skin, so the wood should be protected better.  On the other hand, it is important to ensure that corners are well sealed and durability testing should be done to determine if the life of the adhesive is sufficient.  An additional negative is that the construction takes longer since one must wait longer for adhesive to cure instead of using nails or screws to hold pieces together while the curing takes place.

So that’s an overview of my main efforts, but there are also a few other things I’ve worked on, though not all fall under a “mechanical engineering” heading.   One has been working on supports for a sagging roof on the restaurant.  One strut has been installed (but it did not have to move the roof much), a second strut has been cut and a third still needs to be fit.  I also need to wait for a time when someone can remove some of the roof tiles so we can lift the eave to a level postion.

A second small project has been to install a couple of stiffeners in the roof of the Solar Center.  These are to stabilize the roof in strong winds (i.e., hurricanes) and were supposed to have been done during construction, but didn’t get done for whatever reason.  I certainly want to get this done before I leave, because the next hurricane season will be coming up in about 4 months.

I’ve also been able to “tag along” sometimes and observe photo-voltaic installations, some natural building techniques and some drip irrigation installations more as observer than contributor, but it’s nonetheless been educational.  A couple of opportunities to go into “teacher” mode have also arisen.  For the CELL group, I was asked to do a one-hour, non-mathematical overview of heat transfer.   None of these students were science majors, time constraints and level of background were both challenges.  Hopefully Emily can give me some real feedback on how it went when the two students on the trip from Northland return to campus with a report.  After the presentation, I was also asked to put the talk into written format, so I now have written a complete heat transfer course in about 10 pages—not. 

For the Cornell group this week I’m involved more or less as a mentor with one team and next week MIT will have a group here, but I don't think I'll be as involved directly with them.  While observing the student groups going through, I’ve also been trying to develop some sort of short-term study abroad that I might be able to offer some time at UWP.  I’ve got a lot of ideas sketched out, but the key is getting it to fit somewhere in the curriculum so it “counts” for something.  Even if it doesn’t “count,” this place would be a great experience for our students and very eye-opening for many of them as well. 

Granada

The bus part of the trip from León to Granada was already described in my updated bus post, but in spite of the compulsive speeding by the microbus driver, he did get behind slower traffic occasionally, so I could get a picture or 2 from the window.  Arrival in Granada was very convenient and calm in a small station just for minibuses only a block south from the central park.  The hotel was only about 4 blocks east of the park, so it was an easy walk.

A composite of the trip from León to Granada.  (Unless the formatting prevents it , I’ll follow the convention of labeling clockwise starting in the upper left .)  A view of the volcano Momotombo, near the base of which is located the abandoned León Viejo.  The next two show a couple of traffic circles or street islands with sculptures.  The top one also has a billboard which still has FSLN (Sandinista) campaign ads from last fall.  The strings going up to the billboard are lights—this sort of Christmas tree effect is located in several places in Managua.  On the bottom , note the Burger King sign.  (This is taken near a major, US-style shopping center.  Finally, another Pali (Walmart), but with a virtually empty parking lot and a string of trici-taxis waiting to pick up customers—quite a contrast to Walmarts in the US.

Our hotel in Granada, called La Pergola followed by a close-up of one of the more exotic flowers in the courtyard and finally an general view of the courtyard garden.  I’ve really come to like this open court-yard feature, but it’s a bit more difficult to implement in Wisconsin!

Granada lies on the western edge of Lake Nicaragua, aka Cocibolca, the second largest lake in Latin America.  It was founded in the same year (1524) and by the same man (Francisco Hernández do Córdoba [after whom the currency unit is named]) as León and there is apparently some dispute as to which came first.  However, since Old León has ceased to exist, Granada proudly claims the title not only of the oldest city in Nicaragua, but according to sign as you enter the city, as the oldest city on “terre firma” in the Western Hemisphere.  (I take this to mean on the mainland, as opposed to Caribbean islands because the terre is often less than firma with the many earthquakes here.)  Granada has traditionally been a city of wealth and conservatism, with much wealth coming from the fact that it was, in effect, and Atlantic port city (the Río San Juan connects to Lake Nicaragua).  Perhaps because of the wealth, Granada has suffered more plundering over the years than León (although León had its share as well).  A major problem during its early years were English pirates so eventually a fort was built on one of the nearby islands as protection.  Almost everything in Granada, although built in a colonial style, is 150 years old or less (the time of the last major burning, which I’ll talk about a bit more below).  León and Granada have been bitter, and sometimes violent, rivals over the years, especially during the 19th century, and the rivalry only subsided after Managua was chosen as the capital.

Because they were both “colonial cities,” I had expected a similar “feel” to both cities, but they turned out to be quite different.  I’ll try to briefly give my impressions.  First, León is considerably bigger, which could alone account for some of the differences, but I think there is more than that.  León seems to be a more “real” city than Granada in the sense that it seems to exist more to satisfy the needs of local people than to satisfy the needs of visitors.  Granada almost has a Disneyesque (or at least New Orleans) feel to it in that it is geared more towards tourists, especially foreign tourists (and many permanent-resident ex-pats as well).  In Granada, the facades are fresher (although this may be in part due to the buildings actually being much newer, but perhaps also due to wealth), the services (restaurants, etc.) are better labeled and seemingly more plentiful, there are more pedestrian-friendly areas, it’s easier to find a quiet street (even close to the city center) and it is a very nice place to stroll or take a carriage ride.  Granada has more foreigners, both tourists and residents, or at least their presence is more obvious.  (We saw many air-conditioned tourist buses with mostly-gray-haired Germans, Canadians, Dutch, etc., getting dropped off or picked up at up-scale hotels—but not so many from the US.)  León, perhaps because of the large student population and history of activism, had a feel of more energy, while Granada has more of a laid-back feel.  Finally, although the visual appearance of much of the city seemed poorer in León, there were far fewer beggars or in-your-face-sales people.  In Granada, kids would approach us, even while sitting in a restaurant, and start to make things out of palm leaves or even try to grab items off the plate—this never happened in León.  I have the impression that although the city of Granada appears to have greater wealth, it may have less equality of wealth than León.

Here are some random scenes from our visit that may help get a feel for Granada.  The gigantic Spanish woman and the small, large-headed man (from the legends museum in León) are here personified and animated.  You can see the drummers as well.  There were several of these groups that would suddenly break out into drumming and dancing wherever large numbers of foreigners had gathered.  The next photo gives an idea of the level of catering to foreigners as you see a restaurant called “Imagine” located on Penny Lane with a picture of John Lennon.  Boxing is very popular in Nicaragua and we stumbled across a boxing match on an evening stroll.  Another serendipitous event was seeing a funeral procession complete with black, horse-drawn hearse followed by mourners on foot.  For some reason, the procession chose to do down the most crowded market street in Granada.

Another contrast between León and Granada is the condition of their respective defunct railroad facilities.  (All railroads in Nicaragua were shut down about 1990 as the foreign bankers holding the purse strings decreed there should be no more public support for the railroad—so it ceased to exist.)  The Granada station has been restored and is now a trade school, while the facility in León (a shop, not a station), is derelict.

The William Walker Saga   Because of its importance to Granada, I’ll give a short account of the William Walker story because it truly is one of those “fact is stranger than fiction” stories.  William Walker was an undoubted bright individual.  By the age of 22 he had:  received a degree in the classics from the U of Tenn, received a medical degree from the U of PA, become fluent in Spanish, French and Italian and passed the bar exam.  He became the editor of a newspaper in New Orleans, where his editorial stances were pacifist, anti-slavery and non-interventionist.  He fell in love with a deaf-mute woman, learned sign language and became engaged.  Shortly thereafter, both his fiancée and mother succumbed to cholera and he headed to CA during the gold rush, where disillusionment turned his views 180° and he became a proponent of both slavery and expansionism.  In 1853 he led a small party in an invasion of Mexico, declared himself president of an independent Sonora and was promptly driven out.  …Meanwhile, in Nicaragua, the Liberals in León had lost power to the Granadans and were having difficulty regaining it.  In 1855 they may the fateful decision to hire William Walker to help them in their struggle, however Walker had other, more grandiose plans, i.e., the annexation of Nicaragua as a US slave state.  After capturing Granada, instead of ceding it to his employers, he had himself elected president (and the US promptly recognized his “election” as legitimate), declared English the official language, confiscated all property from “enemies of the state,” reinstituted slavery (which had already been abolished in Nicaragua) and invaded Costa Rica.  At this point, the perennially warring factions in Central America (including the Leonese, who by now had had their “oops” moment, and Granadans) united against a common enemy and finally drove Walker out in late 1856.  In his last act, Walker had Granada burned to the ground and a casket buried in central park with a sign declaring “Here was Granada.”  Not deterred, Walker made additional forays into Central America until he was finally captured by the British navy and turned over to Honduran authorities, who put him before a firing squad in 1860.  In Nicaragua today, the liberation from Walker is a more important holiday than the liberation from Spain.  In some ways, the story of Walker and Granada seems to parallel the story of Sherman and Atlanta.

As is typical, the central park is the center of town and across from the main church, in this case the Catedral Nuestra Señora de la Asunción.  The shaded park has a band stand, some statues, horse carriages for hire along one side, craft and food stands along two sides and several permanent kiosk-type food stands with fairly extensive seating areas.  Just to the north of the park is the Plaza de Independencia, with a monument to the liberation from Spain.

(L to R)  Susan sitting at one of the permanent eateries in the park.  This one has been here since 1950 and this is where we were accosted by both the palm-leaf-folding entrepreneur and the food snatcher.  If you look closely in the background, you can see some of the horse-drawn carriages between the vendors’ carts.  Here is Susan in front of one of the ubiquitous mothers’ monuments with the band stand in the background.  The cathedral is to the camera’s back.  Middle is the Plaza de la Independencia with an obelisk honoring those in the struggle for independence from Spain in 1821.  The building on the right is the Casa de los Leones, named for the carved lions on the stone entry arch (the only part of the building to survive Walker’s burning in 1856).

Though not as many as León, Granada has some beautiful churches.  Unlike the rest of Nicaragua, many of the churches here do not face west.  (So now, not only am I uncertain why the others DO face west, I’m also uncertain as to why many of Granada’s churches defy the convention.)  The cathedral and Iglesia San Francisco do face west, but Guadalupe, La Merced and Xalteva face east and La Asunción-Xalteva faces north.  Most of these churches are more recent rebuilds—some have been rebuilt several times.

Catedral Nuestra Señora de la Asunción.  First build in 1583, then rebuilt in 1633, 1751 and between 1860 and 1915.  At the top you can also see a bit of Volcan Mombacho.

On Friday, there was a processional with a statue of Jesus carrying the cross carried through the streets.  Many churches have such processionals during lent, usually with a different route each week.  The priest (in white) along with alter boys (in red) leading the crowd in prayer via the loud-speaker truck (vehicles with large speakers are very common in Nicaragua, so it wasn’t hard to find this sound set-up).

Iglesia San Francisco with the convent just to the left.  The palm trees are in the convent’s central courtyard.  The church and convent were also rebuilt after 1856.  A view of the cathedral from the front of the church, also showing Volcan Mombacho towering over the city.

Views of Iglesia La Merced, whose tower is open to visitors.  A picture of Susan descending the spiral staircase from the tower.

Views approximately in the four compass directions for the tower of La Merced church.  Starting upper left, a view to the north, looking toward the baseball stadium.  (Apparently the León-Granada feud lives on on the baseball field.)  Next a view to the south with Mombacho dominating the scene.  Note the clouds gathering around the summit;  also note that in neither the north or south views is a single church—this could not happen in León.  Bottom right is looking west towards two churches in Xalteva, Iglesia Xalteva on the right and just beyond to the left, the Parroquia de la Asunción-Xalteva (with the blue roof).  Finally, the view east to the cathedral.  Just off camera to the left is San Francisco and barely visible to the right, behind the cathedral is the Iglesia Guadalupe and in the distance lies Lake Nicaragua.

Until the 1870s, Xalteva was an autonomous, indigenous community.  On the far left and upper right are pictures of Iglesia Xalteva;  in the center and lower right are photos of La Asunción-Xalteva.

In the interest of efficiency, we opted for a couple of canned tour packages in Granada and only saw a couple of museums on our own.  One was in the convent of the San Francisco church and was a mixture of archeology and art.  It had a number of stone pieces for the Isla Zapatera in Lake Nicaragua, an area rich in pre-Columbian sites.   Some of the modern art works were also very interesting with a distinctive style that used very vivid, bright colors and a more primitive style.  Unfortunately, there was no photography in the museum, so no highlights here.  We also visited a couple of smaller, private museums, one dealing with chocolate and one with pre-Columbian ceramics.  The chocolate museum was interesting, but mostly informational in the form of posters, while the ceramic museum had an extensive collection of various types of pottery.  While everything was labeled, there was not a lot of context to tie it all together.

A collection of burial jars displayed in the museum of ceramics.  They are symbolically shaped like a pregnant woman to indicate a new birth into the afterlife.  Some of the jars even have navels and a few have scars that may be indicative of a knowledge of C-sections.

For our first tour, we took a morning bicycle-boat excursion through Las Isletas (a group of about 360 small islands formed by the last eruption of Volcan Mombacho about 20,000 years ago) and the Peninsula de Aseses.  The tour was mostly enjoying the scenery, but the guide also pointed out some of the wildlife, in particular birds that we would not have noticed on our own. 

Here is a map showing our route through Las Isletas.  We biked southward along the shore to point A, where we loaded the bikes into a boat and cruised through the islands to point B.  From there, we biked to the tip of the peninsula, then backtracked to point C before returning to Granada.  In total it took about 3.5 hours, in part because the roads were very rough and required slow going.

The first picture shows a couple of typical small islands.  Many are uninhabited, but some, like the second picture, have luxurious homes occupying a single, private island.  If you look closely, you’ll see a power line in the first picture and a power pole in the center of the second picture.  Uninhabited islands have lots of wildlife, including the egret (or similar) in the third picture.  One island has been occupied by a band of monkeys who are able to sustain their existence on one single, tiny island (perhaps helped by humans in boats coming by for a look?).

For the other tour, we wanted to do at least one volcano in Nicaragua and had two options:  first, Volcan Mombacho, a long dormant volcano and its cloud forests or 2)  Volcan Masaya, a distinctly active volcano with one caldera having a steady pool of magma within sight of the top.  We opted for an evening tour of Masaya, hoping to be able to see the magma glowing.  (Susan, with her Mt. St. Helens experiences in Portland was a bit wary of going up an active volcano, but as you can see, we survived.)  Because we were the only two signed up for this particular tour, we went by cab (air-conditioned at that!) instead of by bus.  With the exception of being cut a bit short on time in the museum, the tour was very good and included views of three different calderas on the mountain, a walk through a lava cave and sitting in the opening of a cave while bats flew out all around.  Unfortunately, the glowing magma had receded a bit the day we were there and was not visible.  We did, however, get to the parakeets returning to their nests inside the smoking crater (but it was too dark to get a photo).  They have become especially adapted to the sulfurous environment and are safe from predators in the harsh environment.

Masaya volcano is part of a national park as shown on the sign.  The next three photos show the various craters.  First is the large crater from an old eruption, called Ventarrón.  The black line just below the horizon is the limit of this large crater, which is about 10 km x 5 km and includes most of the national park.  On the right, is a blacker area of a more recent lava flow.  Next is the active crater of Santiago, in which hot magma sits at an approximately constant level.  It was very windy and the wind was at our backs, so the smell was not too bad.  Finally, the San Fernando crater is forested over, but the ranger said the ground is warmer at the bottom and you can smell the sulfurous gases.

First is the cross of Bobadilla (not the original).  It was placed here in the 1530s by the Friar Francisco de Bobadilla because he believed the volcano represented the gate to hell and he wished to keep the door shut.  Susan and me with the picture taken by the ranger standing at the base of the cross and looking into the Santiago crater.  Next is a view of the parking lot from the cross.  You can faintly see a line parallel to the current bumpers about 5 m closer to the crater as well as a few large rocks in that area.  An eruption in 2001 blew molten magma and rocks into the parking lot, so they moved the cars back by the 5 m and now require that all vehicles be parked pointing outward.  (This did not make Susan feel any better about visiting the volcano!)  Finally, a view of Mombacho and the Laguna Masaya in the foreground as we were ascending the San Fernando crater.  A major eruption in 1772 threatened the nearby town of Nirindí, but legend says that Cristo del Volcan diverted the lava flow into Laguna Masaya, saving the town.

A few photos from our cave hike.  The caves here were formed not by water carving them out, but by hotter, less viscous lava flowing through tubes in colder, more solid lava.  First is just a picture of us “suited-up.”  We never had to crawl or slither, so it was my kind of cave, but I know Sarah would be disappointed.  Next is a typical view of the cave ceiling showing mini-stalactites.   Another ceiling shot, but includes a few bats.  Because of the human traffic through this cave, there aren’t a lot of bats here.  Note also the tree roots here, even  though we are 10-15 m below the surface.  From craters above, you can pick out the areas where there are caves because the trees are greener, due to the fertilization of bat guano.  Finally, a shot at the entrance of a different cave, where humans are not allowed.  There are many more bats here, and we had the opportunity to sit in the cave mouth and hear/feel the bats exiting around us.  If you look closely, you can see a number of bats in the photo.  In the lower right is one that looks like it’s headed right for me.

I’ll just throw in a few shots of our hotel in Managua because in some ways it seemed so “standard US” and in other ways was distinctly Nica.  It is literally across the street from the airport and with a 6:20 flight for Susan, it was nice to not have to rely on cabs arriving on time.  Although one of the nicest hotels in Managua and expensive by Nica standards, it was probably 50-75% less than an equivalently located hotel in the US.

The top two photos just show the grounds and pool at the hotel (a Best Western).  There are no hallways as the rooms are all in small cabañas with two rooms each, connected by covered sidewalks.  The chapel is definitely a Nica touch and you can see some rooms to the right.  Finally, I just threw this in to illustrate Nicaraguans’ love for BIG speakers—on trucks, on vans, in buses, wherever.  The event would only have included the pool area, so not really a great need for such a large system.  I’ve heard it said that Nicas are always hoping that their speakers will blow out so they can get bigger ones.