En Leon

El Catedral de Leon

I have been in Leon for 3 nights now. My Spanish has improved dramatically. I am about where I was two years ago plus finally getting used to using two forms of the past tense. There are more than 2, but I will be a lot easier to understand if I even master these two.

My first night here I stayed in the hostel called Lazybones.

The Lazybones Hostel

It is a sanctuary.

Everyone staying there speaks english, there is a lovely pool, they sell cold beer, there are beautiful plants all around, it is clean, you cannot hear the honking outside, there are computers to use for free, there is coffee available around the clock, and you can wear clothing which in my opinion is more appropriate for the sweltering heat (ie. virtually none),

Outside everyone stares and the men make all manor of noises if you are not wearing blue jeans. Actually, I don´t get the impression the men care much about what you look like or wear, just that you exist and are a woman.

In essence, the hostel is not Nicaragua, but yesterday I paid for another night in the dorm ($8) and just used the pool, drank a beer, and sent a couple emails. It was wonderful, but the Nica working at the front surely thought I was an extravagent fool. The cost of the towel ($1, more proportionate if staying and using for a week), beer ($1.25), and the room was equivalent to a very nice meal in a pretty nice restaurant. To me, it was equivalent to a vacation from my vacation and worth every centivo!

I am not complaining, only exposing that I willingly succumbed to my own weakness for the comforts of privilege. Actually, the home which I was placed in for the duration of my language class is more than I had anticipated. The woman is a vegetarian and a yoga teacher! This seems to me to be very different from the norm here. I went to her yoga class in the home of Belgian couple on Monday and will go again tonight. The meals are good with fresh fruit and hot dog buns (!) for breakfast, beans and rice and something else for lunch and dinner. All meals are served with fresh juice.

The living room and courtyard of my home-stay home

Leon was considered the center of the revolution in the 80´s. Many houses were bombed by the Nicaraguan dictatorship. I went to the museum of the revolution and the attendant took me up to the roof of the building and told me that all of the corrugated metal roofs were new. If they had the clay tiles, they were original and thus had not been bombed. My view from that particular building indicated almost half the buildings had suffered.

A house that was never rebuilt

There are many political murals around town as well. One very large one tracks the story of Nicaragua from pre-Columbian times, through the conquest and revolution to today which is symbolized rather optimistically with 2 children running off into a green pasture. Many have told me that despite the idealistic hopes of the revolucionistas, the people are worse off today tha before the revolution. Thus all of the other murals are darker...

Mural politico

I believe you can double click any photo to enlarge it. The mural is pretty interesting.

One other interesting thing about Leon is that is has the largest art museum in Central America. It is a private collection housed throughout a very old building which has been beautifully restored. There were even a several Picassos amongst some truly great Central and South American works. I am normally not that attracted to a lot of contemporary art, but I really liked a lot of the newer pieces in the collection. It is quite a gem, and with an entry fee of only a dollar it is moderately accessible for the local people.