Travelling with Teen: Managua

Managua is much as it was 18 years ago, the last time I was here, and much different at the same time. Aaste described it as ‘busy’. Yes, it is busy... there is traffic and noise and wind and people fighting hard to make a living. It is dirty and dusty and in some neighborhoods, very dangerous for foreigners to wander. There is much more commerce in the city now, which is to be expected I suppose. The last time I was here the U.S. was still holding the country at ransom through an economic embargo and the funding of an insurgent war. There are some signs of increased infrastructure, but these tend to be in the way of grand public buildings and the ‘cleaning up’ of the earthquake devastated downtown core that for many years had been left in ruins. The poor are poorer I think, and the rich richer. But then this is true in Canada as well.... it just is 100 times worse here. I think the city is more littered than before as well... it is as if the pride that the people gained in the 80’s has been eroded by the daily struggle to survive. The streams, empty lots, and boulevards are horribly full of discarded trash and I wonder if environmental groups ought to send ‘litter picking’ brigades much like we sent ‘coffee picking’ brigades in the 80’s.