Posted in honour of the anniversary of the Sandinista revolution which is currently being celebrated, most noticeably in Managua where free buses have been laid on for the thousands enjoying the party.
While the current Sandinista government may split locals and expats alike it's worth remembering that the revolution was, at the time, almost universally backed.
Whether you blame what went wrong on Daniel Ortega or Ronald Reagan is down to you.
I was contacted by Kathy and asked to relay the following:
Join Empowerment International for an evening of Fundraising at Eurocafe for a Casino Night.
All proceeds will go to EI's Nicaragua project.By participating you will be assisting EI with accomplishing it's mission of breaking the cycle of poverty before it is transferred to yet another generation, by building more educated and productive communitiesWhen: Saturday July 21stTime: 6:30 PMWhere:EurocafeCost: C$200
For the uninitiated that's Eurocafe, next to Hotel Colonial, in the Central Park area of Granada.
Look out for Nicaragua and the Contras amongst all those Pirates and Emperors. It's an absolute must watch.
I feel your pain Kong.
A film I just have to see.
The Nicaragua link?
Well there's The Clash album Sandinista!
There's also Strummer's appearance in the Alex Cox film Walker filmed right here in beautiful Granada, Nicaragua.
Oh and his soundtrack to the very same film included tunes entitled Ometepe and Nica Libre.
I also found out this little snippet about his time living here:
"Strummer lived in Nicaragua for six months while we shot and edited 'Walker'. He was the guy who named his album "Sandinista", and he was a happy man composing music there.
"Richard Beggs recalled how, as he mixed his effects and dialogue with Joe's music, Strummer took up residence in a cupboard in the corridor outside the mixing room. It was something to keep the vacuum cleaner in, but Strummer made it his office, inhabited it, and kept his rolling papers, lighter, notebook, guitar, and other essentials there. It was the same in Nicaragua. No matter where we were, or what the difficulties, Strummer would always establish a little niche somewhere, in which to plot, and smoke, and dream."
The same place also has the following line which tickle me mainly because it mentions both my home and my current home.
"Joe was prepared to fight for workers rights from Nicaragua to Newcastle. It's a fitting tribute to him that one of his last UK shows was a firefighters benefit that he financed out of his own pocket."
Both lines from here.
Film link from here.
The absolute best part of travelling is having the time of your life in what might otherwise be described as hellish situations.
As an example, take a bus, fill it to overflowing with people, crank the music up so loud it's deafening, add in absolutely sweltering heat and what do you get?
For some reason, just sometimes, you get a mood of pure joy. I call it the "if they could see me now" moment.
Suddenly I want everyone, who has ever met me, to be able to see me in these bizarre circumstances. I want them to shake their heads and chuckle along with me.
I feel so out of place it's hilarious and I wonder just how did that bloke who wore a suit for his entire twenties get here? All those colleagues, mostly still in suits, if only they could see me now.
For the record I love Nica buses. Most of all I like their somewhat foreign urgency - they always seem to be pulling out of the bus station as I jump on with seconds to spare. The conductor, all the time, advertising his bus's destination with an urgent "GranadaGranadaGRANADA!" cry.
While it's fair to say that, less than an hour after the film was taken, I was bored, sweaty and my head was throbbing, in that particular moment I was very very happy.
I found the above while looking for the sugar. Another pic below.
Continue reading "I just shrieked like a 12 year old girl" »
Take a search through Flickr and it appears that everyone who ever visited Granada took a photo from this bell tower vantage point.
For three years now I have been living in countries where I have access to a great deal of illegally copied, very cheap and up-to-date DVDs. Other forms of entertainment are limited.
www.flickr.com
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