!Nicaragua! Llegué.

I got to Managua last Friday.  The administradora from the Health Poverty Action office in Managua picked me up in the airport and took me to buy a phone and to the super, and then to the hotel.  My first day was thus eerily like my first day in San Salvador.  I of course went to Metrocentro to do my errands, just like I did in San Sal, the only difference being that I got a Claro phone instead of Tigo.  The hotel even reminded me of Sisimiles.  Managua, like San Salvador, is a sprawly city of malls.  The next morning before my flight to Puerto, one of the hotel staff took me on a tour of Managua's main attractions.  There aren't many.  Everything historic is located around the Plaza de la Revolución, which looks like it is in a constant state of construction. It is also right on the lake and nearby they have recently built a family-friendly park along the water with fancy landscaping, playgrounds, and kiosk-type restaurants that is called the Puerto Salvador Allende.  Sort of looks like an American amusement park.

This is now the main museum in Managua and no longer the national palace.

This is the old cathedral that was destroyed in the 1972 earthquake, along with the rest of the city.  Neither it, nor the city really, has since been rebuilt.  The columns are wrapped with Christmas lights so apparently it looks pretty cool at night.