Day of the Revolution

Today, July 19, is a big holiday in Nicaragua, celebrating the 1979 revolution that overthrew the Somoza dictatorship. We are using this day off to update our blog (thus the blitz of posts) and saying goodbye to our one-year SALT volunteers. In the background as we write this, there are lots of fireworks, loud medleys of revolutionary music, and honking as the buses all make their way to the central plaza for a celebration (led by President Daniel Ortega, Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, and a few representatives from Cuba).

There are lots of ways to view this situation, and this year it is being used heavily for political purposes; that is, gaining support for the policies of the current FSLN-controlled (Sandinista Front for National Liberation) government. These are a couple examples of murals depicting aspects of the revolution.

This is one depiction of the revolutionary ideal. The partial-statue is what was left of the statue of Somoza when the Sandinista revolutionaries tore it down. The masks of hypocrisy are set aside, and the children play with their Nicaraguan flag kite in the land of lakes and volcanoes.