I arrived in Managua Wednesday evening as scheduled. The taxi ride from the airport to the hotel was slowed by all the traffic and Christmas activities in the center of the city on Avenida Bolivar, named after the Simon Bolivar who led the rebellion that threw out the Spanish rule in much of Central and South America. However, my taxi driver told me that many now call it Avenida Bolivar Chavez, apparently because of the close relationship between the Hugo Chavez government of Venezuela and Nicaragua.
Thursday morning, after a breakfast of fresh fruit, fresh squeezed orange juice, coffee and toast, I set off to explore. La Posada del Arcangel is two blocks from Avenida Bolivar, so it was easy to find. Every couple hundred meters or less, in addition to actual trees, there are these huge metal trees. Wednesday night, I noticed that the hundred or so of these metal trees were all lit up with several thousand lights.
As I came down the hill, I arrived at Hugo Chavez Plaza which has several of those large trees, plus a large sculpture of Chavez, all made of metal and all lit up at night.
Wednesday evening, Avenida Bolivar was packed with cars - but the usual six lanes of traffic was reduced to four lanes, as one lane on each side was roped off for pedestrians to stroll by all of these large displays celebrating the Virgin Mary. The displays were from different companies and government departments.
Managua is hot, about 90 degrees with humidity, so I was happy to stop at the small National Arboretum - it was a shaded pleasant space in the city center.
After a short stop, I continued along Avenida Bolivar, enjoying the holiday decorations.
After a couple of miles, I came to the northern end of the Avenida where it meets Lake Managua. There is a beautiful park area, including even a museum in recognition of Pope John Paul II.
I then visited a park called Puerto Salvador Allende, which includes boat tours, shops and restaurants. I enjoyed a pleasant lunch on the shaded veranda overlooking the lake and enjoying the breezes - arroz con pollo (rice with chicken) and Coke Zero.
I then headed back south on the Avenida, again enjoying the many displays - there was even one from the Ministry of Defense celebrating the Virgin Mary.
I continued back along the Avenida and up the hill to my hotel - it was time for my second shower of the day and a siesta in my room.
About 5:30, I set out to walk back down into the city center to see all the displays and activity after dark. The next three photos are of Hugo Chavez Plaza - very different look at night.
Each of the many displays have music; about half are pre-recorded and half are live groups. It is all very loud and full of families - people of all ages and sizes, out exploring the various religious displays. Here is a video I took to give some sense of the action - be prepared, the music is loud and you may need to turn down the volume when watching the video.
I continued on through the growing crowds as I continued north. Besides all the families, religious displays and crowds, there are hundreds of vendors, selling food, drinks, religious memorablia and most anything else you can imagine - in many places, their goods are simply laid out on the sidewalks.
Here is another video to see and hear all the activity.
I continued on until I reached the north end of the Avenida at Lake Managua.
Even all the government offices were lit up.
I stopped at a local Claro store, a chain of grocery stores, where I got a bottle of cold water and some cheese bread, and then got back to the hotel for my third shower of the day - did I mention it is hot and humid here? A check of my pedometer shows I covered a bit more than ten miles today.
Here is some info about the local celebrations:
During colonial times, the Spanish brought their religious catholic fervor to Nicaragua, which was embraced in an incredible way by the natives (obviously after being imposed), with a mystical character and intense piety. This is how the popular religious Nicaraguan festivities were born, and in December ‘La Purísima’ is celebrated, one of the most widespread celebrations.
Imagine ‘La Purísima’ like this: a richly decorated altar is placed in a corner of a family house, with a statue of the Virgin Mary‘s image. In front of this altar, a lot of chairs are arranged, that will be occupied by family members, friends, and neighbors invited by the house owners to celebrate its ‘Purísima’. Once all the guests arrive, the celebration starts with prayers to the virgin, but these are alternated with traditional songs. All the assistants accompany with whistles, tambourines and other instruments. While this takes place inside the house, outside some family members fire rockets and the so called ‘caraga cerrada’, (firecrackers) that contribute a lot to the boisterous celebration. Meanwhile the singings and prayers take place, the host distributes to his/her guests fruits, traditional sweets, caramels, traditional drinks, sugar-cane and many other gifts.
‘La Purísima’ is a celebration to the ‘purest conception of Virgin Mary’, taking place on December 8th, according to the catholic calendar. ‘La Purísima’ is a tradition celebrated in all parts of Nicaragua by thousands of Nicaraguan families. These celebrations take place at the end of November and during almost all of December.
‘Purísimas’ are made for devotion or for gratitude to miracles that persons attribute to Virgin Mary. The families, or a couple of members of a family, realize a "novenario" of prayers to the virgin lasting nine days. Sometimes, the first eight days the prayers are private, but the ninth one is celebrated as described previously, but every family puts a little of their own style. It is interesting how each family inherits the image of the virgin from their ancestors; some of these images have been in the same family over a century.
Nowadays, the ‘Purísimas’ are also celebrated by big enterprises and institutions, and even by Nicaraguans living abroad or by Nicaraguan embassies.
Directly related to ‘La Purísima’, this other tradition, called ‘La Gritería, is more boisterous and more massive.
At 6PM every December 7th, a common yell is heard in different cathedrals and churches: Quién causa tanta alegría? (Who causes so much happiness?). This is how another ancient tradition starts along with the massive response ‘La Concepción de María’ (Mary’s Conception).
At that time, in cities and towns people start exploding fireworks and firecrackers. In the biggest cities, it gets so noisy that any uninformed tourist might think that a war has just started in Nicaragua. At midnight, firecrackers explode once again (the same happens at 6AM and 12PM, but on a smaller scale).
During ‘La Gritería’ Virgen Mary is also venerated. It is a celebration used by people to thank the virgin for miracles and it takes place before the official day. Faithful people decorate altars in their houses in a place were it can be seen from the street. In some neighborhoods you can find more than three altars in just one block.
Then, at 6PM sharp, thousands of Nicaraguans go to the streets to ‘shout’ to the virgin (the word gritería could be translated as ‘shouting’), which means visiting each altar and singing to the virgin Maria. This is basically how it is done: people hang around in groups, stop at an altar, intone traditional songs (the same as in ‘La Purísima’), house owners give fruits, candies, toys, instruments to make noise, natural drinks, and other type of gifts; finally, they move on to another altar. House owners who have placed altars wait until another group comes to sing. This is how ‘La Gritería’ is celebrated, lasting until the house owners have no more gifts to give away or until streets have no more singers.
Not only Catholics and religious people participate in this tradition. It is interesting to hear how people who do not know the songs’ lyrics make up the whole song or just sing the end of each phrase. This is a good opportunity for poor people to collect items, and it is interesting to see how people from different social classes participate in ‘La Gritería’
Thursday morning, after a breakfast of fresh fruit, fresh squeezed orange juice, coffee and toast, I set off to explore. La Posada del Arcangel is two blocks from Avenida Bolivar, so it was easy to find. Every couple hundred meters or less, in addition to actual trees, there are these huge metal trees. Wednesday night, I noticed that the hundred or so of these metal trees were all lit up with several thousand lights.
As I came down the hill, I arrived at Hugo Chavez Plaza which has several of those large trees, plus a large sculpture of Chavez, all made of metal and all lit up at night.
Wednesday evening, Avenida Bolivar was packed with cars - but the usual six lanes of traffic was reduced to four lanes, as one lane on each side was roped off for pedestrians to stroll by all of these large displays celebrating the Virgin Mary. The displays were from different companies and government departments.
Managua is hot, about 90 degrees with humidity, so I was happy to stop at the small National Arboretum - it was a shaded pleasant space in the city center.
After a short stop, I continued along Avenida Bolivar, enjoying the holiday decorations.
After a couple of miles, I came to the northern end of the Avenida where it meets Lake Managua. There is a beautiful park area, including even a museum in recognition of Pope John Paul II.
I then visited a park called Puerto Salvador Allende, which includes boat tours, shops and restaurants. I enjoyed a pleasant lunch on the shaded veranda overlooking the lake and enjoying the breezes - arroz con pollo (rice with chicken) and Coke Zero.
I then headed back south on the Avenida, again enjoying the many displays - there was even one from the Ministry of Defense celebrating the Virgin Mary.
I continued back along the Avenida and up the hill to my hotel - it was time for my second shower of the day and a siesta in my room.
About 5:30, I set out to walk back down into the city center to see all the displays and activity after dark. The next three photos are of Hugo Chavez Plaza - very different look at night.
Each of the many displays have music; about half are pre-recorded and half are live groups. It is all very loud and full of families - people of all ages and sizes, out exploring the various religious displays. Here is a video I took to give some sense of the action - be prepared, the music is loud and you may need to turn down the volume when watching the video.
I continued on through the growing crowds as I continued north. Besides all the families, religious displays and crowds, there are hundreds of vendors, selling food, drinks, religious memorablia and most anything else you can imagine - in many places, their goods are simply laid out on the sidewalks.
Here is another video to see and hear all the activity.
I continued on until I reached the north end of the Avenida at Lake Managua.
Even all the government offices were lit up.
I stopped at a local Claro store, a chain of grocery stores, where I got a bottle of cold water and some cheese bread, and then got back to the hotel for my third shower of the day - did I mention it is hot and humid here? A check of my pedometer shows I covered a bit more than ten miles today.
Here is some info about the local celebrations:
La Purísima
During colonial times, the Spanish brought their religious catholic fervor to Nicaragua, which was embraced in an incredible way by the natives (obviously after being imposed), with a mystical character and intense piety. This is how the popular religious Nicaraguan festivities were born, and in December ‘La Purísima’ is celebrated, one of the most widespread celebrations.
Imagine ‘La Purísima’ like this: a richly decorated altar is placed in a corner of a family house, with a statue of the Virgin Mary‘s image. In front of this altar, a lot of chairs are arranged, that will be occupied by family members, friends, and neighbors invited by the house owners to celebrate its ‘Purísima’. Once all the guests arrive, the celebration starts with prayers to the virgin, but these are alternated with traditional songs. All the assistants accompany with whistles, tambourines and other instruments. While this takes place inside the house, outside some family members fire rockets and the so called ‘caraga cerrada’, (firecrackers) that contribute a lot to the boisterous celebration. Meanwhile the singings and prayers take place, the host distributes to his/her guests fruits, traditional sweets, caramels, traditional drinks, sugar-cane and many other gifts.
‘La Purísima’ is a celebration to the ‘purest conception of Virgin Mary’, taking place on December 8th, according to the catholic calendar. ‘La Purísima’ is a tradition celebrated in all parts of Nicaragua by thousands of Nicaraguan families. These celebrations take place at the end of November and during almost all of December.
‘Purísimas’ are made for devotion or for gratitude to miracles that persons attribute to Virgin Mary. The families, or a couple of members of a family, realize a "novenario" of prayers to the virgin lasting nine days. Sometimes, the first eight days the prayers are private, but the ninth one is celebrated as described previously, but every family puts a little of their own style. It is interesting how each family inherits the image of the virgin from their ancestors; some of these images have been in the same family over a century.
Nowadays, the ‘Purísimas’ are also celebrated by big enterprises and institutions, and even by Nicaraguans living abroad or by Nicaraguan embassies.
La Gritería
Directly related to ‘La Purísima’, this other tradition, called ‘La Gritería, is more boisterous and more massive.
At 6PM every December 7th, a common yell is heard in different cathedrals and churches: Quién causa tanta alegría? (Who causes so much happiness?). This is how another ancient tradition starts along with the massive response ‘La Concepción de María’ (Mary’s Conception).
At that time, in cities and towns people start exploding fireworks and firecrackers. In the biggest cities, it gets so noisy that any uninformed tourist might think that a war has just started in Nicaragua. At midnight, firecrackers explode once again (the same happens at 6AM and 12PM, but on a smaller scale).
During ‘La Gritería’ Virgen Mary is also venerated. It is a celebration used by people to thank the virgin for miracles and it takes place before the official day. Faithful people decorate altars in their houses in a place were it can be seen from the street. In some neighborhoods you can find more than three altars in just one block.
Then, at 6PM sharp, thousands of Nicaraguans go to the streets to ‘shout’ to the virgin (the word gritería could be translated as ‘shouting’), which means visiting each altar and singing to the virgin Maria. This is basically how it is done: people hang around in groups, stop at an altar, intone traditional songs (the same as in ‘La Purísima’), house owners give fruits, candies, toys, instruments to make noise, natural drinks, and other type of gifts; finally, they move on to another altar. House owners who have placed altars wait until another group comes to sing. This is how ‘La Gritería’ is celebrated, lasting until the house owners have no more gifts to give away or until streets have no more singers.
Not only Catholics and religious people participate in this tradition. It is interesting to hear how people who do not know the songs’ lyrics make up the whole song or just sing the end of each phrase. This is a good opportunity for poor people to collect items, and it is interesting to see how people from different social classes participate in ‘La Gritería’
No comments:
Post a Comment