Kristin Osiecki

Note to self, write about celebrating the anniversary of the revolution in Managua on the 19th.

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Today began with a lecture by Israel Lewites, son of the Sandinista leader by the same name, and nephew of former Mayor of Managua, Minister of Tourism and 2006 presidential candidate, Herty Lewites. Herty Lewites died only four months before the election. An autopsy was never performed. Many of his supporters believe that he was murdered.

Israel gave us a run-down of the past thirty years of Nicaraguan political history. It is clear that politics is a loaded subject for him, understandably. Despite this fact I felt as though he was careful to give us an unbiased account and frequently acknowledged where his opinions were coming from. 

Israel currently runs Water & Earth Bio Solutions, a waste water treatment consultancy. He is also a VJ and is working on producing educational television programming. He mentioned that he feels education is the key to positive change in Nicaragua. It’s clear that he wants to enact positive change in Nicaragua, but feels that he can accomplish more outside the political realm. 

“Logic and truth, it doesn’t matter. You don’t need it to run this country. All you need is to repeat your lies.”

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After leaving Israel’s home, we packed in the van and headed for the bus station. There we hopped a bus for Esteí. We arrived in Esteli this evening after a 2.5 hour bus ride from Managua. By pure coincidence I sat next this amazing young woman from Esteli who is studying social anthropology in Managua. She was kind enough to talk to me about about life in Managua and Esteli.

After dinner we went to visit VIMAU, a collective of video artists here in Esteli. We had a chance to share our work with them. This was the first time I got to see work by most of my travel companions. I feel incredibly lucky to be on this journey with such a diverse and talented group of artists. I can’t wait to start creating work with everyone.

I’ll add more detail to these entries later, I’m updating via phone.

Many pictures to follow.