Nicaragua
The whole time we were in Nicaragua, I had to pinch myself. This is a place I wondered about in my
youth with it's attempt at political liberation. Interesting time for the Nicaraguans now with
that same party just being voted back in power. It's a whole new era for them and people are
hopeful that their new Sandinista government will be able to spread some economic opportunity
through to the people with jobs and education. No one really knows how it's all going to work out,
but the people we met were hopeful.
We loved the work we got to do there and we owe that thanks to Jose Leonel (JL)Jimenez at the US
Embassy in Managua. This man is extremely dedicated to his gig because of his dedication to his
his country and people. We were really glad to get to do several workshops with eager music
students and played four concerts to audiences that really were open to new music in four
different cities. They loved the songs we performed in Spanish here too, of course. JL went so far
as to have my poem "From Here" translated into Spanish and I recited it here in concert. Poetry is
a high value in this culture and it's an honor to be well received in this way.
We were just sad to leave knowing we only grazed the surface of getting to know a culture rich and
full of hope. We'll want to come back for sure.
No comments:
Post a Comment