A Haunting Plaza

This afternoon Hope and I day tripped around the Plaza de la Revolución in downtown Managua. 

This section of the city sits on the shore of Lago de Managua. The name Managua comes from the Spanish word Mangue, for the Mánkeme people the Spanish encountered in the 16th century, coupled with the Spanish word agua or water. Although quite beautiful, everything I have read suggests that this lake is the most polluted body of water in Central America. Today was a very hot summer day yet no one was swimming in it, likely confirmation of those reports. 

The birds enjoyed the water though, as many fished and sunbathed on the old pier. 

On the edge of the plaza appears a long array of huge metal statues, many in the shape of trees. Indeed this city is alive with these trees, dotting the cityscape at many major intersections. They cast long shadows and creak in the strong breeze from the lake, while many birds whose names I do not know sing from their branches. 

Meanwhile a plane wings itself across the sky, framed by yellow and blue trees of metal. There are two more statues, this time of men, one of the revolutionary Augusto Cesar Sandino who looks toward the bustling city, his back turned against the lake named by foreigners; the other statue a monument to Simon Bolivar on horseback. He, too, turns away from the lake as he faces the manmade forest of metal trees, testament to technology and the products of human ingenuity. Viva la revolution!