DAY 3: Sharing Cultures, Sharing Histories

Ben Linder House
The day began with a visit to the Ben Linder House, a volunteer-run education centre named after a well-loved American engineer who had been murdered by US-backed Contras in the 1980s. There were guests from different organizations and even from different countries, including some university students from the US, and some political refugees from neighbouring Honduras. The NS students gave a lengthy presentation about the history of Inuit and about the Nunavut land claims agreement. Then they wowed the audience with a cultural performance.

Here, Lillian Hall, one of our hosts, explains the many murals on the walls of the centre.The Sandino Museum
At mid-day, we were given a tour of the Sandino Museum, which commemorates the memory of Nicaragua's most famous patriot who had fought to rid Nicaragua of its US occupiers in the early part of the 20th century. In 1934, he negotiated a peace treaty with the ruling government in Managua, but was murdered by the same regime immediately afterwards. This marked the beginning of the Samoza family's decades-long dictatorship. The Sandinistas, the revolutionaries who finally were able to overcome the US-backed dictatorship in 1979, took their name, and their inspiration, from Sandino.Rain - something to enjoy!
The hardest part of the trip so far has been adjusting to the heat - most days are in the 30s, with high humidity. so today when it rained, we couldn't resist going out getting both wet - and cool!.Eskimo Specials!
One of the stops we looked forward to the most was to the factory where they make "Eskimo Ice Cream" products, Nicaragua's most popular brand. Their restaurant is also known for having the coolest air conditioning in town, so it was doubly enjoyable.
A Raggae Evening
Our day ended with a visit from Nicaragua's most famous raggae singer, Phillip Montalban. He sang songs and spoke at length about his views that "all people are one in the spirit."
The evening turned into a real cultural exchange when the students sang Inuit songs and did throat singing. Randy did some of the drumming.