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El professor, Don Braulio, greeted us as we entered the History Museum of Estelí.

At the time, we did not yet know that Señor Braulio was actually featured in the museum.  In fact, he has been honored as one of the most important individuals in the history of Estelí.  A captivating orator and an even warmer human being, Don (once reserved for royalty, and now an honorific mark of esteem for individuals in Spanish speaking countries) Braulio explained an array of artifacts from Nicaragua’s pre-colonial time up until the time of the Sandinistas.

 

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The trip to the museum marked our second major outing of the day. We had, just several hours earlier, done a similar walk down to Estelí’s main square to explore the history embedded throughout the city.  There we sampled Mamones, a sweet and tangy fruit that resembles the texture of a lychee, practiced our Spanish with a local shoe shiner, and contemplated the messages of the local mural art.

 

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A select two had the honor and the challenge of translating Don Braulio, as well as a local singer songwriter from the mountain region around Estelí.  He serenaded us to songs of the region, and songs of the revolution – one of which was Las Mujeres Del Cua by Carlos Mejia Godoy.

 

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Today we met with the wise of Estelí – the shamans that continue to tell the story of the mountains, the rivers and the stones that the city has shaped its identity around. They have shown us the power of intention, the beauty in stories, and the rather shaky ground upon which history is written. For that, our first full day in Estelí is one to remember, as well as one to define where we have begun.

Thank you for reading, and please check back in tomorrow!