Please scroll down for images before and after the official Congress. Many poets arrived early and/or left late in order to more closely and personally experience the luxury of our hotel and the hospitality and friendliness of this developing country.
Photos are submitted by various poets: (JHC) Judy Hardin Cheung (MH) Mary Halliburton (WI) Wanda Ingmire (KR) Kay Renz (MR) Mary Rudge (KD) Kathy Deem (RM) Rosemary Mallinson
Arrival of poets at Nicaraguan Customs (JHC)
Are we here? Are we really here? Vera Reardon, Dean Foss, Pilar Yuzon, Wanda Ingmire and Nancy Merritt can bearly believe they are really here, at the Camino Real Hotel in Managua, Nicaragua (JHC)
One of the first meals of the first poets to arrive at the Camino Real Hotel three days before the Congress began. (JHC)
Pitaya fruit for breakfast captivated everyone's sense of being in an exotic location, including Poets, Mary Rudge and Richard Angilly (JHC)
The fruit at the morning buffet at Camino Real Hotel was splendid. This plate, including pitaya, white pineapple, mango and lime, inspired Wanda to write her poem, "Colores de Nicaragua." (WI)
National and International leadership get together during a pre-congress dinner. 21st WCP Pres. Carlos Gutierrez; Elizabeth Domadon; UPLI Pres. Benjamin R. Yuzon; WCP VP and Pensarte Nicaragua Pres. Rafael Rojas (JHC)
Dispite the pre-congress flurry, poets and dancers had time to relax by the pool of Camino Real Hotel, a perfect tropical get-away, complete with internet plug-in at each thatched roof table. (JHC)
Rehearsing when they can before the program begins, Natica Angilly's Poetic Dance Theater Company shares the meeting room with hotel staff setting up for the first general meeting. (JHC)
Hotel staff was eager to please, showing us the beautiful statues and that yes, we can walk on the grass. These two statues are "hombres," people, showing the ancient attributes of Nicaraguan society--quiet, peaceful, seated together. (JHC)
Life in our hotel was very different from the life we viewed from our bus window as we traveled from Managua to Diriamba, Leon, and, for some of us, to Gradada and other cities. (JHC)
Whenever we stopped for traffic in Managua, window washers would wash our windows, hoping to be paid for their efforts. (MH)
Everywhere, there were street vendors offering fresh fruit, water with ice, all kinds of refreshments one might need while sitting in a vehicle in stop and go traffic. However, due to dire warnings about "traveler's revenge," we could not indulge. (MH)
Cindy Levinson buys from kids who were everywhere selling palm frond souveniers and other possible attractions for tourists made before our eyes. Surprisingly, most had parents in the background being sure the kids were safe and well behaved. (KR)
Our Grayline tour guide, Aura, explained to us how families made a living when there were no regular jobs. If we bought an item for $1, that paid for a snack. If two people bought, that paid for a meal. If three people bought, that would help pay for a family member at home to eat or help pay for school. Education is highly valued but not compulsory. Most families pay for schooling. This photo is in front of the old Managua Cathedral at the National Plaza. (JHC)
Aura, from Grayline Tours, also explained some of the recent past economic situations, current trends and furture hopes. Lake Managua is poluted, but there are actions taking place to clean it up. This photo is taken at a dock that is hoped to be a tourist spot in the near future, offering boatrides in the lake. (KR)
Work crews for public development were frequently seen. (JHC)
Many low cost, government housing projects were being built. (JHC)
Many made a trip to the Ruben Dario Theater and posed beneath the Ruben Dario Monument to the most famous Nicaraguan poet (WI)
A treasured moment was a visit to a home with a marimba band (WI)
The following photos are from Kathy Deem, a World Congress hostess from Pensarte Seattle. She, her husband Dennis and Luticia Highland drove from Seattle, down the Pan American Highway, to come to our World Congress of Poets in Managua, Nicaragua. Kathy has hundreds more beautiful photos. If you are interested in her work, please contact her at dedadrey@yahoo.com, and visit her husband, Dennis's websites for original songs at http://homemadesongs.com, and http://kdseagull.com
There were mini street celebrations all over Managua
Dennis gets a taste of local music
The local flea market with everything you can imagine and many things you never dreamed of
Many Congress delegates, like Sarahann Lum and Mary Rudge, were happy that Dennis and Kathy brought shirts to the hotel for many of us to buy
Markets offer everything from celery to bicycles to cell phones and other electronics
Nicaragua--Land of lakes and volcanos. Everywhere we went, there were smoking volcanoes to intregue us
A stop at a guitar manufacturing business was interesting, especially for guitarist Dennis
The workshop of the guitarmaker combined electric tools and hand crafting devices
At the end of the visit came the big choice--which one shall I take home?
Street scenes: Coconut trucks being loaded onto a ferry
Street scenes: This little piggy went to market
Luticia taking a picture of Kathy taking a picture
Vehicles, cars, horses, bicycles and livestock all share the well paved roads.
Not a frequent sight in urban temporate climates!
A typical rural home as seen from the car or bus window
Avocados hanging on roadside trees
A real bunch of bananas. Just a few are called a hand. Each banana is a finger.
Dennis and Kathy Deem at a crossroad of life. Which way shall we go?
After the Congress, some of the delegates went for a few days to the luxury island resort to relax
A photographic, musical and poetic end to a tropical day.
Relaxing in Managua after a long journey
The best part of a trip is coming home to those who love you most. Two cat photos by Rosemary Mallinson
