Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Where the Streets Have No Name

As I’ve told some of you already, one of the things I’ve found most interesting and challenging about living in Managua is the fact that there are no street names or addresses in many parts of the city. To get around, people either a) actually know where they’re going (and we all know that isn’t me, even in the States) or b) use landmarks, measures of blocks, etc. to get and give directions. This system really threw me for a loop the first few days I was here.

For example, one of the first pieces of information I like to have when I move to a new place is the address of my home. Seems like a simple enough request. However, when I asked my roommates and co-workers to help me out with this information, I not only got different answers from everyone, but was also surprised by all of their responses. There are no numbers or street names, so my address is some variation on ‘al lado de la escuela Cristo Obrero’ – or, next to Cristo Obrero school. Try typing ‘next to Cristo Obrero school, Managua, Nicaragua’ into Mapquest and see how much good that does you. Needless to say I won’t be receiving much mail at home. Fortunately, the office has a slightly more concrete address associated, so if anyone wants to mail cookies, you still can.

I think the reason I have a hard time with the lack of addresses is because I feel like it really limits my mobility and independence. That, plus the fact that the public transportation system is about as transparent as the address system, means I have to rely on my patient roommates for all my traveling needs.

It’s funny because I was actually discussing this topic last night with my roommate Joe, and that conversation was the inspiration for this post and the title. He told me that the U2 song ‘Where the Streets Have No Name’ was actually written about Managua, which I thought was really cool. I promptly Googled the song this morning and, much to my dismay, realized that, while no one seems to know for sure (except Bono himself), the song is probably not actually about this city. Instead, it’s either Ethiopia, Belfast, New Mexico or heaven depending on whose opinion you read – take your pick. Still, it would be an apt description of Managua, and it’s just another item on the list of adjustments I’ll be making while here.

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