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Thursday, February 18, 2010

Where the Streets Have No Name

u2 Many of you have probably heard this famous U2 Song, and what you might not know is that many believe it was written about Managua, Nicaragua, as Bono visited here one year before it was written. Whether or not our new home was the inspiration or not, it is true that the streets here do not have names. You describe a place by using landmarks (sometimes that do not exist anymore or are different than they used to be). For example, the road that we live on is referred to as “the old road to Leon”; the location of Viva Spanish School, where we have taken Spanish classes, is “Behind MetroCentro (a mall), 2 blocks South from the FNI building”; and the “address” for Camino de Vida is “From the MonseƱor Lezcano Statue, 2 blocks south and 2 blocks up”. There are no street numbers or addresses anywhere in the city. It is definitely an adjustment for us, after relocating here from the States. For more information on the connection between this song and Nicaragua and to read a funny story about receiving mail in this country, see this article: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1701487,00.html

1 comment:

  1. This would work for me. I don't understand addresses or how they work, and I don't remember street names anyway! :-) Remember how I had to call you every single time I came to your apartment in Norman?

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