Michael's Musings

The last day
Tuesday, March 17 was the day Soffiyah & I were scheduled to fly back to the US. Since our flight wasn't until 4:40pm, we had a bit of time to look around. Along with our Swedish hotel-mate and author, Monica Zak, we decided to check out the Museo de la Palabra y la Imagen (Museum of the Word and Image, abbreviated in Spanish as "MUPI"). If I remember correctly, the museum was founded by the same Venezuelan, a man known as "Santiago", who founded the rebels' underground radio station, Radio Venceremos. About half the museum was dedicated to a permanent exhibit featuring relics from the civil war: photos of guerillas and peasants in the "liberated zone", a short film about Radio Venceremos, a recreation of a jungle radio station, etc. The rest of the museum displayed an exhibit celebrating the centenary of the birth of revolutionary Salvadoran poet Pedro Geoffroy Rivas.

Monica and Soffiyah in front of the Museo de la Palabra y la Imagen

Later on, on my own, I visited another lovely museum just a few blocks from our hotel, the Museo de la Arte Popular (Folk Art Museum). About half of this museum centered around the work of a woman from the town of Ilobasco in the state of Cabanas named Dominga Herrera. Starting in the 1940s, she created clay figurines and dioramas portraying scenes from everyday life, which have now become a major cottage industry in the town.