Tag Archives: story

03/10/13
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Santiago’s Miracle

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Author: Dr. Armando Luna Silva
Photography by: Jimmy Mendieta
Translation by: Alejandra Palacio/Jeffrey Mendieta

Dr. Armando Luna Silva tells of a miracle Santiago performed enabling a girl’s recovery from a child’s paralysis.

Santiago’s Miracle

On the 20th of January of every year, the “Fiestas de San Sebastián” (Festival of Saint Sebastian) is celebrated in the city of Diriamba. The festival starts, the day before, with the popular procession “El Tope”, similar to the one that takes place during the “Fiestas de Santiago” (Festival of Santiago), the difference is that in Diriamba they are of a more colorful nature due to their folkloric dances.

The procession of “El Tope” enters the town through the “Torre del Reloj” (a street with a distinctive “Clock Tower”). On the door steps of their homes, families, gather in silence to contemplate the passing of the procession that slowly drowns itself in the noise of the afternoon’s landscape.  In one door was the Briceño family with their soul drenched in devotion. Continue reading →

02/28/13
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Apostle Santiago, Patron Saint of Jinotepe

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Author: Dr. Armando Luna Silva
Photography by: Jimmy Mendieta
Translation by: Claudia Vallejos/Jeffrey Mendieta

“This is the image of Santiago that by the streets of the Jinotepen July strolls its wondering gaze of marine horizon, searching in the neighborhood’s and street corners what he there did not lose: a green bell of algae, like born from the sea, with a twang like a marimba that only knows how to cry. It’s a prodigious image of strength and tenderness; its face is the loneliness, the space, the distance, it’s the prow that survives in the clarity of the waters”. Dr. Armando Luna Silva

Copyright 2012 Jimmy Mendieta. All rights reserved.“This is the image of Santiago that by the streets of the Jinotepen July strolls its wondering gaze of marine horizon, searching in the neighborhood’s and street corners what he there did not lose: a green bell of algae, like born from the sea, with a twang like a marimba that only knows how to cry. It’s a prodigious image of strength and tenderness; its face is the loneliness, the space, the distance, it’s the prow that survives in the clarity of the waters”. Dr. Armando Luna Silva

Amidst the Nicaraguan land, Jinotepe rises. This noble city is a bundle of friendship and cleanliness. Against its skyline, the towers of the Parish Church rise like a Titan’s arms that guard the image of the Apostle Santiago, Patron Saint of the city. Friar Pedro Agustín Morel de Santa Cruz visited Jinotepe in 1751. In his visit report he describes the people and its Church, and while addressing the people he says: “Santiago is entrusted to you”.

At the start of the century, the good people of the town of Jinotepe felt a nocturnal passion for the stories of apparitions, hauntings and penitent souls. Its dusk was frightful. Lax and unhurried. The shadows came slowly and it was then when ghosts would gain added mobility. In the closed nights of never ending rain, when the ghosts invaded the crevices of the town and the superstitious lighting traversed through the street, the elderly maid of the home would gather the children near the fire burning stove to tell them terrifying tales. And before the astonished gaze of the children and their suspense filled breaths paraded “la carretanagua”, “la cegua”, “la lutuda”, “el cadejo”,… Continue reading →

07/1/12
My brother Jimmy, my sister Jamie and I playing in Casares.

The Little Pool

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Author: Jeffrey G. Mendieta
Photography: Jimmy D. Mendieta

I remember as a young boy when my family camped at the beach in Casares which is about a 30 minute drive from Diriamba. I was about 4 years old with sandy blond hair, fair skin, light brown eyes, a little pot belly and skinny little legs. We had a special little spot called “La Posíta” (The Little Pool). We called it “La Posíta” due to a rock formation which sectioned off a small pool like area where we could bathe safely. This photograph is of that exact location.

This photo is of the exact place. You can see “La Posita” in the center of the photo where the rocks at the edge of the water are. ©Jimmy D. Mendieta A. All rights reserved.

This photo is of the exact place. You can see “La Posita” in the center of the photo where the rocks at the edge of the water are. ©Jimmy D. Mendieta A. All rights reserved.

You can just make out the little pool in the center of the photograph where the rocks are just at the edge of the water.

Only about 100 feet away from “La Posíta” Papa Raul, my grandfather, owned a little beach house with a couple of small rooms, a kitchen with only the essentials and a small open space for sitting. The little beach house was made of large, rough, grey bricks cemented together. The windows were just metal rods each about half an inch thick laid out vertically, kinda like what you would see in a jail. No glass. Most of them were very rusty due to the humid, salty breeze coming from the sea. The floor was made of ceramic tiles but I can’t remember the color. The doors were made of wood which was also old looking and very worn down and barely strong enough to keep people out when locked. Continue reading →