Judging by the numerous brightly-coloured hammocks for sale everywhere in Nicaragua - in markets, on roadside stalls, on display, strung up wherever, you may be forgiven for thinking that, like Mexico, it is another country seduced by laid-back, chilled-out hammock culture...
That assumption, however, would be quite wrong, and in all the time I spent travelling through Nicaragua, I only saw a couple of inhabited hammocks...
Here the relaxation mode of choice is quite firmly the good old-fashioned rocking chair....
Set out in cosy groups for conversation, lined up for sale in markets, rigid rows for prime-time tv viewing, or singly for that moment of solitude on the stoop, they adorn every interior, patio, courtyard, terrace, doorway, and porch.....
And are inhabited and rocked in by young and old alike...
Prime time for rocking is of course the hour of dusk when the temperature cools, and the first fresh breezes of the day are gratefully received. Then it's time to catch up on the gossip of the day, chill out a little, or simply watch the world go by...
It is a custom quite charming and part of a "sitting on the stoop culture", indicative of both the Caribbean influence and time-warp appeal of Nicaragua. Having lived in Mexico for four years, I thought my preferences were firmly for hammocks, but having rocked away for a couple of hours on a hotel porch whilst waiting for the bus, I am now not so sure. The rhythm of the rocking chair allows you to slip peacefully into the rhythms of the country. What would you plump for?? hammock or rocking chair?? Let me know!! In the meantime check out other windows on the world by clicking here for My World Tuesday.
And here is the ofrende built by all our students, on the edge of the school basketball court, using all their own artwork and craftwork from recent classes....
And the final image is of the sugar skulls and calavera candy sold on street stalls everywhere. These ones were for sale in the markets in Guanajuato... 
Let's take one last look at that beautiful ofrende set up in my school today by our students...
So poke beneath the surface and look what beauty can be found. Texcoco is just 35 minutes North East of Mexico City, and if you take a bus from TAPO bus station, you will get there for just 25 pesos. Where have you found beauty beyond a surface of initial ugliness and ordinariness??
The murals are also a hymn to Nature, the Earth, as well as Pre-Hispanic culture in Mexico, and the indigenous traditions of cultivation. The building was one of the original structures of a Jesuit hacienda from the colonial period, and the Rivera murals transformed what was once its religious chapel... 
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