Showtime: The Big Screen

One of the best escapes from the heat and the stresses of everyday life is a trip to the movie theater.  In Managua there are several movie theaters that are pretty darn similar to theaters in the US: air conditioning, popcorn, comfy seats, (relatively) overpriced sodas, the whole works.  Managua has two theaters that we've visited, Metrocentro (which is near the Peace Corps office) and Galerias (which is on the highway to Masaya).  Here's Galerias' movie theater:

And Galerias at night:

We saw our first theater movie in Nicaragua about a month and a half into training.  For those two hours during Pirates of the Caribbean 3, the four of us (Paul, me, Kelly, and Nicole) completely forgot we were in Nicaragua; I won't lie, we were all a little sad to walk out of the theater and realize we were still here.  Paul's host mom threatened to spank us for getting home so late (about 7:00), but it was completely worth it, though at that moment I wasn't quite sure we'd last the full two years.

Since then, we've gone to see a few movies that we legitimately wanted to see, but we often just need a break from reality and see the best thing that's playing and that's subtitled (some movies are subtitled and others are dubbed).  I think this is a complete list of the movies we saw in the theater while we were here:

• Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
  
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
• Ocean's 13
• Gone Baby Gone
• Beowulf 
• Sex & The City Movie
• Gran Torino
• Changeling
• Fast and Furious

Tickets cost about $2.50 a person and refreshments actually aren't that expensive; we usually go for a popcorn and soda (though no free refills here), but recently have tried nachos and hot dogs to make the experience that much more authentic.  Finally, most trips end with a visit to the (also air-conditioned) La Colonia Hyper supermarket that's next door to the mall to buy other fachento goods like supplies for mini pizzas, cans of Dr. Pepper, cookie mixes, and pickles.