The indigenous city of Masaya, 30 kilometres south of Managua, saw many skirmishes between the FSLN and Somoza’s National Guard during the civil war.

When I visited five years later, the signs of the battles were widespread as walls were still pockmarked with bullet and mortar holes. I worked at nearby Masaya Volcano National Park so I visited Masaya often on my way to work or on weekends.

I went on one weekend for a festival and was walking the back streets of the town. I was looking at a side of a home that had been patched up from the bullet holes and still had ‘Vote for the FSLN’ graffiti from the elections held earlier in the year. There was a tremendous noise and the earth started shaking. An elderly indigenous woman stepped out of her home to see what the racket was. I snapped a photo first and then looked down the street to see what was happening. I could see a helicopter gunship hovering over the street and approaching us. The old lady and I just stood in the streets and watched the gunship appear as dust kicked up all around us. I could see the doors of the gunship opening and the soldiers started tossing something out. ‘Crap’, I thought, always aware of the volatile nature of the political situation. But then I saw what they were dropping.

Flowers.

The soldiers were dropping flowers on us. It was a festival and the military wanted to make the occasion festive. ‘Brilliant’, I thought and followed the gunship to the centre of town and joined the party.