Los Pueblos Blancos

Today we visited the “Pueblos Blancos” (White Villages) of San Juan de Oriente and Diria. These villages are in the heart of the area of Nicaragua known for its artisans, and although I saw many beautiful things, I have a feeling that this excursion marks only the tip of the iceberg as far as handicrafts are concerned.

In San Juan, we visited the workshop of a man who (along with his dedicated staff) makes pottery including plates, bowls, vases, candle holders and other decorative pieces. The workshop itself was quite impressive. There was a man using a wheel to shape the pottery who was kind enough to give us a demonstration of his work. This wheel operated completely without electricity – he used his bare feet to spin a large wheel on the floor (at a speed at which I am certain I would lose toes) that powered the smaller wheel that he used to mold the pottery. The speed and dexterity with which he created the object, using mostly his hands but also a small piece of wood and string to trim the loose ends, was truly impressive. He fashioned an entire vase in about 5 minutes and promptly smushed it back into a ball of clay so that some of those in our group could try out the spinning wheel.

Once the form is created, it must be left to dry, the time frame for which can be 10 days or more in the humid rainy season. Once dry, the piece is cooked for several hours (14 for a plate!) in a wood-fired kiln at a temperature of 950 degrees celsius! I saw some basic, unpainted clay plates that I was interested to purchase, but the owner told me that they were not yet ready. Imagine my surprise when I walked into the tienda where he sells his goods and discovered beautifully colored, ornately carved and painted plates of many designs, sizes, etc. – turns out the ones I had me eye on were actually in the very early stages of production!

After deliberating for quite some time, I decided on a beautiful blue-green bowl carved with a hummingbird design. I was tempted to buy more, but a fellow student warned me that there would be many more opportunities to purchase beautiful artwork on subsequent outings. I’m already envisioning shipping a box of purchased treasures to the States at some point so as to avoid lugging them on my back across Central America!

After San Juan de Oriente, I got my first glimpse of the Laguna de Apoyo, the famous volcanic crater lake that is considered a treasure of Nicaragua. We stopped at an empty restaurant overlooking the laguna to grab a Tona (the Nica beer) and take in the beautiful view.

On the way home, we stopped at another artesania to visit a man who carves idols from stone, and I watched him laboriously chip his way through a big hunk of pumice, crafting the beginning of what appeared to be another of the man-wearing-an-alligator-head statues lining the side of the house. Our guide, Bergman (see: local vet and Spanish teacher) told us that this man’s work has been ‘discovered’ by a Canadian woman who purchases large quantities to import, the proceeds from which have enabled him to build a comfortable cement house for him and his family.

After a delicious meal of fish, pinto gallo (the local specialty, rice and beans), fresh avocado chunks and flan – yes, flan! – I am now typing on the veranda while listening to the sound of pouring rain. I was told by the two interns today that October is supposed to be the harshest month here in terms of rain, wind, thunderstorms, etc., so I may delay any beach destinations until November. Those of you who are contemplating visiting for such a vacation, stay tuned!

P.S. I will post photos soon, but the connection at the school is verrry slow, so I will have to trek out to one of the cyber-cafes to upload en masse. The slow connection is also why these posts are a bit delayed!