We started today off with a plentiful breakfast filled with pancakes, fresh fruit and yogurt! After breakfast we started our journey to a new location three hours away. Along the way we made some meaningful stops and learned mucho information!
Our first stop of the day we went to a lake and took a boat tour viewing 365 islands! Along with the beautiful scenery of mountains and palm treeswe saw monkeys and the houses of many famous Nicaraguan people.
After our boat tour we visited a pottery school and learned about the culture behind pottery and how it’s made. We learned about the three different types of pottery design including, geometric, pre-Colombian, natural designs, and individual artisan designs. Each piece takes sixteen days to complete. The process includes: a two kilometer walk away from their studio and a barefoot dance on the clay so they can connect with Mother Nature — the people around the dancers play drums, flutes, and the xylophone. Next, they create the pottery using a wheel, and they let it sit for two days, then they polish the piece. Afterwards, they dip the piece in something that makes the pottery easier to polish, and then they polish it again. Then they paint the piece, followed by another polishing. After this they let the piece sit for eight days, and then they engrave the pottery to make the geometric shapes or to enhance the piece. Finally, they fire the pottery in an oven, which is very similar to a kiln, at a lower temperature for six hours and then raised to 900 degrees Celsius.
After our trip to the pottery school we started our three-hour journey to our next location in San Ramón. We stopped for gas and a homeless man stood next to the bus and begged for food and money. This was startling to us because it demonstrated the extreme poverty in the area and the desperation of some of the Nicaraguan citizens.
After we arrived at the hostel in San Ramón we explored a trail up to a lookout, and we saw an amazing view of the mountains. When we came back down the mountain, it was time for dinner and then a group reflection about overcoming obstacles. We played the “knot” game to teach ourselves about the challenges of overcoming difficult situations and discussed the obstacles we’ve seen in Nicaragua. We ended the night with a short meeting for worship and a new perspective on obstacles in the lives of Nicaraguans and our own lives.
