Training in Masaya

Since my language level wasn't as high as it should be, I had to go back to language training for a week(along with all but 2 of my whole group). Training took place in the department of Masaya, where we lived with host families in the different municipalities. Along with the same girls with whom I had classes in Jinotepe, I was in San Juan del Oriente, famous for its ceramics. Masaya as a department in general is famous for its artisan works. From July 12-July 15, we had class 8-12, 1-4, just like training, except this time I only had class with my friend Kate. Our favorite instructor from training, Rossy, was our teacher this week, which was amazing. Learned all about the imperative of subjunctive and its many uses.

During the week, we took advantage of our location to explore Masaya a bit. I'd already been to the city, so we got to know the other areas. As part of our afternoon classes, Kate and I interviewed different artisans in town and observed them doing their work. Kate's host family did intricate painting on their ceramic pieces and mine did more commercialized work that they then took to Costa Rica to sell. But our favorite San Juan artisan was Jose Ortiz, an artist who has had exhibits all over the world. In San Juan, he revolutionized the ceramics industry by diverging from the universal and classic style. He explored new figure styles and color schemes. His work was really beauitful and we were really lucky he shared all his experiences with us.

With my host family and Kate, I went to the Laguna de Apoyo, a lagoon that is in the inside of a volcano crater. Rather than paying lots of money to go stay at a hostel or eat at a tourist restaurant, we drove down to the water in my host uncle's pickup truck and sat on the edge. The Laguna is shallow around the edges with a sharply dropping deep center. Definitely a to-go-to place in Nicaragua.

The next day, I walked to the Mirador or Lookout in Catarina, the municipality next to San Juan. From the Mirador, we looked out onto the Laguna, with Granada behind it and Lake Nicaragua behind that. To our right was a volcano called Mombacho, that I think is still active.

Pictures: A painting in Jose Ortiz's style showing the Fiestas Patronales of San Juan del Oriente. It shows the fruit banner on the right and the fighting in the streets with a device made of bull hide and dried bull penis. San Juan's patron saint is San Juan el Bautista(Saint John the Baptist) and they celebrate it June 23-29.

The view from the Mirador looking at the Laguna de Apoyo and Granada in the back right and my San Juan host family playing in the waters of the Laguna.