By Sydney Weldon
This week the ladies of Jatzibe ventured their way via Chicken Bus to the ArteSana community in Peñas Blancas. The six of them stayed in an adorable cabin next door to the legendary Don Chico´s house surrounded by chickens and colorful flowers.
The breath-taking mountain view from the backyard of our home for the week.
A hike to the towering Rainbow Waterfall led by our friend Jorge and the legendary Don Chico.
Each morning, Jatzibe would start with a delicious breakfast made by the benevolent kitchen staff, then would venture down the road to work for the community. This week, the ladies worked to eventually build a composting toilet for one of the community´s members!
The start of our building project before we dug a couple huge holes.
Nearly finished with the project! The composting toilet tank is in the ground!
After working each morning, the ladies would be met with a creative and cultural learning opportunity. These include painting a mural with Jorge, going on a hike and learning about herbal remedies with Don Chico, cook sweet treats with Miriam, and go on a coffee tour with Henry.
Mural painting at ArteSana, taught by our friend Jorge.
Cooking class where we made corn-based bread and baked our bread in a traditional clay oven.
Coffee farm tour, led by Henry.
This week has been met with a lot of laughter, challenges, illnesses, and sore ankles this week, but it has been a blast! As we wrap up our stay with the loving ArteSana community, we are on our next adventure to the infamous island of Ometepe!
Baby coffee plants just a couple weeks old at their sprouting stage.