As I’ve probably mentioned before, Ann and I are helping Michele, an English professor at the University of Leon, to start a business selling Nicaraguan art, pottery, and goods over the Internet to support the deaf school I’ve been working in this summer. For those of you who have anxiously awaiting the chance to buy said items, I’m sorry; you’ll have to wait a little longer. We haven’t developed the website yet, and we can’t officially open shop until we have our NGO status here in Nicaragua. And since the capital city, Managua, is only working between 8 and 2 because of the energy crisis, a slow system just got slower. We are hoping to be ready to open by Jan 1st 2008. Until then, however, I thought I’d share a little bit more about what we’re doing and post some pictures of what we’ll be selling.
On Sunday, Ann and I took a little trip with Michele and her family to pick up some of the art for our business. I was really looking forward to going to the Masaya market. I’d heard so much about it and all of the great stuff there. Unfortunately, due to a case of SEVERE food poisoning, I barely saw any of it. My time was spent on more valuable things, like looking for the nearest chair to collapse into. Several times, I had to steal a vendor’s chair when they stood up to help a customer. I know, not very nice, but it was that or fall over. I ended up sleeping on a table outside while my Ann watched over me and everyone else did the shopping. But we did manage to get some really great stuff (which Ann and I will be selling when we return to Omaha if anyone is interested…).
By the time we got to San Juan de Oriente to buy pottery I was doing much better and able to participate. I’ve attached a bunch of pictures of the type of pottery we’re bringing back. Check out the Christmas plates and bells – they are gorgeous. All of the work pictured is by Duelio Jiminez and his family. For more information on them and their work, read the story entitled, “Buying Pottery” from 5/20. They are an amazing family of artisans. We’ll be featuring many other artists, but Duelio is our main connection thus far.
If you or anyone you know is interested in buying pottery, let me know! We have a very limited supply of Christmas themed pottery to sell in Omaha, so if you are interested, contact me fast! Once they are gone, we won’t be able to get any more until the next trip to Nicaragua in January. Also, we’re recruiting volunteer help for the business. We specifically need some art talent to help design a logo and a website. Contact me if you’d like to help or want more information!
|  | 
|
