Week 2 for Team Nicaragua: El Berrinche Ambiental

We headed out of bootcamp, maybe knowing each other a little too well. Loading all of our equipment into a nice Range Rover, we cruised in style to Granada with Jorge Tapia, a distant relative to Sandino (a leading Nicaraguan revolutionary in the 1920’s). After a 2 hour journey we arrived at “La Casa de las Botellitas” (the house of little bottles) the home of La Escuela de la Comedia y el Mimo (the school of comedy and mime) for a week long street arts gathering for Central American artists and other artists from around the world.

Casa de las Botellitas

Monday started off with a healthy breakfast of gallo pinto which we ate for 2 meals a day, everyday, and headed off to a nearby island in Lake Nicaragua. We packed 40 people into a bus that should only hold 18 so we could all get to know each other through games and trust building exercises on the island. Then we sardined ourselves back to Casa de las Botellitas and got ready for a parade into town and the first big show of the festival. There were 2 shows held each day, one in town and one in La Palapa, a beautiful stage and practice space covered with a  thatched roof. All of the artists are performing and teaching for free on their own time at this event. Which I believe created a really amazing laid back energy, maybe sometimes a little too laid back.

Our day to day life started with breakfast which we tried to eat all together, a small meeting, and then classes for children from the local barrio. We started each morning with group games that lead into the workshops. The children’s workshops were coordinated and mostly run by Team PWB. We taught hula hoop, flow wand, poi, staff, diablo, and devil sticks to the children as well as a beginner slack line class. This is where some of us got to try our first Spanish speaking workshops! It was great to see their smiling faces each morning. Then workshops for the artists were held, followed by lunch (gallo pinto). After lunch we would get a little time to ourselves practicing or connecting with other artists before heading off for the afternoon shows in the city center.

La Palapa

Wednesday was our first big show with the whole team happy and healthy in front of artists, locals, and passing tourists. Our stage was in front of La Casa de Tres Mundos, a beautiful colonial building in downtown Granada. If I may say so myself, it went off without a hitch! Some of us in P.W.B. performed solos there and under La Palapa throughout the week.

Saturday, the last day of the festival, we treated ourselves to a morning trip! Jacob got to drive us in a yellow school bus into a nearby volcano to Laguna de Apoyo. We spent the morning playing and swimming in the mineral waters inside the volcano. I also think it was a highlight for Jacob just to be able to drive the bus! We headed back to the house of little bottles and got to close the festival with our performance under La Palapa. Overall El Berrinche Ambiental was a great adaptation into the laid back Nicaraguan culture, as well as an opportunity to practice our first Spanish workshops and get to know some creative Central American artists. We felt so lucky to share and facilitate so much to such a unique event in Nicaragua.

Laguna De Apoyo

Sunday morning Jorge Tapia picked us up and we headed back to Leon feeling ready to start our first big project.