Finca means farm in Spanish. Generally, it refers to a general purpose farm that cultivates a few different crops. Many Nicaraguan families own small fincas of just a few acres. Some Volunteers even live with families on their fincas. And the thought of a finca conjures up for me thoughts of richness, fulfillment, idyllic pastorialism, and good times spent with Nicaraguan friends and family. Unfortunately, living in the center of a city with a family from the heart of the city, I’ve never had that finca Peace Corps experience. Volunteers in smaller communities are gifted mangoes and other fruits when they are in season and their meals are stuffed with produce fresh from the nearby fincas. Not me though. All we’ve got is a sour orange tree in our courtyard, and my family shops at Wal-Mart.
This is not to say I’ve never spent time outside of the city. The moment I fell in love with Agua Fria, the volcano-side community in Telica (which by the way is erupting again!), was after a hike down to their hot springs, on the way back up the mountain they gifted me a backpack full of mini-bananas (one of my favorite tropical fruits), despite them being very impoverished people. I had to give half of the bananas away and I was still eating them two at a time for a whole week.
My host sister also lives on a finca with her family in Estelí and there is an open invitation for me to visit, and I’ve also been invited to a women I know’s father’s finca up in the north of Chinandega. I’m reluctant though because it is a multi-day Catholica pilgramage of sorts, which could turn into the ultimate Nica-napping. Just recently I was also at Finca Esperanza Verde, an agro-tourism initiative of sorts. I think I have just become extremely interested in agricultural while in Nicaragua, so the idea of finca truly captivates me.
When I was in training I spent tons of time with Jessica’s host family. They were wonderful, which I why when I went back last month I stayed with them. Spending time with them, I could tell that Eveling’s mother was a big part of her life, but I actually never met her or Eveling’s step-father. I met their children, his parents, and basically everyone else in the family and town other than them. They lived nearby on a working finca. Jessica and Ryan had visited, but I had not. It actually became a running joke that they didn’t exist. Once they bought a birthday cake for their granddaughter and I was sure that I would see them at the party. They did not attend.
On this last trip to San Juan I finally met them. Eveling and the family have been going through some hard times so her mother has been around more to help out. Her mother and step-father are wonderful people, and I even got to finally visit their finca, which was really cool! It had been raining a lot and the finca was foggy and muddy and everything I wanted it to be!
Mariano among the granadilla vines
I didn’t get a lot of pictures but they grow a large variety of fruits and vegetables. There are six varieties of bananas and plantains alone, plus citrus, jocotes (not my favorite), coffee, and granadilla (Nicaraguans only use it to make fruit drinks), to name a few of their crops. They also have some pigs and even some small tilapia pools.
The national bird of Nicaragua is the beautiful, but notoriously skittish, guardabarranco. Many Volunteers say they have never even seen them, but they abound in León so I see them all the time. However, I’ve never gotten a picture of one close-up. Among the granadilla vines Mariano and I did see a guardabaranco, but I could only get a picture of its tail (which is itself the most distinctive aspect of a guardabaranco).
Some Volunteers even get tattoos of guardabarrancos on their bodies. I’m always daring them to get a full torso guardabarranco, with the tail extending down across all of the ribs, but no one has taken me up on the offer yet. If anyone does though I will be sure to get a picture. It will be sure to be a beautiful work of body art.
Until the next finca!
Want to visit San Juan de Oriente for yourself? It is super easy and doable in a day trip from Managua, Masaya, or Granada (or even stop off on your way from Ometepe to Granada). It is a small town, but it is right on the Pan-American Highway and on Empalme Catarina (a roundabout connecting two arms of the highway).
All Managua to Nandaime, Managua to Rivas, Managua to Peñas Blancas, Niquinohomo to Granada, and Masaya to Diriomo buses will stop right at the entrance to San Juan de Oriente. From Managua, buses leave from Mercado Huembes on a regular basis all day and will run between C$ 20 and C$35 if I remember correctly. In addition, Masaya to Jinotepe runs every forty minutes and will drop off at the Empalme, an easy one kilometer walk from the main entrance to San Juan. Various other microbuses (Masatepe, primarily) running from Huembes will drop off at the empalme. If you are on any busses heading to Rivas or Peñas Blancas make sure you explicitly tell the bus attendant that you are going to San Juan de Oriente, not San Juan del Sur.
Special tip: If you can catch the 11:30 AM from Peñas Blancas, it not only stops at Huembes, but then also drops off passengers at La UCA and Mercado Israel for the same price. This can be convenient for anyone trying to get to León or Chinandega. It passes San Juan sometime after 1:00 PM, if I recall.