We took
a tour of the Spanish School and went to the top of the hill where there is
space for groups do to research. If you
walk, it is 40 minutes from the school to the research center. At the research center, we saw a building
made from rice husks / straw bales stuffed into chicken wire, then cement on
the outside and inside. During
excavation for the building, they found clay pots and have built spaces inside
to hold them. The tables are made from a
fallen tree. Noel from Masaya helped
with this design.
You can
easily see the Masaya volcano from here.
The sulfur fumes limit the kinds of plants that grow around here. Near the volcano live 500 people, 200 of them
children – the air is so bad they really shouldn’t be living there. There are volcanic rocks everywhere
here. There are five craters of the
Masaya volcano. The sulfur in the air is
so strong that it dissolves metal including galvanized roofs, and locks (which
may last only 3 or 4 months). This
eruption began in the 1700s and it’s still emitting lots of smoke – it’s in the
rain water, so you can’t drink it. It
doesn’t often blow over to the research center.
The
research center’s bamboo dorms hold up to 24 people. The teachers have separate quarters. There’s no internet, and the lights and shower
are solar. There are tanks above the
showers.
They
catch rainwater which goes into a big concrete box. The outhouse holes are very deep – 20 meters
– they don’t have an odor.
80% of
the veggies and some of the fruit that is consumed at Mariposa is grown
on-site.
Back down at the
school, we see horses. Most are rescued,
but a few were born here including one baby who is only 2 months old and still
nursing. Guests ride the horses once per
week.
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