Las Guapas de Jucuapa Centro

Last week of May, 2006. Jucuapa Centro (close to Matagalpa), Nicaragua. A place where the day starts at 4:00 and slowly winds to a stop with the setting of the sun. Where the transportation/communication system consists of one bus that goes to Matagalpa at 6:00 and one bus that comes at 3:00 (that's according to the hour of the sun and not the new hour "imposed" by the government, they like to inform you). The people are people (I don't want to insert the classic..."they were so friendly and happy") and it was lovely to be welcomed into their community and taken seed hunting, fed well and sitting in hammocks as the sun went down.

So here we are, creating a gigantona, a giant dancing woman, in the community of Jucuapa Centro, about half an hour of Matagalpa, Nicaragua. It took them 5 days to create her from the paper mache hands and head to the beaded seed jewellry to the wooden base and flour sack hair and by the end they had the guapa of Jucuapa centro (the beauty of Jucuapa Centro). We started, through a 3 hour long brainstorm with the women of the community, trying to represent the community through the gigantona and what came out the other end was a symbol of a liberated dancing woman. These women are "pilas" (batteries).

"She wears an apron but she can still go out dancing."

Step by step...day by day...

The paper mache mask made of chicken wire glue and paper took a little coaxing on my part...one girl really really really didn't want to get glue on her hands.

But the sewing didn't seem to fase them...even skirts of 10 meters of fabric and shirts of 3 meters.

The seeds and beans and corn from their community. With these the gigantona turned a little hippy-ish, I hope that's not my influence.



Francisco, the man who taught me about the moon, religion and the 6 year long electricity project in their village (they still have to buy candles every week though they put in posts and wires years ago...yay development projects). He helped us with the frame and taking apart a sack for the hair, I bribed him with cigarettes but it probably wasn't necesary. His little boy Berman was the champion marbles player in his school. These two gentlemen won my heart.

Jeronima, the partner of Francisco and mother of Berman, doing a dress rehearsal without the dress. Made the best corn tortillas I tasted on my entire trip (at 4:30 in the morning).

Me...with a woman taller than myself. Now I know what it feels like to get a hug with your face in someones chest and fit under an armpit.