Gutierrez Zamora, Veracruz is the birthplace of Mexican Vanilla. It is said Cortez when he took his spoils back to Europe, Veracruz being his primary route, included gold, silver, chocolate, and vanilla.
Vanilla is a member of the orchid family. The plant flowers the months of March, April, and May, and it is carefully grown through December when it is harvested. During the months of January and February, the beans are tediously dried and turned making sure there are no mushrooms growing on the beans while they are drying.
The hammock culture is very interesting in that it involves a large process from the products development to the end user. The manufacturing of Trova Hammocks does not include a large factory where people come to work everyday, but the hammocks are made in Mayan homes in the Yucatan. The hammocks are fairly traded in that the materials are delivered to the homes of the families, in certain communities, where on average the body of a hammock a day is made. Next, the hammocks are taken to another pueblo where the arms are put on the hammocks by other families. This is done for consistency and checks and balances. After the hammocksare complete, the families are paid a fair price to compensate for their time and patience to help them sustain their families and live more comfortably. Finally, the hammocks are delivered to Trova´s warehouse in Merida where they are inspected three times, repaired if needed, packaged, and delivered to the end user.
Blake with Mayan Family
The culture of the hammock does not only include the people that enjoy lying in their hammocks relaxing, reading their favorite books, and taking siestas, but it also includes over 500 families feeding their children, sending their children to school, and maintaining a comfortable and sustainable lifestyle in the beautiful and special towns of the Yucatan.
Palacio MunicipalSan Cristobal is one of the most beautiful cities in Mexico. After being in Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala, Mexico seems like a first world country. It has been ten years since my first visit of San Cristobal. Since then, the city has developed enormously from the sleepy little town I remember; however, the city has done a great job of preserving its old buildings with the arrival of Sam´s Club and Dominoes Pizza. Some of my favorite buildings in the world include: Templo de Santo Domingo, Iglesia de Merced, Templo de San Francisco, and Iglesia de Santa Lucia.Templo de Santo Domingo
Barro negro from Trova Imports is made in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico outside Oaxaca city in San Bartolo Coyotepec. The mud (barro) is brought down from the mountains of the Sierra Madre de Oaxaca on the back of mules. Originally orange, in color, the mud is soaked in water for days to weeks or until it is the right consistency for molding pottery (candle holders, vases, decorative figures, and hudreds of more objects) using primitive tools such as bottle tops, points of pens, nails, ect. Once the object has been molded, it is placed in a kiln, where through oxidation, the orange mud turns black. It is then polished and sold in the market.
The barro negro industry supports the indigenous communities in San Bartolo. Most of the barro negro in Oaxaca comes from San Bartolo Coyotepec.
In Nicaragua has its own barro negro called ceramica negra. The process for making the pottery is the same, but the designs are different. This pottery comes from Mategalpa, Nicaragua, and it also supports the local artisans in preserving thier art and traditions.
Four years ago I bought a house and started an import company of hand-made products from Latin America. The first trip was in my 1976 VW bus from Austin, Texas to Merida, Yucatan. On the way, I hit a buzzard, the roof blew off the top of my bus, and my accelerator broke in the middle of Tampico (Luckily my buddy Q told me to take an extra cable). I ended up at the border with a bus full of hammocks and no broker. Picture a line in the X-ray machine consisting of 18-wheeler, 18-wheeler, VW, 18-wheeler, 18-wheeler, etc.
During the adventure and frustration of starting a company, I also refurbished a house where I lived in the root cellar for six months while I got rid of the termites and finished one room to put a mattress on the floor. The idea was for me to rent out the house while I traveled to Latin America setting up contacts for Trova. Four years later the dream lives on, and I am renting out the house and, once again, moving all of my belongings into the root cellar.
Trova Imports was started to promote the economies of indigenous communities of Latin America. All of Trova’s products are fairly traded helping to sustain the economies, art, and traditions of the indigenous communities of Latin America.
Welcome to the TrovaBlog. This blog will focus primarily on the economies of indigenous communities in Central America and Mexico starting January 1, 2009. The blog will be maintained by Blake Smith President of Trova Imports Inc. www.trovaimports.com He will be record indigenous economies and communities in Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico until March 2009.
