Dinner, Anyone?

I have some fabulous guys out in my courtyard today, digging up all the weeks and other stuff that is making it ugly.  They're going to come back on Thursday afternoon to plant new stuff.  This is very exciting!

When I went out to answer a question Humberto had, I saw some kind of giant worm-like thing.  You might notice that I'm not exactly a gardener.  My technical knowledge stops right around needing to water things when it's dry.

Of course out came my camera.  Here are the beasties:

I put a key down there with them to give you something to compare them to.

Ah, they found another one.  Of course Humberto is much braver than I.  He just picks them up and tosses them over to the place where he's collecting them

Collecting them?  Yes, they're going to take them home with them.  This is a traditional food in the indigenous community.  Yep, they're going to eat them.  Humberto explained to me that they cut off the slightly fatter back half and throw that away and then eat the head and front half.  From the relatively translucent qualities of them, it appears that the back half has something like intestines ad/or poo in there.

I now know that they're call curso.  I tried to look it up on my Google Translate but there wasn't a translation for it.  When I asked, I found out it's a Kichwa word.  Kichwa is the language of the indigenous people here.  It's so beautiful to listen to.  It includes a lot of "sh" sounds and is almost musical.

I recently learned a bit of trivia.  In Star Wars, the language of the Huttites (as in Jabba the Hutt) is based on Kichwa.  They had this guy who could listen to a language for a period of time and then come up with narrative--it didn't include real words, just the sound of that language.

Watch for more landscaping photos and then it's time for Inti Raymi photos once again.

Morochos Musical Group

Last Sunday we had the opportunity to go listen to a group of musicians from Morochos.  Paige, the Peace Corp volunteer who lives up there, has been instrumental in bringing the expat community and the community of Morochos together and it has forged a bond between us that will last far beyond Paige's time here.

Meet the band.  The man playing the violin is the leader of the band and after saying a few things in English, which he had obviously practiced very diligently for quite a while, he told us, in Spanish, translated by Paige, that they wanted to come here to share their music with us because we are now an important part of Cotacachi and they welcome us here and we are to consider ourselves a part of their community.  It was very touching.

Otavalo Market

I had a chance to go to Otavalo with a friend of mine and this time I took my camera.  Enjoy.

At the "food court" at the bus terminal, this is where all the food booths get the water for doing dishes and cooking.

This is the back side of the food booth area, where the tables are for people to eat. The tables are all blue and every table is a different booth.  Next time I'll be good and get a picture of the fronts of the booths that shows the food that is for sale.

Right across from the bus terminal people have laid out their produce to sell.  We thought about going to the Café Donuts right behind them but we wanted to get a little street vendor food closer to the Plaza del Poncho.

Rats!  It was bright enough that I couldn't see the display after I took the photo so I didn't see that there was so much glare on the window but you can still see the meat hanging in the window of the butcher shop.  Yes, the part on the far left that doesn't have the glare is open to the street.

Is this fabric not beautiful.  This is the display along the side wall to help entice you to come in to purchase their wares.  The fabric isn't "cheap" by local standards but at $4/meter, it wasn't bad.  I got two meters of the bright red to hopefully get a blouse made out of it.  We'll see how it goes.

I love this mural!  It's such a shame that there is that sign right in the center of it.  It's still lovely.

These women are vendors at the market.  Until the customers show up they're sitting there working on their needlework.

The artwork is so vibrant.  It is definitely not all my style but there's something here for everyone.  I wish I'd gotten a close up of the feathers.  They're the small pieces laying on the table.  There or paintings on them.

This woman has a large variety of styles of art.  I'm particularly fond of the things in the front left corner of the table.  I have some in my house that I had framed.  They are made from homemade paper that is pressed into a mold.  The motifs are raised and a part of the paper before it is painted. They're quite lovely.

I love the colors of this stack of alpaca blankets.  The ones on the left are fairly thin but still warm. They're about the size for a double bed and you can get one for between $12 and $20 depending on whether or not you bargain at all or well.

These guys were so funny.  The one on the right was dozing when the one on the left came along and tweaked his nose.  I asked if I could take their pictures.  Sure, they said.  The one on the right kept raising two fingers as if in a peace symbol.  I discovered after I'd taken the pictures that he was asking me for $2 to take their picture.  I told him I'd give him $1 but not $2.  I figured that if I was paying for the pictures, they could pose for me so when the fellow on the left offered to pinch his friend's nose again, I pulled the camera out again and clicked away.

I have to admit, they are pretty darned cute.

I loved these adorable kids clothes.

There are a couple of things of interest in this picture.  First of all, my friend and I got some of the lovely fried things on that platter.  They're a little like donut holes but the inside of them is bright yellow-y orange and she puts half a dozen of them in a little bag and then sprinkles sugar over them, all for 50 cents.  While we were sitting on the steps eating them, the fellow to the left casually walked past carrying four chickens--they're alive.  Right here he's standing there talking with someone and just holding the chickens upside down as they pick their heads up periodically to look around.

Not all the sales people have formal booths.  This guy has all his shirts in his suitcase and he found a little patch of sidewalk and is laying things out to sell.

This street has vendors down it for several blocks.  I've never seen the whole market.  I'm guessing I've seen 1/4 of it and I've gone over 8 or 10 blocks.  Of course I always start at the same place because I start from the bus terminal.  One of these days maybe I'll just walk past these streets and explore a new part of it.  I'll take my camera and see if there's new stuff to share with you.

Again, on the way out of town, there was another vegetable display.  Unfortunately I was in a taxi and couldn't stop to see what they have.  This was on a Saturday, though, and market day here in Cotacachi is Sunday so getting fresh produce in Otavalo isn't a big priority for me.

That was my morning in Otavalo.  Oh, the reason I was in a taxi was because I'm not great at taking the bus home from there.  I might have to do it next time just so I can take pictures of people getting on the bus.  It's the most amazing thing.  These lovely, polite, timid people absolutely mob the entrance to the bus and people get totally mashed trying to get on.  If you're not good at pushing and shoving small people, you might not get on the bus.  Of course this is only on market day and only in the afternoon.  The rest of the time it's just like any other time.  For me, I'd rather pay my half of the $5 taxi ride back home than fighting the bus.

Battle of Tarqui

Today is the anniversary of the Battle of Tarqui.  In Ecuador, there are celebrations for tons of events of importance to the country, far more than in the US.

The sign says: Day of glory for the Ecuadorian Army that triumphed in Tarqui Patriots

My Young Neighbors

You may recall that there is a four-story building on the same property where I live.  On the ground floor there is a cyber cafe and the upper three floors have one apartment each.  The couple who live on the third floor have three adorable children and the other day they let me take their pictures.

If the parents don't mind, the kids always have fun with it because I let them see themselves on the back of the camera after I take each shot.  That always makes them smile and be up for more pictures.

Oh how I wish I could remember the oldest boy's name.  It's something like Ariel but that's not right.  One of these days I'll actually remember it after he tells me what it is.  I'd guess he's about 7 or 8 and he's the shyest of the three.

Presidential Election and Rent Law

Each month Dan Delgado brings all the big news from the Spanish speaking Ecuadorian community.  It may have to do specifically with things happening in Cotacachi and the immediate surrounding areas or, as in this case, more of a national view.  Whatever he reports on, it's always interesting and informative.  This one, in particular, seemed of interest to all of us who live here and those who are contemplating moving here.

I hope you find it as helpful as I did.

Expat Attitudes

I generally try to portray those things I experience here in Cotacachi and in my travels, limited as they may be.  Sometimes I talk about the realities of life that some find negative, especially when I am giving people the information I think might be helpful if they're attempting to make the decision as to whether or not they should move here.

Today I'd like to suggest you read a blog post by Lee Dubs that was on the Cuenca High Life blog last year.  It's entitled, "The Ugly American revisited: arrogance plus ignorance is a recipe for trouble as more N. American's move to Ecuador."  This is totally different than anything I've ever written but I think Lee says something that many of us recognize as a growing truth here and it's something I hope you'll read with the understanding that there are very few of us who are like that down here.  If you read this and feel that you can strongly relate to the people Lee is talking about, you might want to do a little more research before you consider making Ecuador your home.

For the rest of us, it's an interesting and, I feel, insightful article that speaks to so much more than the problems facing some expats here.

The President Comes To Town

Yesterday was a big day for Cotacacheños--President Raphael Correa came to town for a brief visit.

The president is the guy smiling almost in the center of the photo.  None of these pictures are great.  Unlike my friend, I was much further back in the crowd and was using my telephoto lens in the pitch dark with people surrounding me.  I'm just glad I got more than crowd shots.

Special Event at Morochos, Part II

As this is magically posted for me, I'm enjoying a visit to Mindo, in the cloud forest.  I will be writing about my trip there in upcoming days (or perhaps weeks, who knows?) but if you'd like to take a quick peak at what the area looks like in the meantime, if you'd like to take a quick peak at the area, the Cloudforest Ecolodge has a great site for learning more about the area.  That link takes you directly to the page for the Cloud Forest but the rest of the site has more information.  I'm not staying anywhere quite so grand but it's a lovely place to start.  If you are less interested in the descriptions and more interested in what it looks like there, just go to Google, put in "Mindo Ecuador," and click on the link for Images.  Tons of fabulous stuff there.

OK, back to Morochos!

Special Event at Morochos, Part I

In mid-December there was an event in Morochos that, among other things, was celebrating the 12th anniversary of the home sharing program in the indigenous communities (it had a lovely, official name that I didn't write down and so it is totally gone but I can get it if anyone is in need of it).

Paige is the Peace Corp Volunteer in Morochos and she makes sure we know about events up there that we might be able to support and that we'd also enjoy.  This was indeed one of them.

Fiesta de la Jora International Encounter Food Festival

Welcome back to "Cynthia Goes To Ecuador."  It's been a while since I've written--so much is happening here!  I got over my flu and I'm almost over my cold.  I've had my furniture delivered (part 1 of 2).  New friends have come from the States.  I've been shopping for my house in Ibarra. In general, I've been running around like crazy.

I have been trying to decide whether to go back and catch you up with all those photos I took for various occasions or just go forward from here.  I decided on a combination of the two.

I'll include some of my favorite events that have some fun photos and the rest I'll either fill in on the odd and sundry photo post or not share them.  I could go for a couple of months with absolutely nothing new otherwise.

The fellow in this photo was around at the Jora Food Festival and how could I not share him with you?  Well, there's more, too, of course.

Merry Christmas!

Well, here it is, the day after Christmas and I'm just getting my Christmas greetings out to you.  It seems I won't have an internet connection at my new house until this coming weekend but I'll write when I can.

A little before Christmas I happened by the park when the people from the nursing home were having an event.  I love these people!  Enjoy.

It's hard to imagine just how short most of these folks are.  I'll try to give you a little measuring hints as the photos go on.  Don't you just love Santa? It's traditional for the indigenous people to present a serious face to people most of the time until they get to know you and this woman carried it off beautifully.

Christmas Photos

Today is moving day but there is no way I can see doing a blog post after the move.  The internet connection is a wire strung from the internet cafe up front and it's a hardwire connection.  Somehow I don't see myself rigging that up so I can connect and the idea of going back to the apartment after the move just doesn't do a thing for me so I'm writing this before the move and you'll get the skinny on the move soon.

Of course I have tons of stuff I can write about in the meantime and these are some of the Christmas photos I've taken recently:

 I think this is really a very comical photo.  I took it to capture both the little girls wth their basket of flowers, Joseph, Mary, and the baby Jesus (or, in this case, both of them) but when I got it out of the camera and onto the computer screen I saw the two men behind and could help but laugh. The one on the left is obviously looking at me and is not happy that I'm taking the picture but I have no idea what the guy on the right is looking at.  The little girls are pretty somber, to

Ibarra Christmas

I was in Ibarra the other day (picking up my yarn and computer parts my friend brought me from the States) and we ended up at the main park there so, of course, I couldn't leave without some pictures.

My friend, her husband, and their daughter mugging for the camera.  They're such an adorable family.

Cotacachi Park and Procession

So, here I am with my new computer all up and running and I can write a blog post in less than half an hour, including uploading photos (assuming they are already processed) and I have pictures from events back to September--possibly earlier--I'll have to check.  How shall I handle this?  Do I got back and start writing the posts in chronological order or start with right now and move back?  It's a dilemma--a small dilemma I will admit but a dilemma nonetheless.

Here's the decision I came to--I will start with the Christmas photos I have, then I will do the ones from each day I take them.  On the days I don't have anything to photograph I'll start tucking in ones from months past. I'll probably mention this again for new readers who may be wondering why in the world I have pictures from four months ago but I wanted to share my process with you.  Please feel free to offer your opinion if you think there's a better way to handle it.  I'm always open to suggestions.

Here we go with Christmas pictures from this month. On the evening of the 16th I was on my way home from a friend's and I heard music from the park and headed down to see what was happening.  It was the first procession I had seen--possibly the first of the season but I heard a rumor that they had started the night before.  At any rate, here are a couple of procession photos:

You can see pretty much the whole procession.  As I said, these are little groups of people.  I need to do a little more research but I believe they are from neighborhoods rather than an organization of some sort.

Last of the Fiesta de la Jora Parade Photos

There's one more post to come after this one but this is the last of the photos from the parade.  Enjoy:

Not sure why this little fellow didn't get in with the kids photos but here he is in this batch.

I love these masks.  They sell tons of them at the craft markets but most of the ones seen in parades have been made by the wearers' family.

The two gentlemen in the special clothing are retired bull fighters.  They have such a regal bearing.

More dancers.  What I love about this group (and a few others) is the size of the women.  In the U.S. I've never seen anyone this size performing in this kind of group.  It's very refreshing. Of course I see evidence of a lack of concern over body image everywhere I turn here.  It's lovely to see and experience.

This guy was amazing.  He jumped, twisted, twirled around, cracked his whip, and then did it some more.  He had to have been sweltering under that mask and in those heavy clothes. He was part of the group in the last post I did but I wanted to put him in this group for one primary reason.  See the truck behind him?  See the guy crawling up on the roof while the truck is moving?  Look below.

He needed to life the wires so the truck could pass under them without breaking them.

This mask was impressive from both the front...

...and the back.  He had eyes in the back of his head.
 

This little guy seemed to be thoroughly enjoying himself.  I loved how he looked and decided to share him with you.

And of course, what kind of festival would it be without food?  This is one of the street vendors grilling her sausage and vegetable shish kebabs next to the park.  You'll see one of the vendors behind her.  There were half a dozen of them along that stretch of sidewalk.  This is where the parade ended so not only were the parade watchers able to take advantage of the food but the participants were as well.

More Fiesta de la Jora photos

Enjoy more photos from the parade.  There are a ton of them but very little text so it should be a fairly quick process if you want to see all of them (the kids follow the performers).

[One of my readers reminded me that if you click on any of the photos, you can see them full-sized and even have a little slide show.]

More dancing.

Fiesta de la Jora Parade

Way back in September we had the Festival La Jora.  There was much activity during that time but most of what I'll share is about the parade and the food event where we expats had an extremely successful table.

Not all the parade watchers were people.  Three of the much-loved dogs of Cotacachi: Gizmo, Chia, and Paco enjoyed the festivities every bit as much as their people (Debbie, Mary, and Carolyn)

Tour Company Grand Opening

Way back in July a new tour company here in town, Yuratours, had their grand opening and it was quite a bash.  They had it at Land of the Sun hotel, in their central court, complete with champagne, wine, other adult beverages, h'ors d'oeuvres, and entertainment.  The most important part was that I won a lovely flower arrangement.  Photos follow, of course:

Of course there was a bit of speechifying that had to go on for a little while.  In the midst of that, though, there was also some drawings for trips to several cities here in Ecuador.  There was also a "test."  Whoever could tell them in which cities there was a Yuratour would win a floral arrangement. (More about that later.)

Last of the Paseo de Chagra

Ah, finally, the end of the photos of the day at the parade and bull ring.  It was a long day and there were so many more photos I could have shared but I really did try to cut it down to a reasonable amount (well, reasonable for me at any rate).

These are odds and ends that didn't fit into the tidy categories I had laid out.

It's hard to guess how long this building has been here.  The thatched roof could be just about any age.

I really hadn't intended to sit directly in front of where there would be horses trotting within feet of me.  If you look carefully under the feet of that horse, you may see a line of the trail that shows where it drops off to the ravine below.  Who would think there would be a whole parade of horses wandering around back here?

The riders tied their horses up to a fence just beyond the little pink and thatched building to wait while they went and got something to eat.

Ah, yes, the offering of beer to the riders.  If you remember the fellow in the orange jacket from the parade, he was here, too, and finally gave away everything in his jug.

This young man won the award for best performance.  The woman just below is his very proud mother.

 

 The arena filled up after a an hour or so.

My camera battery needed to be charged before the end of the event so I missed out on a few interesting shots, not least of which was what would have been the last shot of the day.  When all the festivities were over I walked down to the main road in hopes of catching a taxi home.  As I arrived, there, just across the road, in a nice little line, were four or five men facing away from the road--relieving themselves in the bushes.  Gotta love it.

There was a steady stream of taxis so I got home pretty quickly.  It was a fabulous day.