Papito the Weaver

One of our favorite people in Ecuador is Papito. He is Susana´s father, and the nicest, happiest man I have ever met. I don´t think that any of us have ever seen him without a huge grin on his face. Papito is also a weaver, and an interesting one at that. He takes the discarded ends of cloth left over from higher volume clothes makers and brings it home. He then unravels all of the thread and re-spins it and weaves it into really cool, warm, and durable blankets. He has a hand loom that he runs, which (as you can see), barely fits into one of the rooms in his house. You can see the pedals under the loom that he pushes to switch the threads back and forth to make the blankets.

We really haven´t made a pitch for anyone´s business down here. but Papito will be the exception to the rule. He makes all of this from scratch, and on his hand loom. All of the blankets used by the family are made by Papito. And we love him. If anyone wants to buy one of these cool blankets, please let us know. They are $15.
















Here is Papito in place for work, showing the shuttle. Note the gigantic grin.
















So, if I am remembering correctly, he pushes the shuttle through that triangle made by the different layers of thread, then pushes the pedals to make the layers switch places, and they pushes the shuttle back from the other side. And again and again and again.




Here is the spindle that Papito uses to spin the thread (or yarn, I´m actually not sure which) to make the blankets.

Padrinos

One night while we were eating dinner, there was a knock at the door. Susana´s sister and her husband had come, with nearly all of Susana´s extended family, to ask that Carlos and Susana be the godparents of their two daughters that were to be baptized. In Otavalo, this is an elaborate affair. Each family member brought in huge baskets and bags of food. This included the huge sack of potatoes that you seen here, as well as bunches of bananas, bread, and both cooked and live guinea pigs and chickens. They placed all of the goods in front of Carlos and Susana, while everyone else sat around in a circle, and then they asked them to be the godparents. This is a lot of stuff, and it comes out to a lot of money, especially for what they make on their salaries. But this is the tradition, and very important for them. Unknowingly, we had run into them a week earlier (remember the huge pig in the animal market post) when they were selling their pig. They had sold it just to be able to afford to ask for godparents.  

















It was a very touching family affair, and we felt so neat to be a part of it. It was even cooler that it happened while David and Joan were visiting, and that they could feel a part of the family. After Carlos and Susana accepted, the guinea pig and chicken (the cooked ones) were broken out and passed around. I know Joan was especially glad she got to try guinea pig while here...

One important part of every family gathering is the passing of the drinks. For families that don´t drink alcohol, soda is the main drink. One person takes the bottle of soda and one glass and goes around to each person. The server fills up the glass and gives it to someone, who chugs the drink, save for a small amount at the bottom of the glass which they pour on the ground for mother earth, and passes it back to the server. Carlos also asked me to do the honor of passing around the cola. Everyone thought this was great. Here I am passing the first drinks to the parents of the girls who were to be baptized.   

One interesting tradition here is the taking home of food. To every party or family gathering is brought a staggering amount of food. The neat thing is that everyone brings food with the expectation of taking some home. Here is Mario, Susana´s brother in law, eating one plate and keeping the two additional plates in front of him that he plans on taking home for later. More often than not, people bring old plastic bags and dump the plates into the bags to carry home. All the food gets mixed together in a delicious kind of casserole. More than a few times we have had these leftover meals, where you get a mix of corn, beans, mote, chicken, pork and who knows what else. Mix it with a bit of lard and stir fry it. Yummy.    

Carlos's Flower Farm

Carlos works at a flower plantation. A staggering number of flowers are shipped from northern Ecuador to the US and around the world every year. During the weeks leading up to holidays like Valentines day and Mothers day, he has to work really long hours and over the weekends. We had asked Carlos if it would be possible to visit the flower farm one day, and he came through for us, while David and Joan were here for a visit. It was awesome. Even though it was just a short while after Valentines day, and Carlos had tried to apologize for lack of flowers, the quality and number of beautiful roses amazed us. Now I am forgetting the exact numbers, but I think that every 30 days, a new rose comes up from each stem. And they are long. 


















Susana never before had the opportunity to visit Carlos at work, so we were so glad that she could come along. The only reason we got to go was because Carlos told his boss that gringos wanted to visit and he thought that there was a possibility we would be rich businesspeople from the US who might buy more flowers. There were beautiful flowers like the one that Susana is holding that weren´t good enough to pack for export.



















Here is another shot of the long, beautiful roses. They put a soft bag over the biggest, best looking buds. They explained that if there is just a slight bit of resistance to the head of the flower, it will grow even bigger. It of course made me think of muscles and training. It also made me contemplate our time down here in Ecuador. It has at times been quite difficult, as we try and adjust our lives to not only the difficulties of living in such humble circumstances, but also the difficulties of Amy and the kids as they learned to communicate with our new family and friends. At times it has felt like more than just a slight bit of resistance, but the effect on us has been enormous. Our outlook on life has been eternally altered, our ability to confront new and difficult circumstances has been improved, and our relationships have been strengthened. I am so proud at what my family has accomplished here (and thank my lucky stars for a forgiving and accommodating wife).  















Here is the result of all the hard work in the fields - bunches of beautiful roses packed and ready for export. You can also buy a bunch of these long-stem roses in Otavalo for $2.50. Sorry ladies, and please wipe the drool off of your chin.

Traditional Instruments

One day we decided to take both sets of kids to see one of the first families that traveled overseas to play traditional Andean music. Those who have lived or visited larger cities have probably seen the groups playing pan flutes and wearing ponchos. Anyway, they gave us a demonstration of how to make a flute (right there on the spot). The kids seemed to enjoy it. 













Here you can see the collection of different flutes and guitars and other instruments they play. The big tall ones in the corner are either long tubes that they blow into, kind of like the yodeling ones, or long rain sticks.















After they did a demonstration of flute making, they got together and played a little something for us.















They were amenable to us giving the instruments a whirl. Needless to say, we didn´t quite sound as good, although we probably had more fun. Also, note the armadillo to the right of my head. Yep, they still make some small guitars, like the ones Josue and Audrey and I are playing, out of the backs of armadillos.

Peguche Falls, Round II

One interesting thing we have observed in some developing countries is that, probably due to the lack of leisure time and funds, many people don´t ever get to visit the attractions that are almost at their back door. We learned that Carlos had never visited Peguche Falls, and we had to take him. Here is Carlos and some of the kids, taking in the cool waterfall view. 


















We all know that Grandpa is adventurous, but we had to put this in just to prove it. Probably to the angst of Joan, David just had to climb up the wet, slippery trail to the top of the falls to get a better look.















And here is a shot of our awesome host family. We honestly cannot say enough great things about them. They are wonderful hosts and amazing people. If anyone ever decides to visit Ecuador and Otavalo, you have to let us know and drop by to say hi for us. They will remain in our hearts forever.



















And here is another shot of our family, together with the partially hidden grandparents. You will note that although the two family shots are taken from almost the exact same place, the angles are completely different. You can probably guess why; I took one picture and Monica (the teenage daughter who is shorter than Jorie) took the other.

Cool Park and Picturesque Grains

Otavalo is know throughout South America for the creativity of its craftsmanship. One trip to the plaza on Saturday bears this out, with a bewildering array of crafts and textiles. But it doesn´t end there. You´ll remember a couple of posts back that we took a trip to see a woodcarver. We met him at a park that was close to his house. At first glance we thought that the park had some really odd statues or something. But at closer look, we realized that the statues were actually giant hummingbirds, with slides running down their backs. As viewed from the side, there is a ladder (Jorie is at the bottom) that climbs up through the throat to just behind the neck. That is where the slide starts.

Here is a back shot showing the slide. You can also see better from this angle that the hummingbird is in the act of drinking nectar from a flower. All of this is made out of cement. Crazy.





On a totally different note, we return to Amy´s picture taking abilities, and the wide array of things here to showcase in photographs. When we want to buy any type of dry goods (grains, corn, beans, flour, etc), we head to the inside of the market, not far from the fruit stand where we get fruits and vegetables. The goods are all found in large sacks, open at the top for running your fingers through to test the quality and consistency. This is a great shot of the selection, and would actually make a great puzzle (for you puzzle aficionados).  

Amy's Flowers

Amy loves to take pictures of flowers. Luckily, we happen to be living in a place where there are a lot of absolutely gorgeous flowers. I keep talking about the variety of the flora here, but it really is amazing. Here are a couple of flower pictures that Amy has recently taken. Seeing things like some of these flowers reminds me again that nature has the upper hand when it comes to unique and beautiful creations.  

Mindo - La Reina

Despite the frequent stops to oooh and aaah over the jungle life, we actually made it to the waterfall. This part was the last test before viewing the falls. It consisted of a large tree trunk that had been pushed up against the top of this small waterfall and then had crude steps carved into it. There apparently had been some handrails at some point, but they were mostly gone the way of the jungle (rotted). I went ahead and tried to push together some rocks and tree trunks so that hopefully we wouldn´t have to get completely soaked before the hike back. 

Grandpa was kind enough to take another family picture on the tree trunk ladder. Just look at the variety of plants solely within the scope of this picture. Simply amazing. I have read somewhere (I know, I am bad at looking up and quoting references) that in some places in the south american jungles there exist more species within a square mile than there are within the whole United States.

Here is another shot by Amy looking down the tree trunk ladder. The kids are having the time of their lives.
















Finally, we arrived at the Reina. We were in Mindo during the rainy season, so the water level was really high. We made a crap-we-have-kids-we-probably-shouldn´t-do-it decision to not walk up the fast current to the actual base of the falls. Instead we enjoyed the view from this cleft in the rock and then headed back.











We took this shot going back down the tree trunk ladder because it showed Grandpa in action and hopefully helps him feel like he is still young and can do cool things. At least, that is what I want my kids to do when I am older and not so spry.

Mindo - Hike to La Reina - Fauna

I think I have read somewhere that beetles make up a disproportionate number of species in the world. Seeing what we have while living here has most assuredly borne that statement out. In Otavalo, there are some really just freaking huge beetles. Like the size of small pill bottles. Here in Mindo, there were just some really strange looking ones.  The most amazing thing I saw we were unable to capture on film. It was a tiny bright blue flying fairy. I swear. It had a tiny, slim body, kind of like a miniature dragon fly flying upright instead of horizontally. And it just kind of hovered in the air, with translucent blue wings. I promise, it looked just like those little fairies on the covers of the books that Audrey reads. 


















This was one of the cooler beetles we saw. It is hard to tell from this photo, but the metallic blue spot on its back was actually very bright and shimmering.  And it looked just like a pill with some legs and antenna.















We also saw some pretty big centipedes, or milipedes, or whatever they were. It is said that nature tends to color red those things that are poisonous or otherwise dangerous. It was not moving all that fast, so I put together another rough scientific measurement photo.















This worm with many legs was the non-lethal cousin of the former. I thought about taking it home and toasting it up to see if I could augment my protein intake, but the kitchen at our rented house was sub-par.

Mindo - Hike to La Reina - Flora

The variety of plants we saw on this hike was simply amazing. Due to lack of high-speed uploading capability here, I´ll just post some of the most unique examples. Here we have a flower. Not your typical garden varitey. It was a hollow tube, around a couple of inches long, with moist, sticky nectar in the middle. Jorie was enthralled by it, and I think I remember calling it her baby.















This was a somewhat similar tubular variety of flower, but these were more bulbous and bunched together. I had the distinct impression that I should hold it up to Amy´s face and squeeze the little bulb, just to see what shot out at her. But then reason gained the upper hand, I remembered all of the movies where jungle plants carried poison that would paralyze unsuspecting tourists, and I decided I should probably not.  



















This was Bentz´s favorite. It looked something like a fruit, crossed between an apple and a pear, when hanging on a tree, but then it would open up its fleshy sides like a flower and show its ribbed interior.



















Awesome hanging red flowers. Not much else to say, other than it is so amazing to see the unique non-intuitive niches that the many and varied plants must carve out in order to survive.