Encounters in Ecuador: Stories from my "Other Country"

Friday morning, I went with Cristina to Ibarra. They are holding a sort of handicraft festival Aug 4-6 at the Cultural Center in Ibarra, and Cristina will participate in it because of the cards and artwork she makes. They wanted to take pictures to promote the event. We rushed out the door to make it on time, only to wait around for an hour, before finding out that they had moved the photo op to Monday. Whoops! At least we spent some time looking around the area, talking with Cristina's friend Monica, and eating some delicious empanadas! There were some incredible murals and carved wooden statues, as well as glass cases featuring handicrafts with textual explanations, all around the Cultural Center. Here's the event flier, too. On the way back from Ibarra, I stopped in San Antonio to visit Fanny, and I also got to spend time with Andrea's parents, Ivan and Lupita, at their store. We went out for lunch, which Fanny described as "tasting better because we a

Traveling some in a foreign country is always interesting. I wish I could say I'm totally fearless, in control, and never make mistakes, but that's a dream. Maybe someday... My 2 day adventure to Quito and back to Otavalo was an adventure in itself! Wednesday had an interesting start. I had to go to Quito to meet with a professor who is lending me support. The night before, Pepe had drawn me a map after he and Cristina discussed the best way for me to get to the university. The final decision: 3 buses and a taxi. Cristina waited at the bust stop with me and sent me off on bus #1. I definitely felt like a little kid being put on the bus on the first day of school. I sat down in the first available seat, next to a sleeping man, who promptly woke up to spend some of the longest 7 minutes of my life shameless hitting on me. He called me beautiful so many times the word lost its meaning; pleaded with me to move to Ecuador permanently; and begged me to be together fo

On Sunday, we went to see an historic church because Pepe is working on a map with various historical and archaeological sites (houses, buildings, etc.). For all of my archys, it was a legit visit; I helped take the GPS coordinates so it can be properly marked on the map.  The church has obviously been is disuse for a long time, but the setting was stunning. The view into the valley and of the surrounding valleys was absolutely breathtaking. While at the site, a parade of cows, dogs, and people walked past to get to their field. I know they were on a mission, but to see them all in a line like that was rather comical. Right behind the old church is a huge meat processing plant that isn't open yet, and behind that you can see the Andes. The two most famous mountains in this region are Taita Imbabura (Father Imbabura; ~15,000ft high) and Mama Cotacachi (~16,000ft high), the tops of which are normally hidden by clouds and sometimes covered in snow. They are e

Lest you think I only hang out in the market, I thought I'd post some fun pictures from today. While walking around town with Pepe, I saw this Shawarma restaurant. Y'all, I know where the Avengers are headed next!!! Finally, a Marvel movie set in Latin America! I convinced Pepe to go in an antique store, and we found some cool stuff! "The finest merchandise on sale today! Come on down!" You can do some serious cooking in these copper pans! Pat, maybe you need one of these to feed your family :P Why buy new religious figurines when you can have ones that come with history? Check out this old loom! Man, it would be cool to weave on this! I've found the perfect soaking tub. Now, I just need to get it to the US. I don't think it'll fit in the overhead compartment... (Yes, I'm making a Graham Mexico sink reference here)

Today, we ate at a restaurant that had some great historical photos on the wall (pink background), which made me think it might be a good idea to provide some background info on the history of Otavalo (where I am currently staying and where the Plaza de Ponchos is located). San Luis de Otavalo, commonly called Otavalo, is located in the Imbabura Valley of the Andes Mountains, which run down the center of Ecuador. Otavalo is located north of Quito, the capital, and close to the Colombian border. As of 2001, the town of San Luis de Otavalo had a population of approximately 26,000 ( Meisch 2002:10); according to Ecuador’s 2010 census, the cantón of Otavalo has a population of 104,874, which includes a larger area than simply the town of Otavalo ( Instituto 2010). There are several small communities in the Imbabura Valley, all populated by indigenous people (in addition to mestizos , or people of mixed race, and whites) known as the Otavalo. Despite the different names of

I went into town today to activate my cell phone and look for a family I know in the Plaza de Ponchos (harder than it sounds because the market is freaking HUGE). I found the family and spent the day with them, which means MY RESEARCH HAS OFFICIALLY STARTED!! Side note: If you have a smart phone and have whatsapp (it's free. Download it), leave me a comment or send me a smoke signal or something, and I'll give you my number. On my way to the market, I passed a bunch of stores, which all seemed to sell Fidget Spinners. If you're a teacher, parent, or human living near children, you're familiar with these. Turns out, there's no escape. Some of you are familiar with the Plaza from my previous trips; most of this post maybe isn't for you. For my newbies, you're in luck because I'm going to write about it.  The market is amazing! I love hanging out there! Seriously, my research in 2014 allowed me to spend a month there (and a ton of money on the

First, and foremost, I want to issue a giant THANK YOU to everyone who has supported, encouraged, prodded, and put up with me on my long journey to start my dissertation research. I genuinely wouldn't be here without all of you, and I am so grateful to literally have an entire community behind me! In addition to my family sendoff, the wonderful ladies from the Allegheny Mountain Cloggers (who have graciously welcomed me into their group since January) sent me off with carrot cake ("Good luck on your adventure, Katie) and best wishes. It was so touching! As promised, pictured below are some of the awesome ladies who put up with me when I want to do the crazy fast clogging routines. After being stuck on the runway in Atlanta for an extra hour due to some weather and rerouting issues yesterday, I was glad to finally arrive in Quito! I watched 2.5 movies before I just couldn't care anymore and attempted to sleep (though the toddler/her dad next to me made that nearly imp