Encounters in Ecuador: Stories from my "Other Country"

In 2014, I wrote: " Ecuador has created these campaigns for the past few years to promote the country worldwide and increase tourism. Last year was 'Ecuador ama la vida' (Ecuador loves life). This year is 'All you need is Ecuador.; This symbol [the colored tiled] ties in to the campaigns somehow; it's on everything!" It seems as though " Ecuador ama la vida" has made a comeback, and I haven't seen a more recent slogan. During my last trip,  I thought these slogans/campaigns were an interesting way to try to promote the country and increase revenue from tourism. The more I talk to people who live in Ecuador, however, the less certain I am that Ecuadorians appreciate these slogans. They are generally described as "propaganda," and I can definitely see why: they are everywhere !! Crafts, billboards, food packaging, etc. What do you think?

As with most Wednesdays and Saturdays, I spent most of my day in the Plaza de Ponchos. I was talking with a friend/contact/collaborator, who told me her niece was leaving the next day for Mexico, which was news to me, despite her niece also being my friend/contact/collaborator. So, I marched over and demanded to know what was going on. She relented that she was in fact leaving the next day and would probably be in Mexico for a year or so to sell handicrafts/artesanías there. I actually hadn't met her in person until this visit because she had been in Mexico before selling handicrafts. She also told me to keep my voice down because the neighbors were gossips, or chismosas. Funnily enough, that's also the word to refer to the iconic image of indigenous Ecuadorian woman, generally seen from behind, huddled together. Chismosas feature heavily in paintings, tapestries, cards, etc. [visit my house to see a chismosas painting in the living room] I was sad to not have more t...

Last Saturday (8/19/17), I went to Zuleta with Pepe and Mariauxi. Our trip there and back was like a joke just waiting to be told. We came across a chicken who was indeed crossing the road; a piglet on a journey; and a full-grown pig escaping after the rainstorm (or as Mariauxi said, he was making sure he wouldn't be dinner that night!). I don't know what exactly the joke is, so for funsies, you let me know. In Zuleta, we met with David Brown, Mark Willis, and Chet who were doing an archaeological survey of the 100+ mounds on the hacienda. Mark was using drones to be able to create a 3-D map/model of the site, and Chet was running the magnetometer over the mounds to detect what might be under the grass and soil of the mounds (ex: burials, structures, etc.). David, Mark, and Chet had also worked at Cochasquí. If you look on the lefthand side of the picture, you can see a small light figure that is Chet. The mounds are a lot more impressive in person, but alas, this is the ...

Tuesday, I went into town with Cristina to run some errands. After standing in line for 40 minutes at the bank, we decided we'd earned a coffee break. Taking time out of your day for un cafecito (or tea) with friends or family is an important part of the culture here. And if that coffee break happens to last a couple hours, that's completely acceptable. When you visit someone's house (even if unannounced), you can expect to be given a snack and either coffee or juice. We stumbled on this cute little cafe, and we weren't disappointed. Cristina thought it would be a great place to sell her cards. The owner is American, and the cafe seems to target both locals and foreigners. Cristina wants to open a cafe on the little patio in front of their house, but Pepe doesn't love the idea. [In his defense, they do have a lot of irons in the fire, but as the saying goes, if you want something done ask a busy person.] I'm all for it! I told her to hurry up and...

On our way home from Cochasquí on Friday, I looked up and realized Taita Imbabura was smoking. Concerned to see smoke coming from the peak of a volcano, I asked Pepe was going on. At first, he thought Taita Imbabura was just cloud-covered (pretty common), but he explained that people sometimes set fires to kill the vegetation on the mountains here. Since the altitude of the peak is too high to grow anything, I was confused as to why anyone would bother clearing vegetation, but I didn't get more of an explanation from Pepe, who was disgusted with the people responsible for being wasteful and ignorant. I wrote the incident off as sad, and maybe a little scary, but ultimately assumed it was under control. Cut to Sunday, when we took a family visit to the Echeverria's land in Pucara Alto, and Imbabura was still smokin like Jim Carrey in The Mask . In the picture below, the dark part of the lower right peak is where all the vegetation had burned off. It was impossible for local fi...

Pepe asked me to go to an archaeological site with him, and I'll admit I felt guilty about taking time from my research (I was sick Monday and Tuesday, and I spent yesterday frantically working on a grant app, so I already felt like I was neglecting my research). But he promised me there would be llamas and said we could talk to some people about textiles. Sold. Boy, did he deliver!! We went to Cochasqui, an early mound site that also has some museums.  Here is a "typical" ancient house, made out of traditional materials (thatched roof, wooden frame, adobe bricks with spackle).  For my archys, I promise, it was a legit site. Here's some of the cool stuff they've already found. There were at least 5 more sites currently being excavated. Thanks to my stint "helping" Karen, I at least felt like I knew what they were doing and could fake my way through a decent conversation. I know it's cloudy, but check out that view behind the mounds...

Friday, I went to the Primera Feria de Integración (the first annual fair featuring services, crafts, and micro-enterprises) in Ibarra. It was in Parque Boulevar, the place where I thought Fanny was going to kill me on our "little walk in the park," for those of you who read my previous blog. In the past, the park was an airport, but it was converted into a park because it wasn't used much. I had expected the feria to be something sort of like Crook Farm at home, but this was very different. They had food, plants, clothes, jewelry, shoes crafts, even cleaning services, a stand selling water purifiers, and a sound stage. And somehow, there were Jehovah's Witnesses just down from us. Here is Cristina with her cards, and right next to us was a stand with handmade stuffed animals, paintings, and magnets.  And mom, they even had Tupperware! It was certainly an adventure in disorganization! When we arrived, we had to stand in a crazy long line to get a p...

On Thursday, I finally got to hang out with Blady!! Along with his friend, Francisco, we went to Cuicocha. It was fun to visit again, since the last time I was there was in 2009 with Jason, Carla, and Cristina. It looks pretty much the same, but this time, it was sunny and hot. Instead of taking a boat ride like before, we walked around the mountain for about 30-45 minutes. There is a trail that circles the lake, but it requires 4 hours of hiking. Blady joked we were going to do that, and I told him he'd have to call my mom and tell her I had died for his pleasure. That won me the argument. According to my Vivofit, I didn't walk very far, but climbing up and down a mountain (even on a trail) is hard work! It was actually kind of relaxing, even though I was working hard to keep up with the boys. But it was absolutely worth it because the views were breathtaking! At one point, this was a taller mountain peak, but when the volcano erupted, a left a crater th...