Coffee Break and [Oppo] Research

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 get it running, and I'll bake breads (apple, banana, I don't know what else I can manage here) for her to sell. :)

So, in addition to a much deserved break, we were also doing research on what we think Cristina's cafe should look like and offer. Obviously, it needs some great plants and artwork. Some pretty ladies wouldn't hurt, either. ;)


P.S. My apologies. I had a funding grant application deadline earlier this week, which zapped my creative energies (ok, it zapped all of my energies). Thank God that's over! Here's to getting back on track with research, writing, and blogging!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Yamor Festival

Image
The Yamor Festival celebrates corn, and specifically, the chicha made from 7 varieties of corn (called Yamor). (I know I'm super behind in blog posts, but bear with me.) For a little more history: "The  Yamor festivities  started 52 years ago when the intercultural peoples of Otavalo blended the celebration of  Koya Raymi  (the ritual of the moon and the sun as elements of fertility) with Catholic traditions. The Municipality of Otavalo then officially instituted the Yamor festivities. The word “Yamor” refers to a traditional beverage, which is brewed using seven varieties of corn and is unique to this area. This beverage flows freely during the festivities. The indigenous groups of Kichwa Cayambi and Kichwa Otavalo that live in the Otavalo area honour the Andean agricultural cycle and especially corn, which is considered to be a symbol of fertility. Corn is the staple crop grown in the area and has become a central symbol in the cultural and religious  festival calendar of
Read more

Research has officially started

Image
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
Read more

Pijal with Archy Friends and Super Cool Tech

Image
Sunday, I went to Pijal with Pepe (host dad) and Mariauxi, where we met with Don Antonio (guide/local contact), David Brown, and Mark. It was a super fun day with academic friends who are so welcoming to me! I never feel like an outsider, even though I’m the only cultural anthropologist and have a very different focus than the rest of the group. Instead, they are all supportive of and interested in my research. David is always especially enthusiastic, making me wish more academic interactions were like this.   Pijal is of interest to archaeologists because of its raised mounds (tolas, marked below) and agricultural mounds/ridges (camellones).  The camellones are a series of mounded ridges and valleys used in agriculture to control water levels and crop production. In times with an abundance of water, people planted their crops on top of the mounds. The water in the little valleys held the warmth from the sunlight and distributed that warmth at night, allowing for more
Read more