Otavalo

The day started at 5:45am with no coffee and barely any breakfast. Taylor and I met up with Amber, our friend and the other intern here with Compassion Connection, at 6:15am and waited for our bus into Quito. Two and a half hours, 3 buses and 1 metro line later we arrived at the North Quito Bus Station- Carcelen- and found our 4 bus of the morning to Otavalo. Finally after the bus dropped us off at the side of the main highway at 10:45am we found the market and first things first- we found coffee :)! After apx. 5 hrs of traveling we spent a relaxing and  pleasant afternoon in the market bartering and practicing Spanish.

The Otavalo Market is a major tourist attraction because of the beautifully detailed hand-made trinkets, art, jewelry and the brightly colored fabrics used for scarves, bags and hammocks. I hope these pictures convey the rich culture that can be found at this market in the North Highlands (Andes) of Ecuador!

Scarves for $2.50 each!!

Hammock Fabric

Typical Ecuadorian artwork on mugs.

An abundance of necklaces and colors.

Llama socks!

Old school colored pencils in real wood/ bark.

An example of the bright colors used in the artwork and that one stall can be packed full with one time of product. This one was selling many hand painted scenes from around Ecuador.

Merchants taking a break and playing a common betting game.

Futbol scarves

More bright colors.

even more bright colors and necklaces!

flutes

panama hats

"Mi madre es de las filipinas y mi padre es de hawaii"

Here is a typical conversation (translated) that I have about once a day, or about every time I met someone new from here:


person- o where are you girls from?
taylor- the United States
me- the United States
person- (with an intrigued look on their face) o really? both of you? (pointing to me) I thought you were from China. Where in the states are you from?
me- Wisconsin, it's a state kinda near Chicago, up north close to Canada
person- well where are your parents from?
me- (smiling because I knew this is what they were wondering about from the beginning) o well my mom is from the Philippines and my dad is from Hawaii (hence the title of this post)
person- o you're not from China or Japan? I thought you were
me- (still trying to be polite and smile) no. I am not. I'm from the United States
person- (still with an intrigued look on their face) o ok... well nice to meet you. bye 'Chinita' -translation: little chinese girl...

As kinda obvious with this convo, I am still getting used to the fact that people here just call people out by their physical appearances. In the states no one would ever just call me 'la chinita' because of how I look, or at least call me that and get away with it. If someone did call another person out by a racial/physical difference in the states we would label that person rude or a racist in a heartbeat, but here it is part of the culture to nickname someone just by their physical attributes. They do not mean it in any kind of racial or demeaning way. This significant cultural difference is something that I am still learning to cope with and respond to. I am not gunna lie, it's hard for me to not get mad when something thinks I'm from the movie The Karate Kid just because I am asian and happen to be wearing a belt. But the Lord is gracious and kind. He has been giving me patience to try and respond in love and through a cultural lens to people here that label me right off the bat as "la chinita". I don't think I'll ever fully be ok with it, but I am learning to see and accept it as a term of endearment in this culture. Continue to pray for patience and kindness for me as I grow in this area.

Mi Barrio

Traveling to the jungle and exploring a little bit of Quito has made me really appreciate and love my neighborhood = 'mi barrio'. It is a great little neighborhood in 'El Valle de los Chillos' which is just 30 minutes south of the city of Quito; it is not humid and hot like the jungle nor is it filled with smog and gross air like Quito. I love the 'fresh mountain' air and the fact that if you talk a walk around you can see cows, llamas, goats, pigs, ducks, chickens, cats, dogs and many puppies :) Life out here is slow paced and great- hopefully our Zumba classes won't be too much of a culture shock to our barrio de San Carlos Maria de la Torre!

A bit disorganized

So I just switched my blog from shutterfly to here so I apologize for that some of the posts are out of order and a little disorganized- but I just copied all of the posts and pictures from my old blog into this one. For the most part everything is the same EXCEPT for the new post called "photo shoot in la mariscal"

you should all check it out by scrolling down to it or clicking the title to the right :)

I hope you enjoy this blog more than the first!

Tena Pictures

la osita

osita below our house

josue, anderson and melany- my 'cousin' in mercedes' tienda

the soccer field next to the pond with rain/waste water

the stores that were upstairs in the market- all these stores produced a great smell being on the higher level with the hot Ecuadorian sun...

gone fishing for the soccer ball

part of our Saturday kids clinic in Viente- Uno

apparently people buy just the head...

my Ecuadorian family :)