We walked into town to catch the bus for a day trip today. While we were waiting, a woman maybe 80 (or less, but it's hard to tell) in indigenous dress came up to us and asked where we were from. I told her and she asked if we would give her a gift. We were glad to, just because we were happy with the day and with our surroundings. She asked God to bless us and went on her way. It isn't hard to know which was the bigger gift.
We climbed into a bus with five others and went off to visit these two villages outside Cuenca. I realized with dismay as we left the house that the soles of my walking shoes were falling off. Providentially, I found a rubber band on the sidewalk to hold the worst one on. Not to worry, our guide said, we were going to a village renowned for shoes!
It was a beautiful journey up and out of the city, everything so green from the rain. We stopped first at a workshop where they make ikat fabric. It was so startling to see a process completely similar to the one I first saw in Laos, here 11,000 miles away. The techniques came with the first inhabitants. Amazing to think that they are so ancient. The second incredible thing is how much work goes into this fabric. They take cotton thread and wind it around and around between two slender sticks until they have a good amount, maybe a foot in height and 18 inches in width. Then they take fibers that they have stripped from the agave plant and wrap them tightly around various small sections of the thread so that they will not take up dye. Most of the dyes are made from natural things, like black walnut, indigo, tiny parasites of the cactus, seed pods, coal and much more. Making the dyes takes up to three weeks. The dye bath takes days, then all the agave strips must be untied, as many as 50 or even more for one batch. It makes my head spin and my eyes roll back in my head to think about it.
AFTER all this is done and the thread dries, it is threaded onto a loom, both the regular standing kind and the backstrap are used here. It can take three days or three months, depending on the fineness of the thread and the complexity of the pattern, to weave the cloth. Then a weaver makes a complex pattern by tying the fringes together in tiers. They do no exporting in this shop, everything is sold in country, and usually to buyers who come to them. We saw a wedding gift which was more than 100 years old hanging as a display, with the words "Republic of Ecuador" woven into the cloth in reverse, that is, the letters were formed by open space rather than thread. We asked if they have patterns or anything to help them, and they just tapped their temples. "It's all up here." I remembered the woman I met in Laos who said, "Show me a pattern, and I will be able to weave it for you." How they get a few blobs of white on yards and yards of thread to form birds, flowers, chickens--anything--is beyond me. My brain just was not constructed that way!
Afterwards, we visited an orchid farm. I spied right away a sign directing us to: "Respect and protect the trees and flowers. They are the hope of an environment in danger." It is a really beautiful and tranquil place, with waterfalls, fountains and a swimming pool (empty at the moment). They have more than 5,000 varieties there, four of which they have created themselves by cross-pollination. Five people pollinate the orchids by hand, harvest the seedlings and raise them for five years. You simply cannot believe the complexity of the work and the patience and fortitude it takes to propagate one orchid, and they grow thousands. A very shy young boy took us around and explained things to us. Afterwards we went into Gualaceo town and had a very nice lunch. The salad was simple and delicious--tomatoes, onion, cucumber, and avocado. It tasted so fresh--I have not eaten vegetables so fresh in many years--maybe fifty. Yum!
The system of building a plaza in the center of the town appeals to both of us greatly. It is usually filled with benches, trees, flowers, and people, providing a spot to rest, talk with friends, a place that is held in common and cared for communally. It is the beating heart of the town, and often quite beautiful. Every town we have visited so far participates in this tradition, going back to Greek and Roman times, maybe farther, as I have little idea of Asian history. In Gualaceo we saw a row of five women sitting on a bench weaving the "Panama" hats, which are actually indigenous to this place, not Panama. They were smiling, chatting and weaving, for the most part without looking at the hat. When they are done, the hats are not quite finished. The terminal ends are sticking out and the hat has not yet taken its final shape. All of that is done in Cuenca. The women were very friendly and pleasant. Vincent took their photos and we began to wander off. A man came up to Vincent and said, "Taking a picture costs a lot of money." So he left as well. It was not at all clear that the man was in any way related to any of the women. It appeared that he was just trying to take advantage of an opportunity, as he saw it.
Finally we visited Chordeleg, "the pottery village." When I was here in 2000, there was much more pottery, and the village seemed a lot poorer. Today, there are more than 70 jewelry shops selling gold and silver jewelry, with some of the most amazing silver filigree I have ever seen, even in the Philippines--a peacock six inches high with an 6x8 inch tail! An orchid plant with two flowers and some buds nearly 18 inches high, and more. We saw some designs which we think fair trade artisans could develop and looked inside the (very ornate) church, which was behind a huge iron grate. The wood carvings on the massive church doors are so lifelike and impressive. It appeared that the addition of the jewelry businesses has brought a lot of capital to Chordeleg. Everything appeared cleaner, brighter and in better repair than it was in 2000, and the giant statue made completely of large pots had been replaced with a more modern one with glass mosaic decorations.
Our guide, Sandra, narrated many stories and legends--the origin of the Cañari people, St. Santiago of Gualaceo, the collapse of two mountains in 1993 that dammed several rivers. The collapse occurred because the two mountains had been severely undermined by digging for gold, silver, rock for construction and other things. This was a purely manmade disaster, with the floodwaters rising to more than 80 meters--some say 120 meters--until the water started reaching Cuenca. The president belatedly ordered the military to dynamite the blockade, which made things even worse than before. We saw a beautiful house constructed of varnished wooden logs--the only one that had survived the flood. How? The owners had four large oil tanks secured to the house so that it floated. It appeared that a giant tree trunk had floated with it and landed in the new front yard! If you want to discover more about it, the flood is called La Josefina and Google will serve up the story without delay.
My teachers have all told me I use the exclamation point too much, and I do. The things we saw today simply require them! By the way, I got a beautiful pair of walking shoes in Gualaceo for $35. They fit and feel like gloves on my feet.
As we left Gualaceo, we told our guide we wanted to try the traditional beverage she had described--a mixture of pineapple and other fruits called "rosero." So we stopped on the way out and each bought a glass. I spied a couple of macaroons (called "cocada" here) in the case that were calling our names, and Vincent and I ate them with gusto. He said it was the best coconut thing he had ever put in his mouth. I might not go that far, but it was very, very good.
After all the sugar, we were mostly in a coma on the way home, but it was a good day. Tomorrow is our last day here, then off to Quito. At the moment we are planning to take the double-decker bus tour. It will be good to get an overview of the whole city and be able to integrate some of the experiences we have had here. We're very glad we did this as an introduction to Spanish and to Ecuador. Wish us luck!
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