This morning, we said good-bye to the Rojas family--we had grown very fond of them. Carlos' mother explained that the young man I saw studying in the patio was also working for them while going to school. She said there were many young men (varones) like him who would love the chance to work and go to school. This one is helping his mother with living expenses while he goes to school. They employ as many people in this circumstance as they can--it is not just for us, she explained, that we do this work. Carlos and his mother both run through the compound constantly, fixing this, demonstrating that. The two of them drove us to Otavalo, where we first faxed our application ($18!!!!) then had an early lunch, picked up Romel and caught the bus first to Ibarra, then to San Antonio de Ibarra, a small community of wood artisans. San Antonio is home to about three thousand artisans, mostly in wood.
Right outside the main entrance to the town is a museum and gallery of the most famous of them all. The statues are very imposing. We rode the jolting bus up, up and up to the top of the town and stopped in front of a tall gate, where our hostess, Aida Males, was waiting for us. We walked through an extensive compound accompanied by several barking dogs, one of which was Maya, the mother of two pups. Maya turned out to belong to Aida, as she followed us into the house.
Aida specializes in glass. Early in her career, she studied architecture, and the home she now lives in she designed herself. It is spacious, although with a small footprint, and airy. It has magnificent views of the surrounding mountains and the town of Ibarra, and this night, we watched the clouds creep up the mountainsides until everything was covered except her house. We had a lovely time with her, asking her about her family and her work. Her husband died in 2014, leaving her a widow with three older children, a son, Felipe, 29, and two daughters, Yamani, 22, and Anaís, 18. Felipe is a tattoo artist who lives in Quito most of the time and visits his mother once a week. Yamani is studying odontology in university, and Anaís, sound production, also in university. One thing we learned early and well is that she is always working to care for the needs of her family.
The compound is populated by various members of Aida's family as well as her mother, who is also a widow. When her father died, the land was divided up between the siblings, and now each one has his or her own house, as well as various children and grandchildren having dwellings here. It is literally one big happy family. I asked Aida about this, and she replied that like every family, they had people who were hard to get along with and people who were very easy-going. But it is clear from the way that small children appear in various houses at different times that everyone takes care of and enjoys being with everyone else.
Her brother took charge of Felipe many times when his father was unavailable, and she is very grateful--anything this brother needs or asks for, she is happy to do--haircuts or birthday cakes are no problem.
This first night we are tired from the long journey, but we sense we have met a kindred spirit here and have been welcomed in first class style.
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