Right after breakfast, Carlos agreed to finish our interview with him. He is such a busy guy! I always see him running, upstairs, downstairs, through the patio. He always smiles and greets us. We were delighted to have pinned him down.
No sooner had we agreed on this, Sonita and Francis, the couple from France asked for a ride to Otavalo, so Carlos turned to us, asked, "Is it okay? I'll be back in an hour." We are learning that the key to the tranquility of Ecuador is flexibility. Of course we said yes. Of course it was more than an hour, but we had reports to write anyway.
Carlos is the third generation in the family in the hat-making business. His grandfather started it in 1923. Zoila, Carlos' mother, started working in the business at fourteen. She remembers walking to the town with her grandfather, the hats stacked on the backs of burros. That must have been a sight! She grew up, got married, and carried on the business, even through the time of her husband's desertion when Carlos was quite young. She's a strong, strong woman, and the business really grew under her leadership. In 2002, Carlos took over the administration from his mother after completing his studies in business management at the university.
Their business is thriving. Their sales grew over 50% last year and they are still growing. They make hats from straw, wool and leather in about 30 different styles each year, many of them new. Carlos was very kind to show us lots of the processes of making the hats today, although none of the workers were here on this Saturday. He remarked that it was important to keep sales going strong, not only for him and his family, but for the many other families who have income from the work. Zoila explained that they have many young workers from the surrounding area who are still in school, but working to support their mothers and siblings. They are absolutely delighted to be able to help the young men in this way.
Carlos' wife died two years ago, leaving him with two sons, Michael, 8 and Sebastián, 6. He hopes that someday they will grow up to take over the business. He also hopes that in the interim, he can find a woman to help him move the business forward. I got the sense that his wife had been very active with him in the enterprise.
The whole Rojas family is so hospitable! Sonita and Francis are clients of theirs from France--they have been here about two weeks. Carlos and his family host them every year as they pick out hats for sale in the winter months in France. Another client we met later today is Vilia, from Lithuania, who is also a customer of Carlos. When we first arrived, Zoila was very concerned that we would have the food we like (Vincent is a vegetarian and I am lactose reluctant, if not completely intolerant.) We really have felt welcome here, and a part of things if we wished to be and left to ourselves if we preferred that. They could not be kinder!
After lunch, we rode the bus to Otavalo market again, our third visit. The home office wants us to acquire some samples for them. We were astonished to realize that not everything on offer is the same all the time. Afterwards we had lunch at the American cafe and rode home to Ilumán on a very jouncy and crowded bus. Poor Vincent, with his tall self, kept hitting his head on the ceiling of the bus.
When we arrived home, it was nearly time for Francis and Sonita to go to the airport. Although they are leaving at 7 p.m. or so, they won't arrive in Strasbourg until 10:00 tomorrow night. Long journeys are so hard! We have really enjoyed getting to know them a bit through our fractured English/Spanish/German trans-language. We will miss Sonita's bright laughter and Francis' steady good will and support.
All in all, since we arrived, we have been becoming steadily more at home. Having that in place allows us to begin to allow other topics to arise, such as what we will do when we arrive home in April. I am also working on releasing the captive inner self that I have so rejected and ignored for all these years. It feels as if I may return home a different, freer person. Certainly I have taken a huge leap into the unknown just coming here where I speak the language so poorly, but I know that my work--our work here will bear fruit in bettering the lives of many artisans in the way that the universe works, so I am content. To be at home wherever you are, that is the goal.
Showing posts with label kindness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kindness. Show all posts
Thursday, March 12, 2015
Monday, March 2, 2015
Tuesday, Feb. 24 Pilgrims in Peguche
A morning of confusion and schedule changes. Albert and Magdalena drove us to Otavalo with their goddaughter, a cheerful woman who talked more than an hour without pausing for breath. We drove through the small town of Cayambe which is absolutely bustling with building fever. It reminds me of some of the valleys in northern California, very beautiful, mostly rural, not very far from Otavalo. I could maybe live here, I think, at least part of the year. (Very tentative statement here--not sure I could stand missing family and friends). Albert stopped so that we could try bizcochos, which were amazing with dulce de leche (like caramel). We arrived in Otavalo around noon, Albert picked up Romel, the country rep here, and dropped the three of us off in Peguche. Romel introduced us, promised to meet with us soon and left us with a charming couple who apologized because Romel had indicated we were coming on Thursday, two days later!
Carlos and Sulema, we soon discovered, are just wonderful people. We catapulted right into a full-scale interview lasting about two hours. They both speak a little English from their travels in the U.S. and Europe selling clothing and performing music. Their primary language is Kichwa, the indigenous tongue spoken by the Incas. As is typical with many indigenes, Sulema and her two daughters, indeed, all the women of the family wear indigenous dress. Carlos and his son and brother-in-law wear U.S. casual attire--t-shirts and jeans. Ironically enough, I learned that the indigenous dress of both women and men derives from Spanish costumes of two hundred years ago, when the people were still hoping to win their freedom from slavery. No one but historians knows this, of course, so the customs--and the costumes--continue.
The women's outfits consist of a long, slim white skirt with a black outer skirt split up both sides. This is supported by a woven and embroidered belt wrapped several times around the waist and tucked at the terminal end back into itself. The blouse is white, with frilly 3/4 sleeves and a ruffle around the neck. It is typically embroidered all around the neckline and both sleeves, sometimes also the ruffle. Their black hair is braided and wrapped part way around the braid is a thin, embroidered cotton ribbon. It is traditional to wear many gold chains around the neck and gold earrings. It is not real gold, of course. It was only real when gold was $35 an ounce. They wear sandals with a sling back and black felt uppers. The boys, I am told wear white sandals in the identical pattern. This outfit makes every woman look beautiful, in my honest opinion.
The work of this family centers around tie-dyeing clothing. Carlos' father is a weaver and Sulema's family has been into clothing construction for generations. The story of how they met is quite unusual. He was born in Otavalo, she in Peguche, two or three miles away. There was no chance they would meet in Ecuador. In 1994, they were both in Holland at an international fair selling Andean clothing. They met and the relationship continued to grow when they returned home. They married four years later and have been living in Peguche ever since. Carlos and she started their own business when they married, and they love what they do, love working together--in fact, Carlos' favorite part of the business (other than making sales) is the back-and-forth of creating clothing designs together.
Her favorite part is the way designing clothing engages her imagination and creativity. Their tie-dye shop is on the square in Otavalo, but most of their sales are for resale. They have some tourist business in the shop, but most of the sales from the shop are to the other vendors in the Saturday market, one of the most famous markets in South America. Their clients were mainly from the U.S. and Europe until 2009, when the Depression hit. At that time, Carlos had to work really hard to open up markets in South America. Their biggest customer currently is Chile, followed by Brazil and Argentina.
They both love the challenge of creating new designs, so they are ready and willing to create anything a client might want. They are both highly creative and very well-matched as a couple. As parents, they are admirable. Even their four dogs are chilled out. I've not heard one of them bark, and they don't cringe or jump on people the way so many others do. The day we arrived, one of their dogs was followed home by a small puppy who looked exactly like him. He was immediately adopted into the family.
Carlos told us that even though he has traveled throughout Europe, the U.S. and South America performing Andean music with a group and selling their CD's, he would not want to live anywhere else. He loves Peguche (it is a music capital), loves his work, loves having his family around him. I think he is the most thoroughly at home man I have ever met.
As soon as our interview concluded, Carlos engaged us in helping him resolve a quality control issue with the office in the U.S. After supper we all went up to his workshop to help with correcting the problem. It took about two hours, and afterwards, we fell into bed, thoroughly tired and happy. Vincent noted that of the four artisans we have interviewed so far, all four are strong couples. That either means that the family that works together stays together, or that for everything in the business to work, you really have to like being together.
Our room is small but very, very clean, and the mattress is a real one. We'll wait to find out about hot water in the morning. We feel like we've landed in a little oasis of kindness here. Symbolic of their love and their attitude are their children's names: Apawki, age 4 (son of sun and moon), Punllay, age 6 (star of the sunset) and Saya, age 16 (sweet memory). We are very excited to be here and looking forward to talking and working with them again tomorrow.
Carlos and Sulema, we soon discovered, are just wonderful people. We catapulted right into a full-scale interview lasting about two hours. They both speak a little English from their travels in the U.S. and Europe selling clothing and performing music. Their primary language is Kichwa, the indigenous tongue spoken by the Incas. As is typical with many indigenes, Sulema and her two daughters, indeed, all the women of the family wear indigenous dress. Carlos and his son and brother-in-law wear U.S. casual attire--t-shirts and jeans. Ironically enough, I learned that the indigenous dress of both women and men derives from Spanish costumes of two hundred years ago, when the people were still hoping to win their freedom from slavery. No one but historians knows this, of course, so the customs--and the costumes--continue.
The women's outfits consist of a long, slim white skirt with a black outer skirt split up both sides. This is supported by a woven and embroidered belt wrapped several times around the waist and tucked at the terminal end back into itself. The blouse is white, with frilly 3/4 sleeves and a ruffle around the neck. It is typically embroidered all around the neckline and both sleeves, sometimes also the ruffle. Their black hair is braided and wrapped part way around the braid is a thin, embroidered cotton ribbon. It is traditional to wear many gold chains around the neck and gold earrings. It is not real gold, of course. It was only real when gold was $35 an ounce. They wear sandals with a sling back and black felt uppers. The boys, I am told wear white sandals in the identical pattern. This outfit makes every woman look beautiful, in my honest opinion.
The work of this family centers around tie-dyeing clothing. Carlos' father is a weaver and Sulema's family has been into clothing construction for generations. The story of how they met is quite unusual. He was born in Otavalo, she in Peguche, two or three miles away. There was no chance they would meet in Ecuador. In 1994, they were both in Holland at an international fair selling Andean clothing. They met and the relationship continued to grow when they returned home. They married four years later and have been living in Peguche ever since. Carlos and she started their own business when they married, and they love what they do, love working together--in fact, Carlos' favorite part of the business (other than making sales) is the back-and-forth of creating clothing designs together.
Her favorite part is the way designing clothing engages her imagination and creativity. Their tie-dye shop is on the square in Otavalo, but most of their sales are for resale. They have some tourist business in the shop, but most of the sales from the shop are to the other vendors in the Saturday market, one of the most famous markets in South America. Their clients were mainly from the U.S. and Europe until 2009, when the Depression hit. At that time, Carlos had to work really hard to open up markets in South America. Their biggest customer currently is Chile, followed by Brazil and Argentina.
They both love the challenge of creating new designs, so they are ready and willing to create anything a client might want. They are both highly creative and very well-matched as a couple. As parents, they are admirable. Even their four dogs are chilled out. I've not heard one of them bark, and they don't cringe or jump on people the way so many others do. The day we arrived, one of their dogs was followed home by a small puppy who looked exactly like him. He was immediately adopted into the family.
Carlos told us that even though he has traveled throughout Europe, the U.S. and South America performing Andean music with a group and selling their CD's, he would not want to live anywhere else. He loves Peguche (it is a music capital), loves his work, loves having his family around him. I think he is the most thoroughly at home man I have ever met.
As soon as our interview concluded, Carlos engaged us in helping him resolve a quality control issue with the office in the U.S. After supper we all went up to his workshop to help with correcting the problem. It took about two hours, and afterwards, we fell into bed, thoroughly tired and happy. Vincent noted that of the four artisans we have interviewed so far, all four are strong couples. That either means that the family that works together stays together, or that for everything in the business to work, you really have to like being together.
Our room is small but very, very clean, and the mattress is a real one. We'll wait to find out about hot water in the morning. We feel like we've landed in a little oasis of kindness here. Symbolic of their love and their attitude are their children's names: Apawki, age 4 (son of sun and moon), Punllay, age 6 (star of the sunset) and Saya, age 16 (sweet memory). We are very excited to be here and looking forward to talking and working with them again tomorrow.
Friday, February 27, 2015
Friday, Feb. 20, 2015 to Sunday, Feb. 22, 2015
Friday, February 20
We spent all day nearly writing reports on interviews and the past week. There was much to say and much care to be taken to get it right. After supper, we had a very good conversation with Albert and Magdalena. They are such good people, very kind, hard-working and hospitable. We are invited to visit Baños with them tomorrow. Albert's grandmother has a home there, very rustic, and we will visit the famous hot springs there. We are both looking forward to it.
Saturday, February 21 - Sunday, February 22
We were to leave at 6 a.m., but because Albert and Magdalena needed to deliver some finished products, we left closer to 8 a.m. With dismay, Albert realized that this was a work day, to make up for the holidays enjoyed earlier in the week. The traffic was pretty bad (not as bad as Manila, say, or Los Angeles). Albert was very, very patient, and as people took chances with their lives to get into the flow of traffic, there was a lot of sudden braking, but almost no honking of horns. Magdalena observed that people here were fairly "tranquilo," or calm. Not a lot of road rage! We drove for over four hours to reach Baños, stopping for brunch and an ice cream in a little cafe. The volcanoes (many of them snow-capped) were very beautiful, like exotic dancers disappearing behind veils of cloud, then tantalizingly reappearing against the dark blue sky. To me, Chimborazo is the most beautiful of all, its blown out peak looking like a silver crown. There's a whole line of them crossing the equator, but only a few are currently active.
We reached Baños in early afternoon, spent some time cleaning the house of ash, which is constantly falling on the city of Baños from nearby volcano Tungurahua (Throat of Fire), then decided to walk around the town. We had tea, fruit and bread for supper and then each couple sought one of the two double beds in the main room. A comedic scene in the middle of the night played out when Susanne, needing to find the outdoor bathroom in the dark, woke the entire household trying to open a door which was latched shut. Early Sunday morning, we walked to the baths and got in quite quickly with no line. A few hours later, the line was hours long, so it was good we had gone with Albert and Magdalena, who know the drill. The water was lovely, relaxing and the famous waterfall was mesmerizing, dropping nearly straight down 260 feet to feed the community laundry (dozens of stone basins free for all to do their washing). Toward noon it began to be very crowded, with people stepping on our toes to go past and kids splashing wildly, so we retreated to a restaurant for a very nice lunch. I learned not to spent five hours in a hot bath by becoming very dizzy and nauseous after exiting the pool. But really? The alternative was to plunge myself into an extremely cold waterfall for several minutes longer than I felt I could survive. So as they say here, "Vale la pena." It was worth the pain. The church here is beautiful, and built of volcanic rock in the center. Afterward, Albert drove us up to the tree house on a high hill adjacent to Tungurahua, where there is a bit of a tourist attraction just sitting on the lawn looking up at the mountain, wreathed today in clouds, and watching the young people swinging out over a 400 foot drop into the ravine at the base of the volcano. There was a long line of people wanting to climb the tree house, while we demurred and simply enjoyed the view. Such beautiful views were available on the back side of the waterfall behind the town of Baños! We found ourselves to be totally relaxed, carefree and mellow--without any artificial aids. What a wonderful weekend this was.
Our generous hosts were pleased that we had enjoyed it so much, while we were blessed that they gave us such a treat. It is amazing, when life is pared down to the essentials, how simple and lovely it is. Thank you, Albert and Magdalena.
We spent all day nearly writing reports on interviews and the past week. There was much to say and much care to be taken to get it right. After supper, we had a very good conversation with Albert and Magdalena. They are such good people, very kind, hard-working and hospitable. We are invited to visit Baños with them tomorrow. Albert's grandmother has a home there, very rustic, and we will visit the famous hot springs there. We are both looking forward to it.
Saturday, February 21 - Sunday, February 22
We were to leave at 6 a.m., but because Albert and Magdalena needed to deliver some finished products, we left closer to 8 a.m. With dismay, Albert realized that this was a work day, to make up for the holidays enjoyed earlier in the week. The traffic was pretty bad (not as bad as Manila, say, or Los Angeles). Albert was very, very patient, and as people took chances with their lives to get into the flow of traffic, there was a lot of sudden braking, but almost no honking of horns. Magdalena observed that people here were fairly "tranquilo," or calm. Not a lot of road rage! We drove for over four hours to reach Baños, stopping for brunch and an ice cream in a little cafe. The volcanoes (many of them snow-capped) were very beautiful, like exotic dancers disappearing behind veils of cloud, then tantalizingly reappearing against the dark blue sky. To me, Chimborazo is the most beautiful of all, its blown out peak looking like a silver crown. There's a whole line of them crossing the equator, but only a few are currently active.
We reached Baños in early afternoon, spent some time cleaning the house of ash, which is constantly falling on the city of Baños from nearby volcano Tungurahua (Throat of Fire), then decided to walk around the town. We had tea, fruit and bread for supper and then each couple sought one of the two double beds in the main room. A comedic scene in the middle of the night played out when Susanne, needing to find the outdoor bathroom in the dark, woke the entire household trying to open a door which was latched shut. Early Sunday morning, we walked to the baths and got in quite quickly with no line. A few hours later, the line was hours long, so it was good we had gone with Albert and Magdalena, who know the drill. The water was lovely, relaxing and the famous waterfall was mesmerizing, dropping nearly straight down 260 feet to feed the community laundry (dozens of stone basins free for all to do their washing). Toward noon it began to be very crowded, with people stepping on our toes to go past and kids splashing wildly, so we retreated to a restaurant for a very nice lunch. I learned not to spent five hours in a hot bath by becoming very dizzy and nauseous after exiting the pool. But really? The alternative was to plunge myself into an extremely cold waterfall for several minutes longer than I felt I could survive. So as they say here, "Vale la pena." It was worth the pain. The church here is beautiful, and built of volcanic rock in the center. Afterward, Albert drove us up to the tree house on a high hill adjacent to Tungurahua, where there is a bit of a tourist attraction just sitting on the lawn looking up at the mountain, wreathed today in clouds, and watching the young people swinging out over a 400 foot drop into the ravine at the base of the volcano. There was a long line of people wanting to climb the tree house, while we demurred and simply enjoyed the view. Such beautiful views were available on the back side of the waterfall behind the town of Baños! We found ourselves to be totally relaxed, carefree and mellow--without any artificial aids. What a wonderful weekend this was.
Our generous hosts were pleased that we had enjoyed it so much, while we were blessed that they gave us such a treat. It is amazing, when life is pared down to the essentials, how simple and lovely it is. Thank you, Albert and Magdalena.
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