Morochos Musical Group

Last Sunday we had the opportunity to go listen to a group of musicians from Morochos.  Paige, the Peace Corp volunteer who lives up there, has been instrumental in bringing the expat community and the community of Morochos together and it has forged a bond between us that will last far beyond Paige's time here.

Meet the band.  The man playing the violin is the leader of the band and after saying a few things in English, which he had obviously practiced very diligently for quite a while, he told us, in Spanish, translated by Paige, that they wanted to come here to share their music with us because we are now an important part of Cotacachi and they welcome us here and we are to consider ourselves a part of their community.  It was very touching.

Everyone was encouraged to dance and Nancy and her little friend led it off.

Oops, her shoe fell off.  Everyone fell in love with little sweetheart.  She had a grand time dancing with Nancy and Paige but was a little shy around the rest of us.

There was a very good turnout.  In fact, in addition to the folks on both sides of the door, there were half a dozen or so standing in the doorway looking in.

The band got involved in this dance--they were in the center, playing and moving in a circle...

 ...while the dancers surrounded them and danced in a circle the opposite direction.

Then by some signal I never did see or hear, everyone started going in the opposite direction.  It was great fun and I'm not sure who enjoyed themselves more.

With the overflow crowd there was dancing in the streets.

There she is, being just too cute for words again.

When it came to actually posing for a picture, though, her sister was far more animated.  Of course this was after a couple of hours of excitement and dancing.  It wasn't long after this before her mom was holding her and she was snuggling in for a little nap.

These guys were interesting  They were a wee bit tipsy but they were sure having a great time.  The one on the far right asked me if I would take his picture.  Then he included his friend in the middle.  A little later the third one showed up and we got all of them together.  They posed like crazy.  The one on the right would hold a pose for half a dozen shots--he's a born model.  He suggested we have someone else take a picture of he and I so we did that, too.  I tried to send them the pictures I took of them but the email address I got from one of them didn't work.  I'm sure I'll see them at some point and get a better one and send them again.

Mom and baby.

After the band was finished playing we were invited to go next door to see the products they had brought for sale, including lovely weavings and hand-knit and -crocheted items like the sweater in monochromatic stripes here.  The prices are always amazingly reasonable from the community and no one ever tries to bargain with them because we know that the prices they charge are already discounted.

I took a picture or two of her and then Luis, the man who appeared to be the head member of the community at this gathering, suggested she hold one of the two CDs the band had recorded.  How could I not show it off to you?  If you live here, they're only $5 each and the music is lovely.

And this is Luis.  He's holding two small examples of his weaving. These are small wall hangings where each of the three mini-weavings are made into lined pockets and sewn onto a solid woven background.  I'm not sure what I'll put in the pockets but I got the one on the left.  It complements my color scheme.  The price for the hours and hours of work that went into them?  $10.  No, at that price, I didn't bargain.