Special Event at Morochos, Part I

In mid-December there was an event in Morochos that, among other things, was celebrating the 12th anniversary of the home sharing program in the indigenous communities (it had a lovely, official name that I didn't write down and so it is totally gone but I can get it if anyone is in need of it).

Paige is the Peace Corp Volunteer in Morochos and she makes sure we know about events up there that we might be able to support and that we'd also enjoy.  This was indeed one of them.

Music Night at Trebol

Trebol is one of the local restaurants that is owned by expats and has a menu most people would feel very comfortable seeing in the U.S. or Canada.  David and Wendy do a lot of fun things.  There is pizza on Thursday, movies on Wednesday, and music on Friday.  Oh my but we have fun.

The Friday before Christmas was a night to remember.

Almost all our musicians are here--Justin, the youngest, is the son of David and Wendy, owners of Trebol.  He's an amazing little talent.  The adult musicians all work with him the same as they do with one another--he's not "just a kid," he's another music maker.

Happy New Year

New Year's Day is the most "official" holiday in all of Ecuador.  In the entire time I've been here there has never been a day when everything was closed but New Year's Day it was--everywhere.  There was no gas delivery, garbage pickup, absolutely nothing that made any noise out there.  No deliveries, no stores open, nothing.  It was pretty amazing.  I only mention the gas delivery and garbage pickup because those folks were out on Christmas Day but not on New Year's Day.

Of course the night before was a whole different story.  New Year's Eve is a huge event here filled with symbolism and lots of parties.

People dress in costume, stop cars, and demand a fee to pass.  Of course it's pretty much voluntary and I always saw them lower their ropes if they had them or step aside for taxis.  These adorable kids live in my block and for a small fee they were more than happy to pose for me.  The wigs were very popular and I think that next year I might have to try to find one for myself.

More Christmas

As I've said, Christmas in Cotacachi is a big deal.  Everyone participates in one way or another.  The nativity scene in this city display is almost life size and there's a lovely tree as well.

Morning Observations

I'm sitting in my living room this morning, less than a block from the main east/west street through town and two blocks from the main north/south street, looking out at an avocado tree and a guava tree, listening to a half dozen varieties of birds, the chickens and rooster next door, and a horse that just passed by out front.  To borrow a movie title, it's a wonderful life.

Fiesta de la Jora International Encounter Food Festival

Welcome back to "Cynthia Goes To Ecuador."  It's been a while since I've written--so much is happening here!  I got over my flu and I'm almost over my cold.  I've had my furniture delivered (part 1 of 2).  New friends have come from the States.  I've been shopping for my house in Ibarra. In general, I've been running around like crazy.

I have been trying to decide whether to go back and catch you up with all those photos I took for various occasions or just go forward from here.  I decided on a combination of the two.

I'll include some of my favorite events that have some fun photos and the rest I'll either fill in on the odd and sundry photo post or not share them.  I could go for a couple of months with absolutely nothing new otherwise.

The fellow in this photo was around at the Jora Food Festival and how could I not share him with you?  Well, there's more, too, of course.

Holidays and the Flu

Hello, my friends.  I'm back in the saddle after a very long semi-hiatus.  I now not only have my computer up and running, I have almost reliable internet service, and I've come through on the other end of a very nasty flu bug.  I still have the cold that accompanied it but in comparison to how I was feeling for the past several days, I'm in the pink of health.

There's are several things I like about small towns and a few I don't particularly care for.  One of the things that can be a bit of a challenge is the rumor mill.  One of the great things is the rumor mill.  There I was, sick as a dog, and I called a woman with whom I had an appointment and told her I couldn't come because I was sick.  The next thing I know, she's delivering soup and tea to me.  She brought it the next day as well.  Then I get a call from another friend telling me "the word on the street" is that I'm down with the flu.  She helped tell me what is good to do for it to help it get better faster.  Then I got a call from another friend.  All three of these women asked if there was anything they could do or could they bring me anything?

It occurred to me that this outpouring of aid and offers of aid wouldn't have been forthcoming in the States.  I know it would have for some people--my sister, for example--but not for me.  I didn't have that kind of support system there.  I lived in my last apartment for over two years and I've lived here less than 10 months and have people coming to help and offering more help.  I also know that with a phone call I could have had help from many other sources if I had needed them.  I'm not saying there weren't people in Minneapolis who would have helped me--there were.  I could have picked up the phone there and gotten two or three people to help out but here it's more like a dozen or more.  It's a good place to live.

As for the holidays, there was much activity here.  Unfortunately I missed quite a bit of it because I was so sick but there's always next year and I still have lots of photos for you.  Since I'm still a little under the weather today I think it might be a day or two before I get around to doing a post with photos and information about what's happening here but they're coming.