Some dead, most grateful
Howdy doo daa daaaaaay,
Late on posting these pics from last weekend. The date above is incorrect since I am basically editing an old post. Sorry 'bout that! Heading out for the weekend to a place called Colibris, with two friends that I met in Otavalo who are from WV...it should be great. Glad to know that we have our first non-white president in office but we will see just how white he performs. Oh, the times they are a-changin'.... Here are a few pics, CELEBRATE LIFE:
Edwin took us to the local indigenous cemetery on Nov. 2, the Day of the Dead. It was crowded with people sharing food and drink, local food and industrial food. What a mix!
Classmate Tim, Professor Nick, Local Edwin and I at the cemetery. It was actually a little muggy that day...
The night before the Day of the Dead Tim had some cuy ( sounds like "coo-ey"... it is guniea pig) and loved it...even the eyeballs, yum! It has been said..."you are what you eat." Is there a resemblance? Maybe just the teeth?
We picked up trash nearby Cotacachi, where Tim and I stayed for our first week. I found some small treasures along the way...and I made a little collage. Dweeb? Yes. Still like small things/trashy treasures? Oh, yes! We were all a bit tickled when the local barefoot childrne chipped in to help us collect trash...and wanted to come home with us. ¡Qué bacan!
Chillin' at the club with Obama on TV......Me, Ash, Jenny, and emo-rocker Leigh (es un chiste, Leigh!)
More Day of the Dead pics: Guaguas de pan...basicaly bread in the shape of children. Traditional food often eaten with the delicious colada morada (see story below).
Tim, Edwin and the multitudes...
Abuelas serving up the colada morada for the families. All of the indigenous women wear similar white blouses with embroidered (by hand, sometimes) flowers, a dark dress, gold necklaces (that are imported....from somewhere in Asia, I think?) and other things like the head wraps and scarves.
I had a quite interesting weekend. My friend Tim and I were pick-pocketed on the Trolley during the the ride to the bus station that would then take us to Otavalo. I had been checking for my wallet literally every ten seconds....and, lo and behold, Tim said....Someone stole my wallet. I thought, man that sucks!....and I reached to feel my pocket....and it had no bulge and felt like flattened box....no wallet! No debit card anymore....tricky!
We know who did but it was too late, they had gotten off the trolley before we noticed...shucks!
We proceeded to the bus station and, once on the bus, a few people tried to befriend us, tell us the buses were totally safe (HA! see earlier post about theft of camera and iPod...) and then eye our things like hawks....hmmmm, is it obvious who the thieves are now?
My friend Jenny, bless her heart, went and pushed past these three guys that were lingering over a gringo like a rain cloud, and told the gringo man to watch out for his things....the thieves got the drift and got off the bus soon after...with his camera lense. Not a total victory for them, I guess.
Luckily for me, I did not put all of my eggs in one basket, so I had some money for the weekend, which was excellent.
We all stayed in a sweet and simple little hostal with a very pleasnt breakfast each morning. The boys, Prof. Nick, Tim, and I stayed there for two nights, while the girls all stayed with families in nearby Cotacachi.
The first ngiht we were there we met a few locals who were VERY interested in the girls and also in learning English. This fellow Edwin ended up hanging out with us that night...he and his friends were drinking aguardiente, the local firewater, which had done them in quite well! Edwin was " A little drink, I am only a little drink..." He meant "drunk" and we corrected his English; he was thankful for the lessons.
Despite having little trust in people who were seemingly friendly to us, I soon realized that these kids were not out to steal anything. Edwin was/is seriously in love with the English language and wants to live the dream in either LA or NYC....American culture strikes again!
We saw Edwin the next day and he wanted to take us to a hookah bar. We had eaten there the day before but did not object to goaing again since there was an open mic night happening on this Saturday night. Now get this people, I sat down and scanned the room....and recognized someone nearby. I then eventually saw the man sitting next to her and realized I knew them both...from Morgantown!!! I later proceeded to say hi and, although we were not too well known to each other, the memories came back and we kept these two poor travellers, Arik and Lindsey, up waaaay past their bedtimes! What a lovely small world it really is, did you know that? Our professor, Nick, connected them to our weekend adventures and I think that we will be seeing them in the cloud forest very soon...yeeeeha! Dub V connection!
Edwin invited us to come to the cemetery with his family and friends for theDay of the Dead the next day, Sunday. I was psyched to be able to go with a local indigenous person and so we made plans and met up with him the next morning.
The cemetery was PACKED with people...and I must say it was a very unique experience. People literally walk and climb ALL OVER the gravestones and graves....so I felt a bit odd stepping right on the graves. The other odd thing is that there are people vending cotton candy, ice cream, soda pop, and strange blow-up power ranger toys the entire time. Corporate blending into culture....as usual? We had some of the traditional colada morada, a sweet fruity drink made of raspberries, pineapples, and other types of fruit, and shared some food with Edwin and his sisters. Edwins mother died five years ago of lymphoma. He did not seem to be very upset that day....a celebration of life and a day to pay respects.
The boys and I were there for a couple hours and then we proceeded to get ready for the busride back to Quito. It seems obvious that the thieves are riding the bus from Quito to...Quito. They get out before even leaving the city...so if you see somebody on a two-hour busride with just a small pack or nothing, beware. I don't want to make people paranoid but also don't want to have the same things happen to them!
Many thanks to Edwin for being so interested/ing and for the invitation to the graveyard. It was a pleasure to join him. I hope to meet him again in the US, or very soon when Sheena comes for a visit!
I hope that all is well with everyone. Hugs and love!
Cory
Late on posting these pics from last weekend. The date above is incorrect since I am basically editing an old post. Sorry 'bout that! Heading out for the weekend to a place called Colibris, with two friends that I met in Otavalo who are from WV...it should be great. Glad to know that we have our first non-white president in office but we will see just how white he performs. Oh, the times they are a-changin'.... Here are a few pics, CELEBRATE LIFE:
Edwin took us to the local indigenous cemetery on Nov. 2, the Day of the Dead. It was crowded with people sharing food and drink, local food and industrial food. What a mix!
Classmate Tim, Professor Nick, Local Edwin and I at the cemetery. It was actually a little muggy that day...
The night before the Day of the Dead Tim had some cuy ( sounds like "coo-ey"... it is guniea pig) and loved it...even the eyeballs, yum! It has been said..."you are what you eat." Is there a resemblance? Maybe just the teeth?
We picked up trash nearby Cotacachi, where Tim and I stayed for our first week. I found some small treasures along the way...and I made a little collage. Dweeb? Yes. Still like small things/trashy treasures? Oh, yes! We were all a bit tickled when the local barefoot childrne chipped in to help us collect trash...and wanted to come home with us. ¡Qué bacan!
Chillin' at the club with Obama on TV......Me, Ash, Jenny, and emo-rocker Leigh (es un chiste, Leigh!)
More Day of the Dead pics: Guaguas de pan...basicaly bread in the shape of children. Traditional food often eaten with the delicious colada morada (see story below).
A shot of the locals and a cloud covered mountain outside of Otavalo.
Tim, Edwin and the multitudes...
Abuelas serving up the colada morada for the families. All of the indigenous women wear similar white blouses with embroidered (by hand, sometimes) flowers, a dark dress, gold necklaces (that are imported....from somewhere in Asia, I think?) and other things like the head wraps and scarves.
And here is the old post:
I had a quite interesting weekend. My friend Tim and I were pick-pocketed on the Trolley during the the ride to the bus station that would then take us to Otavalo. I had been checking for my wallet literally every ten seconds....and, lo and behold, Tim said....Someone stole my wallet. I thought, man that sucks!....and I reached to feel my pocket....and it had no bulge and felt like flattened box....no wallet! No debit card anymore....tricky!
We know who did but it was too late, they had gotten off the trolley before we noticed...shucks!
We proceeded to the bus station and, once on the bus, a few people tried to befriend us, tell us the buses were totally safe (HA! see earlier post about theft of camera and iPod...) and then eye our things like hawks....hmmmm, is it obvious who the thieves are now?
My friend Jenny, bless her heart, went and pushed past these three guys that were lingering over a gringo like a rain cloud, and told the gringo man to watch out for his things....the thieves got the drift and got off the bus soon after...with his camera lense. Not a total victory for them, I guess.
Luckily for me, I did not put all of my eggs in one basket, so I had some money for the weekend, which was excellent.
We all stayed in a sweet and simple little hostal with a very pleasnt breakfast each morning. The boys, Prof. Nick, Tim, and I stayed there for two nights, while the girls all stayed with families in nearby Cotacachi.
The first ngiht we were there we met a few locals who were VERY interested in the girls and also in learning English. This fellow Edwin ended up hanging out with us that night...he and his friends were drinking aguardiente, the local firewater, which had done them in quite well! Edwin was " A little drink, I am only a little drink..." He meant "drunk" and we corrected his English; he was thankful for the lessons.
Despite having little trust in people who were seemingly friendly to us, I soon realized that these kids were not out to steal anything. Edwin was/is seriously in love with the English language and wants to live the dream in either LA or NYC....American culture strikes again!
We saw Edwin the next day and he wanted to take us to a hookah bar. We had eaten there the day before but did not object to goaing again since there was an open mic night happening on this Saturday night. Now get this people, I sat down and scanned the room....and recognized someone nearby. I then eventually saw the man sitting next to her and realized I knew them both...from Morgantown!!! I later proceeded to say hi and, although we were not too well known to each other, the memories came back and we kept these two poor travellers, Arik and Lindsey, up waaaay past their bedtimes! What a lovely small world it really is, did you know that? Our professor, Nick, connected them to our weekend adventures and I think that we will be seeing them in the cloud forest very soon...yeeeeha! Dub V connection!
Edwin invited us to come to the cemetery with his family and friends for theDay of the Dead the next day, Sunday. I was psyched to be able to go with a local indigenous person and so we made plans and met up with him the next morning.
The cemetery was PACKED with people...and I must say it was a very unique experience. People literally walk and climb ALL OVER the gravestones and graves....so I felt a bit odd stepping right on the graves. The other odd thing is that there are people vending cotton candy, ice cream, soda pop, and strange blow-up power ranger toys the entire time. Corporate blending into culture....as usual? We had some of the traditional colada morada, a sweet fruity drink made of raspberries, pineapples, and other types of fruit, and shared some food with Edwin and his sisters. Edwins mother died five years ago of lymphoma. He did not seem to be very upset that day....a celebration of life and a day to pay respects.
The boys and I were there for a couple hours and then we proceeded to get ready for the busride back to Quito. It seems obvious that the thieves are riding the bus from Quito to...Quito. They get out before even leaving the city...so if you see somebody on a two-hour busride with just a small pack or nothing, beware. I don't want to make people paranoid but also don't want to have the same things happen to them!
Many thanks to Edwin for being so interested/ing and for the invitation to the graveyard. It was a pleasure to join him. I hope to meet him again in the US, or very soon when Sheena comes for a visit!
I hope that all is well with everyone. Hugs and love!
Cory
posted by Cory at
10/30/2008 03:07:00 PM
2 Comments:
I agree that this world isn't as big as it once seemed, but what are the odds that you run into someone from Morgantown. I hate to hear that the thieves struck again. Can't wait to see the pictures! Take care of yourself!
Indeed, I´m a guinea pig for the corporations.
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