IN SEARCH OF PONCHOS

Last year Jim and I got acquainted with a wonderful woman named Maria at the Casa Mujeres (now called CEMUART) handicraft market. We bought several rugs from her, and also Jim bought his fabulous poncho from her. She made them herself from lovely wool in natural colors. Here's Jim posing with his poncho, purchased last year from Maria.

Since we have been back this year we have been on a mission to buy some more ponchos and went 3 or 4 times to her stall but she wasn't there. Finally Nancy and I went to check it out one more time and there she was! It was so great to see her again and she gave me a big hug. Here she is last year, posing for me in her village's native dress.

She did, indeed, have some lovely ponchos and I decided on one right away. However, she also had some wonderful rugs, one of which both Nancy and I were eying.

Here's the poncho, and the rug in question.


However, neither of us had room for the rug because it was fairly long. She told us that she could cut it in half and stitch the raw edge to make a smaller rug. This would make two front door mat-sized rugs, which is more the size we were after.

Meantime, a cool looking indian man in a leather hat arrived and seemed to know everyone. He was greeted warmly and seemed to be selling headbands he had made out of what looked like painted paper and parrot feathers. He stayed for at least 15 minutes making a deal with Maria and she eventually purchased a small group of the headbands for (I think) $1 each.

While this was going on, Nancy and I had a chance to decide to each have 1/2 of the rug and we told her to go ahead and cut it in half. Here is Maria's assistant about to cut the rug into two pieces. Notice the big wad of wool in Maria's hands.

We didn't realize that she would also be spinning the thread first, before stitching the edge of the rug to finish it. She used a drop spindle to spin the thread.

I think this color of wool is lovely.

Here Maria's assistant has the newly spun thread and has threaded the needle, preparing to stitch the edging.

Maria is helping her straighten out the thread, which tends to get wound up with itself.

After she had enough thread made, Maria started sewing the other rug edge.

This smile is why we keep coming back to her, aside from the fact that she weaves absolutely stunning rugs, ponchos and scarves.

And a bonus, we discovered that she is from the village that we went through last week on our way to and from Loja, Saraguro, which is where the men wear black short pants. Maria told us that Saraguro is a Quechua word and means people of the corn (or corn worm - I am not quite certain).

What a wonderful experience, and all because I was in search of a poncho. By the way, she also sells wonderful bead, seed and bone jewelry. I think Maria is my favorite vendor in Cuenca!

Tomorrow we are off to the beach at Machala for a few days so we will be out of computer touch until Friday. More about that adventure when we get back.

Audrey

ANOTHER AMAZING SUNDAY

Sunday is our day to meet neighbors Rich and Nancy and walk downtown for breakfast. The day started out perfectly right away as we walked out the front gate. On the path next to the river we saw a small white poodle-like dog running as fast as he could, underbelly muddy and ears flapping in the wind, followed by a man jogging and laughing, followed by a GOAT jogging. I wasn't quite fast enough with my camera so I missed the dog, but here's the man and his goat.


This would have been good enough all on its own, but then, on Avendia de las Americas, we saw a large group of horses and riders swoop down a side street onto the main street.

I figured it was the Sunday riding club, but that was not the case, for about 3/4 of a mile later, on Calle Lamar, we saw them tethered, and heard a band practicing in a nearby house.



As soon as we saw these cuties standing outside the band rehearsal, we knew it was going to be another parade.


A bit farther down the street, here came the float we had just seen with the same two little girls.

We made it the rest of the way to Calle Tarqui without incident but we did see this costume shop displaying its wares in an unusual way.

Also, there were some more typical displays of the costumes.


Right after that, Jim was hailed from across the street by Cuenca's preeminent Panama Hat maker, Roberto Pulla.


And, barely two blocks away, after the 10 de Agosto market we saw "our" horses again.

And these little girls getting ready for the parade.


We finally made it to breakfast at the Kookaburra and were enjoying our cappuccinos when we heard a band. Yes, the parade was coming down Calle Larga, right in front of us.

Apparently Mary on the donkey.

Not sure what the significance of the collie is.

We lingered quite awhile over breakfast. More and more gringos came in and we added more chairs to our table. When we had finished our last sip of coffee and were groaning from all the food, we heard the band again - this time they were coming back up the street.


Hard to tell what the purpose of the parade was, except maybe to have a good time. It seemed a bit like a mini-repetition of the many Christmas parades we had seen.

So many cute little kids, dressed to the nines.


Obviously, everyone was having a great time.

This was such an eventful morning, that we decided to go home and take naps. You can see that there is never a dull moment in Cuenca.

Audrey

I LOVE A PARADE

There is never a dull moment in Parque Calderon. Today Jim and I sat there for awhile to rest between two markets on opposite sides of downtown. While we were sitting there we had great people watching opportunities. Apparently there was some sort of girl's school "do" going on at the cathedral. We saw lots and lots of school girls in red plaid skirts and 3 or 4 school buses waiting outside the cathedral. Also seen were spanish senoritas of about 6 years old. We saw several groups of nuns, like these, and I was wondering if they might be the teachers, as they seemed to be part of the event with the girl's school at the cathedral.

One of my favorite sites in Parque Calderon are the horses awaiting photo ops.


I watched these from afar for quite some time. Nearly everyone who passes these horses gives them a pat on the muzzle. They are well loved horses.

This girl really got into the posing for the camera.

After our rest, Jim and I walked to the far side of the square where we saw real horses lined up. This usually indicates the beginning or ending of a parade.



This group had a large angel in tennis shoes (he looked to be in his late teens),

He had to be helped onto the horse because of the long train of satin material he had.






There was also this gladiator type guy.

And this wee spanish senorita.

Her father was so proud, he encouraged her to pose for me. After I walked away he and his wife were fitting a large tiara on her.

Jim and I went on and did some other shopping, had coffee, and maybe an hour later took the bus back home. On our way home, we saw all these same folks parading on the other side of the river.

Later, after resting at home, Chuck went shopping at the Coop across the river and soon called Nancy on the cell phone to tell her there was a parade coming right in front of him. Nancy and I raced out of the house to see the parade, different from the one Jim and I had seen. The locals who were washing clothes in the river stopped to watch as well.


Though this was a very small parade, we were thrilled to see the women dancing in traditional costume.

And we have no idea of the significance of these hooded guys.

In Cuenca, you just never know when a parade (or two) is around the corner!

Audrey

CHUCK LOVES POTTERY TOO

Our main objective in going to Loja was for Chuck to purchase large pots at the University (Universidad Tecnica Particular de Loja). The campus is located up on a hill, with a beautiful view of Loja in the valley. To learn more about this pottery and the University, visit their website: http://www.cerart.com.ec/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9&Itemid=13

They have a fancy show room of dinner ware.


And, behind this show room was a HUGE warehouse-like showroom.


The choices were quite overwhelming.

This is the type of pottery Chuck was after.


Here are some of his being wrapped.

The wrapping process was amazing, and took several hours. The man helping us made sure that nothing would be broken on the way home.

Beyond this huge showroom was the production room where they actually make the pottery. The orange in the far right of this photo is the kiln.

Bananas, anyone?
Greenware waiting to be glazed.

I'm not exactly sure what these are for but I think it has something to do with the processing of the clay.
Upstairs, Nancy and I found another show room, almost like a gallery.

Yapacuchi is a Quechua word meaning "to give more." This ceramic style uses clays from all geographical areas in Ecuador and the designs are painted on with a paintbrush.


Nukanchik means "ours" in Quechua and this is the style of pottery that Chuck purchased. The decor is done by scratching the design in the clay. The designs are primarily pre-columbian.

As you can see, these pieces are very beautiful and it is a good thing I am limited by my suitcase.

We barely fit all of our boxes in the pickup bed, but we made it, and tied our load on so it wouldn't bounce out when the pavement gave out.


We were some very happy campers coming home to Cuenca, anxious to play with our pottery.

Still to come - Vilcabamba and lush scenery.

Audrey