Notes from the town I’m working in.
The Panama hat, one of which I am now the proud owner of, is not actually native of Panama, but was born in a town called Sigsig, just south of here. The hat got its name because it came into popularity around the time of the construction of the Panama Canal, and the workers on that project adopted the hat to protect against the tropical sun. Now people assume they come from Panama, but in fact they are handmade right here in Ecuador. Of course you can buy replicas made in China, even here, but they are not authentic.
Other crafts in this geographic area include pottery, shoes, guitars, and of course, jewelry.
We live in Chordeleg, the city of jewelry, but my work is in the neighboring town of Gualaceo, and while it’s more of a commercial town now, it remembers its artistic origins with an abundance of street art. Here’s a small sampling of what's available on the walls of this amazing little town.
These are our hosts, Jorge and Maya. We live on their roof, mostly. We sleep inside, but do all our cooking and living in their rooftop kitchen area. We are only a few hundred miles south of the equator, but at 8,500 feet it can be pretty chilly in the morning and evening.
The photo below looks like it’s the Magic Kingdom (all rights reserved by the Disney company…) but it’s not. This is the view from our rooftop kitchen last Saturday night. There was a religious festival in the square that featured a marathon game of bingo that lasted from 3pm to 2am. As we were trying to sleep it seemed that the numbers being called were coming from our bedroom. It was so loud! But the lucky winner of the bingo grand prize got a live cow!
Jenny and I took a walk through the nearby countryside and kept leapfrogging this grocery store on wheels. They drove slowly along their route, broadcasting a recording of their offerings at impressive volume. Eggs, meat, dairy, bread, produce, they were very well stocked. Out here, where homes are scattered across the hillsides and not everyone has transportation, the grocery store simply comes to you.
Much love, Andy and Jenny.
