Life with an Otavalo Family

Life has been fun with my family - Marisol (mom), German (dad), Andres (14 year old), Germanito (7 year old), Maria Paz (3 year old) and Muñeca the new puppy. Marisol is an excellent cook and is incredible. She is strong, open, bright and does an amazing job juggling taking care of her kids, and all the students she has from all over the world.

We had three birthday celebrations while I was here - one for German, one for Germanito and one for a nephew. The traditional Happy Birthday song is sung in english here as well in Germany/Austria. (I found this out from Martin who was visiting the family and who went to the same language school as I am but 6 years ago.) Plus they sing another song in spanish. I am sorry I did not get the words. maybe another time. They also have cake with candles and after they blow out the candles someone from behind pushes their face into the cake. You can see their nephew after this happened to him. Their birthdays here are different in that I did not see any birthday presents being given. On Germanito´s birthday, he got to choose the activity of the day so we all went to the pool. On German´s birthday we had a yummy dinner. I like it!

Clarification

Hey all - I hope you all know I am writing this blog with as much accuracy as I can muster and as much information that I understand. I know I am learning a new language and sometimes do not hear the information accurately. So please do not hold everything I write as pure fact. I write this because Marcela emailed me and was upset at what I had written about President Uribe. Now most of what I heard from a variety of Colombians is that they are very thankful that Uribe has been in power and that their lives and the peace in the country has improved vastly since he has been in power. So I am sorry if my words were taken any other way.

Here is what she wrote so you all have a little more accurate information: "I am not comfortable with your comment about President Uribe. "I understood that these were not the FARC but guerillas hired by Uribe (Colombian president) to help combat the FARC."It seems I did not expressed myself clearly. Once I read on a web page that after his father was killed (before his presidency) by the FARC (= guerrillas), Uribe (who was not president at the time) and other people created a group, to protect themselves. I am not sure if this is true. If it were, and according to other reports I have heard or read, the group turned into another group of people that started to take abusive advantage of the political situation between, government, guerrilla, and citizens. Uribe's goal was not this. President Uribe has almost dismantled this group, giving them the chance to return to society and turn in their arms. They have been sentenced for their illegal acts. May I ask you to remove this comment "I understood that these were not the FARC but guerillas hired by Uribe(Colombian president) to help combat the FARC."If you look in the Internet you will find thousands of positive and negative comments about President Uribe. Personally, I am very grateful with President Uribe and all the positive change he has brought to Colombia. There is a lot to do still, but with him, I have seen the most future for this country that I ever thought could happen.

Otavalo

Otavalo has been a great place to stay and I am planning on coming back. There is so much to do and see in this small community of less than 100,000. The people are incredibly amiable, happy and easy to understand. They speak Spanish at such a slower rate than Colombianos - it has been really nice. They have tons of hiking all around the community. I walked to a waterfall and park yesterday. It took about 20 minutes or so from downtown and there is so much hiking within an hour of the town that I hope to explore when I come back.

One day after class, we went to Parque Condor where there were a variety of atriums for birds. They had a variety of hawks, kestrals, a bald eagle and two condors. Gosh they are HUGE!!! It was an awesome surprise to see both the Condors and a bald eagle at the same time :-)

The open daily markets they have are fantabulous. I love seeing all the fresh fruits and vegetables and how they display their grains. Their is a large population of indigenous people here that are still true to their traditional dress and language. and who dress and talk in their native language. The children here are learning 3 languages in school - spanish, english and quechua - the language of the indigenous or otavaleños. The Otavaleña women traditionally wear white embroidered blouses, with flared lace sleeves and their long hair is tied back with a band of woven multi coloured material, often matching the band which is wound several times around their waists. They usually have many strings of gold beads around their necks, and matching tightly wound long strings of coral beads around each wrist. They also fold a blanket or cloth over their head in a variety of shapes to protect from the sun. Men wear white trousers and have their hair in one long braid. They both wear a type of sandal on their feet. Their Saturday market which Otavalo is renowned for is incredibly overwhelming. Not only is the Plaza de Ponchos packed with booths, but there is at least 4 - 6 blocks in every direction radiating with booths filled with incredible hand made crafts. They work really hard setting up and taking down their crafts each day. Here is a gentleman lugging their gear at the end of the day. They all use a similar set up with a girder around their head with a strap around these huge bundles. The otavaleños are typically small in height. So I found it to be such a feat.

Another day after class, a few of us went to Las Piramides de Cochasqui where an indigenous culture lived in the earth to protect themselves from the elements and then further buried their village in order to protect it from the invasions of the Incas. We saw mostly mounds or hills where a culture had typically lived but we also saw how they used their calendars. They had 2 - one lunar and one solar. I have included a picture of the plant which makes tequila! They actually do not have much tequila down here but I know some of you enjoy agave just as much as I do. So the plany has a 20 year life span and in it´s 20th year it grows that huge stalk you see.

Bienvenidos a Ecuador

We took a bus to Ipiales and then a taxi to the border where we had to walk across this cement bridge over this beautiful river. I now have another stamp on my passport :-)


Ecuador - I love it already!! I am in Otavalo which is a small town of less than 100,000 people and still north of the equator and Quito. It is incredibly beautiful here - there are at least 3 volcanoes surrounding the town with heights of up to 14,000 feet. It is clean, fresh and awesome!!

I am going to another language school which is great. I am in class 4 hours a day and it is really intensive because it is all one on one. I am staying with a family that I love. They have 3 children who are 14, 6 and 3 years old. The 14 year old has down's syndrome. They are really loving, open and only speak Spanish. I am getting totally immersed in Spanish and am loving it!! Leslie, Katja and I have gone out in the evening and we have spoken spanish. It is great!

Otavalo has open markets everyday. They have such incredible crafts here - jewelry, clothing, paintings, instruments etc. There is so much love, beauty and color in the crafts that the first day I had tears in my eyes for at least a half an hour.

Lasting Impressions

Colombia - aaahhhhh - quite the country! I fell in love - with the people and the land.

The people are sooooo generous, open, giving and full of love. They also have an amazing pride - a heart felt pride. I have heard comparisons of Colombians and Texans. I think the Colombian pride is so much softer and full of heart than the Texan pride which seems to think they are better than everyone else (for any Texans reading this, sorry but I am sure it will roll right off your back). I love how much the Colombians love and respond to music. One day at school, we watched an american movie, Matilda, and when a song came on in the movie, all the children started clapping to the beat and swaying in their seats.

One of my young friends here, Katherine who is 9 years old, taught me a song about Colombia and it is sung to the tune of Oh My Darling Clementine. The lyrics in Spanish are La bandera de Colombia es muy linda si senor/ ella tiene 3 colores y por eso es tricolor/ amarillo es el oro el azul el ancho mar/ y el rojo es la sangre que nos dio la libertad. In English, the flag of Colombia is very pretty sir. It has 3 colors and for this it’s tricolor. Yellow is for the gold, blue is for the wide, vast sea and red is for the blood we gave for our freedom.

There is soooooo much open land here. I can not believe how much beautiful countryside there is. Hours and hours of green, lush mountains north and south of Medellin. The highest peak in Colombia is 5330 meters (roughly 15 - 16,000 feet). I only can hope the rest of the Andes are as beautiful. I really am thankful I rode the bus for 11 hours north and 11 hours south of Medellin through this incredible mountain range.

I added a picture of a collectivo. This land cruiser is considered full when 10 people are inside - 8 in the back and 2 up front. Don't forget to add the driver for a total of 11. When it is full, it will leave the station and sometimes will pick some people up on the way. They will stand on the bumper and hold onto the rack on top. South American transportation - at least it conserves on fuel as much as possible!

I want to thank Marcela & Dieter, Alba, Martha and her amazing family, don Alfonso & Martha and Sebastian, Mary Eugenia, Katherine and her mom Lucia, Leslie, Anna, all the kiddos in M & D´s english classes, all the kiddos at the school and Dellio for making my visit so wonderful!

Colombia - The only risk is wanting to stay!

Santuario de las Lajas

Leslie, my friend from the language school in Caratgena, met up with another woman from Germany, Katja. We became the 3 amigas and traveled south together. We had quite the adventurous trip, lots of laughs and crazy stories. I think we were really glad we were together. It took us a total of 15 hours of travel from Popayon Colombia (which I had traveled 13 hours the day before from medellin) to Otavalo Ecuador.

In Ipiales - the last town in Colombia, we took a break and went to Santuario de las Lagas. It took about 30 years to build. This incredible sanctuary was built in this incredible steep canyon because it was reported that in 1754 the image of the Virgin of the Rosary was seen at this place by a young girl who was deaf and mute (sordomuda). She and her mom were traveling and got caught in a storm. They found refuge in between the lajas (the flat, wide stone slabs which characterize the walls of that region of the river. During the lightning storm, the girl saw lightning and the Virgin Mary and started to talk. It is an incredibly peaceful place both in and out of the church.

Chiva Ride

Marcela, Dieter, our neighbor don Alfonso and I went on a chiva ride. It left from town and we went up into the mountains probably around 8,000 feet or so. If you look at the mountains to the right of the church - that is where we went. We were pretty much the only "tourists" on the chiva. Everyone else lived up in the mountains and used the chiva as their transportation as well as a delivery service for all their produce that they sell in town. Along the drive and walk down, there were pretty much only fincas (farms) that grew fruits and veggies such as potatoes, green beans, tomates de arbol, mandarinas etc., the view of the town of Giradota, a school, one building which looked like a house but was actually a watering hole and open land for as far as the eye could see. It was beautiful farmland and just open space!!

We walked down from the top which took about 3 1/2 - 4 hours. There was a foot path and a long stretch of rialles (picture from the past of the road from M&D's house that had concrete in 2 parts - under the tires). The rialles were built by the guerillas (more later) and were quite extensive. But they are now closed because of a fatal accident last June. Now the people that live up in the mountains either use the chiva on the southern end, or walk and ride horses on the northern end. I can not believe the tenacity of the people who walk at least 2 hours one way. They have to lug their groceries, things for their houses and anything else they want to buy - amazing. The people we saw all had smiles on their faces and the women and teens were in groups. Only the men walked by themselves - at least that day.



















































































































The chiva was great but sad and very emotionally moving for me for two reasons:
1) There were all these orchards filled with tomates del arbol (tomatoes that grow on trees that we made juice and sauce out of - yummy!). But the fruit was just rotting on the tree. The owner did not have enough money to harvest them because there was a glut of them in the market from a big corporation in Bogota. Sound familiar?? This what happened a few years back with the Washington apples. Things can be unfortunately be so similar to the US.


























2) Here is where the riales plug back in. So as we walked down, we came to the longest and widest riales that I have seen. Well as I said earlier, guerillas had them built (probably for dirt cheap). Guerillas came and took over a region of Juan Cojo - kicking people out of their homes and/or forcing them to sell their homes for a next to nothing price. Now I think I understood that these were not the FARC but guerillas hired by Uribe(colombian president) to help combat the FARC. Regardless of whom they worked for, they still kicked people of their homes. Luckily they seemed to take care of the land. This all happened only 5 years ago. I was shocked that it was close - both in time and in vicinity to my new neighbors. I gained a whole new perspective and understanding of where they were coming from: from the surprise and shock that I was traveling alone, the shock when I would walk alone, why they cautioned Marcela and I not to walk places where we didn't know and where the people did not know us and why some of the families are so protective of their children. But also what is so moving is how the people find so much joy and laughter each day. The families are tight knit and strong. Now whether this is a result of the guerilla activity or an aspect of colombian life, I do not know. But I do cherish the connection and the support the families have and I hope that it is here to stay.

The Trapiche Visit

We went to a trapiche with one of the neighbors - don Alfonso. (don is used as a title of courtesy or respect for older gentleman.) A trapiche is where they transform sugar cane into panela - similar to a brown sugar mold. Panela it turns out is originally from Africa and Asia. People make hot drinks out of it and use it as a sweetener. They also believe it helps fight the common cold (la gripa). Marcela says when she was young and fighting off a cold, her mom would make her a hot cup of panela with lemon and send her off to bed. Typically in the morning, she felt better. Athletes also use it for some quick energy. Panela has tons of vitamins (A, B1, B2, B5, B6, C, D and E). After going to the trapiche, I was reading a Spanish magazine that Leslie left behind and there was an article about panela. This way I got to give you some factual information too.

It was great to watch how the panela molds were created and how they used the entire plant in the process - nothing wasted. I love that about this culture!! They are very resourceful and I love the simplicity of their tools. They first cut the canes and put them into a squeezing machine where they get this sugary, clear juice. [no photos because they did this the day before we arrived. But we did see a woman doing this at one of the open air markets in Medellin]. They then light a fire using the fiber from the sugar cane. The fire has a small opening and somehow travels underneath the 4 different vats from which the sugary juice is heated. They transfer and stir the liquid and it darkens in color as it moves down the line. After the fourth vat and definately the smallest one, the liquid is transferred into a portable tray [you can see Marcela helping to carry it] where it instantly starts to puff up as it cools and then crystallize. They stir it again, sometimes adding water or some more liquid and then they mold it, stamp each one and package it. It was quite the process!

The panela is way better than brown sugar - not as sweet and richer in flavor. We tried it while it was still hot but in crystallized form - right out of the tray. We tried it in a caramelized state as well. It lost some of its sweetness. One of the fellows gave Marcela a ball of it to pull and stretch like taffy but unfortunately it did not work. We have seen other people pulling this taffy like substance and stretching it in the plaza and in Medellin. For some reason, the day we went it did not work - temperature?? mixture?? not really sure why. It was funny though because Marcela worked this ball and had it stuck all over her hands for about 20 minutes. She finally was able to remove it onto a paper bag and that is when we ate it in the caramelized state. The really funny part was when one of the guys not only tried to offer me and Leslie some to work with, but offered Marcela some more. Of course none of us, took him up on the offer. When Marcela had difficulty AND he could not whip it up, there was no way I was going to try. They had some plantains in the vats, which one of the fellows who was really sweet, took out, got a plate with forks and gave to us to eat - MMMMmmmmmm delicious.

It takes a team of about 6 - 7 fellows to make the panella over 2 days time. The team travels to about 5 or 6 different fincas visiting each one about twice a month. Granted this is what I understood one of the fellows telling me. I am not fully confident in my Spanish comprehension yet, although it is getting better by the day.

Happy Halloween

They celebrate Halloween down here very similarly to us. Trick or treating, parties, costumes and a lot of candy. Although an added bonus for the children is they can trick or treat at the corner markets too. The children don’t have to skip over the small markets and go to the next house. They get to make an added stop.

When trick or treating, I heard two different sayings the children say:
Por la paz, Por el amor. Da me dulces por favor [for peace, for love, give me sweets please] or

Tricky tricky Halloween quiero dulces parami o si no se te crece la nariz […. I want sweets for me or if not your nose will grow, Marcela also heard a similar one that instead of your nose growing long they said they would cut off your nose]






















Here are come close up pictures of coffee beans still on the bush.

















Some colorful fauna as well