The view from my hotel window
The Shaman
The gourd carver and his wares
The traditional back-strap weaver
Overlooking the marketplace in OtavaloNovember 22, 2009
Location: Otavalo, on the bus back to Quito
Weather: Lovely
Every place we go, I think that it couldn't quite get better and ever time we get to a new place, I'm amazed at how different, exciting, and beautiful it is!
Otavalo is a bustling city. We got here the other evening and wandered throughout the city in the last few hours of the evening before it got dark. The Andes surround this city, like they do in Cuenca and it makes me feel at home in their shade. It's so clean and clear in the mountains, it only makes me more sure that I'm a mountain girl at heart.
Jessica's and my room overlooks the mountains and it has running, hot water! :D It's lovely.
We went to find a discoteca but were relatively unsuccessful, since the only one we found was shut down by the police in 5 minutes. So we went back and had Zhumir and coke at the hotel.
Yesterday, we spent a full day shopping. Bartering is a big part of the culture in Ecuador. It's rude to just pay the price that a vendor tells you at first. Both parties enjoy bartering back and forth, trying to get a good deal on a scarf, or a bag, or a piece of artwork. It's an art form, it seems. You can't counter bargain too high or you'll be ripped off. You can't counter bargain too low or you'll offend the artisan. You have to hit the sweet spot where both vendor and purchaser feel like they got the better end of the deal and that takes some time to figure out--and some good Spanish. By the end of the day, I was a whiz!
I wanted to buy a turquoise purse for my mom but it was too high at $12 (I know, right? That's high here). I counter bargained a reasonable amount of $7, but the vendor refused. I knew it was still too high, so I walked away. A minute later, the vendor had found me and said that she would let me buy the bag for $9. I told her $8 and she accepted. See, I want to give the vendors a fair wage. This stuff is actually worth a lot more because it's often home weaved, sewn, and created. But the initial price is generally jacked up higher than normal because I look like a rich gringa. Walking away shows that I'm disinterested by the price and the vendor knows that by letting me walk away, she's losing out on a sell at the end of the day. At the end, everyone winds up happy.
At the end of the day, we went to see a weaver of incredible textiles, whose work sells for up to $700 per blanket. That is a LOT of money in Ecuador. He weaves in the traditional manner, with a loom that loops around his back and a shuttle that is passed manually across his lap. It's a very time consuming process, one which not many Ecuadorians value any longer. Most chose the quick and easy route to weave Otavalo's famous alpaca and wool textiles but the ones that are really worth something are hand-woven.
One of the most fascinating cultural experiences so far was a shamanic cleansing ritual that Narcissa brought a small group of us to see. Adam volunteered to be cleansed. It involved him stripping down to his underwear, being rubbed with candles, eggs, and oil, having aguardiente spat all over him by the shaman, hit with stinging nettles, and finally, having fire breathed over his entire body. This is an odd mixture of Catholic and animist rituals, formed by the Ecuadorian culture to appease both sides, I think. The shaman's house was filled with magic crystals, spears, virgin Mary statues, holy water, and trinkets of all shapes and sizes. He wore a feather headdress to perform the ritual and uttered in a guttural, mumbled Spanish. It was both terrifying and incredible to see. Whether it did anything or not has yet to be seen. This ritual has been filmed for travel shows repeatedly because the shaman is one of the only ones who still does it in a traditional manner. I have had so many once-in-a-lifetime experiences on this trip, it has paid for itself over and over and over again in value.
Things I bought in the market:
-Scarves shot through with silver and gold thread
-Alpaca scarves for friends
-A silver filigree ring
-Filigree earrings for friends
-Jade necklace
-A hand-painted oil on hide painting for my parents
-A hammock for my parents
-A woven purse for my mom
-An "I love Boobies" shirt for my brother (Boobies as in the bird, not the body part)
-An Amazonia shirt for my mom
-2 painted feathers for my grandparents
-Hand-made stationary for family friends
-Carved gourds made into owl Christmas ornaments for work friends and family
-A massive woven bag to carry it all back in
Total cost of everyone's Christmas presents: about $100-$125. Yeah. Believe it.
Spending the day in a lively city: Priceless
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