Week 2 in Ecuador

Casa Museo Guayasamin 

The painting of “Los Niños Muertos.”

Fatima: This week, my peers and I went to Casa Museo Guayasamin. The museum is the house of Oswaldo Guayasamin who painted thousands of paintings during his lifetime. The painting “Los Ninos Muertos” really caught my attention since it is one of Oswaldo Guayasamin’s first paintings."Los Ninos Muertos" is based on a real story about the Ecuadorian civil war of 1932, commonly known as the "Guerra de 4 dias." Many kids died in the 1932 civil war, including Guayasamin's best friend. Such a tragedy had a profound impact on Guayasamin, who later declared himself an atheist since he thought that if there was a God he wouldn't have allowed the killing of children. The painting caused a great impact on the community as well because it highlighted how innocent children were killed during the crossfire of the civil war. 

San Clemente 

The picture on the left is the Bizcochos that we had and on the right is a picture of how the Bizcochos are made. 

Karina: Over the weekend we had the opportunity to visit San Clemente and gain various experiences. On Friday we had to wake up early and arrive at our first stop to try bizcochos in Cayambe. We were able to see and learn how it was that the bizcochos were made.

Pambamesa

This is a picture of the Pambamesa where everyone eats the same thing at the same time. Each host family we were staying with brought their own food, dishes, mantelpiece, and drinks to share with all the students. 

Karina & Fatima: We went back to the road and made it to San Clemente which is where an indigenous group resides and speaks the language Kichwa. As soon as we got there we were welcomed with a Pambamesa which is a traditional place where everyone eats the same thing at the same time. We were all seated in a circle, our chairs being rocks and in the center was all the food the host family prepared for us. They had chicken, soup, potatoes, vegetables, and much more. All the food provided for us was so delicious and became an unforgettable memory.

Host moms giving us a tour through the trails they used to take as kids. They said it has been years since they used these trails due to the main road being made.

 

Karina: After our meal, we were able to get a tour of their whole community which took about 2 hours but it was so interesting to see everything they had. As we walked through their territory we saw a variety of animals as well as how they are preparing to grow crops. we were told about the specific crops they grow as time approaches. Something interesting was that they took us through trials that were used before they created their main road. 

Helping prepare Dinner on our first day of arrival. to the left was babaco which once boiled in water become the perfect dessert. to the right are mashed potatoes shaped into patties that will later be fried.

Karina: After our tour, we were distributed to our host families where we got to eat dinner with them and experience how they eat as a family. We were able to provide assistance with dinner and help set up the table for us to eat. We got to learn about their daily life and how they amongst themselves help each other out. Our host families even said that they don’t go much to the city since they grow their own crops on their property. If they do go to the city it’s only for necessity but whenever our host mom would go she says she doesn’t like it.

Minga Begins

This picture shows how the table was set up with the food for our breakfast. The basket contained the tortillas we helped make.

Karina: On Saturday we also had to wake up early to help our host family make breakfast. We helped make tortillas by hand but are not the same as the tortillas we are used to. These tasted somewhat like pancakes and were especially delicious with some honey on top. After our breakfast, we headed out with our host dad and brother to the school where we were going to help by painting it and adding some murals. At the school, we had to paint a classroom, the hallway outside it, and the stair that led up to the class. We also had to paint two murals on the walls. There was a group of us who came out and helped out. To start off the community came together to help we had moms, dads, and even their children help us out to finish this project. Not to mention that there was help from the professor's family as well. It was incredible to see us all come together to work on the school to provide a nicer place for its students. We started off by sanding all the walls down for the paint to stick. We came across a problem on the way which was that there was a pipe that was leaking and the dads had to break through part of the wall to fix it. After they broke through it they had to put cement over it again which takes a long to dry making it difficult to paint over it. Once our time was running out we decided to start on one of our murals by sketching it out and trying to paint as much as we can. Honestly, it was starting to get stressful since I thought we were not going to be able to finish the murals the next day. 

Medicinal walk

Karina: After our time was over at the school on Saturday we were taken on a medicinal walk. We learned about the many plants that they have throughout the community to treat injuries naturally. The host mom who was giving us a tour told us a story about the differences between the treatment from her first and second birth. In the birth of her daughter, she use a Comadrona which is like a midwife. She stayed how her Comadrona used the medicinal plants she was showing such as to give as tea. She even stated how she used the plant below to cut the umbilical cord of her baby because it is safer than scissors. 

A plant used to cut the umbilical cord 

After our walk, we can try on some of the traditional clothing as well as dance to their traditional music. 

Fatima, Ana, and I wearing the traditional clothing of our host mom. She embroidered everything herself.

Karina: On Sunday we headed back to the school to finish up all the work that was left undone from the previous day. Coming to San Clemente we were unsure about what murals we wanted to paint. It wasn’t until the leader let us know that they would want an image of the Imbabura mountain in the form of a cross that represents the different types of animal families. For our second we had come up with the idea of women making tortillas just like how we were taught that morning. The design was inspired by our host mom Rosita who stated that she would love to see that on the wall. Our other classmates also let us know that their host families believe in “Churito de La Vida” which means that a person's life goes in a circle that is represented by the dreamcatcher represented by the sun. 

The First Mural with Imbabura in the back and a cross that represents animal families. 

The second mural which was inspired by our host families

Cuy Traditional Dish

This is a picture of the traditional Cuy dish 

Fatima: My friends and I had the chance to eat cuy this past weekend. Cuy is a traditional dish in Ecuador. Only four of the nine students participating in the Global Seminar in Quito, Ecuador, gave it a shot. Here, I'd want to talk about some of my friends' cuy-trying experiences. The cuy was described as tasting similar to lamb, pig, fish, and chicken by several of my classmates. One of my friends also commented on how the cuy's skin was "much chewable and thicker" than the lamb and pig's. Some of my peers said they would never eat cuy again while others said they would definitely be eating cuy again. Overall, I found it to be extremely interesting learning about each of my peers' cuy-trying experiences.

Taller Artesanal Peguche Wasi

Here’s a picture of José Farinango explaining how the blanket is made. The picture at the right is  “Telares andinos.”

Fatima: The Taller Artesanal Peguche Wasi is owned by Jose and his five other friends. Meaning that all designs are made by them and productions are made in small quantities. All designs and artisan designs are made with telares andinos which are made out of wood. Designs are mentally made, not sketched out. Furthermore, Jose mentioned how some designs are put in ashes in order to make the material soft such as in the case of the orange blanket he’s holding. These were some fun facts we learned on our visit to the Taller Artesanal Peguche Wasi.

Valores 

These were some paintings outside the Taller Artesanal Peguche Wasi. 

Fatima: Each painting has a meaning to the people in the community of Kichwa Otavalo from Peguche. To start, parents use the image of the tower or rock in the top picture to educate their children not to be "ama quilla, ama shua, ama llulla," which translates to not be lazy, liar, or thief. Additionally, Jose mentioned how in the middle of the rock one must swear by heart that they will not be lazy, a liar, or a thief. Meanwhile, the picture on the bottom with the poncho represents communities in Tobalo. Each community used a different color on their poncho. Over time this tradition has been lost. In the past people knew each other and what sector they were from based on the color of their line in the poncho. 

Peguche waterfall
Karina: After Peguche Wasi we headed out to Peguche waterfall. At first, it was hard getting there since most streets were closed due to a celebration that was going to occur there. Once we found a way the walk to the waterfall took around 10-15 minutes but once we were there it was so pretty. We were able to enjoy the view and realized that there were people who were hiking at the top of the waterfall.

 

Fatima: In June many people in Ecuador celebrate the crops and the sun. People go to the mountains with food, music, flowers, and drinks (not alcohol) to celebrate. Everything that is taken for this celebration must be natural. Furthermore, on June 21 people go to Peguche waterfall to celebrate but only men are allowed to go. Currently,  groups of 15 are allowed in but are only allowed 10 minutes in the waterfall. People used to do the pambamesa before, but that is no longer permitted due to the time restriction. According to Jose, the flowers were used as soap before in this celebration. To wash away negative energy, people take showers with the water of the waterfall during the celebration

Picture of Fatima and me in front of the Peguche waterfall. The second picture is a painting in Taller Artesanal Peguche Wasi of Peguche waterfall where one can see people celebrating.

Mercado Artesanía Otavalo

The silver I bought was in the Mercado Artesanal Otavalo. 

Fatima:

 On our way back to Quito from our weekend in San Clemente, we went to the Mercado Artesanal Otavalo. In the Mercado, I bought handmade silver jewelry. When I was looking at the silver jewelry the designer was telling me the meaning, story, and design of each piece. The dangle earrings for example represent the tree of life. Which is worn by a lot of people in the community. While the jewelry in the middle represents the circle of life. This is the reason the pattern is an infinite circle, which I also heard about when I visited the Kichwa community in San Clemente, Imbabura, Ecuador. The pendant and drop earrings are made from the mother of pearl shells. Lastly, the flower earrings are filigree. Metal strings are twisted and weaved into beautiful patterns to create the design known as filigree, which is used on jewelry.  Filigree is a design that is handmade and time-consuming.