Christmas Tree
This is our make-shift tree for Christmas Tree. What do you think? Just so you get an idea of size, it is a little over 6 ft tall.
We think we will be creating a fad in Ecuador. They don’t have the natural trees here. They have fake trees.
Don’t be surprised the next time you see pictures of Xmas in Ecuador you see a see of trees like what is in the picture…
Expats give back
Today – was in a word an amazing day. A Christmas visit to 4 different villages – a truly wonderful experience! Children sang, danced and waited so patiently for their bag of animal crackers/treats (we gave away over 900 of them).
We even had a Santa Claus (Popa Noel). So much joy in their eyes and faces – its hard to explain.
Just a fabulous day here in Ecuador – glad we had the chance to be part of it.
Sunrise
This was the view at sunrise today from the Condo we are staying in. It sure was nice to have coffee and watch the sun rise. The mountain is Imbaburra if you don’t recognize it by now.
This is the view to the east of Mt. Imbaburra. This was also taken with a wide angle lens to give you a broader view and from about the middle of the development. Our property is at the far end, closer to the mountain. The wall you see is the back side of the development.
Ok, here it is…[insert drum roll here]…
We bought some property here in Cotacachi and this is the view to the east. That is the town of Cotacachi you can see in the picture and Mt Cotacachi is in the background with the peak hidden by the clouds. This was taken with a wide angle lens to give you a broad view not a close up. This was taken from the Gazebo on the property. The link following is for the development. They have a pretty good description and great photos. You might be a little slow to load as it is all flash content – but it is worth it.
View from San Pedro
I tried to do this in reverse so this is the first posting in the series and you can read down instead of reading the last thing first. we will see how this works in reality.
Patrice was asked to teach one of the villages some beading. Another one wants me to teach them how to make Pizza, (all they really want is my Sourdough). As it turns out they want 3 days of beading classes. Today was the first day. Now picture this… We barely know a few words in Spanish, the villagers know not much Spanish, they primarily speak their native language named Kitchwa. How is that for the beginnings of teaching a class?
In the picture, lower left you can see Cotacachi where we are staying. In the middle below the mountain you can see Otavalo, where the big craft market is. Those things that seem like white lines, to the right mid picture, are Rose growing operations. This picture is only part of the absolutely stunning views this village has.
The name of the village is San Pedro and is over 200 years old. It is small, and the people are shy but it was worth it just to see things like this picture. As you will see – they really got into beading. Must have been the Instructor, what do you think?
We have to pick up more supplies tomorrow in Otavalo and the second class will be Monday (Lunes).
