26 | January | 2013 | Teresa Van Haalen Ventures

Doll seller

I’ll probably sound like I’ve been drinking too much coca mate when you read this, but this high altitude environment is amazing. We walked to the Saturday market this morning and didn’t know where to stop taking pictures. The colors are amazing and the indigenous people so calm and self-possessed (except when they are sharing a joke in Quetchua, their native language) with Europeans and other interlopers! Here is a photo of Otolavo market day, Jan 26, 2013. If I can figure out how to post more without screwing up the font formatting, I sure will!

We didn’t buy much at the market–just a scarf, a shirt for Juan and a doll. Baggage space, remember. But we did go up the hill to Agato to visit Miguel Andrango in his home and studio. He is Ecuador’s most famous weaver, and rightly so. He uses only backstrap looms to create some of the most intricate and colorful weavings, all with yarns he has spun and dyed with natural dyes. I asked him how he learned and he said from his father, who learned from his father. And of course, Miguel has taught his kids the art.

That’s all I can do tonight–so many photos and trying to figure out how to wrap text has been a huge issue for me!! Thanks for reading and following our travels!