Otavalo, Ecuador

July 21, 2000

Otavalo Ecuador

The last few days in Ecuador have been hectic as we tried to cram as much Spanish into as little time as possible. Rebecca, feeling a little better, has spent the time in lessons, broken only by the occasional outing with me, rowdy birthday parties, dinner with Jurgen or shopping in the Plaza de Poncho market. I, on the other hand, have spent a lot of my free time running between Internet Cafés frantically trying to upload our pictures and journals to the Web. Okay... Rebecca helped... a little too.

It has been more of a chore than I had anticipated but has offered me the chance to make some new friends along the way. The most notable of these is Jorge from Café.net in Otavalo. He all but assembled a computer with the needed components from scratch, in an afternoon, allowing me to keep the site updated. Somehow, fighting a language barrier and time constraints, he managed to nurse me through the process of editing, compressing and sending our pictures on a computer that is a dinosaur by present-day standards.

This has really been the norm in Otavalo as so many of the people have gone so far out of their way to make our trip as comfortable and enjoyable as they can. It is a warm feeling knowing that there are people like Mamanita, Jorge, Fidel, Jenny and the many others who have shown compassion, kindness and friendship are out there in this great big world ready to lend their support when you need it most.

So, as we packed our things and said our final goodbyes, I counted myself blessed for the chance to know these fine people... to walk away with a new perspective on life that has blossomed with their outlooks and stories.

Blessed for the opportunity to sit on a porch during a downpour in the jungle with Jurgen, talking of life after World War Two. To hear of the strife and chaos, as his family fled their home and way of life, escaping the ravaged cities for an Aunt's Bavarian farm. To know of his adventures through South Africa as a he found his way through life, evolving, growing into the adventuresome mid-sixties attorney and director of his own law firm.

Blessed to know Jenny, who taught me not only Spanish but of life in South America as a young woman. To know what was chevera (cool) and what was not. To see a little of her life and be graced with a lot of her views, opening my eyes to the machista that is the way of life for so many Ecuadorian men. To know her dreams of moving to Europe with her husband Manuel and live a life easier than is practicable in her homeland. To have heard her speak of raising her daughter, Sydney, in a world where women were treated as equals and not possessions.

Blessed to have met Fidel and Mamanita and see the strength of their traditions and way of life. To hear of their struggles, in making a life in Otavalo, raising a family and running a business that supports not only them but many of their friends and neighbors as well. To see the dedication in their eyes and strength in their step... it was as telling as any of the long dinner conversations we'd had with them in Otavalo, their home.

So as we made our way through the crowded streets on to a crowded bus headed for a bigger, even more crowded city, I smiled knowing that I have these memories forever. I know these people, these shining points of light on the map of my mind, that is South America, that is Ecuador, that is Otavalo... a world away from anything I had ever known before.