Ecuador in a blur

crossing the boarder... crossing cultures and intruding on the world of other.

The road to Popayan was regarded as a dangerous road, but i was assured that it was safe now. still i chose to take the day bus rather than the night bus in a rare fit of protectivism and rationality... since the last bus i was in took all night and had a near miss... i wanted to avoid a repeat... SO of course i had a repeat.
the 120 km trip (hich should take 1.5 hours on a normal road) was projected to take 5 hours... so i was to spend the day in the bus...
as it turned out... the 5 hours was a generous underestimate... really the trip took well over 12 hours. and well into the night we traveled a road that had no business being called such. when we blew a tire on a steep curve in the dark I knew we would all have to get out... it was a matter of changing the tire and being on our way again.
but the bolts were so tight.
another bus stopped to help. and then another. we had thre busses lining a road in the dark, with the lights off... on a steep curving mountain road. i was having visions of the morning newspaper and the pictures of the werck to come when another bus would come screeching round the courner.
in fact the accident that DID happen was not that severe... but ridiculous. as i think everything must been in extreme moments of ridiculous circumstances... the second bus that came to help us pulled in front of us and when backing up... hit our bus with extreme force. nothing happened. but i have to wonder...
finally we seemed to be able to make progress on the tire... when the broke a bolt clear off the tire... this hole time... well over an hour they had been trying to turn the bolts the WRONG WAY. that is why they were so tight... the rest of the bolts were easier... and eventually we were on out way... one bolt short. i think i arrived in time to get up in the morning... not sure if it was day or night any more... not that it matters. again we made it... or something very much like that.


SILVIA, Colombia

Another mountain village with a market that draws the traditional people from the surrounding countryside to exchange crafts and buy needed good for the week. The tuesday market is a scene... and Spanish is not much good here because the local people have maintatined their language, dress, custom and culture. I made friends with this couple and we shared conversation over melting popsicles in the late afternoon. they did speak spanish, as did the young guy selling minutes from his cell phone who wanted to talk to me at length. he wanted to practice his english, but since he didnt speak any, except for a few words..., the conversation was entirely in spanish which suited me just fine. any chance i get to practice is a treat.

******
although pictures are lacking they will come soon.
i spent 12 hours in a line. LITERALLY 12 hours aiting for a stamp on my passport to leagally enter Ecuador. talk about how to make a first impression. i think i was frustrated after 6, astounded after 8, bored after 9 and after 10 really started to have a great time. i had made friends with the people near me... and actually ran into someone i had met in Bogota... what are the chances...? the chances are pretty good apparently if you stay in the same place for long enough you are bound to run into someone you know... or know everyone around you. i had both. i got my stamp without any drama at all. one of the people i had been waiting with didn´t! her drama was enough. she was colombiana and was trying to vivist her kids in Quito. que peña! what a pitty. the words don´t really cover it.

OTAVALO, Ecuador

Just across the boarding into Ecuador is a town known for its saturday market and its artisans. I had originally thought I would not be able to stop here , not being saturday... but thanks to the hold up at the boarder and not realizing what day it was to begin with... I was afforded a perfect afternoon, albeit carrying my pack around through a crowded market... the unique people of this region are know for their use of color. it was a pleasure... and because i was already carrying the world on my shoulders I managed not to buy too much. a pitty and a blessing in one.

Navidad-christmas.

Colombia is ready for Christmas. They have been ready since i arrived in early november... what i wonder is ... is Christmas reacy for Colombia?
The celebration is two-fold here. They have a holiday called NOVENA. it is the celebration of the conception... interestingly the conception happened, according to the way it is told here on december 8 ... and for 9 nights families celebrate together... moving from house to house... with wine, food music singing and prayer. And Novena is just the warm-up for Christmas... which is celebrated on dec 24... not the 25. and the family gathers in the evening. for more food. and celebrating... gifts are exchanged and at midnight fireworks etc.
Towns are despolate and everyone is with family.
interstingly enough this is a great night for robberies... so everyone is on super alert and on gaurd when leaving their homes.so much for holiday cheer.

and the next day the world is quiet. it is near impossible to catch a taxi, but somethings seems to run normally. i managed to get a bus from popayan to pasto (two towns in the south of Colombia. working my way ecuador.
this year is a holiday with out the presents and festivities for me... yet the gifts i recieve are intangible... visual, edible and expereintial... i witness the joy of others. the familial closeness... etc... and appreciate it. For me it is not a special day... only a day with limited access to food, transportation etc. for me holidays are only valid when celebrated with family and friends... so I will wait until i am with those that I love again soon(4-5 months). So Christmas is over... and the country loved it... celebrated is, bought it, wrapped it and gave it away... Feliz Navidad!

the world as they knew it

another day in the fresh air

San Agustin. ancient and isolated

Set in the mountains a million miles from nowhere and anywhere through the tribulations of a contrloing mind... and through a nigh of no sleep and tedious adventure and near misses lies a little town that time has forgotten and it was 5500 years ago that anything remarkable happened here, yet people still come to check it out... including me. stone statues dot the countryside and gaurd tombs of the important people of a culture long lost.
the landscape s magical enough the stone statues are treasures and the fresh air is the most precious resource.

Su mejor compañia- it´s the better company

forgive my sense of irony... and the bad photographs... but in the middle of the night my bus skidded across the road... in a startling manner... which i have grown accustomed to. I examined the surrongdings and when we started on our way again assummed we were all still alive and all would be well. Both were true but not as i had imagined it to be. further down the road we pulled over a couple of women jumped out grabbed their bags and ran. it did seem a little odd. i coulnd understand. but that too is something i have become accustomed to. not understanding is my natural state.
when we were told to all get out of the but I got to see for myself-
the windshield... which i still don´t know how to say in spanish, was shattered. there was nothing left... only where the sticker proclaimed... "su mejor compañia" held it together... was there anything left.
the driver pulled the remainder out and threw it on the ground next to where i was sitting the kids played with it... and we sat on the side of the road until just after sunrise... when another bus, even smaller than the one we had been in, arrived... i forgot to mention how ridiculous the bus was to begin with packed tight, over-packed and then some... with all the goods and etc people were bring from Bogota to the remote towns in whereever ... south... cause after the midnight debacle the tightly packed bus seemed like a minor detail... until we all had to do it again. but with more stuff and less space... the humor was in there burried underneath the mattresses, dogs, people, lamps and who knows what else... what could have been a 6 hour trip was a 18 hour trip... then it was astounding. now it is routine. time is of no import... i am so glad i dont have a watch. even without it i maintain my neurotic internal clock set to american rigid concepts of time etc.
but i got there. eventually. i think i always will.

sierra has started celebrating her birthday. here comes 30.

Botero Museo -Bogota

On one of my last days in Bogota I took myself out to see all the sites I had neglected while living there. ... and still managed only to have energy for a few. but on the top of the list was the Botero museum. he is a sculptor and painter who prefers the curves and adds them and accentuates them everywhere. loved this place.