Music Lessons

My colleague left early in the morning to return to Lima -- one more week of field work and a couple of weeks of leave. I had three more days of work scheduled in Quito, then three days of leave before heading back to Washington. First up, a final hotel move.

 I moved from the old quarter to a tourist area, not usually my favorite, but fairly safe and with lots of restaurants. Plus, it was close to the museum and shopping areas that I needed for work, and close to my Spanish school. They were out of whatever room I had booked, so upgraded me to a suite. 

 What luxury was this? The bathroom was huge.

 The whole place was lovely. I was paying about half of what the price in the lobby said, and that was, I'm certain, no more than half what it would have cost in Washington. It was luxurious.

Once settled in there and a bit of laundry completed, I headed out. First stop, the post office, as I'd found the key to the last hotel still in my pocket! And to the bank, although most of them didn't want to work with my card that morning. Finally I found one, and pulled some money to start the now-approved shopping.

First stop, my favorite bookstore. We were looking for a number of children's books, and an indigenous Bolivian writer who had visited the museum told me about an Ecuadorian writer who not only had won a number of awards but also had a great reputation for good work on indigenous issues. The store had a couple, and was willing to order others from nearby stores so that I would have most of them by the end of the week. Unfortunately, the one I really wanted, about the Inka time, they didn't have.

Then, a few unsuccessful trips, and then I hit the jackpot and found a fabulous music store. I spent nearly two hours in there, heard every type of instrument he had, which he played to accompany various songs and groups, and had lessons in the different families of instruments. It was incredible. I'm sure if I played, I could have been there longer. There went a big chunk of the budget!

 Various types of maltas and sikus.

 I got these great photos later in the week when I went back. He lined things up for me all over the store so that I could take photos for the staff and activity centers. These are semitoyos and toyos. I do love their deep sound, the bass of the Andean wind instruments. Mostly made of bamboo, some of them are very fancy and covered with colorful fabric.

 Some of the books. I really liked these because they came with activity guides too.

 I can't wait until the staff learns to play the instruments! These books will help.

 Two of the instruments, a zampoña and a siku.

 Paintings from the community of Tigua. These are enamel on alder and sheep skin. The painting tells the story of one of the local festivals. They are a mountain community.

 Butterfly necklaces made from Tagua wood. This comes from the rainforest.

Necklaces made from spondylus shell, from the coast.

These photos are a bit out of order, but oh well. I set Tuesday to hit the indigenous bookstore, the ethnographic museum, and the indigenous chocolate purveyor. I was still hoping to go to Otavalo and their famous indigenous market on Wednesday with my friend J.