Destination: Otavalo (part 2 of 3)

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To market, to market, to buy a fat pig. Home again, home again, jiggety jig.

After our fearless leader Brenna found us a hostal we set off to find lunch. We ended up at a place that served vegetarian-Andean food and had . . . wait for it . . . live music. Oh, yeah. It rocked. The restaurant had an outdoor patio, and standing out there were about five men playing flutes, drums and who knows what else. My music vocabulary is a bit lacking, so all I can say is that it was the best music I have heard since I arrived in Ecuador.

After lunch it was time for the market. As we were walking along all I could think of was that market nursery rhyme, which was amusing since not only were we not off to buy a fat pig, but the likelihood that Brenna and Ami would ever go to market to buy a fat pig is slim to none, if that. But I sang it anyway. Multiple times.

Until we actually reached the market.

Oh, there are no words to adequately describe the Otavalo market. It's HUGE. When I had heard about the craft market in Otavalo I naturally assumed it would resemble the craft fairs back home. Boy, was I was way off. Not only is the market square filled with venders, but they spill out onto the nearby streets as well. Everywhere you look there are people selling woven blankets, wall hangings, purses, jewelry, pottery, ponchos, scarves. There are fruit venders and veggies venders and meat venders and there are dogs scurrying through the crowd and children chasing each other and assisting their family in selling their wares. If you so much as pause near a vender's stand they emerge from the depths of their stand and give you their sale's pitch. Whatever price they quote you is higher than what they actually want for it, and should you hesitate or express doubt they immediately drop the price a dollar or two, particularly if you're there later in the day. You're expected to haggle the price, as the day progressed Brenna and I became much better at bargaining with the venders. (But even if we hadn't, the original price was still significantly cheaper than what you would pay in the U.S. for an item of similar quality.)

We spent hours roaming through the market. In the beginning we were just trying to absorb it all -- the sights, sounds, smells. I've never seen so much color in my life. Ami managed to capture the colors of the market on Brenna's camera, and hopefully those pictures will be up on the web soon. Everything seemed to be in perfect balance; none of the colors clashed with each other, nor did any one color overwhelm the others. It was extraordinary.

After hours wandering and purchasing, we found a small vegetarian restaurant for dinner. We all ordered veggie burgers (our American upbringing shining through bright and strong!) that were probably the best veggie burgers we've ever had. After that it was back to our hostal, where we futilely searched the television for some news of the Ecuador vs. Uruguay soccor game. It was supposedly a big game -- one that would determine whether or Ecuador would go to the World Cup in Germany -- and while we had watched some of it earlier we were clueless about the outcome. Based on the reactions of the people in the street we guessed that they had won, but we couldn't seem to find a news clip of the winning goal. Nor could we understand a word the sports announcers were saying. As it turns out there wasn't a winning goal. Apparently no one actually won the game, but since Ecuador had more points than Uruguay going into the game they . . . won? I don't really get it, but don't tell any Ecuadorians that. 😊

em

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Photos

Otavalo Market
(photo courtesy of Ami)

Otavalo Market
(photo courtesy of Ami)

Otavalo Market
(photo courtesy of Ami)

Antiwar Mural I
(near our hostal)

Antiwar Mural II
(near our hostal)