Anyone know where I can pick up a pair of heels in Quito?

11/20/11

Anyone know where I can pick up a pair of heels in Quito?

Because I’m going to the US Embassy! Once we’re back in Quito that is. We’re meeting with a representative from USAID (United States Agency for International Development.) USAID is a “federal government agency that works to support economic growth, agriculture and trade, global health, democracy, conflict prevention, and humanitarian assistance in developing countries.” Many of our assigned readings have been very critical of USAID, so it’s going to be a very interesting visit. I’m extremely excited!

This morning I woke up to a towering stack of pancakes. It seems that in watching me make them mediocrely once, Carolina was able to perfect both the recipe and the technique. Seriously, they were much more beautiful and tasted much better than mine.  All my friends were soooo jealous when Lizzie and I told them. Now that I have sweet breakfasts again, I’m going to miss it here so much! Okay, I would have missed it regardless, but this just makes things worse.

I was hoping to be able to send Carolina and Victor postcards throughout my trip. Even though they can’t read, there are people in the community who can, and they would definitely help. But some things are slightly more difficult here. Thing is, they don’t really get mail. If I want to send them a letter, I need to send it to the Yana Puma Foundation in Quito. Then perhaps one of their representatives will bring it to the Cultural Center on their next visit. Then hopefully Alejandro will know that it’s for his daughter, and pass it on to her. The chances of my ever finding out whether or not they received my letter are very slim. Well, I’ll try anyway.

Sandro (Carolina’s brother) came to work with us today, and afterwards he taught me to throw poison spears. Of course they weren’t poisoned for our practice, but before the Tsatchilla were introduced to guns, they used to hunt with poisoned spears.  I’m so glad to finally be learning some real life skills! Although, if anyone’s ever seen me throw, you can imagine how successful I was at actually hitting the tree…

After dinner, Carolina brought out a bag of beads, and asked us if we wanted to make necklaces and bracelets.  Instead of the plastic beads I’m used to, the beads were actually beautiful seeds she had collected from plants and trees. I’ve never seen anything like them. It was pretty darn cutesy, the whole family sitting around the table making jewelry. Of course to protect his manhood, Victor was sitting there with a power drill on his lap. But I’m not sure how manly it is drilling holes in beads. I made a pretty cool necklace, and then Carolina pulled out the string and made me the most beautiful bracelet. She used robin’s-egg-blue sting, a contraption made of a piece of wood with two nails on either side, three beautiful beads, and a very intricate weaving pattern that I couldn’t pick up let alone describe. So of course I felt it necessary to reciprocate with the traditional American sleep-away camp “V” style bracelet. It was a very memorable night. 

Love,

Katherine