February 16, 2012

We are now in a remote mountain village called Saragura in Ecuador. It´s great. Probably my favourite village in South America to date. Unfortunately I am very sick with a chest cold ( yes I did start the antibiotics) so this means I can´t walk very far uphill and everything is uphill and I have to have alot of naps. Despite that and despite that the food is awful, (Haven´t yet found anything that we like eating. There is nothing resembling a menu or any familiar food except frenchfries and eggs and there absolutely no English), this is an amazing place. The people here were moved from Lake Titicaca hundreds of years ago by the Inkans and somehow they maintained their culture. The men wear short black trousers, a red and black poncho or a solid black poncho and a smallish black wool hat and usually they wear rubber boots. They also have one long black braid. The women wear tiny black bowler hats or large flat white felt hats with black designs painted under the brims. (again they have one beautiful single braid of black hair). They also have lots of beading and beautiful colourful blouses and silver shawl pins fastening the black wrap that goes over one shoulder. They wear big silver earrings and long pleated black skirts. The children are all gorgeous and usually wear North American clothing and brightly coloured touques. I did draw some of the kids yesterday and gave them the drawings. Of course that was a hit.

There are lovely woven wool blankets and woven linen or cotton tablecloths for sale but we just can´t buy anything and have to lug it along. My pack is already bursting with my coat and fleese. Because there are very few tourists (we´ve only met one other; an american lady who is here looking at orchids that resemble mushrooms or mushrooms that resemble orchids), all of the locals are happy to see us and they talk away in fast spanish. Jim and I just smile.

The village of Sunagura (land of corn) is high in the Andes and is situated in a green valley surrounded by very very steep hills. The houses within the village are mostly stucco, and in the surrounding countryside, they are stick and mud wattle with tile roofs, mostly with unfinished second floors. We did take a taxi to the next village this morning and then we walked back to Saragura. It was the most interesting walk on a sort of mud trail past houses with little gardens filled with flowers and corn and mellons. Only my constant stopping and coughing and huffing and puffing and the prerequisite daily rain balanced off an amazing experience.

For those of you who have been trying to also read Jim´s version of things, I just now realized that the link on my website doesn´t work. You can go to Jim´s blog
at wyattjim.blogspot.com

February 10, 2012 The Galapogos

The Galapogos: ¨One¨

With my yellow fins,
Pink face mask and
Dark blue bathing suit,
I slip off the Zodiac
Into the tourquoise Pacific.
Immediately I join
The underwater party.
Sealions look me right in the eye,
Then roll and cavort beside me.
They glide upside down,
Diving and cartwheeling.
Clouds of fish are
At my fingertips.
Gray fish with sunshine yellow
Fins and tails
Do a swimby.
Black fish with a glowing magenta edging
and yellow stipes,
Blue fish with orange fins,
A large almost phlorescent
pink fish,
Every combination of shape and colour.
This rocky lava ledge,
Beside Fioreana Island,
Provides a Galapogos Paradise.

Large chunky yellow starfish,
Slender white starfish,
Green and red undulating sea plants,
Pale pink coral flowers,
And hundred of green and brown
Sea urchins hug the reef.

In the murky depth,
Next to the reef,
Several white-tipped sharks rest.
For the moment,
I am not of interest.

Suddenly the presense
Of a giant sea turtle
Catches my eye.
Slowly, majestically,
The turtle swims to the surface
For a breath and then
Drives away from me.
I swim from turtle to turtle
Admiring their patterned backs,
Their size and grace.
I am euphoric
to be a part of this underwater world.


The Galapogos: Two¨

Sea lions bark and moan,
On a ribbon of white sand;
An edging between the cerelean Pacific
And the green lava island.
The air is already hot.
Billowing clouds along the horizon
Are starting their daily build up.
The rest of the sky is clear.
Over head, the morning moon
Is a pale white disc.

The Galapogos. ¨Three¨

Her rounded brown body,
With long blowing blond hair,
Is made ¨decent¨ by
Tiny triangles of tiger.
She flaunts and flirts,
Next to young men
Wearing sunglasses and
Wrapped in towels.
Only her eyes and mouth
Betray her age.
Her ¨new´ young girl friend,
Also a blond,
Doesn´t exude her fermones.
Her young face and perfect body
Are not a welcome invitation,
But a more reserved challenge.

February 6th, 2012 South America

Quito
( this morning, from the historic centre)

Crumbling plaster, yellows, greens, blues and pinks.
The old colonial houses, two story and three story,
All attached together, they rise steeply from the stone side walk
Steeply up the hill.
On street level, the metal doors are rolled down,
Hiding shoe shops, bakeries, corner stores,
Markets and door handle shops.
All windows are barred.
Above, the balconies in white plaster or black iron,
Support ivies, roses, cactus and pots of dead stems.
A rooster crows.
It is early morning, now no-one lives upstairs,
The narrow street is filled with cars and people
Iron doors are rolled up.
People start unloading potatoes, mellons,
Carrying bombas in cloth slings,
Or cooking fish in the market.
Later, when the sun fades,
There are lights and lives behind the upstairs curtains.
On roofs and balconies, pigeons sit like gargoils.
El paros roam and bark and scrounge.
The streets are dark and quiet.

Jim and I are off to the Galapagos tomorrow! You may not hear from us until we return on February 13th!

February 5, 2012 South America

Jim and I arrived safely in Quito, Equador on February 2nd. Immediately I remembered why I LOVE South America; the people, the smells, the Euopean buildings with balconies and flowers and crumbling details. The first morning, we found the local market, and I had corn tortillas which here are fat pancakes topped with eggs and served with sweet coffee for 75 cents. I immediately started taking photos of rows of colourful sausages and the ever present dead chickens. Later in the day we had a two hour spanish class with Jackelina and she¨s another delightful teacher like our Nuri from home. Unfortunately although I know a few words and phrases such as ¿Puedo tomarle una foto por favor?, I am still a Spanish dud. I do love to try Equadorian foods though. Yesterday I had a delicious sweet green drink made with naranjillas and a potatoe and avacador soup and today I tried a cuppa of guanabano (a huge green fruit that is green on the outside and white and sweet on the inside) as well as a psecado (fish) with yuca. I also tried Jim´s drink called maltes; a malt beer with raw eggs, sugar and milk, sounds awful tasted great. We did a day trip yesterday to Otavalo, a famous market town. Unfortunately the market was mediocre, a tourist market, not the real thing (no dead chickens), and the day was a tour and we had to stop and see the lama on a rope and stop and see the caged condor and eagles and owls. Two highlights from the day, I did buy a guaba which looked like a giant 2 to 3 foot long pea pod. It is either brown or green. The seller snapped it over her knee for me. Inside was a row of 1 inch black seeds covered in a stringy, slimy, sweet mass. Jim and I each ate this slime from around one seed and then you should have seen the eyes on the small boy when I gave him and armful of guaba! Just as it got dark we stopped in a park with a large area filled with huge clay hummingbirds, each one decorated by a different artist. I didn´t like the painted lobsters that Halifax had a few years ago, but the shape of these hummingbirds was pleasing and there was a power in the shear numbers of them and in the painting on them.

January 30, 2012

Jim and I had a meeting with Ivar Mendez in Halifax last Thursday and we are heading to this remote Mountain Village of Aucapata for most of March! We'll be teaching art to kids in three different schools. Ivar's staff from the Ivar Mendez International Foundation in LaPaz, are helping to plan all of the logistics. Although we've had an art project in this area, Jim and I have never actually been able to get there due to lack of transportation, poor roads and the rainy season. Stay tuned!

January 23, 2012

I'm trying to make sure that I can update this blog when we are travelling in South America.

This morning was bitterly cold in Nova Scotia, but by the time I took Marsh, our dog, to the Marsh, the tide was high and the day was glorious. I love this little piece of heaven called Portaupique. When we first got to the marsh, there was an eagle and a flock of black and white sea birds. Always there is something to make me gasp. Luckily Marsh didn't see the eagle or he would have been swimming before we had time to have a walk.

December27, 2011

Dear Friends, Family and Fans
Once again Jim and i are planning a South American Adventure. I am planning to post the sketches and the ramblings every couple of days. We would be delighted if you'd like to travel with us vicariously. Postings will start on February 5, 2012.
In the meantime, we hope you are enjoying a wonderful holiday season and that your new year will be happy and healthy.
Hugs
Joy