There is no Q in Ecuador

Here is a list of the individual posts within this Ecuador trip blog. Click on the title and it will take you directly to the individual post. We hope you enjoy sharing our trip to the beautiful country of Ecuador.


January
Where in the world is Ecuador?
Adjusting to the altitude
What about Cayo?
The mountains
Arasha Rain Forest Resort
More about the bus ride
Flowers at Arasha
Hummingbirds??
Making chocolate
The big hike
Birds
Indulgences
Back to Quito – getting ready for Christmas
Gift baskets
Christmas at Emily and Cayo’s
Orchids and butterflies
Mosaico and Itchimbia
More on Mosaico

February
On the road to Otavalo
The jeep
Otavalo
Colorful Otavalo
People of Otavalo
Streetlights of Otavalo
La Luna
Weaving studio in Peguche
Parting thoughts of Otavalo
La Luna Objects
Ahh, beautiful Cuenca
The market
Tamales

March
Visiting Nubia
Posado del Angel, Cuenca
Paso del Niños
Old Year / New Year in Cuenca
The masks
Ringing out the old year
Lobito y Maria Jose
A little history of the Año Viejo burning
A day in the campo
The Panama hat factory

April/May
Eduardo Vega gallery
Artesa factory
Cuy
Images of Cuenca
Teleferico
Guayasamin home and museum
Eating out in Quito
Capilla del Hombre
Cristóbal González Guzmán
Going home

That's the end of our holiday trip to Ecuador. I wish I had taken notes so I could have told better and more accurate stories. Terry pointed out an error I made a few weeks ago, but oh well. I dare you to find it.

We have many wonderful memories of the country, the people, and our experiences. Now that Emily and Cayo are moving to Portland, we won't make this trip as often, but we are determined to return to the country that we love.

Here are a few parting images --

Cristóbal is the art teacher at the school where Emily teaches. They ride the bus to work together every morning. For years Cristóbal also had an art gallery in the Mariscal section of downtown Quito and he has become quite a well-known painter in Ecuador.

Emily took us to visit him at his home in the new section of Quito. I had emailed him several months earlier, about the Onda Gallery here in Portland, It is a gallery that specializes in Latin American art and Emily thought he might want to contact them about showing his work.
His home is an older, typically Ecuadorean-style home, surrounded by a lovely walled garden on a quiet, little winding street, tucked away in a busy part of Quito. Inside it is like an art museum, with both his paintings and his collection of early colonial art lining the walls. Beautifully preserved antiques furnish the rooms. We visited over wine and pastries and then he gave us a tour of the rooms filled with his art. He is a soft-spoken, very humble man, but his face lights up as he talks about his students and when he talks about his art.

It was a very special, and very memorable evening. When we left, I took a CD of his work to present to the owner of the Onda Gallery. The owner of the gallery loves his work and there will be a Cristóbal González Guzmán show at Onda this coming September.