President Rafael Correa

I want to include some comments about the country's President before we leave Ecuador today.  We have had the opportunity to talk to a few locals about how they feel about President Rafael Correa.  Correa was elected, and assumed the office of President in 2007 and, due to some changes in the Constitution, does not stand for reelection until next year.  Reactions to his leadership from our unscientific, limited discussions are mixed although it appears a majority support him, and there is apparently no strong alternative for the upcoming elections.

Both those for and against agree that he has made real improvements in roads, highways, and public works in general, promoted improvements in health options for citizens, improved the status of the indigenous and other poor, and improved the system of basic education, requiring children in school until age 15, longer hours for students and educators, and higher pay for educators (who used to work several jobs to make ends meet).

On the left, a billboard explains the uses for exercise equipment in a Quito park.  On the right, a billboard highlights work, and expenditures, on the restoration of La Parque de la Madre in Cuenca.

As part of advanced educational reform he has closed universities with D and E ratings, leaving open only those rated A, B, or C ratings (in Cuenca there were 7 universities, 3 have been closed) and he  wants university professors to have advanced degrees, preferably a Phd.  Apparently most university professors currently have only a bachelor's degree, with only a small percentage having advanced degrees.  And while we hear there is a program to assist teachers in getting an advanced degree over a 5 year period, as you can imagine, these changes are problematic for a large number of prior teachers who are now either immediately out of a job or face the complicated task of going back to school at an older age with families and other responsibilities in order to keep their jobs.  Many of those affected are not happy with these reforms.  But change often does have problematic short term consequences.

A program of professional testing has been instituted for many, many jobs, from educators, to health care workers, to cab drivers.  Entrance requirements for universities have also been tightened, with passing exam scores required to establish eligibility.  We have heard that the entrance exams are pretty rigorous and only a small percentage of colegio (high school) graduates qualify, causing some problems with unemployed ex-students who didn't pass their exam and who now have a lot of time on their hands.  Below a picture of a frequently seen sign promoting a review course for the entrance exams.

Correa has also forced the rich to pay taxes; something most people we've talked to here at least feel the well-healed avoided in the past.  And he is requiring employers of household workers (usually indigenous and/or poor) to pay employment/social security type taxes on these workers, give them paid vacations, and pay minimum wage.  We were told that employers are required to give household employees an extra week's pay just before school starts and just before Christmas -- times of higher financial need for minimum wage workers.

Finally, at least one person we talked to judged Correa negatively because of the company he keeps.  Correa considers Hugo Chavez a personal friend and is closest to other left leaning Latin American presidents such as Castro and Evo Morales, and decidedly unfriendly to Calderon of Columbia while continuing historically difficult relations with Peru.

 Correa plus CNE (Consejo Nacional Electoral - National Electoral Council) equals fraud.  Some apparently question the independence of the CNE.

We fight for socialism.

A poster for indigenous rights to education, water rights, and respect for their traditions - seen at an indigenous rally in Calderon Park, the central plaza in Cuenca.

 

The Citizen, the government paper of the "citizens revolution."

Cuencanos

We leave Cuenca today for Guayaquil, the largest city in Ecuador, to fly to Peru tomorrow.  We're ready to leave in some ways, and sad to leave in others -- the people of Cuenca are delightful, the city welcoming, beautiful.  Ecuadoreans generally are pretty happy folks; we've heard, seen and felt this.  Big close families, friendly trusting outlook, community oriented, seemingly content with their lives.

It's also lovely to be in a culture almost devoid of obesity and its concomitant problems.  The babies are pleasingly round, and grow through it by about 5, and then normally muscled bodies. Not skinny people -- that's not their ideal -- but not fat, either. Healthy normal.  Some thickness emerges in the women over about 50 (all over the world), accentuated here by their stature, and the clothing they wear -- typically 2-3 pleated skirts at a time -- not flattering.  But folks without obvious problems here move so well -- even the very old -- lots of walking, carrying.  Lots of fruits and veges eaten, good grains, and ice cream.  It looks and feels like a healthy society, inside and out.  Sigh.

These ladies were about 4', and 4.5' tall.  Walking around just fine, thank you.

She's about 75, about 4 feet tall, and barefoot.  About 60 degrees out.

Typical couple in their 70s. 

Dressed for Sunday in the park. 

Hiphop exhibition in the park.  Excellent bodies there. 

Pre-school group just going in from play.  Kids here are happy, so well behaved. 

Typical fashion among the 50+ set -- a wool or velvet pleated skirt, pigtails, comfy shoes.  About 4.5 feet tall, moving faster than I do.

The school kids wear uniforms.  These are collegio (high school) kids. 

Carolina (5) came to our place while her mom cleaned it (part of the apartment contract).  She was adorable, playing her game boy.  When I asked her if she could read, she said, with surprise on her face -- "no, I'm only five." 

Just hanging, watching the world in the big main park. 

Ah, the lovely flowered balconies of  Cuenca, a testament to the gentle nature of its residents.

 

Ladies in Andean Ecuador

Warning:  this is about Ecuadorean clothing, and won't appeal to many of you.  I was fascinated.  Also, photographing indigenous people isn't okay here, so many of our photos are cheats -- snuck from the back, from a bus window, or from a distance. 

Women's clothing, especially, varies pretty dramatically by region.  This is especially obvious in the markets, as the vendors are typically indigenous folks, wearing their regional clothing.  From a traveling folklore dance troupe we came to realize that our geographic exposure has been very limited -- we've been only in the Andean regions, north to south (about 530 km) -- and that the attire for men and women across the entire country is far more varied than what we saw, so this is a smattering.

Men's clothing isn't as noticeably different as is the women's, or more likely my head doesn't pick up the nuances as easily.  Hats vary for both sexes across regions.  I've especially enjoyed the Cuencan ladies' skirts, which are brightly colored, deeply pleated and lavishly embroidered, indicative of their pueblos, their hometowns.

The big sophisticated capitol of Quito had little interesting clothing.  In northern Otavalo, and then in the central highlands, and especially here in the south, individuality and beauty emerged.
 

In Otavalo, typical black skirts, sandals and headgear.

And the necklaces and embroidered shirts are also typical Otavalan. 

Typical hair for Otavalan men, a lovely braid. 

Even the younger women wore these skirts in Otavalo, with their hoodies.  This was a wifi area in town.

Heading south on the bus through the countryside from Quito to Cuenca, skirts are changing to lighter weight pencil-pleated skirts with embroidered bottoms.  And the panama hats become more bowlers, trimmed in stitched down ribbons. 

Another mid-Ecuador-Andean lady, gather-pleated with bowler.

Now in Cuenca, the colors became even more vibrant, and beautifully embroidered. These Panama hats (which were always made in Ecuador, but got their name from their use on the Panama canal) are typical.  Ribbons and shapes vary a bit. 

Cuencan ladies.  One embroidered, the green one simply pleated with about 10 rows of  tucking around the bottom.

Fancy, underbacking of gingham visible on the right.

Massive embroidery on a skirt in the market.  This is some kind of fleeced wool.  A couple of times I saw an actual polyester fleece version of this skirt, but mostly they're wool.

These new ones in a market, ranging from $50-$150.

These Incan ladies dressed up for a protest regarding indigenous rights in the countryside.  Note the depth of the embroidery -- a sign of fanciness.   It occurred in Cuenca just outside the governor's office and included a rainbow banner, indicative of indigenous needs/rights -- not gay pride.

My favorite Cuencan skirt -- it has hummingbirds embroidered in the design -- indicative of her specific pueblo/town, or so I've been told.   Leggings are typical under clothing.  There's typically an underskirt (or two) with pockets, as well.

 Now we're outside of Cuenca, into the hills where more indigenous lived.  Black hats indicate (proud) Inca heritage; white straw ones for (proud) Canar/other Indian lines.  

In the town of Canar, in the hills, these are Incan women (dark hats) on their way to church.  No embroidery on their skirts.

In this fancy skirt town the bowler hats were adorned with two little cotton ball-looking things.  Dangling from the hat in front for single folks (ladies and men), in back for married, no balls for widowed folks. 

All three of these ladies are wearing the lighter weight pleated, embroidered skirts.  Can't explain the mix of hats. 

Sometimes skirts were worn inside out, with the gingham embroidery backing on the outside --  to protect the actual fancy embroidery on dirty-work days? 

Again, fancy hem on shawl and skirt, bowler hats all around (men and women).

 

In the town of Biblan, at the market, skirts with narrower embroidery.  These ladies' shawls were also embroidered.  The socks were often quite interesting, too.  I never saw a woman in an indigenous skirt wearing stilettos.  Too smart for that?

Cuencan antiquities

The town of Cuenca was built by the Spaniards near the Inca ruins of Pumapungo, which was built after the Incas defeated the Canar.  The river running through town is called Tomebamba, the river of knives -- lots of death and destruction here.

The Pumapungo ruins below, discovered in 1922, are in the city.  The complex was pretty big.  Royalty lived on the top of the hill, and their royal gardens were below.  Pretty plush lives for the royalty.  Lots of virgins (for fun); the royalty only bred with their sibs and parents to keep the lines uh "pure"-- and when a "good" baby boy (10 fingers, not conjoined twins, no tails, can breathe on his own, etc.) was born to the family, that kid was in line for the throne.  Or so we were told.

The royal gardens, seen from on high. 

The gardens themselves were lush, with medicinals and edibles.  And llamas and other special animals roamed, too.  Big snakes were kept (originlly) because they could be, and pumas and anteaters, etc.

Maiz, and a scarecrow in the royal gardens. 

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There's a private indigenous museum nearby, with some cool pottery and stuff mostly from the Canar people.  These are among the more interesting:

A collection of clay phalli.  Not sure.

This is a coca leaf chewer -- note the lump in his left cheek.  Good for the soul, and for fun. 

A way to make the body beautiful -- tooth decorations, drilled and implanted.

This was in the maternity section.

Cute little pot people.  

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The Remigio Crespo Museum was in the dude's former house, a lovely old mansion.  It's now a gallery, and had this guy (below) as the featured artist when we visited.  

Ferdinand-esque.

And Tim Burton-esque? 

Murals painted on the wall -- not part of the art exhibit --  beautiful.

Interior of the mansion. 

Hand painted wall "paper", still intact.  Remigio Crespo bust in special alcove. 

Entry hall.