Afternoon of Day 4

After a wonderful lunch the group headed towards the market square. At the local market in Otavalo, there were different clothes, food, toys and jewelry. There were tons of locally produced products everywhere! As we walked through the market, there were stalls of merchandise made with alpaca wool, such as the teddy bears or scarves. Some tables had bright shiny jewelry or tiny glassy statues.  Ecuadorian ladies dressed in traditional indigenous clothes sat under the shade by their tables, asking us to buy their products with big welcoming smiles on their faces.  We spent our free time bargaining for discounts in the market, and almost everyone came back with some treats!

     Later after we came back from the market we had 2 hours to rejuvenate before Maria Virginia Farinango and her family came. Maria is the co-author of the book The Queen of the Water, a novel based on her life. When they arrived Maria shared her harsh early life. She was given essentially given away by her parents to a family at the age of 6.  She worked a care giver for their children, cook, and maid. She was not paid, denied a formal education and was abused both mentally and physically.  Not only did she survive these circumstances, but she was able to receive a full education and is now studying psychology. She discussed how at first she was ashamed to be indigenous, but later came to realize that there was nothing in her history or her heritage to be ashamed of! She showed us multiple landmark pictures of her life, such as the schools she went too. She stated her favorite quote and the motto by which she lived in order to change the course of her life: “Querer es poder”  which with translation means “To want is to be able to”

     After Senora Farinango presented, her husband played Andean music. He used many different Andean flutes. After dinner, we all took a group picture and said good bye to them. Thank you Maria Farinango and her family!