Women Weave, Too

Tuesday 6/24/14: went to Otavalo, visited with Fanny's friends, and went to the birthday party of her niece (who is pregnant, so I think we also celebrated that). It was a rainy, cool day, and I was finally glad to have brought clothing for the cool weather I was expecting (Otavalo is cooler than San Antonio, which is cooler than Ibarra)
 
Wednesday 6/25/14: taught Fanny the wonders of Google, went to Otavalo, watched the Ecuador game, and slept like Rip Van Winkle
I woke up ready to punch whoever was playing music at 6am, only to realize it was the garbage truck (that's right, the garbage trucks play music and then everyone runs out with their garbage, despite operating on a schedule). I figured I couldn't fault them for doing their job, even if it woke me up after only a few hours of sleep. I was really happy to go to bed early and sleep in late Thursday morning (and by "late," I mean I got up around 8am, which is hilarious for anyone who knows me!).

Thursday 6/26/14: watched the US game, and went to Peguche to visit the Teran family, skyped with family

Listen. I'm in Latin America during the World Cup, so I HAVE to write about it. (If only you knew how much we talk about it! I'm actually glad because you always have something to talk about, even if it's just small talk with strangers). Well, the game started off well, but I don't know what happened the second half. It was disappointing to watch how the US played, but let's hope they step up their game when they play on Tuesday since they had enough points to advance.
 

After the game, I went to Peguche to visit the Terans. I was a little unsure of where I was going, so a man offered to take me to their house. How kind. But I really should have just trusted myself because he took me to the house of another Carmen Teran, one that was waaaay out of the way. But that's alright. I found my way to the house easily from there, but I arrived much later than I had hoped. Still, we had a nice visit. Olga, Matilde, Ruth, and I chatted in Olga's bedroom (which is also where she embroiders shirts to sell), while the soccer games played on the tv in the background. Carmen was weaving in the other room, and Olga was tracing designs onto material to embroider later. Even though they invited me for a visit, they still had to work.
 

Matilde (pictured above) asked if I wanted to learn how to weave. Even though I technically know how, I said yes, because I'm not going to pass up the opportunity to relearn how they weave. And then I watched Matilde weave rapid-fire and wished I hadn't said yes, knowing how painfully slow my weaving would be in comparison. I made sure to take note of her feet and the order in which she pressed the pedals: 1,4,2,3. And then, I wove, and I have the pictures to prove it!

At first, I made a bunch of mistakes because the warp was a little loose, and the threads on the left didn't move like they were supposed to in order to make the open shaft (where you pass the shuttle). I didn't realize this about the warp until I had made the mistakes and we had to take part of the weaving out. But at least I realized the problem so I could try to compensate.

I asked Matilde to take some pictures of me weaving, since I have nearly identical photos from 2009, when I learned to weave on the loom on the opposite wall.

And then Matilde told me I was beating the poncho too hard. Apparently, they charge more for a tighter woven poncho, and most people want to buy the cheapest item. Who knew.

But, I eventually figured out what I needed to do and got into a good rhythm. And then I realized it was rather quiet, and starting to get darker in the house. Apparently, Olga had left for church (she goes everyday except for Friday) and Carmen went to the store (but I didn't realize this until much later). I pulled my watch out of my pocket (it kept getting stuck on the threads when weaving, so I had taken it off), and was shocked to see it was nearly 6pm! I had been weaving for at least an hour without realizing it! It was wonderful to get to spend a day in the house I visited daily for a month in 2009 and get to talk more with my "work family" from before.