Mud Butt in Ecuador

Day 2………..

This morning, I woke up early to meet Lizbeth and her family for breakfast. For two dollars a day, she will provide it for me. All I really want is coffee, but I cannot pass up the chance to visit with her and her family, which includes a cute, cute six year old son named Emilio. I ply him with Jolly Ranchers and he grins with a smile missing no less than four teeth. When I ask about the tooth fairy, Lizbeth says that here they have a mouse…..but that the mouse also takes the tooth from under the pillow and leaves a little bit of money. Isn’t it interesting how the same custom could have evolved, but with the small difference of a fairy verses a mouse? 🙂

I asked her about going around town to sight see and am met with a worried glance. She asks me to please not go anywhere by myself. Hmmm….that could be difficult, seeing as how I am traveling alone! I assure her that I will speak to the FOSJE people about it and that I will be very careful. By 9:00, I am waiting outside with Njål to go to the school. Njål is the other luthier and he is wonderful! He is originally from Denmark, but studied at the violin making school in the UK. He is quiet, but very funny and I pepper him with questions about the program as our taxi takes us there. He explains that everything changes daily and that he is trying to make tools with the students, but that they have no steel, blow torch, or any of the other things that one really needs to make tools. He also is wondering if I will really need all five days to teach bow rehairing, because he is slightly panicked about teaching them all of the set up he is supposed to. He is here for three weeks, but is losing a lot of time due to the lack of tools. I assure him that he can have any time that I do not need, but that my first priority is that the students can rehair bows. I think we will work it out all right.
We pull up outside of the school and pass an armed guard as we enter. Come to think of it, there seems to be a lot of armed guards around. Interesting…..
As we walk in, I am surrounded by sounds of a woodwind group playing Shostakovich 6, a string bass master class playing etudes and a cello class working on Beethoven 5. These people are not messing around!! The students play really, really well and I think of the El Systema Program in Venezuela. These students might come from less wealthy backgrounds, but that is not stopping the teachers from demanding the very most out of them! The program here is called FOSJE, which stands basically for the Orchestra System for Young Ecuador. I have not lifted a finger, but I am already so proud to be here!!
Njål takes me up to introduce me to the staff where Eudoxia, the woman in charge of the office, is immediately concerned about my playing tourist for the next few days. I am starting to think that Quito might not be as safe as my five-year old book says that it is. She arranges for a cab to spend the day with me. Patricio, for 10 dollars an hour, will take me wherever I want to go and wait for me as long as I like. I am feeling a bit frustrated at the idea of having a pseudo`-body guard with me all of the time, but I decide that I should trust the people that actually live here. They probably know a bit more about the town than I do!! 🙂 As I am leaving, she also warns me about the altitude. We are at 9,000 feet here and she is worried about me. ¨Today, you rest¨. ¨Today you drink much water¨. ¨Today you do not eat too much food¨. And…..¨Today, you do not sleep with another person¨. Njål and I laugh and laugh and assure her that I will follow all of her advice. 🙂 As we leave, Njål says, ¨Funny…no one seems worried about my safety or health!!

I walk outside to meet my new friend and as I get into the cab, I tell Patricio that I want to visit two museums. Off we go. The traffic here is fierce!! Stop signs are a merest suggestion, and pedestrians definitely do NOT have the right of way. I actually suck in as Patricio manages to fit the cab between a bus and a huge garbage truck. I am sure that there is not enough room, but some how, he does it! I love taxis in foreign countries!! They are utterly fearless! 🙂 And I place a great deal of trust in them… I mean, after-all….the cab is their livelihood and they do not want it damaged!
We make our way through the crowded North part of the city, headed towards Old Town. We pass tons of fast food, some of which I recognize and some of which have great names like ´´Chicky Hut¨. There are pharmacies on every single corner, one of which is called the Colon Pharmacy. I didn´t ask. 🙂
As the streets become narrower and steeper, the cab pulls up in front of a non-descript door in the wall. He says that he will wait and I step through the entry to find myself in the Museo de la Cuidat. This is the neatest place!! It was built in the 1500´s and was originally a hospital. Except, they didn’t just use it as a hospital. It was a place for anyone to go that was in need. Widows, orphans, etc. So in reality, it was an outlet for any social need. I just think that is the coolest idea! The museum weaves in and out of old rooms and is made up of displays of daily life throughout the history of Quito. Think of it as a smaller version of the Museum of Natural Science and History in New York…..without the dinosaur. There is a small, but beautiful church attached to the building and I spend some time in there soaking in the gorgeous art. Quito is famous for it’s churches and I can’t wait to see some more.

I head outside to find a patient Patricio waiting for me in the cab. Off we go to the Foundation de la Guayasamin. Guayasamin was the most famous artist Ecuador has and Eudoxia has assured me that I want to see his museum. When in Rome, right? Well, I pay my 4$ and walk into a huge room, where the breath is sucked completely out of my body. Giant paintings of the most vivid, moving images I have ever seen surround me. Many are ten feet tall and they are spectacular. My eyes fill with tears and I truly cannot move. I have been to art museums all over the world, but have never been so viscerally affected by what I see. I slowly wander though the rooms, repeatedly sighing soft ´´wow’s´´, and wonder why this man is not more well known.
I finally land in front of a self-portrait and give in to the tears. I have never seen such sadness in a painting. His eyes are full of such grief that I cannot help but be personally drawn in. This was worth the whole trip.

Later, I go to buy a print at the small gift shop and inquire about the self portrait. The young man shakes his head knowingly….there is not a print made of that one. I was allowed to take a picture, and later I will post it on the Trail Dames blog. But something tells me that you would have to see it in person. I wander up to the small cafe on top of the hill and find myself overlooking the city. A quiet cup of cafe con leche is just what I need…..this museum kind of rocked me. But in a really good way. I sit in the cool breeze and take some time to be grateful that my family offered up these extra days to experience Quito. I would have hated to miss this.
It is time to go find my very, very patient driver and head back to the house. It is only three in the afternoon, but I am spent. I am going to find a quiet lunch-dinner somewhere and head to bed early…..
Or at least, that is the idea……………..
(to be continued……)