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| Yessica's Wool Purse |
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| Yessica |
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| Embroidered belts |
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| Yessica |
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| Yessica's Wool necklace |
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| Yessica's Wool necklace |
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| Yessica |
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| One of Yessica's stores |
Thursday, October 18, 2012
I love handicrafts!!!!
I meant to put these photos up sooner but I've been a little behind on my posting. When I was in Lima, I fell in love with the handicrafts made by the Inca's. Every village or region has it's own specialty and it's usually something that has been passed on from generation to generation for hundreds maybe thousands of years. The handmade world is very large in South America and there are some very talented artisans and designers. They use the resources that are rich in there area and sell there products to make a living so they can feed their children. Wool and Alpaca are common materials used . There are many fair trade co-operatives that help market and sell these products. They are also many small business men and women who manufacture these goods in there own homes with machines and hand sewing. I found Peru to be filled with many entrepreneurial minded people. Every where you look someone is trying to sell something. Shoe shining services, woman with babies on their backs selling candy and snacks to drivers at red lights. Old men sitting on the sidewalk selling shoelaces, toothbrushes, and hairbrushes, Inca ladies selling Humitas and Tamales out of baskets. Everywhere you look, whatever you could need, someone is trying to sell and make a buck. During my window shopping trips and the artesianal markets and boutiques scattered throughout Miraflores, I fell upon a designer with the business name of "creaciones Yessica". I saw many little stalls filled with all her products. She makes purses, jewelry and accessories by hand and machine. I started investigating and found her phone number on a tag that was on one of her bags. Like I said before, it is very difficult( for me at least) to make a phone call. I tried calling but no success. I went online and started googling her name and digging for contact info.There is very little online presence for businesses in Peru , so I had no luck. I found an address and went to it , but no Yessica ! I was on a quest to find her!! I wanted to be able to buy her products wholesale and sell them in the U.S. I had left an email message on some random sight she was connected to and some man speaking Spanish called giving me a phone number. I called it and no answer. I had pretty much given up. I wanted to go back to the market and just look at her designs, I happen to ask the girl working if she knew Yessica. She said in Spanish, "Un momento". She made a phone call on her cellphone and a few minutes later a Peruvian woman in her 30's appeared. It was her in the flesh! I found this young entrepeneur had set up shop in her home with her family. Most of her products made by hand and then finished with a sewing machine. She had numerous locations showcasing her products. What I liked about her designs was that it had the Peruvian style but with a contemporary twist. Some of the items below are designed and made by other people. If you like these products , drop me an email and tell me what you think. I would like to have these available online in the near future. We will be working out the details when we get home from our travels. We're also looking for products from Ecuador.
Monday, October 15, 2012
The valley of longevity
We arrived in Vilcabamba on a Friday night. The small town square is surrounded by cafes and restaurants , some owned by local Ecuadorians, some owned by expats. There are a few stores and boutiques as well as bakeries. The faint sound of big band music playing in the background, gringos sitting at street side cafes, everyone speaking English. It was like a scene from the "Twilight Zone". It was very surreal after traveling through many countries in South America. It felt like a small rural town in America trapped in 1970. The presence of ¨"hippy backpacker" types was evident. Not that there´s anything wrong with" back packers", it´s the dread locks and the Bob Marley hat along with the hand woven man-purse you're wearing and brightly colored striped pants that identifies you as a "hippy backpacker".
We hopped into a pickup truck cab and went to our hotel, Hosteria Izhcayluma. It was a property on a hill overlooking the mountains and the valley. Our room was very rustic , like a cabin in the woods but nicer, on the level of a hotel. It was rated high on Trip Advisor. The room cost $35 for a queen and a bunk bed with a shower made of big stones. It was night when we arrived so we had no idea how beautiful the property was until we awoke to the breathtaking views.Our hotel had a restaurant, swimming pool, a pool table, ping pong table , lawn chess, a book exchange, board games, spa for massages, mani's and pedi's and laundry facilities. This was the kind of place where you could stay and just relax and not have to go anywhere. We decided this was finally the opportunity to do just that. For the last 3 months we have been on the go trying to see everything we could see. We really needed some R&R from our travels. We stayed for a week. We had planned on just staying 3 days and then moving on to Cuenca but we kept postponing our bus tickets. This place has been known to suck people in. I was reading some travel posts on the internet and other people have said the same thing. An interesting thing that also attracts people to Vilcabamba is that it is considered a"spiritual " place. Every hotel, cafe or store that had a bulletin board was covered with flyers for reiki massage, metaphysical healing ,meditational meetings, and sweat lodges. So not only are there hippy backpackers but many new -agers seeking something that they will never find.
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| one of many paths at Izhcaluma Hosteria |
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| View of the restaurant and common area |
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| View of private rooms where we stayed, 4 rooms to a building |
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| View from a bench on the property overlooking the valley |
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| Another great view from the property, see some of the million dollar homes in the distance |
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| Lawn Chess |
We went horseback riding into the mountains.I could only spare two hours because we left the baby with the older boys.We rode on trails in the woods and around the village. I have not been on a horse for about 20 years and my anxiety was kicking in . I finally got comfortable the last 15 minutes of the ride. The husband and kids went on a four hour ride to a waterfall and onto the top of mountains and down. They said it was terrifying but exciting climbing down steep cliffs on a horse. They made it back safe and we were all sore the next day.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Lima for a moment
After almost a month an a half of living in Peru, we have moved on to explore new territory in Ecuador. We started to feel very at home in Lima and were almost sad to leave. We convinced ourselves that we would be back soon and somewhat hesitantly packed up our suitcases and boarded our bus.
During our time in Peru , we made it a point to assimilate and live like locals. We experienced living in a cosmopolitan city on the ocean in a progressive and developing country,yet with 3rd world standards. There are neighborhoods in Lima where you will find five star restaurants, hotels , upscale westernized malls and sidewalks so clean they shimmer. Beautiful parks with ocean views with families picnicking on the lush grass. Nicely dressed workers eating lunch at street side cafes, upscale boutiques and bookstores filled with art books and literature. Drive 10 miles to another neighborhood and you find little mom and pop restaurants where meals are just $2.00, they just rinse the plates clean with water, bathrooms with no toilet paper and soap, let alone a light to see what your doing.
We fell upon a flea market which started out to be fairly normal with sock vendors and food vendors. We traveled a few blocks inward and came upon a street with people selling used furniture,clothing and other junk out of little trailers. Two more blocks in we came upon streets literally filled with garbage. People hustling around with trailers full of plastic bottles, metal scraps, and glass bottles. People throwing garbage into trucks, garbage stacked in homes to the brim. I was pushing the baby in a stroller and was struggling to get through without running over garbage. I felt like we had stumbled on a top secret area and we were not welcome. People were looking at us like why are these "gringos " here? It took a few minutes to navigate safely out of this "garbage corridor".
There is definitely a high contrast between the haves and the have nots, and unless you venture out of tourist designated areas , you may not ever see the other side of Lima.
The government is making a very concerted effort to improve the city to make it appealing to tourists. They truly understand the importance of a "Tourist " driven infrastructure. There is a separate division of police called the "Tourist Police". They are found on every corner in tourist areas and you will find officers who speak English. As a tourist if you have an incident or a question , you call on the "Tourist Police". With them being on every corner , this creates a sense of safety.The designated "tourist neighborhoods " have higher sanitation standards then the un- typical tourist areas. Clean sidewalks and clean bathrooms . The parks and attractions have the same standards inside the fenced in boundaries. Step outside the fence and it's a different story. We went to this park called Parque Reserva. It had beautifully manicured grounds with over a dozen water fountains with lights and music. We had never seen anything like it! The main attraction was a huge dancing fountain with a holographic laser light show with music. It cost a dollar per person to get in. You would only expect something like this at Disney World!
Interesting discoveries :
Driving in Lima is a skill which takes patience, assertiveness and a gentle spirit. No one follows the traffic signs or stays within the lines. There is a certain understanding between the drivers in Lima as far as right of way goes. People drive really aggressively and crazy and yet we saw no accidents the whole time we were in Peru. I still don't get it and if I lived in Lima, I would abandon my license to drive in a heart beat.
Shopping in Lima is compartmentalized by area. Most people don't shop at the mall or big box stores here. You go to the mercados which are scattered around the city in different neighborhoods. So if you want to shop for hardware, you go to the hardware area of the city. You will find blocks , maybe 4 square blocks of small independently owned shops of hardware supplies. For our son's second birthday we went hunting for a pinata.We happen to come across the party supply area of maybe 6 blocks. Store after store filled with pinatas,balloons, party favors and decorations. If you want computers or anything related , you go to the computer area and find 10 square blocks of computer vendors. I'm just throwing numbers out there for example, but you get the idea. Do you want copies or posters made of photos you took on your honeymoon? Believe or not there is a "Gigantic fotocopias" area of the city! If you go to a shopping area for let's say, a new pair of shoes, you go to the shoe area and find the 10 square blocks of shoe vendors. The weird thing I found is that every single vendor will have almost exactly the same inventory of shoes. You have to scavenge through hundreds of the same looking shoes to find something different. This could take all day long !Why would you set up shop next door to someone who is selling the exact same thing?And on top of that, they may decide to use the same business name and logo too and get away with it! Some how these shop owners manage to stay in business in this direct competition market.
There is a system to buying things. When you go to a drugstore for example,you ask the clerk for the item you need, they give you a piece of paper with the item number written on it, you go to the cashier and pay, you then bring the receipt back to the clerk you originally spoke to and she then gives you the package and staples the receipt to your bag. This process occurs in bakeries, clothing stores, cafes, ice cream parlors, etc..
Making a phone call in Peru is not easy. We had a cell phone to use within Peru and a land line for local calls. I have attempted to make phone calls on several occasions for business purposes and was successful maybe 1 or 2 times. Sometimes the phone works , sometimes it doesn't.
As much as Peruvians love babies, it's really hard to find baby friendly amenities . What I mean by this is, diaper changing stations, stroller friendly buildings equipped with ramps and high chairs at restaurants are pretty much non-existent. I've developed a real skill of changing the baby while he's standing . The older boys know the protocol of lifting the stroller up stairs.
Traditions remain intact despite a modernizing world. Such traditions in cooking, dance, celebrations, music,handicrafts and clothing derived from Spanish and indigenous roots are passed on from generation to generation. If you look around you see it, hear it, taste it, it's incorporated into every day life.
We fell in love with Peru because of it's beautiful geography, the ocean and the mountains. We love the diversity of the cuisine and the richness of traditions and culture. We love the quirky systems that really work. We especially love the way Peruvians make visitors feel welcomed and appreciated . Peru was starting feel like home and we will definitely be back someday soon!
During our time in Peru , we made it a point to assimilate and live like locals. We experienced living in a cosmopolitan city on the ocean in a progressive and developing country,yet with 3rd world standards. There are neighborhoods in Lima where you will find five star restaurants, hotels , upscale westernized malls and sidewalks so clean they shimmer. Beautiful parks with ocean views with families picnicking on the lush grass. Nicely dressed workers eating lunch at street side cafes, upscale boutiques and bookstores filled with art books and literature. Drive 10 miles to another neighborhood and you find little mom and pop restaurants where meals are just $2.00, they just rinse the plates clean with water, bathrooms with no toilet paper and soap, let alone a light to see what your doing.
We fell upon a flea market which started out to be fairly normal with sock vendors and food vendors. We traveled a few blocks inward and came upon a street with people selling used furniture,clothing and other junk out of little trailers. Two more blocks in we came upon streets literally filled with garbage. People hustling around with trailers full of plastic bottles, metal scraps, and glass bottles. People throwing garbage into trucks, garbage stacked in homes to the brim. I was pushing the baby in a stroller and was struggling to get through without running over garbage. I felt like we had stumbled on a top secret area and we were not welcome. People were looking at us like why are these "gringos " here? It took a few minutes to navigate safely out of this "garbage corridor".
There is definitely a high contrast between the haves and the have nots, and unless you venture out of tourist designated areas , you may not ever see the other side of Lima.
The government is making a very concerted effort to improve the city to make it appealing to tourists. They truly understand the importance of a "Tourist " driven infrastructure. There is a separate division of police called the "Tourist Police". They are found on every corner in tourist areas and you will find officers who speak English. As a tourist if you have an incident or a question , you call on the "Tourist Police". With them being on every corner , this creates a sense of safety.The designated "tourist neighborhoods " have higher sanitation standards then the un- typical tourist areas. Clean sidewalks and clean bathrooms . The parks and attractions have the same standards inside the fenced in boundaries. Step outside the fence and it's a different story. We went to this park called Parque Reserva. It had beautifully manicured grounds with over a dozen water fountains with lights and music. We had never seen anything like it! The main attraction was a huge dancing fountain with a holographic laser light show with music. It cost a dollar per person to get in. You would only expect something like this at Disney World!
Interesting discoveries :
Driving in Lima is a skill which takes patience, assertiveness and a gentle spirit. No one follows the traffic signs or stays within the lines. There is a certain understanding between the drivers in Lima as far as right of way goes. People drive really aggressively and crazy and yet we saw no accidents the whole time we were in Peru. I still don't get it and if I lived in Lima, I would abandon my license to drive in a heart beat.
Shopping in Lima is compartmentalized by area. Most people don't shop at the mall or big box stores here. You go to the mercados which are scattered around the city in different neighborhoods. So if you want to shop for hardware, you go to the hardware area of the city. You will find blocks , maybe 4 square blocks of small independently owned shops of hardware supplies. For our son's second birthday we went hunting for a pinata.We happen to come across the party supply area of maybe 6 blocks. Store after store filled with pinatas,balloons, party favors and decorations. If you want computers or anything related , you go to the computer area and find 10 square blocks of computer vendors. I'm just throwing numbers out there for example, but you get the idea. Do you want copies or posters made of photos you took on your honeymoon? Believe or not there is a "Gigantic fotocopias" area of the city! If you go to a shopping area for let's say, a new pair of shoes, you go to the shoe area and find the 10 square blocks of shoe vendors. The weird thing I found is that every single vendor will have almost exactly the same inventory of shoes. You have to scavenge through hundreds of the same looking shoes to find something different. This could take all day long !Why would you set up shop next door to someone who is selling the exact same thing?And on top of that, they may decide to use the same business name and logo too and get away with it! Some how these shop owners manage to stay in business in this direct competition market.
There is a system to buying things. When you go to a drugstore for example,you ask the clerk for the item you need, they give you a piece of paper with the item number written on it, you go to the cashier and pay, you then bring the receipt back to the clerk you originally spoke to and she then gives you the package and staples the receipt to your bag. This process occurs in bakeries, clothing stores, cafes, ice cream parlors, etc..
Making a phone call in Peru is not easy. We had a cell phone to use within Peru and a land line for local calls. I have attempted to make phone calls on several occasions for business purposes and was successful maybe 1 or 2 times. Sometimes the phone works , sometimes it doesn't.
As much as Peruvians love babies, it's really hard to find baby friendly amenities . What I mean by this is, diaper changing stations, stroller friendly buildings equipped with ramps and high chairs at restaurants are pretty much non-existent. I've developed a real skill of changing the baby while he's standing . The older boys know the protocol of lifting the stroller up stairs.
Traditions remain intact despite a modernizing world. Such traditions in cooking, dance, celebrations, music,handicrafts and clothing derived from Spanish and indigenous roots are passed on from generation to generation. If you look around you see it, hear it, taste it, it's incorporated into every day life.
We fell in love with Peru because of it's beautiful geography, the ocean and the mountains. We love the diversity of the cuisine and the richness of traditions and culture. We love the quirky systems that really work. We especially love the way Peruvians make visitors feel welcomed and appreciated . Peru was starting feel like home and we will definitely be back someday soon!
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| The Magic Water Circuit |
Beautiful colonial architecure in the central plaza of Miraflores
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| The Presidential Palace |
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| Central Plaza in downtown Lima |
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| Ceviche |
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| Skyline of Miraflores with parasailors |
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| Clean sidewalks in Miraflores |
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| Ruins around the zoo |
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| Ruins scattered throughout the zoo |
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| Traditional clothing from an Andean village. I think they were from Cuzco .Every village dresses differently. |
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