We're always getting ourselves into some kind of trouble. Here's what's happening now in the world of Caipocha!

November 9, 2007


We will participate in "The Andean Craft Show for Fair Trade and Solidarity" (sounds much better in Spanish) November 22, 23, and 24 in The Womens' Park in Quito, Ecuador. There will be hundreds of stands featuring crafts from the Andean nations of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. Should you find yourself in Ecuador at this time you should definitely stop by -- it may be hard to find us with so many people and vendors, but you won't want to miss out on one of the best cultural events of the season!


October 3, 2007


The Quito Municipal Government, which in theory has an interest in promoting local artesanía and in theory is gives local opportunities to artisans, has a commitee that plans local craft fairs which is totally overrun by merchants and middlemen as opposed to actual craftspeople. Never one to sit quietly at the sidelines, Roberto brought the issue up with the government official in charge. Who responded: "If you think there should be more local artisans, you can teach the people yourself." Never one to do anything alone, he got Sandra involved on the spot and told her about the whole thing the next day. So now we're teachers! The classes will start on November 15th and will probably be held at the municipal building near the corner of NN.UU. and Amazonas, at the northern end of the Parque Carolina. They're free! (We think?) Roberto will teach free-form ceramics and Sandra will teach loomwork. Everyone's invited!


September 25, 2007


El Comercio's Siete Días is one of the most informative, interesting, respected and widely-read features in the Ecuadorian newsmedia. So it's only natural that they'd do a feature on our very own Cristo, one of the most talented, interesting, respected and beloved artisans in all of Ecuador. One of their interns, Roberto (not to be confused with our Roberto), originally wanted to do a story on the three of us: he was going to hitchhike to the coastal province of Manabí with us, stay in a bamboo hut with us, and sit in the hot sun all day trying to sell jewelry with us. Then, for some reason, he decided it might be a little better to stay in Quito and take a short 25-cent bus ride to visit Cristo in his shop. In the end it's probably better, because our Roberto resents press attention and hates having his picture taken, and the article about Cristo's work will probably be more informative since it will actually show the process he goes through to make a ring -- instead of showing him sleep late, come out to the beach and then fall asleep on a hammock in a parking cabaña 15 minutes later while Sandra sells his jewelry (as he ended up doing in Manabí). We'll be sure to let you know when the photo essay is published, and CONGRATULATIONS CRISTÓBAL!