Day Trips and Other Adventures

§ Located in the historic area of Cuenca, Ecuador is the Panama Hat Museum and Factory.  We took the short tour, which was all in Spanish and tried on hats that ranged in price from $35.00 to $2,000, the latter being behind glass and only offered upon request!  The different weaves, designs, and colors are astounding.  Big eyes and tiny fingers still do much of the production.  Panama hats are not made in Panama. 😲
When these straw hats were first woven in the mid-1800's in Ecuador, the makers needed to commercialize them, but Ecuador is buried inside South America.  However,  a little north was the country of Panama, so the hats were sent there because of the commercial traffic at that time.  Customers bought them, wore them throughout the world and when asked, "Where did you get that hat," they answered, "Panama!"  Years later, insightful Ecuadorian hat producers began placing  'made in Ecuador' labels inside the brim.  This is one time when "labeling" paid off!


 § On another sunny day, we decided to visit two charming craft towns further up in the Andes:  Gualaceo and Chordeleg.  Gualaceo is a tiny pass-through town but home to a tie-dyed and handwoven shawl workshop.  The shawls were lovely and beautifully woven.  The colors were brilliant.  Because the handcrafted shawls are individually woven, they ranged in price from $25.00 to several thousand dollars for the more intricately-designed shawls.  One weaver draped a lovely shawl around me, but I had to resist the investment.  Backpackers just don't have room to add anything!  But, it was tempting!

§ We drove on to Chordeleg, a very small village of 5500 residents and famous for its silversmiths and  their silver jewelry.  And do they have the silver shops!

I love silver, but did not purchase any! After touching every piece of silver in the shops on the square, we made our way to the local open fruit/vegetable market where little guinea pigs had met their demise and were displayed over a smoking fire.  These delicacies are very popular in all of Ecuador;  however, we just were not in the mood for a "guinea on a stick" snack!




§ The pastor of the Nazarene church that we have been visiting had invited us several weeks ealier to share our testimony.  We were delighted to share how God is working in our lives.  We wrote out what we wanted to share and read it with Stephanie, the pastor's daughter, interpreting it into Spanish.
We shared our belief that God gives every believer a purpose and a calling.  During our retirement years, God has called us to share our talents, gifts, and degrees as volunteer missionaries.  We shared the opportunities given to us on several of our international mission assignments.  We concluded by adding that God uses us as He used Paul of the New Testament.  Paul loved the church, the purpose of the church and discipling new believers.  We don't have to travel to other countries to be involved in a church or to be a missionary.  Churches exist everywhere.  We can invite the church into our lives and then invite others around us to join us.  Churches and their ministries can change lives.


§ This has been an active week for us, and we have loved it.  We have met new friends and ventured outside of Cuenca.

Don't miss our upcoming trips to SigSig AND a rompin' good time onboard a train descending through the famous "Devil's Nose!"  Ecuador Train Journeys

You...Keep Looking Up!  (He will come from that direction!)

J:m and L:nda