Jeans, Leather, .... Stormy Weather!

Winter is fast approaching. The rainy season here is fast approaching. Since we have been here from the end of August we have hardly seen a drop of rain. But for the last two days, while the sun has been shining bright in the morning, by mid-afternoon it is down pouring. The rain drops feel more like rain-cups. The rain doesn't last long, but I have been reassured that for a while, it will at least be consistent. I myself really enjoy the rain, however thats not the same for everyone. Our family had an appointment at two yesterday. They were ready to go and then within seconds it started raining 'cups.' They chose to be late for their appointment over walking 4 meters in the rain from the house to the car. I thought that was very funny. When they told me they were going to wait they were standing in the doorway, looking out at the rain....and me with my MEC rain gear on, smiling big, water dripping off the beak of my hood over my face. I was thinking 'lets go!' It was a funny moment.

A few days previous, Fanny (The mom), Ruperto (The Dad), Analea (The sister), and Daniel (the cute brother), all drove us two and a half hours further and higher into the Andes to a small town. The town was well known by ecuadorians as the place to buy cheap jeans. Literally, this town was jean town. Their was pretty well only one main st, and virtually every shop on the main street was a jean store. Their must have been 40 jean stores, all selling more or less the same styles of jeans for the same prices (8-12 dollars). It was funny, Beth and I couldn't figure out how all these shops survived, but they do. We walked in and out of jean stores trying stuff on, and bargaining (which is a lot like bickering) about prices. Sometimes people tried to really rip us off, other times they were quite friendly about it. Once we had finished shopping jean heave, we piled into the car and headed 40 minutes further up and into a mountain to another town. This town was pretty much identical to the jean town, except every single one of its shops sold leather. Leather leather leather. Leather jackets, leather hats, leather boots, leather belts, leather purses. Again, at least 40 leather shops made up most of the town. It was also cheap. I managed to buy a top quality leather jacket for $40, which was a great find, but lesser quality stuff started and the $20 range for a jacket. It was just a funny little 'family' adventure further into the mountains. The altitude really hit Beth and I, and in the car we both got entirely drowsy and passed out for over an hour. Our family thought it was really funny. Anyways, we drove the 2 and half hours back to our home here, and took in some sights along the pan-American highway.

So there is your update. Hope everyone is doing well,

Matt