This weekend Luz, Mikey and I went to Otavalo. We organized a Christmas celebration with the lead artisans and their workers on Sunday. The party was a lot of fun and we dressed up in the traditional dress of the indigenous people in and around Otavalo.
This picture shows Olga and Nancy the two lead artisan women, Luz and me and some of the children who were at the fiesta.
An interesting aspect of the traditional costume is that, like in many parts of the world, women are the ones upholding traditional dresses and customs. In Otavalo too you see many women and girls wearing the traditional outfit on a daily basis. The lead artisan women we work with, as well as their female workers in Otavalo all wear it in everyday life. In this picture you see Sami, the daughter of a lead artisan wearing it at the celebration.
It is a beautiful dress made up of black sandals, a long dark skirt, a white blouse with huge sleeves and embroidered flowers in different colours, a colourful belt around the waist and another one to tie your hair at the back, as well as a black cloth tied around one or both shoulders against the cold. To top it all off women wear golden necklaces around their neck and coral bracelets around their wrists.
One reason for why men only wear their outfits on special occasions such as weddings might be that their shoes and trousers are white, which is a very impractical colour to wear on a daily basis in a village in the countryside. Here is a picture of Mikey and Carlos rocking the white sandals and trousers, posing with us ladies as well.
Lastly here is a picture of the whole group after the Christmas lunch!
Love to all of you!
Chiara
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