Tags
Bolon, Bolones from Plantains, Cancebi Museum, Chiva Bus, Cruzita Ecuador, Ecuador, Experience Ecuador, Hostal Cruzita, Jacqueline Simon, Lisa Brunetti, Manabi, Manta Ecuador, Museo Cancebi, Sarah Dettman, Semester at Sea, The Mola Series
This modest house transforms into a work of art beneath the street light!
Tipping out of Hostal Cruzita during the pre-dawn hours, I stopped for several photos on my way to the corner bus stop. A full day awaited me at the Cancebi Museo in Manta, Ecuador, where The Mola Series Exhibition entered its third week.
A lone rooster broke the serene stillness of the morning as he announced the arrival of the 5:20 bus to Manta. Although I anticipated meeting the Experience Ecuador group at the Manta airport in less than two hours, I would never have dreamed that the next two days would bring such an amazing and diverse group of people into my life!
From Airport to Playa Tarqui to Museo Cancebi
After the relaxed group assembled at the arrivals area of the Manta airport, a sleek tour bus transported us to Playa Tarqui, where we viewed the wooden boats under construction and saw the local fishermen bringing in the morning catch. Ready for a little nourishment, we headed to the Cancebi Museum where specially-made bolones awaited to break our fast.
Attorney Roberto Moreno spoke to the group about common legal trivia for people relocating to Ecuador, and Maria Fernanda Carrasco Cordero addressed real estate options as everyone sampled typical bolones and coffee. (Bolones are made from mashed plantains which are seasoned, shaped into balls then cooked a second time. Bolones remind this Southern Gal of hushpuppies!)
Hostal Cruzita’s cheese-stuffed bolon and egg for breakfast!
Sarah, Lane and I talked about art!
My new friends and I swapped stories before they ventured upstairs where the permanent ethnographic exhibit resides.
Lovely Gaby surely enjoys her job at the museum!
Sarah enjoys her Experience Ecuador responsibilities as well!
We waved goodbye to our new friends, and prepared for the next tour.
Francis, who mans the gift shop, spreads her sweet smile throughout the museum!
…Memories of the visitors live on through the guest book!.
Minutes later Luis (pictured left) arrived with his bicycle group from the Semester at Sea Cruise.
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One of the university students from the Semester at Sea Cruise waited his turn to comment about the exhibit. Bursting with respectful energy, he told me that he normally doesn’t enjoy art shows, but after seeing the images and meeting the artist, he was thrilled to have been part of the tour! His words and enthusiasm touched me deeply.
We said goodbye to the group, and I switched to some computer work to prepare for the Casa de la Cultura, where the exhibition will move later this month.
But wait.. what’s that sound?… Music… Live cheerful music! Sounds like New Orleans!….I had to peek outside!
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.A cheerful street vendor smiled as she peddled quail eggs near the museum entrance. She most likely played a part in this musical puzzle that was about to present itself in front of the museum! Someone mentioned the word, ‘Chiva.’ Wasn’t that the word for goat?
(Above) Quail eggs anyone?
(Below) The next group of visitors arrived via the Chiva Bus!
A bright and festive parade on wheels delivered new visitors to the museum. I dashed outside to inspect this Musical Chiva Bus before I returned to the museum!
Jacqueline Simon, director of exhibits and the soul of the museum, exclaimed, “Lisa! There you are! Come in and meet this great group of people!”
My about-to-be new friends received the exhibit with outward exclamations of joy. “I’ve never seen art like this,” seems to be one of the top comments!
The lovely lady pictured below stated, “These paintings smile at you and make you smile back!” After an intense interaction with these great visitors from the cruise ship, we wished them well and watched as they boarded their Chiva Bus and left musical smiles in their wake!
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We reflected on the interesting mix of people that walked through the museum doors and enriched our lives; we settled in a pensive mood and savored the memories.
Random visitors trickled into the museum; another student from the Semester at Sea program dropped by, and we orchestrated a surprise photo for her friend who visited earlier.
The Pensive Young Master
A beautiful mother with three children visited. The two older sisters professed to have no talent, but said that their youngest brother was the artist in the family! He pondered his responsibility of signing the guest book before adding his touch.
Above: Daniel, who lives in nearby La Pila, restores precolumbian pottery pieces for the Guayaquil MAAC museum. How rewarding it is when one artist savors the work of another!
Below: Francis and her sweet parents posed with Jacqueline Simon in front of “Ceibo Loco” and reminisced about the great collective energies that contributed to the unique piece of art.
Three great smiles captured the essence of our day as closing hours approached.
The sun settled in the distance as I returned to Hostal Cruzita, and I pondered the Experience Ecuador group travelling to their next stop down the coast while the cruise ship prepared to embark for Panama. I reflected on my amazing fortune that so many positive people crossed my path in such a short time.
My cup surely runneth over, and I am blessed.
Z
Zeebra Designs & Destinations 
I’ve said it before and I say again. I love your paintings! They are so vibrant and full of life. I’m not at all surprised that so many positive people crossed your path. What goes around, comes around and you are a star! Thank you for sharing your day.
Thanks amiga! For someone who is not feeling well, you still manage to reach down and pull out huge smiles for others. If you were here I’d brew a guava-leaf tea that works wonders on most people! Keep mending and get well fast! Z
Not always a good thing, I should be in bed but I get bored, :). I’m going ask my local health store if they have an quava-leaf tea, it sounds like something I need to drink. Thank you for your thoughts, it keeps me warm. //Marianne
Here’s the book where I first read about the tea; the companion book (Sastun) tells of her apprenticeship with a healer in Belize. My copy of Sastun is lost (boo!) – it’s a great story.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0914955136/ref=rdr_ext_tmb
z
Lisa, a big thank you! And thank you for your lovely email, you’ll get an answer tomorrow. It’s bedtime in Sweden, :).
You’re welcome; I learned new things about it as well, like its use for diabetes, prostate cancer and losing weight! Hope it helped! Z
Of all of your work it is your hand theme that I love most. I think it could be simply because I met you through it. The hand represents so many lovely messages such as healing, greetings/departures, a handshake, mother’s hands, hard work, creativity and I am sure there are more. I think I would like to see your work in person some day. ~ Lynda
PS: What is a Balon? It looks very good!
hey
thanks so much for your comments; it’s obvious that you truly read the post and study the images! yes, you are right about the hand, a universal icon that spans all cultures — the same with the spiral.
surely our paths will cross one day!
z
That will be a lovely day! 🙂
hey
thanks so much for your comments; it’s obvious that you truly read the post and study the images! yes, you are right about the hand, a universal icon that spans all cultures — the same with the spiral.
surely our paths will cross one day!
z
Bolon (Boh-LONE) plural is “Boh-LONE-ees”)
Raul, of Hostal Cruzita, is painting just to my left as I type.
“Raul, what is a balon?” I asked.
He walked over to reply as he stirred his mixture of happy-green paint, “It is a special and typical food from Manabi made with plantain…(smashed) and it has in the middle onion, a little garlic and cilantro and cheese. First the plantain is boiled and mashed, then seasoned and shaped into balls. Then – to get it crispy – you have to fry it in oil. And then, you just eat it.”
(He chuckles then adds, “And it’s best to eat it while drinking black coffee.”)
He also corrected me that it is spelled bOlon, not bAlon- balon is a ball, and bolon is a food.
(So now i will ask if he’ll coach me on how to pronounce the word ‘viche’ which is a wonderful seafood ‘soup’ typical of the Manabi area. Manabi is a province along the northern half of Ecuador’s Pacific coast.)
I had best get back to painting or they might fire me!
the exhibit is beautiful from the pictures posted that I saw! You seem to be blooming everywhere you go, as always! I pulled one of our childhood pranks on my grandson, Hunter, this weekend before I realized what I was doing….I handed him a canned drink and as he reached for it, I pulled down with it quickly..several times…he said, “Nana!” …I just smiled really big as memories of you doing that to me EVERY time during our wonderful, never forgotten childhood….smile on Lisa! you look as you did in High School…how do you do it? Life must be exactly how you want it to keep you so young at heart and in looks…
Oh, I do need help with the blog scene…right now I don’t have much time to devote to it and I continue to get suggestions from wordpress, but each time I try to work on my site, I can’t see what it looks like..I need to figure that one out when I have more time.
hey amiga
we are so lucky that we had such a great childhood; i was just telling someone about barrel racing, pole bending, the flag race, but most fun of all was the barrel-pickup race! maybe it’s our memories that help keep us young!
i credit art for keeping me young, but that’s a post all in itself. i have one more week that owns me, and i’ll be back home on the river.. i’ll write you, and i’m sure with a little coaching i can help you get your posts on their way!
for now i’m helping my friends at hostal cruzita with some murals, so i’d best get back to painting. (they’re all helping with the painting.)
z
As far as composing a post on WordPress, you should have a ‘preview’ option that shows you what your post will look like when it’s published. It will open on a new window.
Love your post! So saad i wasn’t at the museum on saturday, i missed the fun, but. I’m lucky to see you again today 🙂
Dear DEAR Gaby! Thank you so much for all that you did to help this exhibition as successful as it was! Parting will be sweet sorrow tomorrow, though I will see all of you at Cancebi Museo in another week for the next opening! Siempre, Z
Congrats on the exhibition. I like the one lady’s comment about your photos smiling and smiling back. Very true. Love your work!
Thank you so much! Her joy and body language was infectious, and I was touched by her testimonial! What more could an artist want? Tak, Z
My dear Z
To find such a great museum as Cancebi and all its wonderful staff was great, to get to admire your exhibit was magnificent and to get to know you briefly was even better.
Thanks a lot!
Luis González-Mena
What greater compliment could one receive? Dear Luis, thank you so much! When will your trail bring you back through the area? Z
Soon I believe and next time I will go on my bike!
Luis González-Mena.
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