The "Parts" Block (and the Hazards of Being Tall)

lunes, 4 de mayo, 2010

This morning I went out to make copies for my students. The ink for our printer is expensive, so it's really cheaper to go to one of many area tiendas (little stores) that make copies for 3 cents each. All day yesterday, there was no electricity in the central part of Otavalo. I believe they turned it back on for the night, but come full daylight this morning, it went out again. (Fortunately, we have had electricity.)

The "Parts" Block

So, my normal print store around 2 blocks away was "dark". I was directed to go near the bus station, which is two blocks away in another direction. The street I went up is one I don't often walk, just because it's usually pretty crowded with open tiendas, waiting taxis, people coming and going from the buses. On the way up the street, I passed tiendas with open 50 lb (or kilogram) bags of beans and corn and rice and pasta. One shop had several different breeds of baby or adolescent chickens in a four level cage/tower. Another shop had pieces of chicken parts (feet, heads, etc.) Yet another shop sold spare parts for blenders.

Sacks of Staples

Broods of Baby Chicks

(Chickens Brooding?)

Chicken Parts

(A Chick's Goal in Life?)

Blender Parts

I turned the corner and walked another block to find a tienda that made copies. It was busy. While I was waiting, I looked at greeting cards for .75 cents; pencils, pens, erasers, markers, folders, tablets, etc., all of which one can buy in quantities as small as one. The other end of this little tienda had a step up to a glass case with calculators, more notebooks, and school information sheets (like info on names of body parts; info on world history, etc. - I guess students buy these pages of information instead of books). I turned around and stepped down, but on the way down, my head hit the crossbeam and broke a one foot by eight foot mirror that was hung as a decoration. Thank heavens I was not hurt, nor was anyone else, as a triangular dagger shaped piece of the mirror hit the floor.

The shopkeeper was downcast. It turns out they had just put up the mirror two months ago, so it was new. She charged me $5 to replace the mirror. I was very apologetic. I don't mean to be so tall that my head hits ceilings in a country where the "normal" height of a person is about a foot shorter than I am. I figured I could afford the $5 more than the owner could and gladly paid.

--Marilyn Cooper