Interesting is the fact that today we went into Loja to just look around and do some comparison shopping for taqua nut (vegetable ivory) items.  As is typical for me, I wanted to find out if the price I was being charged for the products I'm buying to sell online was fair or whether because I had never heard of vegetable ivory before I was being taken for a sucker.  Not that I ever thought that was the case but, umm, yes I wondered.

What we discovered is that the price we are paying is fair and the quality of the items we are buying is far superior to the items that are available in the shops in Loja.  I bought one of the figurines from a shop, trying to get the best one there to compair to the ones we purchased from Pancho and oh my gosh!  There was no compairison, Pancho's work is so far superior to the one I bought in town!  I'm really glad that we had the opportunity to meet Pancho and to work out an arrangement with him to market his beautiful work.

We also looked to see if Andres items were for sale in town (things like the broaches he makes) and there were none.  His work is so unique that the shops in the city don't have them…that makes me happy….and sad.  Why, well, I'm delighted that we are the supplier to the net and that it is an exclusive opportunity for us, but at the same time, if he was selling his work in the city he could probably make a lot more money for his family.  Time will tell if he gets to that point, but even if he does, it won't be the signed work that we are selling.  Every piece of ivory we sell is signed by the artist.  I only want original work by them, not some junk like I bought in town.  (Now, in fairness, I bought a beautiful bracelet in town, one unlike anything our guys have available, but that's because when I saw it I thought of Heidi and decided it was the right thing for her!)

But, that's just part of the day, the morning started out with a beautiful rainbow over the mountain, perfect to see from our balcony.  Here's a picture of it and see if you don't agree!

What a beautiufl sight!

Then, at dinner tonight we had the pleasure to meet some friends of Carol and John's who are moving to Ecuador.  She is from West Virginia and he is from LA.  They have just purchased some land and will be working on it in the future.  Delightful people, an asset to the country I am sure.

Carol mentioned that she got a referral to www.spacetoys.com today!  Since she is the head of a space initiative to prevent weapons in space she gets information about space sites.  How neat is it that she got our son-in-laws site sent to her before I could share it with her!

Carol and I are going riding in the morning which will be so great!  Been way too long for me!

Now I need to get back to www.taquanutearrings.com and do some editing and additions to the site.  See, you go play in town and get way behind in your work.

Oh, speaking of town, we ate pizza in this delightful little cafe.  I am posting a picuture of the pizza maker as he adds tons of cheese to the pizza as well as a  conglomeration of other things that were so delightful and so fattening!  If we thought we would lose some weight while we were here we were badly mistaken!

After we had the wonderful pizza (which totally distroyed our appetite for dinner this evening) we were walking back toward the square when we saw this group of people getting ready to go shopping.  I found their style of dress so charming I just had to shoot a photo to share.

As we walked away from them we entered the square in Loja and saw the delightful wall made of colorful picture tiles.  What a charming addition to the downtown area.

 

Here is a close up of a couple of the tiles to give a better concept of what they are like.

Aren't they beautiful?

Also in the square is this wonderful fountain and clock tower.  They are quite a statement to the pride of this city.\

      

 

It was a delightful day, filled with new experieces, meeting new and interesting people and being glad we are here in this beautiful country.

Oh, I almost forgot!  We stopped at the University of Loja on our way out of town.  Carol had suggested that perhaps Greg should consider working there.  As long as we were driving by we thought we would take a look.  It's really quite a pretty place, Greg took some pictures but I'll post them after Tuesday when he has a meeting with them.  Bless Carol's heart, she set it up today and told us about it tonight!

How should a night end with near perfection?  How about a full moon and fireworks in the village.  We heard the sound of fireworks and looked out the balcony…sure enough there they were!