1 Feb--San Antonio by Truck

Wed, 1 Feb Ground Hog Day ... funny how you never forget some things .... i had to explain the whole concept to Eddi ... i don't think she was impressed. i spent some time on the internet this morning until Lonnie and Jolene picked us up after their Spanish lessons. then we walked down to a nice little deli in a beautiful tranquil setting and had lunch. eating here, always takes a long long time ... so you just need to relax :) then walked to the other end of the village to catch a pickup truck ride. on the way i couldn't resist this sign us running to pile in the back of the truck with many other folks it was kind of 'tight' in there the ride was beautiful as we rounded the corners. this is a village on the way, Santa Catalina Palopo, with a population of 1,000. the name of the village is Santa Catalina, and the State is Palopo comes from the word 'tree' and 'many' we were on our way to San Antonio Palopo, population 9,000. another small village on the lake. this particular village is known for it's pottery; which is why they wanted to take me there :) the buildings here are made of cane and mud. unlike other villages where modern tools are used in construction, everything here is made by hand. Eddi used her Spanish to 'snag' Fernando who took us to the 'fabrication' of pottery. we went down many small alley-ways and made sure he stayed with us so we could get back out. it was a maze to get there we passed this corn being dried ... it will then be ground and made into tortillas etc it was wonderful to see their process, which was so close to what we do at the KIA. they use red earthenware clay and the majolica process. for my pottery friends ...... i saw lots of molds pots drying in the sun their kiln, run by propane, the white rectangular box on the right side of the photo. we understand they have larger kilns; but we didn't get to that site the clay mixer in the foreground and the artists who are painting, there was a younger boy was an apprentice. i was very impressed by his ability to paint his design in a circle and end up with everything perfectly spaced ! oh, and the view out the window of their 'studio' then we went to the store and made some purchases. this particular pattern is specific to this town. it's very pretty we spent a little time walking around the village and spotted this cat taking a nap ... i miss the kitties at Madi's view of the village from above it is difficult to see in this photo, but they make use of every possible piece of land to grow crops by using terracing. you see it everywhere ... reminded me of Greece the pickup truck ride back to Pana had beautiful views again. it was not unusual to see the villagers walking along side of the road there will be a free neutering clinic next weekend. when we returned to Pana, Lonnie and Jolene needed to put up signs around the local stores to try to get the info out to the villagers. then we went to Lonnie and Jolene's rooftop for a cocktail and to watch the sunset .... unfortunately there were too many clouds and there wasn't any color tonight. then we headed to dinner. tonight we decided to eat on the streets from the 'ladies'. they cooked the meat and made tortillas and we put it together and sat right there and ate. it was good food and US$2 :)