Ecuador Pride in the U.S.

It's almost as if this month has been National Ecuadorean month. From my visit to the motherland, to an amazing exhibition in New Jersey, I have learned so much about my country of origin lately.

This past Saturday we were surprised to find out that a public library in New Jersey was going to have an exhibition on Andean countries and specifically Ecuador. The host was a gentleman by the name of Pepe Santana who happens to be an amazing musician. Apart from the fact that he can play over 12 instruments, he is well informed on the history of Ecuador.

There was free food and free drinks during the entire exhibition. Can you imagine seeing all this culture for free? I managed to take some pictures of all the instruments that were on display, as well as some video footage of the events.


There was quite a variety of wind instruments. Here you see an Ecuadorean one.


This guitar is known as a "Requinto" guitar. Very common in Ecuadorean music.














As you can see, there were tons of instruments to drool over.


These little guitars are known as "Charango's". They are either made of wood or Armadillo shell.


Here you can see a Charango made of an Armadillo's shell.


Pepe Santana with Inkhay.




Women still use these kind of clothes back in Ecuador.






This figure is actually bread. I remember as a kid we used to eat this during a specific day during the year. I believe it's made during a day of remembering the dead. "Colada Morada"






You already know Alex Aguinaga. You can see my pic with him several posts below.