Two weeks ago I lived a very big experience in company of one lovely journalist and also another very special photographer from Next Magazine.  They came to our country because they wanted to follow my journey as a Panama hat blogger and see the entire process of our Ecuadorian hats. Even though I am not exactly a model, the entire week I changed my shy personality and I acquired that posture. I knew that I have to be not only a blogger but also the right ambassador of my own country, so the first day we made a lot of tourism activities such as park visits and streets stops. For them it was very important to choose the right spots for the photoshoot and they finally decided for the colourful houses of Barrio Las Peñas, that forms part of the old town of my city Guayaquil.  

In the second day the photoshoot was pretty fun but also stressful; I had to change clothes very fast and also had my make up on point. We moved very fast through the city, because of the changing weather (we were still at the rainy season) but at the end of day we visited the two spots that I love in Guayaquil: Mono Goloso and Camellias Tea. 

We travelled to the Coast on the third day and then immersed ourselves in the jungle of toquilla palms, the weather was very wet and hot, but every moment was worth it! The view of this very green and natural place where the pollution wasn’t invited, gave us a moment of self-concern of the natural fiber we were wearing in the top of our heads and its entire handmade process.

Many thanks Sophie and Shiloh for your kindly article and also beautiful photos! I hope to visit you one day in your own country and to be also your guest; you invited me so now I only need the time and the chance to travel.  As my father said to you: we are no longer acquaintances, but friends…

As we said goodbye to them at the airport, I felt a little bit melancholic about their departure, but the invitation was made and immediately a phrase came to my head: “when you have friends all over the world, you have houses in every country! “

We went also to the stadium of my beloved football team, Emelec! The next article I´m definitely are going to talk about that special experience…

There is a week well-known and celebrated here in Ecuador that forms part of the cultural and religious heritage of the country, the Holy Week.  There are a lot of special activities that will let you know more about our traditions and religious beliefs. In Ecuador, most of the population is catholic and the other half confessed that is protestant or don´t have any religious affiliation. The catholic population organize every year a huge procession between 7 churches, where they remember the holy sacrifice of Jesus Christ, make penitence and ask for forgiveness. The tour of «The 7 churches» is a tradition here in my city Guayaquil! In the photos below you can see three of the most emblematic churches:

«La Merced» church credits: André Loor @simpolei

In front of the «San Francisco» church… credits: André Loor @simpolei

In front of the Guayaquil Metropolitan Cathedral… credits: André Loor @simpolei

The Ecuadorian families are very concern not only of the religious activities but also about implementing some beliefs even in their food! As a child I remembered the picture of my grandma Zoila and father grinding the corn, while we wait to receive in our hands the final meal named “humita” (one of the traditional Ecuadorian foods during the Easter, they are made of steamed savory corn and inside of them you can find cheese, they are later wrapped in corn husks)

Another memory I have is that I started to eat “fanesca” because of my grandma Margarita (the mother of my mom), even though she is no longer catholic she kept that habit! In my city there are plenty of places for eating this popular meal, but I choose the Palace Hotel located in the very center of Guayaquil, because they have not only one of the best fanesca soups but also my beloved coconut lemonade,  my top drink in the city!

Definitely the most significant dish is the fanesca matted soup.  I found the perfect definition and summary of the recipe at the blog of another Ecuadorian food blogger named Laylita: Fanesca is made with salt cod, many different types of beans and grains – both fresh and dry, squash, spices, and many other ingredients. This soup requires a lot of prep work: the fresh grains needs to shucked and cleaned, the salt cod needs to soak for 24 hours, the grains and vegetables are cooked separately. (Source: https://www.laylita.com/recipes/2012/04/01/easter-in-ecuador/)

I only wanted to eat, but the photo needed to be taken! The delicious dish you see is the traditional fanesca. credits: André Loor @simpolei

For this occasion I was in a more classic mood! The weather in Guayaquil changed a lot; we are now in the rainy season, so at the beginning I had a bright sun and then the sky turned out to gray and start to rain. So my boyfriend took very quickly some photos, I really hope you enjoy it! He is a very talented photographer but I am a really shy model, you will notice that in the picture…l  decided to match a bicolor dress (the flag of my city has both colors : white and light blue) with sandals of a blue color, a white Dumont hat and a brown leather bag. And then I stand in front of the three most emblematic churches in my city!

credits: André Loor @simpolei

Last year the denim trend was so overrated, that I only read articles about the multiple ways of using your T-shirt and jeans. There were tons of people wearing the exactly type of outfit, with no difference than the shoes or the bags. So I was wondering how about to take this hyped-up trend and mix it with our hats?  

I decided to return to one of our emblematic places here in Guayaquil, Las Peñas, and take there some photos. Claudia, the daughter of my father´s partner, took the colourful pictures. Eventhough we were soo exposed to the sun, the time we have there was really worth it.

For this ocasion I wore a Desigual dress, black sandals and different models of hats with the aesthetic denim. You can find the models here: www.ecua-andino.com

People always sucumb to the enchantment of  denim and so do I! 😀

Stay tuned and wait for my next article!

Andrea

I recently received some advice from a family member to change the colors of my dark outfits. I have to confess that I love all the shades of cold colors just like blue for example. So (yes again!) I used a light blue pair of jeans, black casual sandals and a porcelain print blouse.

A few days ago was organized a bazar in my home country that took place for the weekend and where our Ecua-Andino Panama Hats were sold.

This littlemarket takes place approx two times a year, for Christmas and Mother’s day. The stands showed different types of products from Ecuador, such as jewelry, clothes, foods, cosmetics.

This time, it was taking place in the Teatro Sanchez Aguilar with an outstanding neoclassical architecture building.

That’s the mainly question people ask me while visiting my country.