Posts Tagged ‘Andes’

HUAYNO DANCING WITH MAYU’S ARTISANS

Sunday, September 5th, 2010

Kate Robertson, founder of Mayu, loooooves Huayno music! Huayno is a form of music that is indigenous to Peru, and the Andes Mountains. It dates to Pre-Hispanic times, and at present is very pervasive among Andeans – and Mayu’s alpaca artisans. The following video is a very entertaining clip of Kate dancing to Huayno music the day she arrived in Chiquian. It is a tradition that when Kate comes to town, she and the artisans party all night long! Take note of the green infinity bow scarf that Kate is wearing. It isn’t complete in this photo but the designs was being knit as the dancing was taking place. Mayu’s artisans have a very hard time letting go of their pieces. So, it was knit, dance, knit, dance, knit, dance…!

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What kind of dance is YOUR favorite? Leave a comment below! For more on Peruvian traditions and customs, stay tuned to our FB posts, Tweets and RSS Feed!

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FAMILY AND PRESERVATION OF THE ENVIRONMENT: THE MEANING BEHIND THE NAME MAYU

Tuesday, July 27th, 2010

My Host Sister, Mayu!

A few days ago, I was talking to a social media expert I met and she asked me “What does Mayu mean?” I responded quickly and told her it was explained on the About page of the www.shopmayu.com website, which I realized that most people probably don’t read. As a result, I’ve decided to give a quick explanation of the word Mayu, as it has become a common word in my daily life (and hopefully across the Internet, as people continue discovering Mayu!). BTW, please help spread the word by following us on Twitter, FB and by RSS feed.

Mayu is a Quechua word, which means ‘RIVER’. Never head of Quechua? It is the native language of the indigenous Incan Empire and the first language of Mayu’s knitters. Unfortunately, however, Quechua has been classified as a “dying language” as Spanish has been given greater priority. I chose to call this social enterprise Mayu, mostly because, throughout my Peace Corps service, it had a lot of significance. (more…)

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Working with Peruvian Wool

Saturday, December 26th, 2009

 

Pictured below is my host grandmother, Angela, who I lived with while I served in the Peace Corps. She was definitely the expert weaver! In the afternoon, she usually sit inside her kitchen and spin all-natural sheep wool that she or her husband had gathered just days earlier. They owned hundereds of sheep and used their wool to make a variety of items including much-needed blankets to keep them warm in the Anden weather. As you can, the wool comes in a variety of colors, similar to the Alpaca. Unfortunately, Angela did not own any Alpacas, but if she did, the process of shearing, separating, classifying, washing and hand-spinning the fiber would be very similar. To learn more about Alpaca fiber, visit www.whatisalpaca.com!

Grams and Wool sm

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