One of the places I always take my short-term teams in Ecuador is the Artisan Market between North and Central Quito. There are rows and rows of stalls where vendors have all kinds of handicrafts: blankets, paintings, sweaters, dishes, tablecloths; all kinds of woven or carved or painted objects to use or to have as souveniers. Even in a market that takes up an entire city block (it’s entertainingly on the corner of Jorge Washington and Reina Victoria streets in the gringolandia neighborhood… they know their target demo, I suppose), I know after all this time exactly where some of the vendors are. Who is selling what, and who will give you a good deal. And reliably just outside the market on the sidewalk, every day of the week, is a man who sells flags. He has all different sized flags sticking out of a backpack, and he’s usually carrying around an oversized flag in his arms. A few will have the Quito soccer team logo, but most are the Ecuadorian national flag.
All over the market you can hear people shouting what they have for sale. “Sueters!” “Cobijas/blankets!” “Camisetas/ t-shirts!” Vendors who are energetically trying to get your attention and your dollars. But the flag guy just leisurely paces up and down the sidewalk, slowly saying, at a volume just barely above a normal speaking voice, “Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeecuador! …Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeecuador!” Not “flags!” Not even “banderas!” (the Spanish word). Just “Ecuador” over and over again. If you wanted a flag of the city of Quito or of the Liga soccer team, you would have to happen to know that he has those. He does the worst job advertising for himself of anybody in the place. And yet, I’ve been going there since 2007 and I have never once not seen him. And as much as I always want to say to him “Dude, you have not got this figured out,” he seems to keep making sales after all this time.
Nine weeks into stay-at-home orders and social distancing and online everything… we don’t all necessarily have this whole thing figured out. But I hope that we all continue with endurance, recognizing the Grace that covers our weaknessas we all go on to Perfection.
