Our House in the Clouds: Building a Second Life in the Andes of Ecuador by Judy Blankenship (review)

This eminently readable book is the story of how an American couple approaching retirement decided to build a house in Cañar, a small town in the Southern Ecuadorian Andes, where they live half the year, spending the other half in Portland, Oregon. The decision was not made quickly –they had visited the area ten years previously and had worked with local people documenting Cañari life. The author writes about, photographs, and records indigenous peoples. This is her second book about Cañar and is part of the Louann Atkins Temple Women and Culture series which focuses on women and their families, and their changing role in society. The book is mostly composed of journal entries written in Cañar from 2005 to 2010 and describes the everyday life of the couple –the only “gringos” in town– and their interactions with the indigenous people whose ancestors predated both the Incan and Spanish occupations of the area.

Much of the book is devoted to the trials and tribulations of building a “traditional” style house of adobe and wood with a tiled roof but with modern conveniences such as fully equipped bathrooms, granite countertops, and a fireplace. The couple hire an Ecuadorian architect from Cuenca and use local workmen for construction. Michael Jenkins, Ms. Blankenship’s husband, is in the construction industry in Oregon and participates in building their “dream” house set on a hillside above 10,000 feet with views of snow-capped Andean peaks. They run into problems obtaining building materials (though they bring plumbing equipment with them from the U.S.), settling the legal issues of land purchase, conflicts over property boundaries, inebriated workmen, inter alia. However, after several years the house is sufficiently complete to host a wasipichana or housewarming to which many of their friends and neighbors come to feast and dance for hours.

The reader will learn about some facets of Cañari history and culture, though could probably glean them faster via Google. Blankenship includes discussion of the impact of out-migration of especially young men to the U.S. and Spain in search of employment, but by the end of the book this migration has slowed considerably due to both recessions and the tightening of immigration regulations, having deleterious impacts on Cañar as remittances dwindle and unemployed men return. She also describes the vicissitudes of obtaining legal residence for Americans in Ecuador. There are lively descriptions of carnivals, national labor unrest during which strikers block the Pan-American Highway, becoming godparents to local children and other local customs and celebrations.

The book is illustrated throughout with black and white photographs by the author which bring the text to life. There are also locational sketch maps (with Venezuela spelled incorrectly!) and a pictorial map of Cañar which give the reader a sense of the relative size of their gringo house, but omits the new ciudadela or housing project under construction which will cover fields previously devoted to crops and within view of their house.

This reviewer was mildly irritated by frequent allusions to possessions starting with the title “Our House…” and continuing throughout (“my laptop” various; “my flowers” p.165; “my flower señora,” “my plant guy” p.195 etc.). She was also struck by the fact they weren’t exactly living “like the natives” in their two-bed, 2.5-bath home, buying lox and cream cheese to go with homemade bagels, with cell phones, laptops and other accoutrements of consumer life. Their finances remain mysterious – while claiming to be economical they seem to be able to live on a few months employment in the U.S. yet maintain two homes and travel frequently. Had I edited this book I would have suggested removing the possibly litigious sentence about a neighbor...