Before we knew we were going to have a Peace Corp Thanksgiving, Kyle and I made plans to head to Cuenca, about 4 hours away, for the weekend to have Thanksgiving dinner with Gabby, Kelsey, and Brett, 3 other girls on our program. Kyle and I had a thrilling Friday night at Supermaxi, the Ecuadorian equivalent of Walmart, and got all of the groceries that didn't need to be refrigerated/wouldn't spill everywhere on the bus. Saturday we hopped on a bus, and got to Cuenca midafternoon, just in time to start cooking.
Kelsey was living in some woman's guest house, so we slept and cooked there. The house was so nice- it put Hotel Metropolitan to shame (although that isn't really saying too much). We made a huge mess of the kitchen, and kept bothering Kelsey's host mom for things like milk and pans, but in the end we made a delicious Thanksgiving dinner. We had turkey cutlets, stuffing (kind of), corn casserole, mashed potatoes, banana bread, guacamole and chips, banana cream pie, and apple pie that night for dinner...and then again the next day for breakfast and lunch.
Sunday was census day here in Ecuador, so the government ordered that everyone had to stay in their house from 7am to 5 pm. I don't know how well that would go over in the US-being ordered to stay inside by the government, but it's Ecuador and almost anything goes. We spent census day locked in the guest house sitting at our computers writing our papers. I finished the longest paper I have ever written in my life- 26 pages on mining in Ecuador. What's more is that it's in Spanish. Yikes. It wasn't exactly a fun day, but it had to be done, and atleast we were in it together. The weekend overall was a good time- it was really good to see the three Cuenca kids, and it made me excited for next week's reunion in Quito.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Happy Thanksgiving
My experience in Ecuador is quickly drawing to a close. Although I am definitely sad that it is all ending, these past few weeks of traveling on my own have made me miss home a bit. It gets lonely passing through random towns for a few days at a time, and living out of a hotel eating out for every meal starts to get old after a while. There's also just something about waking up, and heading to the pizza place for lunch on Thanksgiving that makes you miss home.
My Thanksgiving actually took an unexpected turn after a rather uneventful morning/afternoon of paper writing and pizza eating, and I had probably the most legitimate Thanksgiving dinner possible outside of the US. Kyle, the other kid staying in Loja with me, has been working in an environmental organization for his independent project, and there is a peace corp volunteer in his office. The volunteer has been in Ecuador for almost 3 years, and so is an old pro at throwing American holidays. He invited the both of us over for a Thanksgiving dinner, so Kyle and I celebrated the holiday with 8 peace corp volunteers who we just met. We got to the apartment of one of the volunteers (it's in a building with lightning bolts and rocketships on the outside) and walked into a kitchen full of people cooking a whole lot of ...interesting concoctions. When all was said and done, our Thanksgiving dinner consisted of turkey cutlets, stuffing, zucchini fritters, fruit salad, mashed potatoes, broccoli, cheese and bread, sweet potato pie, pumpkin pie, cupcakes made in a toaster oven, some sort of green filled pie that no one, not even the landlord's dog liked, flan from a french restaurant, apple cake, and margaritas. The peace corp volunteers were stationed all over the place in southern Ecuador, and had gotten together for the holiday. Some had only been here for a few months, while others had been here for nearly three years. In real life, I'm pretty sure none of them would have been friends. Everyone was definitely different- from the guy with suspenders, to the former girl ice hockey player, to the preppy amateur bartender- I was surprised that everyone got a long so well. It's amazing how close you can get to people that are thrown into the same hard, unfamiliar situation as you. It was definitely not the traditional Thanksgiving dinner, but nonetheless, it was a good one.
Although I definitely missed the holiday at home, I had my turkey, I watched a bit of the Pats game (dubbed over in Spanish), and realized that I have a lot to be thankful for- both at home and here in Ecuador.
My Thanksgiving actually took an unexpected turn after a rather uneventful morning/afternoon of paper writing and pizza eating, and I had probably the most legitimate Thanksgiving dinner possible outside of the US. Kyle, the other kid staying in Loja with me, has been working in an environmental organization for his independent project, and there is a peace corp volunteer in his office. The volunteer has been in Ecuador for almost 3 years, and so is an old pro at throwing American holidays. He invited the both of us over for a Thanksgiving dinner, so Kyle and I celebrated the holiday with 8 peace corp volunteers who we just met. We got to the apartment of one of the volunteers (it's in a building with lightning bolts and rocketships on the outside) and walked into a kitchen full of people cooking a whole lot of ...interesting concoctions. When all was said and done, our Thanksgiving dinner consisted of turkey cutlets, stuffing, zucchini fritters, fruit salad, mashed potatoes, broccoli, cheese and bread, sweet potato pie, pumpkin pie, cupcakes made in a toaster oven, some sort of green filled pie that no one, not even the landlord's dog liked, flan from a french restaurant, apple cake, and margaritas. The peace corp volunteers were stationed all over the place in southern Ecuador, and had gotten together for the holiday. Some had only been here for a few months, while others had been here for nearly three years. In real life, I'm pretty sure none of them would have been friends. Everyone was definitely different- from the guy with suspenders, to the former girl ice hockey player, to the preppy amateur bartender- I was surprised that everyone got a long so well. It's amazing how close you can get to people that are thrown into the same hard, unfamiliar situation as you. It was definitely not the traditional Thanksgiving dinner, but nonetheless, it was a good one.
Although I definitely missed the holiday at home, I had my turkey, I watched a bit of the Pats game (dubbed over in Spanish), and realized that I have a lot to be thankful for- both at home and here in Ecuador.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
El Pangui
I'm a week into my ISP (independent study project)- it's the last component of the study abroad program, and essentially what we've been gearing up for since day one. We get 4 weeks to do first hand research, on the topic of our choosing (it can be anything from the cultural history of salsa dancing to the personal accounts of refugees). It's more or less a small attempt at anthropological fieldwork. From our findings, we need to write a 30 page paper in Spanish, and prepare an oral presentation for our directors and classmates. Our directors set us up with advisors to guide us along the way, we were given some cash, emergency phone numbers, and pretty much sent on our ways.
I left Quito last Saturday for Loja, still undecided on my project theme. My director suggested I just hop on a bus to Loja (a city about 14 hours from Quito in the South of Ecuador), talk to my advisor, and decide on a topic. I have a hard time deciding what I want for breakfast in the morning, let alone a research project topic with no guidelines, so I figured that this could end disasterously.
After a brief stay in Cuenca to break up the bus ride, I headed to Loja with Kyle, another undecided on my program. We got a $5 hostel in what appeared to be a ghosttown. Nothing- and seriously, I mean nothing- was open when we got there sunday afternoon. We spent our evening looking for outlets in the hotel. It wasn't just that there weren't plugs in the room, it was that there weren't any anywhere in the hostal. After a good while of searching high and low (under couches, in the bathrooms, and on the ceilings) we finally found one outlet, down two floors and around the corner behind a chair. Ectastic with our discovery, and left in a town with zero nightlife, we spent the evening watching Good Will Hunting huddled around the lone outlet in a hallway of a cheap hostal in a deserted city closer to Peru than Quito.
It turns out that Loja is actually a pretty happening place all other days besides Sundays. The city was filled with people (I waited 30 minutes in a huge line at the bank) and there were tons of shops all over the place. I met with my adviser Monday morning to discuss my project, and I decided on the theme of mining in Ecuador. My adviser got in touch with his contacts in the area, and we made plans to head to El Pangui, a town on the outskirts of the rainforest at the heart of the mining conflict in Ecuador, for the next afternoon. I was pretty excited that things finally seemed to be looking up - I had a topic, I had a destination, and I had plans for the next day.
Tuesday afternoon:
Bus 1. Loja to Zamora
Bus 2. Zamora to some unknown small town destination.
Bus 3. Small town destination to El Pangui, an even smaller town
I spent the better part of Tuesday on a series of buses with people that I barely knew. My adviser left me in Zamora with a contact of his who was deeply involved in the resistance movement against large scale mining in El Pangui. We then took a bus from Zamora and ended up in El Pangui at 11:30 Tuesday night. I'm pretty sure I was sleeping before my head hit the pillow. Between the traveling, the jungle heat, and the Spanish- I was exhausted. From Tuesday until this morning (Saturday) I spent all of my time in El Pangui conducting interviews, seeing the town and the surrounding communties, and staking out government officials. I got enough information to write my 30 page paper after the first day. I talked with people from the community, mostly people fighting against the mining company, and got the history of what was going on. This is more or less the abridged version:
El Pangui is a small town of about 2000 people in the southern part of Ecuador that is currently fighting a transnational mining company from Canada that is mining up in the mountains not far from the town. The company came down in 2000 to start exploration, but nobody (except the Ecuadorian government) realized what was going on until 2006 when they arrived with their equipment to start up the operation. The people of the town staged a massive protest- the mining co. needed to get their equipment from one side of the Zamora river to the other in order to start their operations. There are two ways across the river- a footbridge or a barge. The people camped out for 2 days blocking the barge, and cut down the footbridge. Despite all of organizing and protests that followed, the mining started up in 2008. There are a few issues that people have with the mining. One-it's a big company. There's some serious harm to the environment. The water and soil are contaminated with toxic chemicals, which is a huge problem for a people that are largely farmers and cattle ranchers. Two- it's a foreign company. The company comes in, takes the resources of Ecuador, pollutes, and then leaves rich. The community doesn't economically benefit from the gold or copper that are being taken from their backyards. Three- the community is being torn apart. Some people support the mining, others don't. The mining company has deep pockets, and has no reservations about buying support. There is no inbetween, either you're in the resistence movement or you're supporting the mining company. Families have been split up and communities left divided because of differences in opinions.
Over the past few days, I collected testimonies from the townspeople, saw where the protests happened, and learned about the mining question in this country. The people that allowed me to interview them opened up their entire lives to me- they held nothing back and told me everything they knew, and everything they believed. The amount of passion in someone speaking about their fight to preserve their way of life is incredible. One afternoon, a woman asked me if I was going to forget Ecuador after I left. That is the gravest of all sins here- to come down, share in certain experiences, and then disappear. I told her no, no I wouldn't forget. What I really wanted to say though was that I have been given so much that it would be impossible for me to forget this place or the people I have met. I have learned things about myself and the world around me that I would never have known otherwise. To all of the people in El Pangui, I am forever grateful. I know that I will never be able to repay them for what they have given me.
I left Quito last Saturday for Loja, still undecided on my project theme. My director suggested I just hop on a bus to Loja (a city about 14 hours from Quito in the South of Ecuador), talk to my advisor, and decide on a topic. I have a hard time deciding what I want for breakfast in the morning, let alone a research project topic with no guidelines, so I figured that this could end disasterously.
After a brief stay in Cuenca to break up the bus ride, I headed to Loja with Kyle, another undecided on my program. We got a $5 hostel in what appeared to be a ghosttown. Nothing- and seriously, I mean nothing- was open when we got there sunday afternoon. We spent our evening looking for outlets in the hotel. It wasn't just that there weren't plugs in the room, it was that there weren't any anywhere in the hostal. After a good while of searching high and low (under couches, in the bathrooms, and on the ceilings) we finally found one outlet, down two floors and around the corner behind a chair. Ectastic with our discovery, and left in a town with zero nightlife, we spent the evening watching Good Will Hunting huddled around the lone outlet in a hallway of a cheap hostal in a deserted city closer to Peru than Quito.
It turns out that Loja is actually a pretty happening place all other days besides Sundays. The city was filled with people (I waited 30 minutes in a huge line at the bank) and there were tons of shops all over the place. I met with my adviser Monday morning to discuss my project, and I decided on the theme of mining in Ecuador. My adviser got in touch with his contacts in the area, and we made plans to head to El Pangui, a town on the outskirts of the rainforest at the heart of the mining conflict in Ecuador, for the next afternoon. I was pretty excited that things finally seemed to be looking up - I had a topic, I had a destination, and I had plans for the next day.
Tuesday afternoon:
Bus 1. Loja to Zamora
Bus 2. Zamora to some unknown small town destination.
Bus 3. Small town destination to El Pangui, an even smaller town
I spent the better part of Tuesday on a series of buses with people that I barely knew. My adviser left me in Zamora with a contact of his who was deeply involved in the resistance movement against large scale mining in El Pangui. We then took a bus from Zamora and ended up in El Pangui at 11:30 Tuesday night. I'm pretty sure I was sleeping before my head hit the pillow. Between the traveling, the jungle heat, and the Spanish- I was exhausted. From Tuesday until this morning (Saturday) I spent all of my time in El Pangui conducting interviews, seeing the town and the surrounding communties, and staking out government officials. I got enough information to write my 30 page paper after the first day. I talked with people from the community, mostly people fighting against the mining company, and got the history of what was going on. This is more or less the abridged version:
El Pangui is a small town of about 2000 people in the southern part of Ecuador that is currently fighting a transnational mining company from Canada that is mining up in the mountains not far from the town. The company came down in 2000 to start exploration, but nobody (except the Ecuadorian government) realized what was going on until 2006 when they arrived with their equipment to start up the operation. The people of the town staged a massive protest- the mining co. needed to get their equipment from one side of the Zamora river to the other in order to start their operations. There are two ways across the river- a footbridge or a barge. The people camped out for 2 days blocking the barge, and cut down the footbridge. Despite all of organizing and protests that followed, the mining started up in 2008. There are a few issues that people have with the mining. One-it's a big company. There's some serious harm to the environment. The water and soil are contaminated with toxic chemicals, which is a huge problem for a people that are largely farmers and cattle ranchers. Two- it's a foreign company. The company comes in, takes the resources of Ecuador, pollutes, and then leaves rich. The community doesn't economically benefit from the gold or copper that are being taken from their backyards. Three- the community is being torn apart. Some people support the mining, others don't. The mining company has deep pockets, and has no reservations about buying support. There is no inbetween, either you're in the resistence movement or you're supporting the mining company. Families have been split up and communities left divided because of differences in opinions.
Over the past few days, I collected testimonies from the townspeople, saw where the protests happened, and learned about the mining question in this country. The people that allowed me to interview them opened up their entire lives to me- they held nothing back and told me everything they knew, and everything they believed. The amount of passion in someone speaking about their fight to preserve their way of life is incredible. One afternoon, a woman asked me if I was going to forget Ecuador after I left. That is the gravest of all sins here- to come down, share in certain experiences, and then disappear. I told her no, no I wouldn't forget. What I really wanted to say though was that I have been given so much that it would be impossible for me to forget this place or the people I have met. I have learned things about myself and the world around me that I would never have known otherwise. To all of the people in El Pangui, I am forever grateful. I know that I will never be able to repay them for what they have given me.
Friday, October 29, 2010
La Costa
I have now seen all 3 regions of Ecuador
I'm living in the Sierra, high up in the Andes Mountains.
I had a short, but bug/heat/sickness filled stay in the Oriente (rain forest).
And I spent the last week on La Costa.
Last week, the whole group hopped a half hour flight (it would have been a very long 10 hour bus ride with a group that gets nauseous in traffic) to the coast. The whole group went in order to conduct village studies. Essentially, we were broken up into pairs, assigned to a family in a small, rural town, and were there to observe and learn about life on the coast for a week. It was supposed to be a practice run in fieldwork before our month long independent projects. But before we began our assignments, we made a pit stop...
Guayaquil is Ecuador's largest city, and located right on the coast of the Pacific. We stayed there for a night before starting our village studies. Once we arrived in Guayaquil, I had my first of what was to be many, many plates of fish, followed by cake for Matthew's 21st birthday. We spent the rest of the day on a boat cruise down the Guayas river, a VIP tour of a closed pottery museum, a walk through a very unique park in the center of town, and a trip up to the top of a lighthouse that overlooked the whole city.
We left the Parque Historico, and started our 2 hour bus ride up the Ruta del Sol- translation, the route of the sun. The ride took us farther and farther from the big city, as the highways turned into two laned roads that cut through small, rural pueblos. At one point, the bus took a turn and we came up beside the Pacific. It was our first glimpse of the ocean thus far in Ecuador, and I thought that I could stay here forever. We stopped for lunch at a small seafood restaurant on the beach, and I'm pretty sure at that moment while we were eating our giants plates of fish and bananas for 3$, feet in the sand, watching the waves of the Pacific roll in, the whole group was content.
Reality came crashing back over us when we got back onto the bus and our directors told us that they were going to start dropping off the pairs in about a half hour. Before I continue, I think I need to paint a picture of the village study and what we were expecting. Essentially, we had been briefly briefed on the task at hand- go in, live for 4 nights with a family, and learn about life in the village. Now, it sounds like a vacation on the beach for a week, but everyone in the group, especially myself, were freaking out. Each pair of people received a name of a town and a family, and we were to be dropped off by the bus somewhere in the vicinity of the town and had to find our house. We had never met or spoken to the family's before, so essentially, we were going in blind. And to make matters worse, people on the coast speak really fast Spanish and slur their words.
I was in the first pair to be dropped off. I thought I was going to throw up everywhere because I was so nervous. I apparently wasn't too good at hiding the nervousness, because my directors tried to assure me that it was going to be fine, the people are nice, and it was going to be a great experience. My directors have been doing this for more than 10 years, and they're not ones to sugarcoat things, so I should have known to believe them, because they were right.
Gabby and I got off the bus in San Pablo, a small fishing community of about 2000. There was literally nothing in the town except for cabana seafood restaurants and beach. We lived for the week with Yolanda, a 70 year old widow who decided 8 years ago that she was going to turn her passion fro cooking into a business, and so opened a cabana on the beach. She worked from 7 am until 6 at night, and had anywhere from 1 to 5 other women working in the kitchen with here every day. Gabby and I shared a bed and slept on the second floor of the restaurant at night, listening to the waves crashing literally a few feet below us as we fell asleep. During the days, we walked on the beach, swam in the ocean, lounged in the hammocks, searched for ice cream, and watched the women work. We ate lots of seafood, rice, and bananas, regardless if it was breakfast, lunch, or dinner. I would confidently say that in four days, I ate atleast 75 shrimp, 2 octapus tentacles, 3 small fish, 10 medium sized plantains, and a small mountain of rice. At the end of the day, after everyone left for the night , Gabby and I would eat dinner with Yolanda and listen to her stories. She had this quiet passion about her for the work she did, and a kind way with how she interacted with people. The people in this country still amaze me every day- there is no reason for them to be nice and open and welcome strangers into their house, but time and time again they do. We were only there for 5 days, but it was sadder to leave Yolanda and the other women in the restaurant than my other family in Los Chillos after living there for a month. She opened up her whole life for the two of us to share in for a few days, and it is experiences like these that I will remember long after I leave in December.
At the end of the five days, we said goodbye, and hopped on a bus to meet back up with the group at a hostal about an hour away. We arrived at Hostal Azalunas in Las Tunas, another small pueblo on the Ruta del Sol to find that everyone had survived their experiences, and had a great time, although it was nice to be in a place with running water and real showers. We spent two days there, debriefing about our experiences, and gearing up for our next adventure, which will start next week. We also found some time to swim in the biggest waves I have ever seen in real life, and celebrate Taylor's 21st birthday.
I didn't want to leave the coast. For one, the plane that we had to take back was a 36 seater and much too small to feel safe in. But more than my fear of crashing into the ocean, I didn't want to leave the way of life that characterized the coast. The people were friendly and laid back, and didn't need much to be happy. After regrouping at the hostal, we talked a lot about poverty. To anyone passing by, the pueblos we stayed at would appear to be poor- I'm sure that's how my pictures make it seem. But the thing is, when you see people living life fuller than so many others that have all of the money in the world, it makes you wonder who really is better off.
I'm living in the Sierra, high up in the Andes Mountains.
I had a short, but bug/heat/sickness filled stay in the Oriente (rain forest).
And I spent the last week on La Costa.
Last week, the whole group hopped a half hour flight (it would have been a very long 10 hour bus ride with a group that gets nauseous in traffic) to the coast. The whole group went in order to conduct village studies. Essentially, we were broken up into pairs, assigned to a family in a small, rural town, and were there to observe and learn about life on the coast for a week. It was supposed to be a practice run in fieldwork before our month long independent projects. But before we began our assignments, we made a pit stop...
Guayaquil is Ecuador's largest city, and located right on the coast of the Pacific. We stayed there for a night before starting our village studies. Once we arrived in Guayaquil, I had my first of what was to be many, many plates of fish, followed by cake for Matthew's 21st birthday. We spent the rest of the day on a boat cruise down the Guayas river, a VIP tour of a closed pottery museum, a walk through a very unique park in the center of town, and a trip up to the top of a lighthouse that overlooked the whole city.
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| The food is really different on the coast- everything is fish or crab or shrimp, while a can of tuna is usually all the fish I see in Quito. Instead of bread on the coast, there's plantains. And a lot of them. Of course though, there is rice everywhere in Ecuador. |
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| Not the traditional sort of 21st, since the drinking age in Ecuador is 18/ there really is no drinking age here. |
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| The "Captain Morgan," named for the pirate who raided Guayaquil. And yes, it is the same guy who they named the rum after. |
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| Some of the ceramic pieces from the pottery museum. |
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| Guayaquil |
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| Something is a little off here... |
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| In the center of a bustling metropolis is a the Park of Iguanas. I asked our guide why the iguanas stayed in the park, when there were no gates or fences keeping them in. She then asked me if I would leave a place where I was fed everyday and could lounge all the time long while people took photos of me like a celebrity. |
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| 444 steps to the top of the lighthouse |
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| It was just a bit windy up at the top of the lighthouse. |
The following day started out with a trip to the Parque Historico in Guayaquil. The park was a mix between a zoo, a garden, and a museum. During part of it, you walked through mangroves and forests with animals on either side of you. In another section, there was a path through plants of coffee and chocolate, palm trees, and all sorts of flowers. The last section was of houses that in the past, had been the houses of plantation owners and workers. They had all been restored and preserved for people to walk through.
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| This was the biggest bird I have ever seen in my entire life- it was probably about 3 feet tall. |
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| Crocodiles just laying out. |
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| The gardens in the the Parque Historico |
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| The closest I have gotten to rowing this fall has been seeing these dugout canoes. |
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| An old plantation house. On the inside, there was a huge ballroom, complete with bar, pianos, and couches that must have made for the quite the 18th century party. |
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| The tile floor in one of the houses |
We left the Parque Historico, and started our 2 hour bus ride up the Ruta del Sol- translation, the route of the sun. The ride took us farther and farther from the big city, as the highways turned into two laned roads that cut through small, rural pueblos. At one point, the bus took a turn and we came up beside the Pacific. It was our first glimpse of the ocean thus far in Ecuador, and I thought that I could stay here forever. We stopped for lunch at a small seafood restaurant on the beach, and I'm pretty sure at that moment while we were eating our giants plates of fish and bananas for 3$, feet in the sand, watching the waves of the Pacific roll in, the whole group was content.
Reality came crashing back over us when we got back onto the bus and our directors told us that they were going to start dropping off the pairs in about a half hour. Before I continue, I think I need to paint a picture of the village study and what we were expecting. Essentially, we had been briefly briefed on the task at hand- go in, live for 4 nights with a family, and learn about life in the village. Now, it sounds like a vacation on the beach for a week, but everyone in the group, especially myself, were freaking out. Each pair of people received a name of a town and a family, and we were to be dropped off by the bus somewhere in the vicinity of the town and had to find our house. We had never met or spoken to the family's before, so essentially, we were going in blind. And to make matters worse, people on the coast speak really fast Spanish and slur their words.
I was in the first pair to be dropped off. I thought I was going to throw up everywhere because I was so nervous. I apparently wasn't too good at hiding the nervousness, because my directors tried to assure me that it was going to be fine, the people are nice, and it was going to be a great experience. My directors have been doing this for more than 10 years, and they're not ones to sugarcoat things, so I should have known to believe them, because they were right.
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| San Pablo, Ecuador |
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| Our living quarters on the second floor of the restaurant. Yolanda had one bed, Gabby and I had the other, and the mice and cockroaches shared the floor. |
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| One morning, Gabby and I removed the heads from 20 pounds of shrimp. It was only a small delivery. |
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Cabana D' Yoly
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| The beach |
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| Lines and lines of fishing net |
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| One morning, we watched 16 guys spend hours pulling in a fishing net off of the shore. People came in pick up trucks to take the fish to sell. Other people came with plastic bags and took fish for themselves and their families. I even saw one guy putting fish down his shirt because he didn't have a bag. The whole thing lasted all morning, but by 11 the net was back in the boat and the fishermen rowed away. |
At the end of the five days, we said goodbye, and hopped on a bus to meet back up with the group at a hostal about an hour away. We arrived at Hostal Azalunas in Las Tunas, another small pueblo on the Ruta del Sol to find that everyone had survived their experiences, and had a great time, although it was nice to be in a place with running water and real showers. We spent two days there, debriefing about our experiences, and gearing up for our next adventure, which will start next week. We also found some time to swim in the biggest waves I have ever seen in real life, and celebrate Taylor's 21st birthday.
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| Hostal Azulunas |
I didn't want to leave the coast. For one, the plane that we had to take back was a 36 seater and much too small to feel safe in. But more than my fear of crashing into the ocean, I didn't want to leave the way of life that characterized the coast. The people were friendly and laid back, and didn't need much to be happy. After regrouping at the hostal, we talked a lot about poverty. To anyone passing by, the pueblos we stayed at would appear to be poor- I'm sure that's how my pictures make it seem. But the thing is, when you see people living life fuller than so many others that have all of the money in the world, it makes you wonder who really is better off.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Checking out for a week
I don't know what happened, but all of a sudden papers, quizzes, and work snuck up on me. I still have not had a chance to post much about my new fam, and my other adventures in Quito. I'm heading to a rural fishing community on the coast for a week, and will once again be without internet. Once I'm back, I will have pics, videos and lots of stories to share.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Welcome to the Jungle
The political unrest pretty settled down, borders reopened, and we were able to head to the rain forest. It was about a 6 hour ride from Quito to Tena. In between, we made a pit stop in Papallacta for a swim in the natural hot springs and a pb&j picnic lunch.
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| On the ride to Papallacta |
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| Papallacta |
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| Soaking in the hot springs |
When we got to Tena, we ditched our bus for a motorized canoe. We rode up the Arajuno River until we arrived at the Arajuno Jungle Lodge. It was a surreal experience from the moment we arrived. There were wood cabins with thatched roofs and hammocks, and a base lodge with an outdoor area for meals.
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| Outside of the lodge where we ate dinner |
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| The "dining room" |
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| My cabin |
We were greeted by Tom, a Nebraska native who owned and operated the lodge. He came down to Ecuador with Peace Corp in the 80s, married an Ecuadorian, and never left. By his side was Mona. She's a three year monkey who lives on the property and causes mayhem, but is tolerated because she is adorable. She hangs from trees, roof rafters, and of course, all over the visitors. She has a tendency to steal things, so we were told to make sure we locked cabin doors and hid the keys. One day at lunch, we were being particularly lax, and Mona took the last burrito. I thought the guys in my group were going to kill her.
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| MONA! |
When we got back to the lodge, we went swimming in the Arajuno. It's a tributary of the Napo River, and although there is plenty of wildlife lurking below the surface, our directors assured us it was safe since the piranas were vegetarian (unless you are bleeding perfusely) and there hasn't been an anaconda sighting in years. It was a little less than convincing, but it was the only way to beat the heat and humidity of the tropics.
The other days were filled with jungle hikes, ecology lessons, and a trip to a wildlife rehabilitation center. From what I heard, it was all a good time, although I don't know for sure because I was in bed. There were 5 of us that got sick, and were out of commission for a while. I spent my sick days with Brett (another girl on the trip) on the bunk beds sipping gatorade trying not to throw up everywhere. We were kept company by the millions of ants and handful of cockroaches that had infested our cabin only separated by a mosquito net covering the bed.
Although I did miss the hikes, I was able to see plenty of wildlife. One night, I was about to walk into the bathroom, when someone pointed out the GIANT tarantula on the wall. It was literally the size of my hand. I'm pretty sure the whole Amazon Basin heard me scream. I have a bad history with spiders, let alone giant maneaters.
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| My least favorite part of the jungle |
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| Mindy being a lot braver than I will EVER be |
In addition to the spiders, there were plenty of other insects. Giant cicadas loved the candles that we used for light during dinner, so it was a constant fight to keep them out of your soup. There were little black flies that left every one covered in bites. I chose bug bites over heat, and opted for shorts over my long pants and knee high rubber boots. I definitely paid the price though. The rain forest is surprisingly hot (90s) and lacking in rain (it only rained the last morning we were there).
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| The Arajuno River |
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| On the Arajuno with Jeanette |
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| At the lodge after dinner with Taylor |
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| Up on the observation tower with Taylor, Gabby, and Chris |
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| View of the Arajuno Lodge complex from the observation tower |
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| The tree in the middle of the photo has yet to be named and identified by ecologists. It was right outside of my cabin door. |
Life is definitely not easy in the rain forest, but nonetheless I am definitely glad to have gone. I remember when I was a little kid in elementary school, there would be a jar at the end of the lunch line where you could give extra coins to save an acre of the rain forest. The rain forest has been this place that I have always heard and read about for as long as I can remember, so to actually be here was amazing. The forest was beautiful and filled with so much life, it's hard not to appreciate it all. The nights in the rain forest were my favorite-on the one hand, there is so much noise from the sound of the insects and other animals. But it is peaceful and quiet, too. The only motor for miles is the one in the canoe. And the stars- it was the first time I have seen stars since being in Ecuador (and although I think they are clearer up in Maine), it's pretty amazing to sit up on top of a wooden observation tower, above the canopy of the jungle, and look up at the stars.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
I Am Still Alive
I´m currently living with an 80 year old grandmother who lacks internet in the house, so posting is a bit rough right now. I am in fact still alive though, and Ill update about the rainforest and my new homestay as soon as I get the chance!
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Es Tranquilo
Ecuador is filled with volcanoes, many of which are still active. There's tidal waves and landslides, social conflicts and military uprisings. The people though, insist that their country and their way of life is "tranquilo," and they pride themselves on their calm, laidback lifestyle.
It's once again "tranquilo" in Ecuador, and I'm officially off of lock down and in Quito. Things are about as normal in the city as I guess they could be 3 days after an attempted military coup. Thursday night on the news I heard the President scream to an enraged mob "hear I am, here's the President, kill me if you are brave enough" and I watched in real time a member of the military die in a firefight. Friday morning the city was already being cleaned up, the President was back in Independence Square, and although there was still an uneasiness in the air, it became safe enough for us to be in the city and cross province borders.
It was all so surreal. It's hard for me fathom that this is just a part of normal life-the last 3 presidents were ousted by the people, so for the people here, a military coup is not that crazy. I don't know if I could ever get used to this type of instability.
Before arriving in Quito a few hours ago, I had to say goodbye to my host family in Los Chillos. I can't believe it has already been a month and it's time to move on. Saturday was a day of major ups and downs, literally, and gastrically. I climbed Ilalo (the volcano near my house) for the second time, only this time we went to the peak (3060m = major UP). Once again I was trailing my host father the entire way, and once again we went down the mountain "mas rapido"- translation: at a sprint. I couldn't keep pace on the way down either, and in my haste I rolled an ankle and went tumbling down quite a ways (major down- about 15m). I made it back to the house slightly bruised and covered in dirt, and was "surprised" (they had told me about the surprise fiesta the day before) with a party by my two younger cousins, Mateo, 11, and Daniela, 10. They had set up a table, chairs, and umbrellas out in the yard with snacks, homemade juice, and a cooler full of ice cream. We all danced and I listened to Mateo talk about the love of his life. They had also set up a slip and slide so we went sliding across the plastic tarp covered in soap about 100 times. For two little kids, they knew how to throw a party. I felt a little old for the slip and slide, until my 23 year old host brother and his girlfriend came out an joined (major up of the day).
I went inside after the fiesta for a traditional Ecuadorian lunch. I had accidentally told my host father at the beginning of the week that I was willing to try any food once, one thing led to another, and the next thing I knew I was in the kitchen washing cows feet for soup. The soup itself wasn't bad, but the cows' feet were AWFUL. They cooked down to the texture of gelatin. I thought I was going to vomit everywhere when I tried to eat them, and jello has been forever ruined for me. I felt bad, so I put on my game face, stopped chewing, and just started swallowing the meat flavored jello pieces. Apparently I didn't have a good poker face because my host father put down his spoon, started laughing, and told me that I didn't have to eat it if I didn't like it (major low).
It was a little sad to leave today after being with my host family for a month. I'm so pumped to go the rain forest tomorrow, and I'm excited to be staying in Quito afterwards because I think the city will be a lot of fun, but it was weird saying goodbye to the people I have shared the past month with. I was a bit skeptical of staying with a host family at first, but it turned out to be a great experience.
It's once again "tranquilo" in Ecuador, and I'm officially off of lock down and in Quito. Things are about as normal in the city as I guess they could be 3 days after an attempted military coup. Thursday night on the news I heard the President scream to an enraged mob "hear I am, here's the President, kill me if you are brave enough" and I watched in real time a member of the military die in a firefight. Friday morning the city was already being cleaned up, the President was back in Independence Square, and although there was still an uneasiness in the air, it became safe enough for us to be in the city and cross province borders.
It was all so surreal. It's hard for me fathom that this is just a part of normal life-the last 3 presidents were ousted by the people, so for the people here, a military coup is not that crazy. I don't know if I could ever get used to this type of instability.
Before arriving in Quito a few hours ago, I had to say goodbye to my host family in Los Chillos. I can't believe it has already been a month and it's time to move on. Saturday was a day of major ups and downs, literally, and gastrically. I climbed Ilalo (the volcano near my house) for the second time, only this time we went to the peak (3060m = major UP). Once again I was trailing my host father the entire way, and once again we went down the mountain "mas rapido"- translation: at a sprint. I couldn't keep pace on the way down either, and in my haste I rolled an ankle and went tumbling down quite a ways (major down- about 15m). I made it back to the house slightly bruised and covered in dirt, and was "surprised" (they had told me about the surprise fiesta the day before) with a party by my two younger cousins, Mateo, 11, and Daniela, 10. They had set up a table, chairs, and umbrellas out in the yard with snacks, homemade juice, and a cooler full of ice cream. We all danced and I listened to Mateo talk about the love of his life. They had also set up a slip and slide so we went sliding across the plastic tarp covered in soap about 100 times. For two little kids, they knew how to throw a party. I felt a little old for the slip and slide, until my 23 year old host brother and his girlfriend came out an joined (major up of the day).
I went inside after the fiesta for a traditional Ecuadorian lunch. I had accidentally told my host father at the beginning of the week that I was willing to try any food once, one thing led to another, and the next thing I knew I was in the kitchen washing cows feet for soup. The soup itself wasn't bad, but the cows' feet were AWFUL. They cooked down to the texture of gelatin. I thought I was going to vomit everywhere when I tried to eat them, and jello has been forever ruined for me. I felt bad, so I put on my game face, stopped chewing, and just started swallowing the meat flavored jello pieces. Apparently I didn't have a good poker face because my host father put down his spoon, started laughing, and told me that I didn't have to eat it if I didn't like it (major low).
It was a little sad to leave today after being with my host family for a month. I'm so pumped to go the rain forest tomorrow, and I'm excited to be staying in Quito afterwards because I think the city will be a lot of fun, but it was weird saying goodbye to the people I have shared the past month with. I was a bit skeptical of staying with a host family at first, but it turned out to be a great experience.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Living through History
Today started out normal.
Went to school. Took my final exam. Had snack time. Returned to class to plan our presentation for tomorrow.
Then, we heard there was chaos in Quito.
All 17 of us huddled around the radio listening to how President Correa was in the hospital, the borders were closed, and the police and military had shut down the airport. We were let out of school early because of a possible military coup happening 30 minutes away in Quito.
It's hard to figure out exactly what is going on, partially because there's a couple sides to the story and partially because the news is in Spanish (also almost all of the media is also government controlled). What I have gathered is that yesterday, Congress passed a law that would cut bonuses and delay promotions for the police and military. In protest, rogue military/ police seized the airports and shut them down. They surrounded Independence Square and the Presidential Palace in Quito and started a rally/protest/general mayhem. When the president tried to address them, they threw tear gas at him, and so he fled to a hospital for sanctuary. The city is in total chaos.
I knew something was really wrong when on the way home from school at noon time, there was tons of traffic, the buses were crowded, and all the shop owners were locking up. It's not as though this is new to Ecuador- the 3 Presidents preceding the current one have been ousted by the people, however the people here weren't willing to keep their shops open while the police were on strike and not around to provide protection. My classes for tomorrow have been canceled, and essentially I'm on lockdown in my house.
Now it's just a waiting game to see if things calm down and control is regained, or things get worse. I'm hoping for the latter because Sunday I am supposed to head to Quito before leaving for the rain forest on Monday. Right now that's not possibly because the major highway is closed and the province borders are closed. Hopefully things will calm down enough that we'll be able to get to the rain forest because I'm super pumped for it.
If nothing else, today was full of excitement and makes for a good story.
Went to school. Took my final exam. Had snack time. Returned to class to plan our presentation for tomorrow.
Then, we heard there was chaos in Quito.
All 17 of us huddled around the radio listening to how President Correa was in the hospital, the borders were closed, and the police and military had shut down the airport. We were let out of school early because of a possible military coup happening 30 minutes away in Quito.
It's hard to figure out exactly what is going on, partially because there's a couple sides to the story and partially because the news is in Spanish (also almost all of the media is also government controlled). What I have gathered is that yesterday, Congress passed a law that would cut bonuses and delay promotions for the police and military. In protest, rogue military/ police seized the airports and shut them down. They surrounded Independence Square and the Presidential Palace in Quito and started a rally/protest/general mayhem. When the president tried to address them, they threw tear gas at him, and so he fled to a hospital for sanctuary. The city is in total chaos.
I knew something was really wrong when on the way home from school at noon time, there was tons of traffic, the buses were crowded, and all the shop owners were locking up. It's not as though this is new to Ecuador- the 3 Presidents preceding the current one have been ousted by the people, however the people here weren't willing to keep their shops open while the police were on strike and not around to provide protection. My classes for tomorrow have been canceled, and essentially I'm on lockdown in my house.
Now it's just a waiting game to see if things calm down and control is regained, or things get worse. I'm hoping for the latter because Sunday I am supposed to head to Quito before leaving for the rain forest on Monday. Right now that's not possibly because the major highway is closed and the province borders are closed. Hopefully things will calm down enough that we'll be able to get to the rain forest because I'm super pumped for it.
If nothing else, today was full of excitement and makes for a good story.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Because Pictures Just Aren't Enough...
Even though some of it is a little shaky (the roads were unpaved and covered in rocks), I think the video I took does more of a justice to the parts of the Ecuador that I have fallen in love with than pictures ever will.
I can't figure out how to upload video here/I think I have too much of it, so I set it all up on youtube. Here are the links to copy and paste:
An Ecuatorian Band
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRQvgL81CMc
All of the stuff from the cloud forest at Intag
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvdPF0ZgBlg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwZ324m1kX8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_8iLjbjZiI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3aS8uj_gQw
I can't figure out how to upload video here/I think I have too much of it, so I set it all up on youtube. Here are the links to copy and paste:
An Ecuatorian Band
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRQvgL81CMc
All of the stuff from the cloud forest at Intag
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvdPF0ZgBlg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwZ324m1kX8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_8iLjbjZiI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3aS8uj_gQw
Silly Bands Are Universal
Now I'm not usually one to enjoy spending time with lots of little children that have way to much energy and sticky stuff all over their hands, but today was an exception.
This is my last week in Los Chillos Valley, and also my last week taking spanish classes and so we had a project of sorts. There's an elementary school (grades 1-7) that is a bit understaffed, hugely underfunded, where the majority of the kids are from the campo (rural farm areas where there is often a lot of poverty). This school made the Saugus Public Schools look phenomenal, which speaks volumes as to the supplies available and facilities provided. There are many schools like it, but La Escuela de Juan Garcia Navarro just happens to be located not far from where we're staying. Our assignment was to pair up, choose a grade, and prepare 3 different lessons that would last from 7:30 until 11:30. The elementary school only has classes in the morning because in the afternoon, the same classrooms are used for a high school.
I paired up with Lia, and we chose/got stuck with 5th grade. We prepared a lesson in Ecuadorian ecology, Art, and English. We had no guidelines, only a piece of paper with a school address, the number of kids in the class, and a vocab list of words that would be useful in trying to discipline children. With 28 kids listed in the class, all I was hoping was that they were past the point of needing help going to the bathroom, but not beyond the point of no return where the attitude kicks in.
As soon as we arrived at the school this morning, it was like an alien spaceship had landed. Now, I get stared at everyday by people in the street because I have blondish hair, blue eyes, and a bright green rain jacket(that was a poor decision on my part). This was different though- the kids stared at first, but came right up, didn't hesitate to ask all sorts of question, offer you a piece of gum, and then latch on to your side.
When we finally started class, it was apparent that we were just going to have to wing it. We started with a lecture(as much of a lecture as one can give while 24 little children are running around) about Ecuador and plants and animals. The kids were FULL of energy. After naming about 1000 different types of animals in Ecuador, including the ones from Africa that are in the zoo, we moved on to our art lesson. Everyone drew one of the three regions of Ecuador, either the rain forest, the sierra, or the coast. The kids really got into it, and it kept them occupied, which was fabulous. After we strung the pictures together so that they could hang in the classroom (the pictures were almost thrown away at the start of high school in the afternoon, but Lia managed to salvage them- I don't think I have ever seen someone run so fast) there was a slight snack break (the snack of course was rice) and when we returned, we started our lesson in English. Fifth graders (who in Ecuador are 8 years old) have a limited attention span, so we decided to do games in English. We played "Simon dice" aka "Simon says" and used English words. After, we went outside to play "The Captain is Coming"- it's along the same idea as "Simon says" only instead of Simon, there's a captain and everyone else is doing nautical actions (like looking for pirates). This was one of the least successful portions of the day. There was just too much going on outside to focus. All of the boys decided that it would be fun to run up and wrestle on top of a mound of dirt. Our games in English turned into games in Spanish, and we finally conceded and played "Pato Pato Gansa" (otherwise known as "Duck Duck Goose").
We finished the day indoors and gave the kids lollipops and sillybands (the multicolored bracelets shaped like animals) and it was as though it was Christmas. There were a few sillybands left over, but not enough for two for everyone, which caused quite an uproar of whining. I caved for one girl who was leaving school with her little sister, and gave the younger sister (she must have been about 5) a pink bracelet shaped like an ostrich. This little girl then opened up her backpack and gave me two of her stickers, and it was then that I realized that teachers are able to put up with all of the bad stuff because of little things like that.
Before leaving for the day, the whole group gathered with the teachers from the school to debrief. The teachers of the school told us how it was hard without funding or resources and especially since many kids had tough lives at home. A couple of the teachers weren't really teachers at all, just friends of teachers that had been asked to help out because the school was that desperate- the friends were working for free. It was really interesting to compare education systems here and at home. Here, no matter how rich or how poor the school, all kids have to wear uniforms (it levels the playing field) and everyone learns English. There is a huge disparity though between private and public schools and it's mainly because of a lack of fiscal support to public institutions by the Ecuadorian government.
I can't see myself as being an elementary school teacher ever, but nonetheless I really enjoyed today. The conditions didn't seem to phase the kids at all-they were eager to learn and excited about everything. Any time Lia and I walked anywhere, there was at least 2 kids latched on to each of our arms. They would chat about anything and were patient when we couldn't understand the Spanish. After class, a few of my friends were going to the bar for a drink or 5 because their classes were awful. For me though, I got way more out of the experience than I ever would have thought.
This is my last week in Los Chillos Valley, and also my last week taking spanish classes and so we had a project of sorts. There's an elementary school (grades 1-7) that is a bit understaffed, hugely underfunded, where the majority of the kids are from the campo (rural farm areas where there is often a lot of poverty). This school made the Saugus Public Schools look phenomenal, which speaks volumes as to the supplies available and facilities provided. There are many schools like it, but La Escuela de Juan Garcia Navarro just happens to be located not far from where we're staying. Our assignment was to pair up, choose a grade, and prepare 3 different lessons that would last from 7:30 until 11:30. The elementary school only has classes in the morning because in the afternoon, the same classrooms are used for a high school.
I paired up with Lia, and we chose/got stuck with 5th grade. We prepared a lesson in Ecuadorian ecology, Art, and English. We had no guidelines, only a piece of paper with a school address, the number of kids in the class, and a vocab list of words that would be useful in trying to discipline children. With 28 kids listed in the class, all I was hoping was that they were past the point of needing help going to the bathroom, but not beyond the point of no return where the attitude kicks in.
As soon as we arrived at the school this morning, it was like an alien spaceship had landed. Now, I get stared at everyday by people in the street because I have blondish hair, blue eyes, and a bright green rain jacket(that was a poor decision on my part). This was different though- the kids stared at first, but came right up, didn't hesitate to ask all sorts of question, offer you a piece of gum, and then latch on to your side.
When we finally started class, it was apparent that we were just going to have to wing it. We started with a lecture(as much of a lecture as one can give while 24 little children are running around) about Ecuador and plants and animals. The kids were FULL of energy. After naming about 1000 different types of animals in Ecuador, including the ones from Africa that are in the zoo, we moved on to our art lesson. Everyone drew one of the three regions of Ecuador, either the rain forest, the sierra, or the coast. The kids really got into it, and it kept them occupied, which was fabulous. After we strung the pictures together so that they could hang in the classroom (the pictures were almost thrown away at the start of high school in the afternoon, but Lia managed to salvage them- I don't think I have ever seen someone run so fast) there was a slight snack break (the snack of course was rice) and when we returned, we started our lesson in English. Fifth graders (who in Ecuador are 8 years old) have a limited attention span, so we decided to do games in English. We played "Simon dice" aka "Simon says" and used English words. After, we went outside to play "The Captain is Coming"- it's along the same idea as "Simon says" only instead of Simon, there's a captain and everyone else is doing nautical actions (like looking for pirates). This was one of the least successful portions of the day. There was just too much going on outside to focus. All of the boys decided that it would be fun to run up and wrestle on top of a mound of dirt. Our games in English turned into games in Spanish, and we finally conceded and played "Pato Pato Gansa" (otherwise known as "Duck Duck Goose").
We finished the day indoors and gave the kids lollipops and sillybands (the multicolored bracelets shaped like animals) and it was as though it was Christmas. There were a few sillybands left over, but not enough for two for everyone, which caused quite an uproar of whining. I caved for one girl who was leaving school with her little sister, and gave the younger sister (she must have been about 5) a pink bracelet shaped like an ostrich. This little girl then opened up her backpack and gave me two of her stickers, and it was then that I realized that teachers are able to put up with all of the bad stuff because of little things like that.
Before leaving for the day, the whole group gathered with the teachers from the school to debrief. The teachers of the school told us how it was hard without funding or resources and especially since many kids had tough lives at home. A couple of the teachers weren't really teachers at all, just friends of teachers that had been asked to help out because the school was that desperate- the friends were working for free. It was really interesting to compare education systems here and at home. Here, no matter how rich or how poor the school, all kids have to wear uniforms (it levels the playing field) and everyone learns English. There is a huge disparity though between private and public schools and it's mainly because of a lack of fiscal support to public institutions by the Ecuadorian government.
I can't see myself as being an elementary school teacher ever, but nonetheless I really enjoyed today. The conditions didn't seem to phase the kids at all-they were eager to learn and excited about everything. Any time Lia and I walked anywhere, there was at least 2 kids latched on to each of our arms. They would chat about anything and were patient when we couldn't understand the Spanish. After class, a few of my friends were going to the bar for a drink or 5 because their classes were awful. For me though, I got way more out of the experience than I ever would have thought.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Head in the Clouds
Sometimes, it doesn’t even feel like I am in Ecuador. Friday night I jumped on a bus to Quito with my host brother to see a concert. It was outside in the middle of the city, and we listened to a jazz band from Germany. I could have been in any city in the world doing the same thing.
Then there is the rest of the time, when it feels like I am on a completely different planet. The morning after the concert, I left for Intag and literally spent the weekend up in the clouds. We drove 6 hours (3 hours on the Pan-American high way, and 3 hours on a single lane dirt road carved through the Andes mountains) outside of the city to a cloud forest reserve. A cloud forest is pretty much a huge dense forest that is so high up there is constant cloud cover on the ground.
Shortly after entering the cloud forest, my two academic directors pulled the bus over and said they needed to show us something. After getting out of the bus in the middle of nowhere, and making my way through the tall grass and over a small hill, I found myself staring at the most beautiful sight I have ever encountered. We were on the edge of a volcano- below was a huge crater lake, Cuicocha, that was over 200 meters deep, and in the center was an island. As far as the eye could see there were only mountains. We had barely even entered the cloud forest, but this first stop proved to be a good indicator of how the rest of the weekend would unfold.
When we finally arrived and were greeted by our hosts, Sandy and Carlos, we still had an hour hike ahead of us. We loaded up a few horses with our backpacks (because there wasn’t a road) and hiked the trail to where we were staying. The accommodations were…rustic. There was a house of sorts with bunk beds inside and hammocks out. There was an outdoor shower (cold water from a hose) and a compost latrine. There was no electricity- we had candles. Needless to say we didn’t have phone service or internet. Our hosts told us that they only got electricity in the past five years, and telephone wires in the past few months. It was a whole different world out there. On the property, there was an outdoor picnic type area where we ate all of our meals, a little hut where we had classes, and an open field to kick around a ball. Horses and cows were all over the place (the chickens were kept cooped up). There was a fair amount of mud (you could sink up to you mid calf) so the choice footwear was rubber boots. I looked like REI threw up all over me with my flannel, khakis and knee high yellow boots-anything goes in the cloud forest. On the way home we stopped in Otavolo, a huge market town. I’m pretty sure we gave America a name because of the way we looked and smelled.
Every day we hiked around the forest- there were small dirt trails that lead to waterfall after waterfall and river after river. Standing under the waterfall was the closest I came to a shower for the four days I was there. There were plants with leaves the size of my body, and vines that you could swing from. The whole thing looked a lot like the island in Jurassic Park (only instead of dinosaurs there were birds and bugs). We never feared getting lost because the 3 dogs on the farm always came with us and knew the way back.
The food there was amazing- most of it was grown on site. There was a garden with tons of plants- bananas, coffee beans, yucca, pineapple, carrots, potatoes, lettuce, tree tomatoes, lemons, oranges. Of course there was rice at every meal, but I didn’t mind when it was accompanied by salad (a novelty down here) or pumpkin soup, or homemade guacamole. At breakfast there was always pancakes, jams, and freshly squeezed juices. What we lacked in luxury amenities was more than made up for at meal times.
Over the course of the four days, we listened to the stories of various people that lived in the area. The first night we listened to Carlos- a Cuban national who had lived in the cloud forest for almost 30 years and our host for the weekend. He told us about the struggle that has been going on since the mid 90s with the mining companies there. Foreign mining companies come in offering all sorts of stuff- money, roads, schools, hospitals, and doctors to the people living the cloud forest in exchange for the rights to mine the land for copper. What seemed like a good deal really isn’t really in the long run- mining for copper necessitates clearing millions of hectares of forest and contaminating the water supply with lethal chemicals. Most people realized the long term hard that would ensue and started a resistance movement. The first company that arrived was forced to leave after the community torched everything from heavy machinery to pencils and paper owned by the mining company. The second company was a bit more determined, and when bribes didn’t work, they turned to violence. Carlos was a leader in resisting the mining effort, and the company hired thugs to see if they could make him come around. They paid off the police to raid his house and issue a warrant for his arrest. Eventually, the company went bankrupt because they weren’t able to start mining. When only a few people stand between you and billions of dollars worth of ore, those lives don’t seem too important anymore. Carlos finished by talking about how now it’s not a transnational from some far away country that wants to mine, but instead the Ecuadorian government, so they’re going to have to figure out another way to fight. The next day we listened to a similar story from a women who lived in the town where the miners where. She joined the resistance movement at 16 when she was just a kid. Now some 15 years later, she is still involved in the fight. It’s crazy-a lot of women here, especially in the rural areas, are expected to stay at home, take care of the kids, cook, and clean the house. Somehow, all of the women whose world had been their homes got involved in this david and goliath fight. It was both inspiring to hear these stories, and heartbreaking to think that there was a serious chance that that place would not always be there.
The weekend flew by- it was good to get away from classes and the city for awhile. Life there was just so different, and although I do appreciate running water internet service, it was definitely a nice escape.
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