Baños de Ambato

One of my closest friends from high school, Eric, came to visit for a week in the middle of April.  I took two days off of school, plus his trip straddled a national holiday which gave everyone a three day weekend, so we had lot of time together. I took him on a walking tour of some of the oldest churches in Cuenca and to different parks in El Centro (the old downtown area where I live), to Cuenca's largest market, Feria Libre, and for a walk along the river which ended in one of the largest parks in Cuenca, Parque Paraiso. For our time in Cuenca, we mostly just saw different parts of the city, and ate typical Ecuadorian foods like mote, humitas, tomales, quimbolitos, llapingachos, ceviche, chuso, choclo, and bolon de verde. Then I took him to Baños de Ambato, a city about eight hours away which is named for the natural hot springs in that region, for a few adventures. 

Our first day in Baños we biked on a 15 mile mountain route called Ruta de las Cascadas (or Route of the Waterfalls), which parallels the highway between Baños and Puyo.  We saw five major waterfalls, and many smaller ones.  The route was almost entirely down-hill, which was a blessing for me, as I do not think I would have made it 15 miles had the route headed in the opposite direction.  I had forgotten about how much I liked biking when I was younger, and this trip rekindled my desire to buy a bike when I am back in the States.  We hitchhiked back up the mountain, which is so common in Ecuador it is not as dangerous as it is in the States.



Biking

Hanging footbridge we crossed to see El Pailon del Diablo

El Pailon del Diablo Waterfall

That night we were both exhausted and didn't do much. We walked around Baños and ate at an Asador (grill) where I introduced Eric to the wonders of Chimichuri, a green sauce used in Ecuadorian grilling.

The next day we went Canyoning (repelling down waterfalls).  Our guia, Carlos, took us to a site where we repelled down two 20 - 30 foot waterfalls, slid on our butts down a 15 foot waterfall, and then repelled again down a 120 foot waterfall. Although to be honest, I don't know that I can accurately say we repelled down the last waterfall.  The wall of it was concave, and the action was more like falling each time more of the rope was released.  It was scary and invigorating at the same time.  I was more scared, and less sure of myself, than Eric, but we both had fun.  Afterwards we were given anise tea to warm up while we waited for the taxi to come pick us up.  The tour company we went with gave us a CD of photos of us canyoning, but Eric has it and he has yet to send me any photos.

That night we intended to go check out the hot springs, but unfortunately I misread the sign, and the day-time prices were less than the night time prices, and neither of us brought enough money to pay the night time entrance fee.  So instead I insisted that Eric try Canelazo, a traditional hot drink from the mountain region made with sugar-cane alcohol (Zhumir), naranjilla (a type of fruit), sugar, and Cinnamon.  He did not like it.  To be fair, drinking anything with sugar-cane alcohol is a lot like drinking a mixed drink made with the cheapest vodka you can find. Canelazo has grown on me, however, and I now thoroughly enjoy it. 

Naranjilla fruit (used to make Canelazo)

Canelazo

The next day we took the 8 hour bus ride back to Cuenca. We had a little trouble, however, starting with the fact that I over slept so we missed breakfast.  Then at 8:50 a.m., when we brought our bus tickets for an 8:45 a.m. bus which was running late.  When a bus from the company we bought our tickets from pulled into the terminal, we got on it.  I immediately put in my headphones and began to veg out, but thankfully Eric was paying attention because it turns out that bus was headed to Puyo (which is in the opposite direction).  We got off that bus after about 5 minutes, and then we ran back to the bus station.  Apparently we had gotten on the 9:15 bus, but unfortunately, our bus had already left.  I thankfully convinced the attendant to change our tickets without charge, and we caught the 11:00 bus. Eric, who has always been more "type A" than I am, (even before living in South America) was completely stressed out about this.  I was not.  I think I have made enough mistakes in this country to have become comfortable with the idea that I will always make mistakes. I also have come to learn that, one way or another, things work out.

Being with Eric was great.  It also gave me perspective on how much I have grown during this year.  For one thing, I can tell that I have become more relaxed and have an easier time not stressing out about things out of my control.

March

March basically flew by this year, and I am not sure exactly how that happened.  Some noteworthy things occurred, however, during this seemingly drive-by-month. The first of which is that I started to learn (casually) how to do acro-yoga.  This is partner yoga, and requires a base and a flier.  I learned from friends who do it more seriously.  On weekends we have started to get together to "play" down by the river with a slack-line, sometimes a tela (aerial dancing), and to learn acro-yoga moves.  It is pretty relaxing and very fun.  Plus it is nice to be outside for hours upon hours on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon.



Friends Lauren and Jen doing tela (aerial dancing).

The second notable event in March was that I directed and produced The Adventures of Captain
Underpants: The Movie with my Sexto students.  I definitely bit off more than I could chew, but it was basically hilarious from our first rehearsal to the final filming and editing.  I rented a body suit from a costume shop and found a pair of whitey-tighties which my students bashfully dawned. Red cape and all, my students acted out almost every scene from the story. When my school posts the movie on its Facebook page, I will add the link.  Until then, you just have to imagine the hilarity of 10 and 11 year old boys and girls running around in skin-colored body suits, red capes, and whitey-tighties, yelling (thought slightly mispronouncing) "tra-la-laa" and "I fight for truth, justice, and all that is pre-shrunk and cottony!"

Excursion en La Selva... Finally

I meant to post this a loooong time ago, but having my computer stolen kind of put a damper on things. Now that I have a new computer, here it is:

La Selva, Day 1:

Our first day in the Jungle was spent driving from Puyo to the lodge site which served as our home base while on our excursion. In typical Ecuadorian fashion, we squeezed six people into a truck, gringos in the back, and headed into the Jungle.  It was incredible, and lush to say the least.  We made two pit stops on the way, the first was to see a very large kind of fish which was compared to a dolphin, but did not remind me of a dolphin at all except for its size.  We did not see them in the wild, however, but instead at a viewing pool where our guides first caught smaller fish to feed to the large not-dolphin-like fish so that we could get a better view of them.  To be fair they were about a meter in size, but they did not have any fins, nor were their bodies curved, nor did they have beak-like mouths. Then we stopped at our first Quichua village where we briefly met the village´s Shaman and some partially domesticated parrots before being ushered into a building which housed the villages artisan goods.  We all purchased something and soon after left for the lodge.

Not-dolphin-like fish. Otherwise known as the Painche Amazon Fish.

Semi-domesticated parrot in a Quichua community.

Once at the lodge we were given a few minutes to get ready, and then we had our faces painted using the inside of an Achiote plant, following the Quichua tradition.  I was painted to be "la mujer del sol" or woman of the sun.  We were told the face paint would serve as protection for our first trip into the Jungle.  We then embarked on a hike to a water fall named Hola Vida, or Hello Life.  The walk was gorgeous, and very, very wet.  We were outfitted with "jungle boots," or rain boots, before we left, and they proved to be very empowering.  We mostly walked through mud and/or very shallow creeks, but at one point we crossed a river wearing them and not a one of us ended up with wet feet.

Being painted as the "Mujer del Sol" or "Woman of the Sun" for protection.

Jungle boots.



Hola Vida

That afternoon our guia, Cecilia, had planned to take us back from the waterfall hike via canoe, but it had rained heavily the night before and the river was extremely high and moving very quickly. So, we rode back to our lodge and cabaña in the bed of truck, ate lunch, and proceeded to nap and relax all evening.  We did not go on another hike that night, but we did discover the lodge´s bar, which played Bob Marley and 90´s throwbacks, and which we named "jungle bar" and spent the evening drinking beer and telling embarrassing stories.

La Selva, Day 2:

 We were instructed to be ready by 8:30 a.m. for breakfast, and to come ready to walk a lot.  As we are all accustomed to Ecuadorian timing by this point, we did not arrive until 8:45, but of course that didn´t matter at all because breakfast wasn´t actually ready until 9:30 a.m. anyway. During breakfast we met our second guia, Enrique, Cecilia´s husband.  He literally had the best mullet I have ever seen.  After a huge breakfast, Enrique took us in a canoe down the Puyo River to a scenic look out, and then we walked to Cecelia´s father´s community and to about four or five different Quichua communities after that.  They ranged in size from about 100 people to about 30 people.  We also visited one Shuar community.  The Shuar community we visited was located across the river from our hiking trail, and Enrique had planned to take us across in a canoe.  Due to the aforementioned heavy rains, the canoe had been washed away.  As a result, Enrique took us all across the river individually, on his back.  This was pretty hilarious to all of us.  I was the last to cross, and also had the misfortune of not properly arranging myself piggy-back style on Enrique´s back. About two thirds of the way across, this proved to be problematic and I started to slide sideways and down towards the water. Enrique quickly reached behind him and grabbed hold of me by the butt, pushing me back into position.  I do not ever think I have been so grateful to have my ass grabbed.  Once safely across, we visited with the inhabitants of the Shuar community. In the traditional Shuar hunting tradition, we learned to shoot arrows with our mouths out of a blow gun, which is really more like a five-foot wooden straw.  I managed to hit the tree (our target) four out of five times. We also met the community's children, two of whom were orphans.  It was made quite clear to us that when children find themselves without parents in a Shuar community, the entire community becomes their parents. 

Alex being carried across the river by our guia, Enrique

Demonstration of traditional Shuar hunting blowgun.
 

Throughout our hike that on the second day, we saw many different types of community arrangements, and met many people.  Along the way Enrique pointed out different plants and birds. He used his machete to investigate everything.  Machetes are so popular in the jungle that everyone carries one. They are absolutely essential to hacking your way through an un-trecked trail in order to get from A to B, to get fruit, and potentially for protection from an animal. Literally everyone carried them, everywhere. On one of our community visits, we encountered the little boy pictured below, completely naked, incredibly young, and still wilding a machete.

Jungle boots and a machete... all the essentials.

That afternoon we visited an animal corral, of sorts, which housed some of the more interesting animals of the jungle.  We met a relative of the elephant whose name I cannot remember nor can I find when I do a google search.  We also saw a jungle boar and turtles.  Later, we went on a night hike, which we did completely in the dark, holding hands and whispering messages to each other.  My eyes never fully adjusted, and this walk was more a test of trust in my friends and in my own two feet than anything else.  I did see a monkey's butt before it scampered off, and crocodiles (though it was so dark we could only make out the eyes), but nothing else.  Everyone fell multiple times, and though it was a learning experience, I was happy when we were safely back at the lodge.  Again, we drank beer at the "jungle bar" and then went to bed fairly early.

Jungle Animal Corral

La Selva, Day 3:

On our last day in La Selva we went on fairly intense hike which was up and down hill for four hours, without a trail.  We visited a cave which had been carved into the face of a devil because Enrique's brother had a vision instructing him to do so when he was drinking ayawaska (a traditional medicinal drink of the Qichua people which is also a hallucinogen).  We also had the opportunity to swing off of a cliff over the Puyo River on a rope swing, but unfortunately, I chickened out.  I was the only person to attempt to swing, however. After our hike, we ate lunch and rode in the back of a truck bed back into Puyo.  It was glorious to ride for an hour in the sun through the verdant overgrowth of the jungle.  It was also a much better way to say goodbye to our excursion than simply squishing four-gringos-across in the back seat of a truck.

Devil-faced cave.

Me chickening-out about swinging on the rope swing over the cliff edge. Please note Enrique's incredible mullet.

Vida Sin Computadora

Living in Ecuador without a computer has proven to be both awareness building and frustrating. I was not aware of how often I use my computer each day, nor of the haphazard way I was using it; in other words, I would use my computer at whim with no real organization to my time or searches. Without my computer I find myself making lists of everything I need or want to do on the internet, and also when specifically I will be able to do so.  I prioratize and I try not to waste time on my usual time suckers (Facebook, Pinterest, NPR.org, or Google Images).  Before my computer was stolen, I wouldn´t have thought about this at all.  Now it has become so much  a part of my day here that I have chosen to blog about it.  For the MW´s that read this, all I have to say is: Simple Living Challenge (but really mandate) at its finest.

March is proving to be the month during which every Gringo gets robbed.  There were two cell phones stolen (though later returned) at my school exactly a week after my computer went missing, my friend´s bag, containing her passport, credit card, and journal, was stolen, and another friend was mugged on the street as he walked home from a bar.  I have thought a lot about my own safety this month, and have made a more concerted effort to be aware of my surroundings.  Still, my computer was stolen at school-- from the teacher´s lounge.  Increased awareness would´ve done little good to me there, except that I would not have left my computer in the teacher´s lounge.

 My school continues to show no accountability whatsoever, and I have recieved nothing but "that´s too bad" comments from my administration. This is the most frustrating part of the entire debackle. Things get stolen everywhere in the world. But when it happens in a locked facility (meaning it had to be a teacher or student) and that same facility does nothing to assist with that loss or to prevent future losses, the credibility of the entire institution starts to falter.  The international teachers have had to be very independant (though the school was honest about this during initial interviews) from day one, but now I go to work knowing that I will find no real support, should I need it.

Despite my frustration with my administration, my classes at school have been going well.  My students are reading The Adventures of Captain Underpants, Goosebumps Horrorland, and books they have chosen to read for pleasure. They are all completely engaged. They now rush to my classroom and beg me to read every day. I have felt very blessed to be able to choose books my students actually want to read, instead of trying to get them to see the value of a story we are mandated to read. Their confidence has also increased because they are aware that they are successfully reading stories that native English speakers also read.

Stolen Computer

My computer was stolen at school this week. I am more devastated about this than I would care to admit.

The thing is, it was stolen at school, so it was either a student or a fellow teacher. And that just plain sucks.  I am buying a new computer, which will be somewhat financially stressful, but there are not many computers at my school, and I need it to work.

I don´t know when my next blog post will be, but hopefully it will contain much happier content.

Carnaval in Macas and Puyo

This year Carnaval was officially celebrated on the 11th, 12th, and 13th of February, though unofficial celebrations started on the first.  I know I posted about this in my other February post, but basically this celebration leads up to Lent, and is a time similar to what I imagine Mardi Gras looks like in New Orleans (replacing the tradition of bead giving and earning with water and flour fights, of course).  It also means vacation time from school and work.  With the exception of CEDEI School (my school) Carnaval vacations last longer than Christmas/New Year's vacations in Ecuador. Because of this, it is like the "spring break" of Ecuador and is the most popular time for travel.  My friends and I followed suit and headed to El Oriente, or the Amazon region, to celebrate. 


We spent our first night of vacation in Macas, a city in the southern region of the Amazon which is about seven hours away by bus.  I made a friend, Fernando, on the bus and over the entire seven hour trip he proceeded to tell me his life story (photos included via his Blackberry), as well as foods to try and places to visit in Ecuador. He was very friendly and thankfully I was able to understand his Spanish with little trouble.  I had heard before that many people from El Oriente speak more slowly, and I definitely found this to be true in my seven hour conversation with Fernando.  He also was very patient with my Spanish, which again, I was grateful for.

Although I enjoyed Fernando, I was not sad to part ways when we arrived. Alex, her friend Kelsey, and I easily found a hostel, freshened up a bit, and then went in search of food.  Alex, the most carnivorous of the three of us, wanted meat. We ate a fabulous carne asada with rice, menestre (beans), salad, and patacones (fried green plantains) at a place called Porcion del Torro. Then we headed out to a bar that our travel guide rated five stars for its live Andian Music.  The bar was hilarious but nothing like we expected.  A somewhat mangy-looking poodle in a sweatshirt met us at the gate and the speakers were proudly bumping the Back Street Boys.  There was no live band or anything resembling Andean music to be found, but we did jam to bad 90's pop for the next three hours.  I should also mention that the decoration of this bar was somewhat of a cross between kitschy and hipster, and between the atmosphere and the music we were thoroughly entertained.

Carnaval Parade in Puyo.

The next morning we got up early and made our way to Puyo to meet our friend Eric.  That bus ride was only about four hours, thank goodness, and we got free peach juice with our tickets. Score. Despite the fact that the Puyo is a good 12 hours from the coast, there were tons of restaurants boasting comida costena, or coastal food/sea food.  After getting ourselves settled into a hostel, we took ourselves on our own walking tour of Puyo.  The highlights of this include watching the Carnaval Parade, eating a "coastal breakfast," drinking jugo de coco (coconut juice), getting coffee, then getting a beer, and eventually getting some dinner, all the while being sprayed by foam, water, and flour.  People were not playing carnaval very aggressively at first, but on our walk back from dinner we were basically attacked with spray foam, flour or baking soda, and even dulce de guayaba, a candy that has a consistency a little bit thicker than jam. People seemed to find entertainment specifically in spraying or wiping whatever they had in our eyes, and by the time we were close to our hostel, we were both thoroughly covered in white powder, red candy, and water, and ready to stay in our hostel for the rest of the night. After showering and changing our clothes, Eric (the least "gotten" of the four of us) made a beer run and we drank and played cards within the safe confines of our hostel room.

This is actually my friend Amanda's photo, but I think it does a decent job of portraying the way Ecuadorians play Carnaval.

The next morning we made our way to La Selva.  This experience was so packed it's getting it's own blog post. Possibly two if I'm feeling long-winded.

January in Vignettes

I meant to post more often in January, but alas, I didn't.  So here's a recap:

Procesiones De Que?

There have been parades here every weekend since before I went home for Christmas.  The parades in December were a part of the celebration of Christmas, and the ones in early January commemorated the New Year and Innocents day, but no one has been able to give me a concrete explanation as to why we've had parades every single Saturday and Sunday since then. I have been told "it's just a way to celebrate the culture" and "each parade is meant to celebrate something, but they are not well publicized usually, so no one knows exactly what they celebrate."  On the bright side, this has made the streets in my neighborhood very colorful, and it has been fun to see traditional dancing and costumes etc. as I walk to the market or to a friend's house.   The following are a few pictures of various parades.  The photo I am in is from the Innocents Day Parade, which I posted about in the beginning of the month.

This photo is from the parade celebrating Dia de los Inocentes, a holiday which celebrates the innocence of children and commemorates the deaths of children who died before reaching the age of two in the past year.  It is celebrated by dressing in costumes and masks, the parade, music, and pranks.

Ya Tenemos Presidente! Tenemos Rafael!

The presidential elections were supposed to take place in January, but due to new laws the elections are now set to take place on February 17th. This change meant an extra month of campaigning, and the entire city is plastered with posters, stickers, and campaign volunteers representing candidates.  Supposedly there are eight candidates, but I have only seen campaign paraphernalia for three candidates: current president Rafael Correa, and presidential candidates Lucio Gutierrez and Alvaro Noboa.   President Correa's paraphernalia is the most popular, which boldly reads: Ya Tenemos Presidente! Tenemos Rafael! Which means: We already have a president! We have Rafael!

  I will not comment on the political climate here, because I don't really understand it and therefore don't think I can make any kind of accurate conclusions about it.  I will say though, that working at a private school at this time is very interesting. Most of my students come from affluent families, and just as in the States, often this status is accompanied by more politically conservative opinions.  My students talk a lot about how Presdient Correa is too socialist, and we need someone who's going to look out for the economic interests of the country, rather than the social interests.  In other places I have caught parts of conversations in which people criticize Correa for claiming to be socialist while not actually creating regulations that protect the people.  Although I've admitted that I don't know enough about the political climate here to have an opinion, I will say that the opinions I've heard sound surprisingly similar to opinions I've heard about the U.S. presidential elections.

One of the many signs for Presidente Correa

Feliz  Quinceanera y Despidida

Per usual, the extranjeros here always plan or find something to do on the weekends, so there is always some kind of party going on.  However, two weekends ago, my friends and I hosted a Fiesta de Quinceanera y Despedida (15th birthday and farewell party) for our dear friend Valerie, who is unfortunately leaving Ecuador and CEDEI school early for family reasons.  Though she is far from 15 years old, she has always wanted to have a Quinceanera, which for those of you that don't know, is similar to a cotillion in the Latino community. So as an early birthday present and a theme for her farewell, we had a Quinceanera.  One of the main elements of a Quinceanera is a huge ball gown, but not wanting to buy one, my friend's Cuencano boyfriend asked one of his cousins to loan us her old Quinceanera dress.  His cousins are older than him, however, and the dress he brought was from the 80's.  It did not have the Cinderella puffy skirt, plunging neckline, nor the bejeweling of the dresses of today.  Instead, it was pale pink and very conservative, with a huge bow on the butt. Valerie wore it for all of about 30 minutes, but changed before going out.  Still, it was a hilarious party.  Our friend Ellie, a very talented baker, made the Barbie cake pictured below, in honor of the type of dress we wished we could find for Val.

 

 

Carnaval

Technically, Carnaval does not take place until next weekend.  However, celebrations have already started.  One of the ways in which it is celebrated here is by spraying people with water guns,  throwing water balloons, or flour/baking powder.  My students are currently on vacation for Carnaval, but in the last 30 minutes of their last day of school before break, we had a school-wide water fight.  This was prohibited, but it happened anyway.  It was one of the highlights of my teaching career thus far. Every student and teacher left completely soaked. I personally left the school dripping wet, with flour caked in my hair.  After having Quimester exams for the two weeks prior to vacation, it was really nice to play with my students again.

Outside of school, Carnaval is still fun, but not quite as much.  As a gringa, I am a target for flying water and flour.  I am sprayed daily by passing cars or children walking on the street. Don't get me wrong, this tradition doesn't bother me per se; it is totally new, totally Ecuadorian, and pretty much hilarious.  But I had much more fun when I was able to spray people back (like at school) and when I knew who was spraying me! My friends and I will take part in the city-wide water fight this weekend, and I am looking forward to once again being able to participate more fully in this very silly tradition.