For October 7-10. I’ll get caught up one day.
After the game of soccer we boarded a motorized canoe (the preferred method of transportation on the rivers in this region) and headed up river to a lodge where we were going to spend the night. This lodge, the Arajuno Lodge, is owned by an American named Tom bought the land in 2002 and start construction in 2003. I won’t go as far as to say that this lodge was as nice as the first one. But, that said, it was pretty nice. Are group was split among two cabins, there was a communal lodge type building where we could hang out and where meals were serve, Tom’s house and a couple of other buildings (but I’m not sure what they were used for). And, I think the food here might have been even better – not in Amazon terms, but in a general sense of the word.
We spent most of the remainder of the afternoon swimming in the Arajuno river. After the soccer game this was a nice way to relax and cool down. However, while we were ‘relaxing’ we were constantly remembering how the ‘don’t pee in the river’ rule applied even more here – in rivers in the Amazon River basin. Basically there is this small, not so nice creature that is attracted to pee and if it catches you peeing in the water it runs up your urethra, lodges itself in there and the only way to remove it is by having an operation (sorry to be so explicit, but no one is making you read this and it is just the truth). Oh, and I forgot to mention, it is supposedly REALLY painful. So, anyways, we had a good reason to be on our best behavior in the river.
After swimming we helped (translation = watched) Tom feed the fish and the turtles he has in his breeding ponds. Since his lodge is based on ecotourism he has undertaken the task of repopulating the river with native species and, at the same time, working with the locals to make their practices more sustainable. In general it is a very interesting approach I think he has taken. He has worked with the local communities (he calls it his ‘zone of influence’ which includes about 12 miles of the river) to end the practice of dynamite fishing on the river. But, what he has been smart to realize (he wrote his master’s thesis on this) is how when you talk with communities you need to address how the issue affects (1) their income, (2) their health or (3) the future of their children. So, what he did is he worked with the communities to build fish ponds within the communities. The communities can now breed their own fish for consumption or sale and do not need to fish out of the river. As a result there is no more dynamite fishing. So, since the river is now ‘safe’ for aquatic animals he is breeding a type of fish and a type of turtle that are both native to the river. However, this is a very long term project (8 years to go, 7 already invested in it), but he is using the time he has left to work with the communities to make sure they do not hunt the turtles when they are introduced (he’s trying to work out a system where the locals agree to only consume 50% of the eggs for protein, which would allow for a sustainable turtle population).
I came away from the talk with Tom impressed by a form of development that BOTH provides alternatives to the community and creates a more sustainable environment for all inhabitants. However, I was also disheartened by this one fact… Tom has been working with the surrounding communities for 7 years, but his ‘zone of influence’ only includes 12 miles of river. This just goes to show that if we want to work with communities effectively to ensure local sustainability it is going to be a very labor intensive process. I know this is dumbing down development big time right now. But, there will be more about it in coming posts.
I met the girl of my ‘love story’ while Tom was talking to use about the fish and turtles [And I will admit I am borrowing the term ‘love story’ from the South Carolina governor, for those of you that know about that whole situation. It’s just too good to pass up…). However, I am not referring to a typical ‘love story’. Nor am I referring to a typical girl. I am actually referring to a woolly monkey named Mona. Mona was captured by hunters after the same hunters killed her mom. She started off with a different family, but Tom came across some time later and fell for her (who wouldn’t?!?) and the family gave her to him. Although the law prohibits having woolly monkeys as pets, Mona is an exception. For, once a monkey is captured they cannot be released since they won’t be able to survive in the wild. But, that aside. I do not feel bad for Mona AT ALL. She has all of Tom’s land (88 hectares I think he said and the surrounding forest) to run around, play, eat fruit and do other woolly monkey things and then she has all the human attention she could ever ask for. The one other guy in the group of 11 and I also benefited since Mona much prefers to hang out with guys (the girls of the group did NOT like this fact. I think they referred to her as ‘sexist’ on at least a couple of occasions). So, Mona would come play with me and the other guy in the group, climb on us as we walked around and sometimes sit in our laps. What a rough life!!!
Wednesday morning we made clay pots. Interestingly enough, though, the indigenous people say that if men make pots (using the coil method) they lose their masculinity. So, being culturally sensitive (and maybe a little lazy, just a little though) I opted out of the making of pots using the coil method. However, I could do whatever else I wanted to do with the clay. In the end I made a replica (in a loose sense of the term) of Mona and tried to give it to her as a gift (I told you, I had fallen for her). However, Mona failed to appreciate the gift and simply stole some of my clay and ate it… So much for that! However, she did take offense that one of the girls was sitting between me and the other guy. Mona made this very clear and I ended up switching spots with the girl so Mona would stop attacking her.
When we arrived back at our ‘base’ lodge we had a talk from the son of a local Shaman. It is very interesting because here in Ecuador doctors often work side-by-side with shamans. Shamans respect conventional medicine and send their patients to doctors at times. And, most of the doctors respect the work of the shamans. It is a very interesting system and shaman have a lot of power within communities. However, one of the directors of our program told us that once she visited a shaman because bad things were happening to her and her kids – they were getting sick, their house was robbed and many other unwanted things. They went to the shaman and one of the things they had to bring with them was uncooked chicken eggs. The shaman ran the eggs over their bodies and then broke them open. The insides of the eggs were black… Something to think about. If so many Americans believe in God or some other force/power/existence out there that cannot be explained, how can they be so quick to dismiss a form of medicine that addresses powers and forces that exist around and within us? Just a question to dwell on.
Thursday morning our small group walked into a mixture of primary and secondary forest and we were individually ‘dropped off’ to spend an hour alone in the forest. I used the time for reflection, but (to be honest) not just about the forest (a lot of things were running through my head). However, during the hour I overcame my fear of the small creatures crawling around on the forest floor. At the end we sat as a group and reflected about this experience. Everyone had reflected differently. One of the statements I remember… “If everyone spent an hour in the rainforest, no one would cut it down.” Although I wish this were true, I’ll ask this one question in response. If people are willing to kill over money, how can we expect that people will not cut down the forest for money, their livelihood or whatever it might be?
In the afternoon we took another motorized canoe upriver to a place known as ‘Amazonico’. This is a rehabilitation center for animals that have been illegally captured and/or are being bred for reintroduction into the rainforest. Two things I found interesting… First, 25% of the animals die as a result of captivity, 50% can never be released and only 25% can eventually be released into the wild. I just found these very surprising numbers. Second, it was weird seeing all of the animals in what were essentially cages. Cages might be an unfair term. These were more like pens that you would see at zoos. However, I have just gotten so used to seeing all of the animals in their natural environment it just felt… Wrong.
Thursday night most of the group (only two people stayed at the lodge) went to El Laboratorio. If I’ve ever seen a dichotomy (I think that’s the word I looking for), this was it. Here we were in the Amazon and we were at a… I don’t even know how to describe it. El Laboratorio is a medium sized (100 feet long or so), ovular shaped building that is elevated off of the ground, with a ceiling and with walls that only come up to your chest. Basically there are a couple of tables, a bench runs along the wall and the middle is a dance floor. All of this is topped off by a functioning disco ball hanging from the ceiling. So, there you are surrounded by music and a random assortment of people, with a cold beer in hand AND able to look out into the Amazon… It was really a sight and experience to remember. And an experience I don’t expect to repeat anytime soon.
On the bus ride back from the Amazon we stopped at a small town to have a quick lunch. Midway through the lunch my chair started to rock back and forth. I look around to see who could be shaking it or to see if anyone was shaking the table. Nothing… “You guys feel that,” asked one of the directors a moment later. We had just experienced a small earthquake. Another first to add to my list of things accomplished to date.
Later Friday afternoon we arrived back in Quito and, as I said early we had an evening to do laundry, catch up on email and organize our suitcases before we were to move in with our Quito host families on Saturday. My adventures in the Amazon had come to an end, but hopefully only to an end that is only temporary.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Sunday, October 11, 2009
El Oriente (Part I): Hot Springs, Ecotourism and A School Visit
This post is for October 5-9. I will not be putting up a post from the week before that since I've been a little short on time.
So, on Friday we arrived back in Quito from El Oriente (The Amazon) and had one night to catch up on email, do laundry and catch up on sleep before we move in with our Quito host families on Saturday. Sometimes I have to say it is better to stay disconnected from current events… The University of Richmond has this nifty system where they send emails to students studying abroad with pertinent information for that student’s country of study. In the last 4 days Quito and Guayaquil have been moved onto the ‘Critical’ list for safety and security (after a man carrying $44,000 was shot and killed as he went to a bank. Luckily I’m not packing that kind of cash) and the Ecuadorian government has announced that Quito, Guayaquil and Manta are ‘States of Exception’ and the military will assist the police in establishing checkpoints to control the crime. But, life here goes on as normal. I saw the translation of these words into actions last night and it simply means that soldiers are paired with the police as the patrol the streets. If it wasn’t for the difference in uniform you would never know.
But, anyways, what did we do for our four days in El Oriente?
Monday we boarded the bus after a quick breakfast and began the drive through the mountains and down to the plains of El Oriente. However, about 90 minutes into the trip we stopped at the Papallacta hot springs about 40 miles east of Quito. These hot springs are some of the most popular in Ecuador since they basically have a sulfur content of 0. At the hot springs there were different temperature pools ranging from extremely hot to bitterly cold. We started in the warm pool and then failed in our attempt to enter the extremely hot pool… Undeterred, we went into one of the bitterly cold pools and followed this with a run through the extremely hot pool. Basically, we learned that when you go in the cold pool and numb your nerves it buys you a couple of minutes in the hot pool until your body starts to register the intense heat. Is this good for the body? We really don’t know… But it actually felt really good. An hour or so later, with me feeling slightly light headed from all of the heat, we got back on the bus and continued our journey southeast.
Eventually we descended out of the cold, high altitude mountains and into the plains of El Oriente (where you are only a couple hundred meters above sea level even though you are over a thousand kilometers from the coast) and stopped in the town of Tena to pick up supplies. All I can say is that I was super psyched. I have taken several courses on the Amazon and it has become a small obsession for me. And… I was finally there!!!! What was my first impression? First, you have to remember that Tena is a town on the very fringe of El Oriente. It is a town people stop in on their way into El Oriente. However, with that in mind, I still thought it was very, very, very cool. After buying an extra t-shirt and pair of pants I walked along the Napo River with some friends, a river I had only ever seen on a map before in my life. Very quickly a lot of the mysticism I had associated with this part of the world evaporated. I was reminded this was where real people were leading real lives. And, at the same time, I had to keep telling myself … I’M ACTUALLY IN THE AMAZON!
After the stop in Tena we continued down the road (in comfort, let me add, since it was recently paved by an oil company since there was a major oil find further down the road) to the first lodge we were staying at, the Aliñahui Lodge. This lodge was nothing, absolutely nothing, like I expected! There were 8 or so cabañas, two main buildings for administration and to house the owner and his family and a cafeteria/meeting. These buildings were relatively spread out and the land between them had been cleared and some variety of rugged grass was growing. The five guys got put in cabaña 5, a building with two rooms, electricity, hammocks and a bathroom with a shower (with warm water) and a flushing toilet. We were all extremely surprised at first. After all, this lodge was in El Oriente. But, I then reminded myself that this was ecotourism at its best, or at its worst (depending on how you look at it). With these amenities they can appeal to foreign tourists (mostly from Europe) and bring in a large amount of money (in relative terms) to a rural and poor region
Tuesday morning our group of 23 was split in two (logistically it is hard to have 23 students traipsing around El Oriente) and my group headed to a local school about 10 minutes further down the road. The students at the school actually come from the town directly around the school (sometimes it’s common for students to have to travel long distances to school). In the morning we painted with the students and then ate lunch with the teachers. Throughout the day a couple of thoughts really hit home. First, how can a state require that students take a minimum of 10 years of education when the ‘colegio’ (high school) that they need to go to to accomplish this is in another town and to get there on the bus the students need to pay money that a lot of their families simply do not have? Second, is it fair to use income or education a measure of quality of life in an environment where a lot of the families are subsistence farmers (a lifestyle that does not generate an income) and a lot of the families might not see the importance in an education since it takes away one of their field hands in the immediate term and is unnecessary if the kid simply takes over the family farm. I’m not saying that these families are not poor, but I don’t think a lot of them are as poorly of as we are lead to think.
Before we left we played a game of football (soccer) in which the Americans were against the Ecuadorians. Two things you have to understand… First, the sun continuously surprises me with its intensity. We were playing out on a soccer pitch and it felt like a freaking oven (long pants and a black t-shirt [I know, the color choice was stupid] definitely did not help). It was so bad I truly thought I was going to faint at one point after I sprinted back to our goal. Second, we were playing against the entire school, their two teachers who were there and some random other people. We were heavily outnumbered. They didn’t have a goalie, but more just a wall of small kids that were eerily effective at stopping soccer balls with their bodies. So, we, not so surprisingly, lost and in the process discovered that the head teacher (an older woman) has a strong foot for shots on goal and that three people on offense just can’t succeed when they are up against what seems like an infinite number of defenders.
The adventures from El Oriente will be finished in part two…
So, on Friday we arrived back in Quito from El Oriente (The Amazon) and had one night to catch up on email, do laundry and catch up on sleep before we move in with our Quito host families on Saturday. Sometimes I have to say it is better to stay disconnected from current events… The University of Richmond has this nifty system where they send emails to students studying abroad with pertinent information for that student’s country of study. In the last 4 days Quito and Guayaquil have been moved onto the ‘Critical’ list for safety and security (after a man carrying $44,000 was shot and killed as he went to a bank. Luckily I’m not packing that kind of cash) and the Ecuadorian government has announced that Quito, Guayaquil and Manta are ‘States of Exception’ and the military will assist the police in establishing checkpoints to control the crime. But, life here goes on as normal. I saw the translation of these words into actions last night and it simply means that soldiers are paired with the police as the patrol the streets. If it wasn’t for the difference in uniform you would never know.
But, anyways, what did we do for our four days in El Oriente?
Monday we boarded the bus after a quick breakfast and began the drive through the mountains and down to the plains of El Oriente. However, about 90 minutes into the trip we stopped at the Papallacta hot springs about 40 miles east of Quito. These hot springs are some of the most popular in Ecuador since they basically have a sulfur content of 0. At the hot springs there were different temperature pools ranging from extremely hot to bitterly cold. We started in the warm pool and then failed in our attempt to enter the extremely hot pool… Undeterred, we went into one of the bitterly cold pools and followed this with a run through the extremely hot pool. Basically, we learned that when you go in the cold pool and numb your nerves it buys you a couple of minutes in the hot pool until your body starts to register the intense heat. Is this good for the body? We really don’t know… But it actually felt really good. An hour or so later, with me feeling slightly light headed from all of the heat, we got back on the bus and continued our journey southeast.
Eventually we descended out of the cold, high altitude mountains and into the plains of El Oriente (where you are only a couple hundred meters above sea level even though you are over a thousand kilometers from the coast) and stopped in the town of Tena to pick up supplies. All I can say is that I was super psyched. I have taken several courses on the Amazon and it has become a small obsession for me. And… I was finally there!!!! What was my first impression? First, you have to remember that Tena is a town on the very fringe of El Oriente. It is a town people stop in on their way into El Oriente. However, with that in mind, I still thought it was very, very, very cool. After buying an extra t-shirt and pair of pants I walked along the Napo River with some friends, a river I had only ever seen on a map before in my life. Very quickly a lot of the mysticism I had associated with this part of the world evaporated. I was reminded this was where real people were leading real lives. And, at the same time, I had to keep telling myself … I’M ACTUALLY IN THE AMAZON!
After the stop in Tena we continued down the road (in comfort, let me add, since it was recently paved by an oil company since there was a major oil find further down the road) to the first lodge we were staying at, the Aliñahui Lodge. This lodge was nothing, absolutely nothing, like I expected! There were 8 or so cabañas, two main buildings for administration and to house the owner and his family and a cafeteria/meeting. These buildings were relatively spread out and the land between them had been cleared and some variety of rugged grass was growing. The five guys got put in cabaña 5, a building with two rooms, electricity, hammocks and a bathroom with a shower (with warm water) and a flushing toilet. We were all extremely surprised at first. After all, this lodge was in El Oriente. But, I then reminded myself that this was ecotourism at its best, or at its worst (depending on how you look at it). With these amenities they can appeal to foreign tourists (mostly from Europe) and bring in a large amount of money (in relative terms) to a rural and poor region
Tuesday morning our group of 23 was split in two (logistically it is hard to have 23 students traipsing around El Oriente) and my group headed to a local school about 10 minutes further down the road. The students at the school actually come from the town directly around the school (sometimes it’s common for students to have to travel long distances to school). In the morning we painted with the students and then ate lunch with the teachers. Throughout the day a couple of thoughts really hit home. First, how can a state require that students take a minimum of 10 years of education when the ‘colegio’ (high school) that they need to go to to accomplish this is in another town and to get there on the bus the students need to pay money that a lot of their families simply do not have? Second, is it fair to use income or education a measure of quality of life in an environment where a lot of the families are subsistence farmers (a lifestyle that does not generate an income) and a lot of the families might not see the importance in an education since it takes away one of their field hands in the immediate term and is unnecessary if the kid simply takes over the family farm. I’m not saying that these families are not poor, but I don’t think a lot of them are as poorly of as we are lead to think.
Before we left we played a game of football (soccer) in which the Americans were against the Ecuadorians. Two things you have to understand… First, the sun continuously surprises me with its intensity. We were playing out on a soccer pitch and it felt like a freaking oven (long pants and a black t-shirt [I know, the color choice was stupid] definitely did not help). It was so bad I truly thought I was going to faint at one point after I sprinted back to our goal. Second, we were playing against the entire school, their two teachers who were there and some random other people. We were heavily outnumbered. They didn’t have a goalie, but more just a wall of small kids that were eerily effective at stopping soccer balls with their bodies. So, we, not so surprisingly, lost and in the process discovered that the head teacher (an older woman) has a strong foot for shots on goal and that three people on offense just can’t succeed when they are up against what seems like an infinite number of defenders.
The adventures from El Oriente will be finished in part two…
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Week Three: The Short Week (and shorter post too!!!)
Just a reminder, this is September 23-27. I’m slowly getting close to catching up. There will probably be another post later today to get full caught up.
Friday we had our first major paper due. It was called the Personal National History Paper. As I briefly said before, all of the papers we write are based on conversations and interviews we have with Ecuadorians. At times this can be tricky, but I’ve also found it is a good way to start conversations with some people. When I got my friend, the store owner, talking about how dollarization affected him I ended up being staying in the store for over an hour listening. However, it is also a little difficult getting used to basing papers of first hand interviews, rather than research conducted in the library.
That night was the first night that I skipped out on my family to go hang out with the Gringos. Some people might not understand this, but it just shows how big of the experience the home stay is here in Ecuador. Your family is truly YOUR FAMILY. For the time you are here you do everything they do, eat everything they eat and much more. Therefore, you see Ecuadorian life through the lens of your family.
However, sometimes this can be a very interesting lens to look through. Remember, here in Ecuador it is common for the kids to live with their parents until they get married. So, for example, one of my friends siblings is 29 years old… This leads to some interesting family dynamics. These 20 some year olds do not have the independence that were used to in the States. So, when we all get together as a group (SIT students) we share stories about our families and what is going on in our/their lives. And, we get stories like… So my mom keeps bugging my brother because she wants him to brush his hair. So, this morning while he was eating breakfast she brushed his hair for him… He’s 22 years old. Or… Last night I was watching tv with my my two brothers and my dad when my mom came out with the nail clippers and cut everyone’s nails… So, I think you get the point. Family dynamics here are a little bit different here.
So, Friday night I ended up at a ‘bar karaoke and cuyes’ (cuyes are guinea pigs, a delicacy here in Ecuador) since one of my friends has a brother that is into karaoke big time (she’ll be at home doing homework or something else in the house and have her mother and brother out in the tv room practicing on the karaoke machine). After an hour or two of karaoke (everyone sang) we all worked our way over to ‘Red Hot’ a club in El Triangulo, one of the main hangouts in the town. In the final count 22 of 23 students of the program showed up. I think that just goes to show, yet again, how cohesive of a group we are.
Going back to the theme of sleep. I have been more tired in this country than I can remember being for a very long time. For example, after 9 hours of sleep on Friday night I got up, ate breakfast, got ready for the day (although we weren’t going anywhere) and then went back to sleep!!! In total I ended up sleeping for between 13 and 14 hours on Saturday. And, on top of that I was tired when the end of dinner rolled around and went to bed at 10:30. Who knows…
Sunday we went to Pablo’s ‘campo’ house in another Valley north of Quito. I’m definitely becoming a fan of Ecuadorian picnics. Just in case one animal is not enough you get chicken, salchicha and a mini steak. On top of this 5 people plowed through a 3 liter bottle of Coca Cola. In regards to Coke I have definitely been noticing a trend… Families and groups of friends here love drinking Coke. At the local store down the street groups of students would buy a 2 liter bottle of Coke and polish it off before they headed home for the day. My family buys Coke when they want to hang out and talk in the Kitchen or for a meal (such as a picnic) with other families. On a practical level this makes a lot of sense. You are 100% safe drinking carbonated drinks here in Ecuador, but the same cannot be said about drinking water or juice. However, I really think that there is more to it. Coke here seems to be the symbol of hanging out and having fun with your friends. Also, it seems to be a small symbol of prosperity – it is American after all. Maybe you completely disagree with this conclusion, but my brother did tell me that ‘Coca Cola’ is the second most recognized word in the world. I haven’t checked that, but I sure do believe it.
Who is Pablo? At first I thought I knew. He was my mom’s brother. However, by the end of Sunday I was not so sure. I was starting to think that something had been lost in translation. After picking up on a lot of small clues I was starting to think that Pablo might, in fact, be my mom’s boyfriend… Hopefully I would find out in the coming week.
Friday we had our first major paper due. It was called the Personal National History Paper. As I briefly said before, all of the papers we write are based on conversations and interviews we have with Ecuadorians. At times this can be tricky, but I’ve also found it is a good way to start conversations with some people. When I got my friend, the store owner, talking about how dollarization affected him I ended up being staying in the store for over an hour listening. However, it is also a little difficult getting used to basing papers of first hand interviews, rather than research conducted in the library.
That night was the first night that I skipped out on my family to go hang out with the Gringos. Some people might not understand this, but it just shows how big of the experience the home stay is here in Ecuador. Your family is truly YOUR FAMILY. For the time you are here you do everything they do, eat everything they eat and much more. Therefore, you see Ecuadorian life through the lens of your family.
However, sometimes this can be a very interesting lens to look through. Remember, here in Ecuador it is common for the kids to live with their parents until they get married. So, for example, one of my friends siblings is 29 years old… This leads to some interesting family dynamics. These 20 some year olds do not have the independence that were used to in the States. So, when we all get together as a group (SIT students) we share stories about our families and what is going on in our/their lives. And, we get stories like… So my mom keeps bugging my brother because she wants him to brush his hair. So, this morning while he was eating breakfast she brushed his hair for him… He’s 22 years old. Or… Last night I was watching tv with my my two brothers and my dad when my mom came out with the nail clippers and cut everyone’s nails… So, I think you get the point. Family dynamics here are a little bit different here.
So, Friday night I ended up at a ‘bar karaoke and cuyes’ (cuyes are guinea pigs, a delicacy here in Ecuador) since one of my friends has a brother that is into karaoke big time (she’ll be at home doing homework or something else in the house and have her mother and brother out in the tv room practicing on the karaoke machine). After an hour or two of karaoke (everyone sang) we all worked our way over to ‘Red Hot’ a club in El Triangulo, one of the main hangouts in the town. In the final count 22 of 23 students of the program showed up. I think that just goes to show, yet again, how cohesive of a group we are.
Going back to the theme of sleep. I have been more tired in this country than I can remember being for a very long time. For example, after 9 hours of sleep on Friday night I got up, ate breakfast, got ready for the day (although we weren’t going anywhere) and then went back to sleep!!! In total I ended up sleeping for between 13 and 14 hours on Saturday. And, on top of that I was tired when the end of dinner rolled around and went to bed at 10:30. Who knows…
Sunday we went to Pablo’s ‘campo’ house in another Valley north of Quito. I’m definitely becoming a fan of Ecuadorian picnics. Just in case one animal is not enough you get chicken, salchicha and a mini steak. On top of this 5 people plowed through a 3 liter bottle of Coca Cola. In regards to Coke I have definitely been noticing a trend… Families and groups of friends here love drinking Coke. At the local store down the street groups of students would buy a 2 liter bottle of Coke and polish it off before they headed home for the day. My family buys Coke when they want to hang out and talk in the Kitchen or for a meal (such as a picnic) with other families. On a practical level this makes a lot of sense. You are 100% safe drinking carbonated drinks here in Ecuador, but the same cannot be said about drinking water or juice. However, I really think that there is more to it. Coke here seems to be the symbol of hanging out and having fun with your friends. Also, it seems to be a small symbol of prosperity – it is American after all. Maybe you completely disagree with this conclusion, but my brother did tell me that ‘Coca Cola’ is the second most recognized word in the world. I haven’t checked that, but I sure do believe it.
Who is Pablo? At first I thought I knew. He was my mom’s brother. However, by the end of Sunday I was not so sure. I was starting to think that something had been lost in translation. After picking up on a lot of small clues I was starting to think that Pablo might, in fact, be my mom’s boyfriend… Hopefully I would find out in the coming week.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
INTAG: A Loss for Words (obviously not really, but you get the point)
Again, just a side note, this is for September 19-22.
INTAG is a canopy rainforest about 4 hours northwest of Quito. At INTAG we stayed on a… I can’t really think of the word. It is part farm, part houses (4 in total) and surrounding property. It is owned by two Americans, Carlos and Sandy who are married. Carlos has lived there for about 33 years and Sandy for about 27 (I think). To get there we took a paved road for about 2 and a half hours and then a dirt road for the rest of the time. After the drive we had to walk about 45 minutes to reach the property. The girls split two of the houses and the us guys got a house to ourselves. These houses are locally constructed (I don’t want you to get the image of something overly nice), but seemed like a little slice of paradise to us. Each house had several hammocks out front that were well used during our time there. Another building, known as the round house, was used for our group meetings. It had three hammocks (again, heavily used during our time there) and overlooked the valley below and the mountains across the way. It was truly a sight to take your breath away.
From about 1996-2006/7 the residents of INTAG were resisting attempts by mining companies to buy the land and start a strip mining operation since there is gold nearby. The residents did not any part of the mining and what ensued was a protracted battle between the residents and the mining companies. So, while we were there we had several lectures/talks about the mining. I’m can’t do the story any justice, but the mining companies started by sending in anthropologists to identify the local leaders (Carlos was one of the ones identified). With that completed the companies tried to win over the residents with promises of jobs and improved standards of living (some residents did join the pro-mining camp). However, when that failed the intimidation started. That climaxed in 2006 when the mining companies got the police to issue an arrest warrant for Carlos (for assaulting a woman at an anti-mining rally. Carlos could prove he had not committed the crime – he had a video of his interactions with the lady at the rally). Carlos hid out in the surrounding mountains for the following month while his lawyer sorted out the legal issues and got his name cleared (later someone admitted that the someone was going to try to kill him while he was in jail). Now, there is no more conflict in the region (although the people of INTAG are suing the mining company and the Toronto Stock Exchange – long story there), but it is a good place to go to learn about the issue of mining and the grass roots resistance (they were the first - but not the last – to resist mining on their land). On top of that we were given a more in depth lecture on the history of Ecuador (which led to some interesting debates about capitalism – again, long story there).
The first afternoon there, Saturday afternoon, we had time to go explore the surrounding area. A couple of my friends and I made our way down to a nearby river to go for a swim. However, the directions we had been given we to the extent of ‘walk down the hill and the path will sort of disappear, but then you will see some big orange trees and follow the path to the left and you’ll be at the river’. Well, since oranges were not on the branches of the trees and there are big trees EVERYWHERE in a RAINFOREST, we ended up taking a little detour. We ended up talking farther down the river than we should of, but, as a result we found a cool bridge across the river (and when I say cool I really mean rustic and probably unsafe). Two pieces of wire were strung across the river to form hand rails. Then, every 7 feet or so wire ran between the two handrails in the shape of a ‘V’ and sticks were placed in the bottom of the ‘V’ to create a path for your feet. However, this path was only about 2 inches wide and with every step you took across you were rewarded with the sound of snapping branches – the same branches that were ‘holding’ you up. Anyways, we eventually found our way to the river and discovered the water was a little colder than we expected… It was really, really cold. When we were all in one of the girls said, in a semi-shocked voice, ‘We’re having fun. Right?’ I think that captured the moment quite well.
Saturday in the morning I went on a nature walk through the canopy rainforest with half of the group. Although my rubber boots are ill fitting (having ridiculously high arches never seems to be a good thing) and my feet were in pain after 3 hours of walking, the walk was incredible. We had the president of the local (and volunteer) forest guards lead us on the walk and talk to us about the forest. I honestly don’t remember much about what was said, but seeing the natural beauty of the forest was incredible. And, getting to climb up a couple of waterfalls only added to the fun.
Every meal was absolutely fantastic. And, the most incredible part was that all of it was homegrown (I later found out that some of it was purchased from other farms in the area, but only because we are an additional 25 mouths to feed). I mean, don’t get me wrong, the food came from ‘basic’ ingredients. However, they are extremely creative in the preparation of the food. We got to eat our first ‘safe’ salad (so this stuff might have been purchased elsewhere… But it was worth it), I learned that Yucca actually tastes really good with a lemony, garlic sauce, I learned that I LOVE fried plantains (a different variety than the banana you can buy in the states… We only import one type in the US, after all) and drink coffee while we could see the coffee tree/bush that the beans had come from (I just might have bought some to take home). But, the coolest part was just knowing that 95%+ of the food we were eating was normally grown less than 300 yards away. It is pretty cool thinking of that level of self sufficiency. You hardly ever get anything like that in the States.
Hammocks. I wasn’t kidding when I said we used them… A LOT. Students we get to the round house an hours early for the lectures to get one of the three hammocks there. They just made the relaxing atmosphere even more relaxing. And, there is something about lying in a hammock, reading a book and hearing the sounds of the rainforest in the background. These Otavalo hammocks are different than the ones you see in the States – they are all fabric and more in a U type shape. I’m already planning on buying one. All I’ll have to do when I get back to the States is figure out how to put it up in my dorm room (hopefully I can get my roommate to go for it…).
Sunday night was ‘hot seat’. For those of you who do not know this game, you go around in a circle and each person is in the ‘hot seat’ for 5 minutes. While they are in the ‘hot seat’ anyone can ask them any question. I think that fact that we were willing to spend about 2 hours going around and putting everyone in the ‘hot seat’ says something special about our group. It shows how cohesive we are and how well we all get along.
Probably the most memorable experience came on Monday. After our afternoon lecture and before dinner we started a soccer game in the field by the round house. Although the field was far from ideal for the game (halfway across the field there was a very noticeable dip in the ground and a barbed wire fence was off to the side), we played nonetheless. The game itself was a lot of fun (there’s nothing like a game of soccer to unwind during) and we even got to play with some of the locals (it was given the local feel when the Ecuadorian adult pulled out his machete to fashion a goal post from a stick…). On top of that we were on the field from which we would overlook the rainforest below and the mountain across the valley. After the game (which made my night complete by itself) a group of us ran to a nearby waterfall in our swimsuits and showered in the waterfall. Not many people can say they’ve done that.
Tuesday morning, after an early morning hike with one of the directors and several other students, we packed up and started the trip back to Los Chillos. On the way, though, we stopped in a town called Otavalo, which is well known for its artisanean market. However, we spent most of our limited time in an amazing sandwich and pie place. This reminded me more of an American restaurant with deli style sandwiches and massive pieces of pie with ice cream. Surprisingly, though, no one from our group complained. The market, most of which is in a large plaza, is quite a sight and has a ton locally produced and made goods. I won’t talk about it much since I’ll be heading back there during the debriefing session at the end of the semester, but I will say I came away as the proud owner of an alpaca sweater. From now on we have christened Wednesdays ‘Alpaca Wednesdays’ since enough of us purchased alpaca sweaters.
That’s all for now. Wednesday we returned to classes as normal. And I’ve gotten a complaint about not enough pictures… I’ll try to get some more up in the next couple of days.
INTAG is a canopy rainforest about 4 hours northwest of Quito. At INTAG we stayed on a… I can’t really think of the word. It is part farm, part houses (4 in total) and surrounding property. It is owned by two Americans, Carlos and Sandy who are married. Carlos has lived there for about 33 years and Sandy for about 27 (I think). To get there we took a paved road for about 2 and a half hours and then a dirt road for the rest of the time. After the drive we had to walk about 45 minutes to reach the property. The girls split two of the houses and the us guys got a house to ourselves. These houses are locally constructed (I don’t want you to get the image of something overly nice), but seemed like a little slice of paradise to us. Each house had several hammocks out front that were well used during our time there. Another building, known as the round house, was used for our group meetings. It had three hammocks (again, heavily used during our time there) and overlooked the valley below and the mountains across the way. It was truly a sight to take your breath away.
From about 1996-2006/7 the residents of INTAG were resisting attempts by mining companies to buy the land and start a strip mining operation since there is gold nearby. The residents did not any part of the mining and what ensued was a protracted battle between the residents and the mining companies. So, while we were there we had several lectures/talks about the mining. I’m can’t do the story any justice, but the mining companies started by sending in anthropologists to identify the local leaders (Carlos was one of the ones identified). With that completed the companies tried to win over the residents with promises of jobs and improved standards of living (some residents did join the pro-mining camp). However, when that failed the intimidation started. That climaxed in 2006 when the mining companies got the police to issue an arrest warrant for Carlos (for assaulting a woman at an anti-mining rally. Carlos could prove he had not committed the crime – he had a video of his interactions with the lady at the rally). Carlos hid out in the surrounding mountains for the following month while his lawyer sorted out the legal issues and got his name cleared (later someone admitted that the someone was going to try to kill him while he was in jail). Now, there is no more conflict in the region (although the people of INTAG are suing the mining company and the Toronto Stock Exchange – long story there), but it is a good place to go to learn about the issue of mining and the grass roots resistance (they were the first - but not the last – to resist mining on their land). On top of that we were given a more in depth lecture on the history of Ecuador (which led to some interesting debates about capitalism – again, long story there).
The first afternoon there, Saturday afternoon, we had time to go explore the surrounding area. A couple of my friends and I made our way down to a nearby river to go for a swim. However, the directions we had been given we to the extent of ‘walk down the hill and the path will sort of disappear, but then you will see some big orange trees and follow the path to the left and you’ll be at the river’. Well, since oranges were not on the branches of the trees and there are big trees EVERYWHERE in a RAINFOREST, we ended up taking a little detour. We ended up talking farther down the river than we should of, but, as a result we found a cool bridge across the river (and when I say cool I really mean rustic and probably unsafe). Two pieces of wire were strung across the river to form hand rails. Then, every 7 feet or so wire ran between the two handrails in the shape of a ‘V’ and sticks were placed in the bottom of the ‘V’ to create a path for your feet. However, this path was only about 2 inches wide and with every step you took across you were rewarded with the sound of snapping branches – the same branches that were ‘holding’ you up. Anyways, we eventually found our way to the river and discovered the water was a little colder than we expected… It was really, really cold. When we were all in one of the girls said, in a semi-shocked voice, ‘We’re having fun. Right?’ I think that captured the moment quite well.
Saturday in the morning I went on a nature walk through the canopy rainforest with half of the group. Although my rubber boots are ill fitting (having ridiculously high arches never seems to be a good thing) and my feet were in pain after 3 hours of walking, the walk was incredible. We had the president of the local (and volunteer) forest guards lead us on the walk and talk to us about the forest. I honestly don’t remember much about what was said, but seeing the natural beauty of the forest was incredible. And, getting to climb up a couple of waterfalls only added to the fun.
Every meal was absolutely fantastic. And, the most incredible part was that all of it was homegrown (I later found out that some of it was purchased from other farms in the area, but only because we are an additional 25 mouths to feed). I mean, don’t get me wrong, the food came from ‘basic’ ingredients. However, they are extremely creative in the preparation of the food. We got to eat our first ‘safe’ salad (so this stuff might have been purchased elsewhere… But it was worth it), I learned that Yucca actually tastes really good with a lemony, garlic sauce, I learned that I LOVE fried plantains (a different variety than the banana you can buy in the states… We only import one type in the US, after all) and drink coffee while we could see the coffee tree/bush that the beans had come from (I just might have bought some to take home). But, the coolest part was just knowing that 95%+ of the food we were eating was normally grown less than 300 yards away. It is pretty cool thinking of that level of self sufficiency. You hardly ever get anything like that in the States.
Hammocks. I wasn’t kidding when I said we used them… A LOT. Students we get to the round house an hours early for the lectures to get one of the three hammocks there. They just made the relaxing atmosphere even more relaxing. And, there is something about lying in a hammock, reading a book and hearing the sounds of the rainforest in the background. These Otavalo hammocks are different than the ones you see in the States – they are all fabric and more in a U type shape. I’m already planning on buying one. All I’ll have to do when I get back to the States is figure out how to put it up in my dorm room (hopefully I can get my roommate to go for it…).
Sunday night was ‘hot seat’. For those of you who do not know this game, you go around in a circle and each person is in the ‘hot seat’ for 5 minutes. While they are in the ‘hot seat’ anyone can ask them any question. I think that fact that we were willing to spend about 2 hours going around and putting everyone in the ‘hot seat’ says something special about our group. It shows how cohesive we are and how well we all get along.
Probably the most memorable experience came on Monday. After our afternoon lecture and before dinner we started a soccer game in the field by the round house. Although the field was far from ideal for the game (halfway across the field there was a very noticeable dip in the ground and a barbed wire fence was off to the side), we played nonetheless. The game itself was a lot of fun (there’s nothing like a game of soccer to unwind during) and we even got to play with some of the locals (it was given the local feel when the Ecuadorian adult pulled out his machete to fashion a goal post from a stick…). On top of that we were on the field from which we would overlook the rainforest below and the mountain across the valley. After the game (which made my night complete by itself) a group of us ran to a nearby waterfall in our swimsuits and showered in the waterfall. Not many people can say they’ve done that.
Tuesday morning, after an early morning hike with one of the directors and several other students, we packed up and started the trip back to Los Chillos. On the way, though, we stopped in a town called Otavalo, which is well known for its artisanean market. However, we spent most of our limited time in an amazing sandwich and pie place. This reminded me more of an American restaurant with deli style sandwiches and massive pieces of pie with ice cream. Surprisingly, though, no one from our group complained. The market, most of which is in a large plaza, is quite a sight and has a ton locally produced and made goods. I won’t talk about it much since I’ll be heading back there during the debriefing session at the end of the semester, but I will say I came away as the proud owner of an alpaca sweater. From now on we have christened Wednesdays ‘Alpaca Wednesdays’ since enough of us purchased alpaca sweaters.
That’s all for now. Wednesday we returned to classes as normal. And I’ve gotten a complaint about not enough pictures… I’ll try to get some more up in the next couple of days.
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