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.