Time for an update.  We all made it back from our "cultural" trips but a few of us are urping and pooping non-stop since the return.  Not ME!!!!  God knows what those young ones ate.  One of the things they eat here is dried blood, they use it as a condiment...sprinkle it on other things.  As far as I know, I have not eaten any and don't plan to.  I did get a case of the runs one night...I think it was directly related to a schwarma I ate that had lettuce on it.  I forgot...we have been told not to eat lettuce so that is what I am blaming but I will never eat another schwarma here.....he has great pizza tho..thank god.

For our "cultural" trip, we were divided into 4 groups and two or three of the language facilitators accompanied each group.  However, we were set asail on our  of the tasks so that we could soak up the culture, practice our Spanish and learn how to get around.  It worked...I feel the trips were a big success.

One oddity is that they call the foothills, between the Andes and the playa ( the beach), the coast.  So its not really the coast, I guess its the coast of the Andes...don't know how they came up with that but I thought we were going to the beach ( the coast) but no, we were going to the foothills.  If we want to go to the beach, we have to get on a bus to the playa, not the coast.   Anyhow, the bus trip out of the Andes, and then back in again was thrilling and we all made it.  We passed thru several clouds and some rain showers, saw some lovely water falls and lots of greenery...pretty ride.  Down in the foothills ( the coast)  there is a lot of agriculture...Ecuador is the largest exporter of bananas in the world..they also export coffee and cacao.  They grow a lot of delicious other fruits and veggies and we have lots of them available here in our town.  Guacamole is a staple....does that sound like Heaven !!!!!!!!!!

So now , some photos.

THis sweet lady moved from Wisconsin to Quito 40 years ago, taught school for a while here, has written a text book on Ecuadoran history for their middle schoolers, lots of articles and now has a coffee plantation somewhere up near the Columbia border.  She was wonderful and everyone loved her.  Told us a lot about Ecuadoran history and related it to what was going on in other parts of the world at the times.    All my photos of her are blurry because she was always on the move.

She joined a few of us for a coffee or juice after school.  Very generous with her time.

The Quitumbe bus station.  This is where you get the bus to the coast and the beach.  Actually, the beach is part of the Coastal Region...it runs all the way from the mountains to the Pacific.  Nice, huh ?

This is a village of the Tsachilas, an indigenous tribe near where we were based on our cultural trip.  We had a tour with some explanations of their ancient ways.  They still do cleansings and have an active shaman and we are told a lot of Ecuadorans believe in the power of those shamans.   They are trying to make it somewhat of a tourist attraction..I am sure to earn some money just like our indigenous tribes are doing.

This is our group listening to our tour leader.  The stripes on his clothes and legs represent a deadly snake that they sort of honor and fear.

One of their things is to put red dye from the aichote fruit on their hair in the front and shape into a point on their foreheads.  He explained why they do that but he was speaking in Spanish, and tho he spoke excellent Spanish, I did not get it all, partly due to not being able to hear along with not knowing all the words and then forgetting some of what I did hear and understand.  This aging stuff makes it hard to be a good tourist.

This was interesting.  When their folks get old and near death, they have to start sleeping on these mats and then when they die, they just flop the sides of the mat over their dead body ( see the skull at the top) and carry them off.  I think he said they used to burn them but now they have to follow the rules about handling dead bodies....they can cremate them eventually but I guess they still have to get a death certificate , etc.  But what a neat thing, just wrap them up and cart them off.  One thing I do recall, once someone dies in a house, no one can ever use that house again...they let it fall into disrepair and eventually clean up the debris.  In the heat and humidity, I am sure it does not take that long.

This is a sugar cane press...they collect the pure juice and then I think he said they let some of it ferment and then drink it.  He compared it to our ( non indigenous) alcohol ......I think. :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He talked a little about how the households operate.  The men sit on that bench in the back, the women cook sitting on the floor on leaves and the kids stand in those "playpen" setups.  No, seriously, he said a lot of interesting things I could not capture in a photo.....seriously. 

This tree has a lot of significance to them...I think he said it is 350 years old and is the only one left.  He talked about how the sloth is endangered due to the deforestation....they had a old dried up one sitting on a chair..it was pitiful.  There are other parts of the country where the sloth is protected and apparently is thriving...slowly. 

They treated us to an authentic tipico lunch...it was deeelicious.  Fish, rice and a nice ensalada of some veggie.

Two types of fish were wrapped in the leaves and roasted over the fire..yummmm.

He showed us some of their leisure activities.  This one was classic.  Tug of war.  Our girls beat their girls.

And this was outrageous.  The man in the front of their line was the Shaman..a strong looking guy in tennis shoes etc and there were 4 of them  They called for 3 of our guys and.....our guys beat their guys too...including their shaman.  Moses, the guy in the brown shirt in front of our line was seriously worried that the shaman would put a spell on him for pulling him over but truly, the shaman was a good sport...all smiles and they all cheered.

The shaman, after recovering from his defeat, did a little demo of how he treats people for cleansing and removing bad spirits.  They put that red paint on our faces as a show of friendship.  This is Carolyn....she volunteered.

 

 

 

 

 

On another day, we were sent in small groups into small towns to talk to folks, practice our spanish and learn something about the culture.  I took the photos of the two young people in my group.  She is from Decatur, Illinois and he is a CU graduate.   You can see some of the town...Buena Fe....a town near where we were based.

Interrogating a couple of innocent guys who were just passing time until we pounced on them  As with all the folks, they were lovely and very generous with their time.  The big guy is a custodian at the military school behind them.  The current president, Correa,  has required all the prior "military" schools comply with the public school regs.....trying to even things out.

The guy in the blue shirt is one of the bosses from the Peace Corps office in Quito...he is very very kind....graduated from Colorado College, did Peace Corps in Armenia, has done a lot of development work with various agencies, private and public and is now with PC.  This is one of  the many panaderias ( bakeries) that tend to be on very damn corner...hows a person supposed to stay healthy !!!!!!!

Our last stop was a serendipitous meeting with the Directora of a local high school.  She has 3300 students, three sessions a day and was so excited for a few minutes when she thought we were English teachers coming to her school.  It took some 'splaining to get it clear that we were just collecting info and practicing our Spanish.  But she was very generous with her time and energy.  She called in Javier, in the blue shirt, because he is one of her English teachers.  The other woman in the blue shirt was there for the whole meeting which lasted about 45 minutes but I don't think she was ever introduced...just a nice person taking notes.  We encouraged her to apply for a Peace Corps volunteer in the future...I  think she will.

So, that sums up our "cultural" trip.  In another week we go to spend a few days with a current volunteer in their sites...see what they are doing and how things work out there in the field.  I have been assigned to Otovalo which is an indigenous area in the Andes north of Quito.  Its supposed to be a beautiful place so I am looking forward to it. 

That'll do it for now.  Thanks again for paying your taxes. :)
Love, me

Javier walked us outside and the two young ones exchanged phone numbers etc.  Javier has a house at the beach ( I think, it might be in the foothills :) and invited them to use it.  I think Michael might....he has big plans to travel and see all he can while he is here :)

Just a mercado that we found and noted some items for our report.  There were lots of fish for sale. A guy tried to interest me in some fish and I thought I was clever and said , "No tengo cocino"   (I don't have a kitchen)     He was not impressed....he suggested ceviche.....they eat a lot of that here.